I recently had a good friend of mine refer someone to me for website work via email – which is great! And I’m very grateful.
I reached out to both the potential client and the friend (also via email), saying that I’m looking forward to finding out what the project is and possibly working with him, as well as thanking the friend for the referral.

Next thing I know, I’m getting texts at 6 am from this new potential client saying to call him today…this is the first contact since the previous email mentioned above – so it’s not like I’ve been working with this person. Nor did I know that he had my phone number. My friend gave this person my phone number.

So, my thoughts about the situation are that this is inappropriate…why didn’t he email me first to set something up, why did my friend give away my phone number? And even if he is in a different time zone, 6 am was way too early to be texting someone you don’t even know yet. I also probably have a thought in there that it’s inappropriate to text someone about business – and email is more appropriate since there’s already an email chain started.

I now am spinning in thoughts about how I need to respond and set up the proper boundaries with this person, as well as my friend. I’m worried about offending both of them or coming off as controlling…also worried that perhaps maybe I’m making too big of a deal about it and I just need to go with the flow and be grateful.

I’m also adding to the situation by judging myself by having the thought that this is petty and not worth stressing over – while at the same time wanting to set up boundaries better so I don’t have to deal with this in the future.

So, that’s where I am, and am looking for some guidance in navigating this situation in a tactful, yet graceful way.