How to turn praise into new 1099 gigs

A reader sent me an interesting question.

She is a 1099 and works on a team that did great work. The head of the agency sent a nice e-mail to the team thanking them for making a huge impact.

The reader asked how she could leverage this awesome feedback to get new 1099 work and subtly communicate it to her wider network.

It's always great to get testimonials from clients. Mostly because it feels good. But doing a good job is also the best way to keep getting more gigs.

Here are two ways she can use this recent win to her advantage:

Put it on her resume

The resume is a way to communicate a) what you do and b) how qualified you are. If you have a win with a client, you can write a bullet that says "Did X project which resulted in Y and commedations from the Z client."

That will sound impressive and help you get more gigs.

Bring it up with potential clients/other program managers

In job interviews it's important to discuss the work you've done and the impact you've made. When you're speaking with PMs and future clients, bring it up! It doesn't have to be in a braggy way. It can be very matter of fact. "Oh I worked on a project similar to the one you're looking to do. We did X, Y, and Z and and even received personal commedations from the agency head."

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Just keep doing great work and use this great work to demonstrate how you can help future or potential clients.