Recently I met a newbie hobbyist who unwittingly gave me too much personal information before the appointment was established.

In his very first email, he used his work email address, which was in the form of [email protected].

Knowing that many law firms have an internet presence, I checked out his firm on the internet. Sure enough, I found his name, picture and biography.

Now, for my purposes, that was great for screening and verification. I even had a picture! LOL.  

However, I don't think all that knowledge should have been mine at the first email contact because he is a full partner in the law firm, known around town, and he is married. He needs to be very discreet and careful in his dealings with a provider until he gets to know and trust her.

When a client writes the introductory email, he doesn't necessarily know if the lady is even in town or otherwise available for the appointment. So, I as a provider would never require full screening at the first email contact.

Well, after I met my newbie client, we discussed screening. I recommended he obtain a hotmail (or similar) account to use for a first contact, using just his first name. He could say he was John, a 48 year old tax attorney, in order to give some basic information and pique the lady's interest.

From then on, it would be up to the provider to ask what she needs for screening and verification (provider reference, full name, employer phone number, etc, whatever is applicable). Of course, that varies among us providers.

I hope this helps some of the newbie hobbyists. Despite what you may have read about screening, many of us ladies care about your privacy a LOT.