How to reach Shabbir

Someone commented that they wanted to e-mail me but there was no entry on my blog about how to do that.  So here’s some guidance in order of my preference:

  1. Write me by e-mail: I much prefer to be approached by e-mail.  You can send e-mail to shabbir -at- safdar.net.  You will be prompted to answer a challenge-response code after which you will be authorized to send me e-mail.  If I don’t answer the e-mail, I recommend that you…
  2. Call me.  Yes, call me.  You can get a number through Jangl by following this link: http://callme.jangl.com/shabbir@safdar.net     It will give you a temporary phone number to use that masks my real phone number, but connect you to me.
  3. If you’re selling something, don’t just call me to pitch me.  I don’t want to talk to you for the first time over the phone.  You need to send me a piece of direct mail to my DC office that’s clever enough to get by my screeners.  If that works, then it has to be attention grabbing enough keep me from tossing it when I get my packet of mail and weed out the junk.

"But Shabbir, you must almost never receive any good products this way!  What’s the point?"

Exactly, that is the point.  I find products when they bubble up online and through the communities I follow, not because I get pitched.  If you have to pitch it to me and I haven’t found you already, then by definition you’re not ready to talk to me yet.