What’s The Least You Can Do?
“It’s the least I could do” has sort of become the battle cry for paying back a favor to a friend. They did something awesome for you, so you try and do something awesome for them in return. They say thank you and you say…
“Hey, man… It’s the least I could do.”
I know you’re trying to be humble, but I think that phrase is a little too self-deprecating and doesn’t do a good job of truly relating the value received through some of your “least” efforts. Many times a “least I could do” turns out to be a gift the other person couldn’t have been able to buy for themselves if they tried.
Here are a few “Least I Could Do” favors that deliver exponential value.
Try a few of these the next time you want to pay back a favor or to show support for people who give you value.
Like, share, and comment on their social posts
Algorithms being what they are, social media websites decide which posts to show other site members based on their popularity and interaction. If you want to help your friends get more views, more followers, and help their message spread online — like, share, and commenting on their posts will help them get noticed and promoted by the algorithms (which sounds like an local 80’s cover band: “The Algorithms”).
Get them guest spots
Connect your friend to people with an audience that will benefit from their insights. Recommend one of your friend’s articles to an industry or association website to post as a guest blog. Suggest them as a guest on an appropriate podcast. By helping your friend increase their audience and fan following, you can be assured that your friend will be able to continue creating the content you enjoy so much.
Share links to their guest posts, appearances, interviews, etc.
Once you get your friend those connections, be sure to help spread the word when their article goes live or their episode is published.
Congratulate them and brag on them in public
One of the best things you can do for a co-worker is to brag about their accomplishments to their supervisor. Bonus points if you can do it in front of their face or in a location where they can overhear the nice things you’re saying about them. First, they’ll appreciate being noticed, Second, they’ll appreciate you told a manager who has sway over their annual reviews.
The same goes for any friend or mentor whose work you admire and respect. Gush and compliment their work in public, and tag them in it so they can listen in. They won’t mind you tooting their horn because they probably don’t toot their own (or at least not as much as they should).
Put some money in their pocket
Buy their music, buy their book, buy their course.
Paying $10 or $12 for a CD or music download, $20 for a physical book (even less for an eBook), or $99 for an online course is probably a drop in the bucket in return for all the advice and insights your friend has shared with you over the years. It’s cheaper than paying a personal coach, and those algorithms we talked about will notice people spending money on products created by your friend and reward their placement accordingly.
Publish ratings and reviews
Whenever appropriate leave positive reviews on Google, on Facebook pages, on Amazon product pages, etc. You bought their book — now review it. Your friend’s next potential client is probably Googling them right now to see what they can find out about them (and deciding whether or not to do business with them). Give those prospects something positive to find…
