Don’t be like Mr. W. If you want free consulting from a writer in the field, here’s how to get it:

• Do not present yourself as if you are so lazy you can’t even summon the ambition to spell words and complete sentences.
• Do reasonable homework before you approach a stranger to ask for answers. Learn to use Google. Poke around the many websites available.
• Find out the basics of what that stranger does and believes. For instance, I am well known to be skeptical of certification programs. Citing that you are certified would just put me on edge.
• For most strangers you approach, you probably should first ask permission to ask a technical question. For me, I grant you permission. For me, here’s what you need to do: Introduce yourself, state your situation, state your problem in detail, state what you have already done to solve your problem, and ask a specific question. Also, it doesn’t hurt to say something about how you know that I’m probably busy and how you would understand if I don’t have a lot of time for out-of-the-blue questions.
• Be ready for the stranger to ask you to do some work to solve your own problem first, or to suggest that you are not yet ready to receive an answer. A good response to this is to do some more work and come back. You may also ask for more details about the kind of work they think you need to do.
• Never blast your question to many consultants at once. It will get you instantly blackballed.
• It never hurts to offer a favor of some kind in return for help.
• In my case, if I don’t reply to you, try me again. Keep trying until I reply. The reason I don’t reply is usually because I’m really busy that moment. But squeaky wheels eventually get a response. Pradeep Soundararajan once sent me 18 reminders over a three month period until I finally answered his question. He has since received a great deal of my time, at no charge, just because I feel that he respects and values my help.

I will give time to four kinds of people: hard-working self-possessed people, warm and charming people, people who teach me something important, and people who pay me money so I can support my family. If you aren’t the fourth kind, and you want something from me, try to be one of the first three.