I am a big fan (if you can call it that) of referrals when it comes to working with someone virtually. Most of my clients are referred to me by former or current clients. Its also a mutually benefical process because it gives each person an idea of what to expect from the other if they do get into a work relationship.

Its also one of the best (and least expensive!) forms of marketing you can do. There’s no trick to it, it doesn’t cost anything, you don’t have to worry about niches and target markets. All you have to do is a good job and clients or colleagues will gladly pass your name on to others.

Now with all of this talk of recession, the economy, and stimulus packages, many people are taking control of their careers and launching their own businesses. And they’re discovering that advertising and marketing can be time consuming and expensive.

Here’s a way we can all help each other out:

Make a Referral Week

From their website:

Make a Referral Week is an entrepreneurial approach to stimulating the small business economy one referred business at a time. The goal for the week is to generate 1000 referred leads to 1000 deserving small businesses in an effort to highlight the impact of a simple action that could blossom into millions of dollars in new business. Small business is the lifeblood and job-creating engine of the economy and merits the positive attention so often saved for corporate bailout stories.

And here’s how you can help…visit the Make a Referral Week website and sign the pledge to make at least one referral between March 9th and March 13th and then return to the site and tell them about the referral you made.

Its as simple as that. Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to just one referral nor do you have to limit it to just this one week. But its a good start.