What that help was doesn't always matter that much, but I find many people in the business world viewing something like help through very specific lenses. Part of this is the idea of giving away items for free, doing some form of service for people without being paid, or finding some non-profit organization or charity and helping them out.

Now, all of this is perfectly fine, and yes, all of these things can help improve your image and generate more business in the long run, but help is a very broad concept, and it isn't something you can place in such specific categories.

So what kind of help am I referring to here?

I had a friend who loved to always design his own business cards. He could come up with some very interesting custom business cards and new all of the right elements that a card needed. While most others were paying someone else to get their card done, he handled all of this completely on his own.

Well, one time when he was at a tradeshow he was talking to someone and they decided to exchange business cards.

Now, the other guys card wasn't bad per say, but it lacked any real personality, and it was obvious right from the beginning that he hadn't really put a lot of thought into the look or design of the card. When he saw my friend's business card he immediately took notice of it and started asking him who he had hired to do it.

This led to a conversation about various custom business card designs and what worked best for them. They ended up talking about the subject for nearly thirty minutes, most of it involving my friend giving pointers and various other tips to this guy about what made for the best kinds of custom business cards.

Something he later told me was that their first talk before handing out business cards had been friendly but not that promising, whereas after their talk he not only was able to get business from the guy, but had other people referred to him as well. The reason was because he showed he skills and his abilities along with lending a helping hand and offering good advice on business cards.

Life is filled with so many different opportunities just like this. Don't just plan out how you're going to help some organization, but lend a helping hand whenever you're able to, even if that just means offering advice. And of course, always have your business cards on hand to give to people once you're done. A good impression can do wonders to start generation business, and nothing makes a better impression than helping someone out.