Mason Murray (u/mason_murray8)

Posts

The way folks send invoices now drives me nuts

I remember when i first started my dog grooming shop back in 2013, i'd hand write a bill on a carbon copy pad and give it to the owner when they picked up their pup. Now everyone wants to email a PDF or use some app, but half the time they forget to actually send it or the link expires after 3 days. I've had three different clients this month alone tell me they never got my digital invoice, then i end up texting them a photo of it anyway. Old school method works every time - paper copy in hand before they leave, no excuses. Why are we overcomplicating something that was simple for decades? Anyone else still doing it the old way or am i just stuck in my ways?

3 comments

c/dredge-operators•

mason_murray8•11d ago

The time I laughed at a guy for running his dredge at half throttle... until I saw his production numbers

Met an old timer down in Louisiana last year who said he runs his cutterhead at 50% power almost all the time. I thought he was nuts and told him as much. He pulled up his logs showing 30% less fuel burned and only 10% less material moved over a month. Now I actually back my throttle off when the material gets loose and I'm honestly getting better results.

3 comments

c/freelance-real-estate•

mason_murray8•13d ago

Vent: Showed up to a "vacant" house last Tuesday and found a family still living there

Got a call from a guy who said his aunt's house needed to be sold ASAP. Said it was empty, keys were under the mat. I drove 45 minutes out to this place in Bakersfield, walk in the front door, and there's a kid eating cereal at the kitchen table. Mom comes out screaming at me. Turns out the nephew never even told them he was trying to sell it. I just apologized and left. Has anyone else dealt with family drama like this messing up a listing?

3 comments

c/ask-anything•

mason_murray8•1mo ago

Just realized how much my morning commute changed after switching to a bike 6 months ago

I used to drive 25 minutes to my office near downtown Austin, stuck in traffic every single day. Started biking in March after my car broke down, and now it takes me 35 minutes but I'm way less stressed when I get there. The hill on 4th street still kicks my butt but I've gotten faster each month. Anyone else notice a big shift in their mood or energy after changing how they get to work?

3 comments

c/diy-home-projects•

mason_murray8•1mo ago

The random screw I found in my attic was the exact size I needed for a shelf project

I was digging through a box of old junk from the previous owner and found a single 2-inch wood screw that matched the thread pattern on my shelf bracket perfectly, which saved me a trip to Lowe's and $4, but now I'm wondering if I should check the attic more often for hidden treasures or if that's just asking for trouble.

3 comments

c/atlanta-networking•

mason_murray8•1mo ago

Just realized I wasted $350 on a fancy LinkedIn profile optimizer tool

I signed up for this service that promised to overhaul my profile for networking in Atlanta. All it did was pull generic buzzwords from my resume and post them as a headline. Has anyone else tried those automated profile tools and gotten nothing useful out of them?

3 comments

c/auto-body-repairers•

mason_murray8•1mo ago

Warning: That $40 cheap paint gun cost me 3 hours of sanding

I bought a no-name HVLP gun off Amazon for about $40 last spring thinking I was being smart... figured a gun is a gun right? First couple jobs it laid down okay but on this silver metallic Toyota I had to do last week it just started spitting and fisheyeing all over. I spent almost 3 hours wet sanding and rebuffing the whole driver side to get the junk out. The local paint supply guy told me the internal passages are rough on the cheap ones and they trap moisture and debris. I ended up buying a used Devilbiss from a retiring body man for $150 and the difference is night and day. Has anyone else had bad luck with the bargain bin spray guns grabbing your clear too?

3 comments

c/email-template-swap•

mason_murray8•1mo ago

Compared my long pitch template vs a short one for the same client last month

I had this prospect who kept ghosting me after the first call. So I tried my usual 4 paragraph follow up with all the case studies and bullet points. Nothing. Then I stripped it down to 3 sentences: a thank you, a reminder of one specific problem we talked about, and a direct question about next steps. Sent it on a Wednesday afternoon and got a reply in 2 hours. The long one probably felt like homework. The short one felt like a text from a friend. Has anyone else had better luck with super short follow ups over the detailed ones?

4 comments

c/budget-friendly-meals•

mason_murray8•1mo ago

Co-worker told me to stop buying salad kits and I'm mad he was right

My desk mate Dave mentioned last week that he makes his own salad dressing with oil and vinegar from the bulk section. Said it costs him like 30 cents per batch instead of the $4 for a bottle of pre-made. I did the math on my lunch salads and realized I was throwing away $3 extra per meal on those bagged kits with the little dressing packet. Anyone else stubbornly overpaying for convenience stuff they could make in two minutes?

3 comments

c/email-template-swap•

mason_murray8•1mo ago

Update: I was sending follow-ups way too fast after a pitch

A prospect in Dallas told me straight up my second email felt pushy because it came just two days after my first. I switched to waiting a full week, and my reply rate jumped from like 15% to almost 40%. What's the sweet spot you all use for timing after a cold pitch?

3 comments