Here’s a few ways to spend nothing and add big value to your friend’s life.

💍 FOR THE SINGLE FRIEND 💍

Set up your single friends. Really you gotta. If you haven’t been on the dating apps lately, you have no idea how bad it is out there. Many people gave up on dating during the panini and haven’t come back. 

You can start by interviewing your single friend and asking them what they’re looking for in a relationship. Try to get beyond the physical attributes and ask them how they want to feel and be in a relationship. If your friend says, “I want to date a tall blonde man,” then ask them why. Where did those preferences come from and why do they think those attributes create a healthier relationship?

In my experience, what my partner looked like had the least impact on our relationship. My partner’s values, habits, and beliefs affect us everyday. My partner’s hair color…just doesn’t. 

🍾 FOR THE NEWLY SOBER FROM ALCOHOL FRIEND 🍾

We’re about to experience a full blown party and family reunion season with all the drinking that it encourages. I expect more people to pause booze in January than ever before. If you don’t need alcohol to have a good time, invite your friend to party with you. It takes practice to learn how to socialize without booze. Know that alcohol has chemically convinced your friend that they are having a better time if alcohol is involved. It’s your job to create a more fun reality than a drunk fantasy. 

👩‍💻 FOR THE NEW JOB SEEKER 👩‍💻

If you have an old colleague who is looking for work, try writing them a recommendation. You can do this on LinkedIn or the old-fashioned way.

There are two angles to the recommendation. If you have status in the field your friend is applying in, then your recommendation can be pretty generic. What’s most important is who is recommending them and not exactly why. If you’re not famous, then it's worthwhile to craft a recommendation that speaks to your friend’s strengths. 

Not sure what to say in a recommendation? Tell your friend that you’re writing them a recommendation and ask them what strengths they would like highlighted. Or if you want it to be a surprise, ask your friend to send you a job description for their dream job and then write the best recommendation for that role. 

📊 FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNER 📊

Help your business owner friends by recommending their services to friends and family. A personal recommendation from a trusted person is the most effective marketing. Think of 3 people who would love your friend’s business and send them each a message. Tell your friend why you recommend this business and why you think they would love it too. 

If you don’t have any friends that will use their business, you can try writing the business an online review. Yelp and Google Maps tend to be pretty important spots to gather positive reviews. Try to fill your review with key words that other people might search for this business. For example, don’t write “the food was great”, write “the tacos are my favorite and they’re really good about providing gluten-free options”. For a friend’s yoga studio, you could write about the specific yoga styles you practiced instead of just “class was fun.” 

👩‍🎨 FOR THE NEW BUSINESS STARTER / NEW CREATIVE 👩‍🎨

It’s actually easier to start a business than ever before but there is still a TON of steps. If you have a friend who is starting a new thing, offer your business support skills as a gift. Maybe you know numbers and can help them figure out their sales projections. Maybe you only know how to make a sandwich and will bring them lunch once a month. A new business owner is a lot like a new parent, they could use help with everything in their lives. 

🧚🏻‍♀️ FOR THE RETREAT LEADER OR LIFE COACH 🧚🏻‍♀️

If you’ve worked with any of your friends offering retreats or coaching, they would LOVE a testimonial from you. Testimonials are the lifeblood of marketing experiences like retreats. If your friend has testimonials on their website, then you can use that same format to write your testimonial. If your friend doesn’t have testimonials, ask them what format and length they would like. A great testimonial doesn’t have to be long but it does have to be specific about how this teacher benefitted you. The quickest way to get this done is to write the comment on their social media page(s). Get extra extra credit by sending your friend a video testimonial if you have the time.  

😡 FOR THE RECENTLY LAID OFF 😡

Most folks are living paycheck to paycheck, so your recently laid-off friends may not have savings to fall back on. They may need to come up with a big stack of cash to buy out their stock options or keep their healthcare coverage. Most folks are also out of work longer than they expect, so help your friends set themselves up. 

Depending on what you’re great at, teach your friend a life skill to save them money. This could be teaching them how to grocery shop and plan meals instead of ordering out twice a day. This could be helping them cancel all their cards and consciously restart the subscriptions they want to keep. 

🙅🏼‍♀️ FOR THE FRIEND IN A BAD RELATIONSHIP 🙅🏼‍♀️

The live-in boyfriend I had in my twenties was good for the first half and bad for the second half. At that time, I thought my value as a woman was a direct reflection of being able to keep a partner happy, so I stayed. 

If you have a friend who needs to leave but can’t figure out how, help them. This might mean connecting them to a new job, temporary housing, or being a shoulder to cry on. Let them know that you support them and your friendship is not dependent on their relationship status. 

🤗 WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NO COST GIFTS? 🤗

I want to know what’s your favorite way to give without buying stuff this holiday season. Leave me a comment and share your special stuff.