Thoughtful Promotion Is Generous

Thoughtful promotion is a generous act. If you’re a freelancer or an entrepreneur, letting people know what you offer is a generous thing to do. When you do it well, people will be really glad you did. 

It might sound counterintuitive to call promotion “generous.” But let me explain. Not all promotion is generous–only thoughtful promotion.  

People need to have connections to do their jobs well. Having trusted friends with specific expertise is part of what makes people valuable in their own jobs. As a producer, the more people I know, the more creative projects I can bring to life for my clients. I’m excited when photographers and videographers ask to get lunch with me. I almost always take them up on it, because the more people I know, the more valuable I become. It’s the same for everyone. Even if someone isn’t a producer, it’s never a bad look for them to connect their marketing team with a talented freelancer. Connections increase everyone’s value within a company. 

Thoughtful promotion is generous because it’s done in a generous way. There’s the kind of promotion where you tell everyone what you’ve done, name dropping along the way, pressuring people to hire you for projects in the short term. No one likes that. That’s selfish promotion. Generous promotion pauses to ask first: What does this person need? What would be helpful for them to know? How can I offer the most amount of value in the most efficient way? 

My strategy for generous promotion? I take people out to lunch or bring them coffee. I ask them what they’re working on. I ask them what the most stressful part of their job is. I listen. Really listen. Then, I share what I do and what my goals are. I’m not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole here. If their needs don’t line up with my work, I don’t try to score the project anyway. Instead, I connect them with someone else in my network who can help. 

This is a long-term strategy, to be done consistently over the course of a few years with a broad network. Start by getting coffee or having a phone call with someone once a week. You might need to reach out to five or six people each week to make it happen. Keep your head low, stay humble, keep their best interest in mind, and then watch the work and referrals roll in. 

Trust is the commodity exchanged by professionals. If you can increase trust within your own network, money is a small price to pay to hire someone trustworthy.