In this solo video, Evan Carmichael answers a mastermind member’s question about self‑promotion for subcontractors. He explains that the primary relationship is with the hiring partner, not the end client, and advises subcontractors to first gauge how comfortable the partner is with the subcontractor mentioning their own business. He outlines three key strategies: (1) Ask the hiring partner what level of self‑promotion they allow, balancing openness with the partner’s desire to protect their client base; (2) Clarify how follow‑up work or referrals should be handled—who gets the next contract and whether the subcontractor can be approached directly; (3) Consider co‑branding by using the partner’s name, logo, or credentials on the subcontractor’s marketing materials if the partner’s reputation adds credibility. Throughout, he stresses honesty, clear communication, and protecting the working relationship. He shares personal examples from working with agencies, brands, and his salsa‑dancing business, and invites viewers to comment on their own subcontractor experiences and to join his online mastermind.
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And we are live. Hello, happy Monday everybody. I'm answering a quick question from somebody in my mastermind group who was talking about how do you promote yourself when you're a subcontractor. And this happens a lot with entrepreneurs where you have your own business but you may work through partners, you may be under somebody else's business at times when you are getting started or even as you're growing bigger. Even now I do a lot of work under agencies. So I work with a lot of brands, but I'll get connected through an agency instead of it being directly through me. And so there's always a little bit of worry as to how do you promote yourself best? Is it right to say that you have your own business as well or not? And I wanted to share a few strategies. My mastermind member, what she's going through is she does copywriting and she's working on some sales pages with somebody. And he's off selling them and bringing her in to help her with the copywriting. So a couple points. One, I would see what they're comfortable with, 'cause the most important relationship in all of this is you with the company that you're working with, not the final client, but the person who's out selling you. And so I'd see how comfortable are they in you talking about your business, you mentioned that you're an entrepreneur as well, or not. You're going into a relationship being a subcontracted brand for them. And so some people are super open to it and they don't care if you also mention your name and what you're up to, and some people are very protective over their client base and don't want that to happen at all. And so I wouldn't want you to risk losing that kind of relationship, and I would be open and honest with the person that you're talking to and see what they want, right? Understand what they're comfortable with. The second thing is to understand what the follow-up is, and that's where a lot of people that you end up working with, the end client, will then want more work, right? So you help them with a landing page, that's great. You help them with the sales copy, awesome. They may say, "Wow, what she did was really great. I wanna hire them back to do more work." And so then it becomes an issue of who does that work go through? Does it still go through the company you're contracted with or are they allowed to contact you right away? And again, It's understanding that relationship with the company that you're dealing with, your friend who hired you. What happens with future work? If the client wants to do more work, who does it go through? Is it okay to do more work or not? And again, I'd always make sure that it's okay with my friend, with the guy who brought me in before ever talking to the customer about future projects. And then the last one is, does it help you to promote them as well? You know, if you are just getting started up and you're not a brand name and people don't know you, Sometimes it can help you to have their name, their logo, their credentials on your website, on your business cards, on your videos, on your marketing material. And so I'd be looking at this company that you're working with. Does their name add more leverage to what you're doing or not? You know, maybe not. You know, if you're associated with this big agency, then maybe that helps you go out and get new clients to say, oh, well, she's worked with this person, but if they're just a small person as well and they're not that well known, then I'd recommend going off with your own brand. And so those are my quick thoughts in terms of how to promote yourself when you are a subcontractor on a job. I've had to do it a lot of times working with brands and agencies and also through the salsa dancing business that I have. A lot of the instructors that, that will hire will be subcontractors. Subcontracted. So I'd love to know what you guys think, YouTube world. Leave a comment below if you are a subcontractor, if you hire subcontractors, what's the relationship and how do you promote yourself or allow them to promote themselves. And for those of you interested in joining our online mastermind group, I'll leave the link in the description. Thank you guys, have a great day.
