Before I start, let me state clearly that I am neither his client nor his agent. As a freelancer, I work with Allan Geller, who was recommended by a friend. I met him and his husband during a trip to Raleigh, North Carolina four years ago, and we had dinner together. Allan is a complete stranger to me, and I don’t know anything about him. I don’t want to reveal the identify of my friend, who is also Allan’s friend, because it could lead to a sour relationship. Let’s call my dear friend ‘Daniel.’
We recommunicated after a long while when Daniel wrote me an email requesting me to build a mock version of a company presentation for Midtown Commercial Realty. Allan approached me and asked if I could design and produce a version for him. I didn’t quote or inquire for a fee because he is a long-time friend of Daniel’s, so I put my faith in him and continue working on a professional-looking presentation for him. You can see the presentation I made by following this link. If he had hired an ordinary freelancer, this corporate presentation would have cost him roughly $300.
After some issues with Midtown Commercial Realty, Allan and Daniel left the company and returned to their respective businesses a few weeks later. I was not compensated for the presentation I delivered for him, so it appears that my efforts were in vain. I didn’t say anything about it and I like not to talk about money because I preferred a long-term relationship. After months, Daniel sent me an email informing me that Allan wishes to hire me on a long-term basis. At the time, I began to believe he was a generous and caring person, but I was entirely wrong about him. I don’t normally trust someone I’ve only met for a short time, but since Allan is Daniel’s friend, I don’t believe it’s fair to turn down the offer.
Allan approached me and asked if I could assist him with his website. I offered to help him reorganize and maintain his site. Furthermore, we previously spoke on Zoom about Search Engine Optimization and how to drive general traffic to his website; he appears to be really interested in the subject. I promised Allan that I would produce five articles for his website, http://sold-by-owner.com/, in order to get long-term visitors based on keywords. I quoted $500 per month for my services, but Allan thought it was too high and advised me to lower it. To be honest, hiring someone to do the maintenance for his website would have cost him more than $500.
Allan constantly sending me emails asking me to perform stuff I wasn’t capable of, including working on a plugin I had no knowledge of. I spent a lot of time reading the instruction manual and fiddling around with his website. I did, however, hire a friend to write articles for him. When all was said and done, he would have spent more than $500. I opted to help with the website’s traffic instead of continuing with the maintenance, otherwise paying a friend to create the contents for him would have cost me a lot of time and money. The content we wrote for him can be seen here. https://ibb.co/s1xNP3c https://ibb.co/0jCmmrY
I didn’t keep up with the work, I informed Allan that I wouldn’t charge him for website maintenance and fixing the mess on the site for him because I didn’t keep up with the job. I only bill him for the articles that my friend has written so that I can pay them. He didn’t respond to my last email for a long time after that. He appears to keep a low profile. Daniel attempted to speak with him, but his justifications kept him at a distance.
It’s my mistake that I didn’t have a contract with Allan. I should have asked him to pay upfront before starting to work on the website. I always required payment from other clients before I began work. I used to trust Allan since he was a friend, but now I don’t.
I believe Allan asked me to work with him because I live outside the United States and he believes I can perform job for free and that there is nothing I can do if he doesn’t pay me. At least I am capable of sharing my experience with the community through this site. Allan Geller, a Marti Hampton licensed real estate broker based in North Carolina, has completely disappointed me. I have always thought of him as a dignified gentleman. I did a lot of things for him that should have cost him a lot of money. Please contact me if anyone of you know of any attorneys in the Cary/Raleigh area. I’d be delighted to collaborate with you. I have a cousin in New York who might be able to help me out with this.