My friend Peter recently wrote about the power of reaching out to two contacts—former clients, industry friends, other agencies, old friends, investors, etc.—per week. It’s clear to him that this is one of the most valuable things he could be doing for his businesses. He writes, “The network that brings us leads, talent, knowledge, and other opportunities gets stimulated, nurtured, and fed.”

It’s such a good practice that Peter and his team have scaled it up. Lucas Ballasy, who works as the CEO at one of Peter’s agencies, describes the experience like this:

We don’t do this because it’s fun or we have extra time but because we know it’s one more action that keeps driving us toward our vision. Just last week, I reached out to a prospective client who decided to put an engagement on hold earlier this year. Today, I had a call with their entire e-commerce team to revisit the potential engagement. All because I reached out.

When Lucas’s client saw his email, the response in their mind might’ve sounded like, “Wow. We have a problem, and you just popped up out of the blue discussing a solution. Great timing. We should talk.” It would feel like good luck. That’s the reaction you can create in a person you want to work with.

You may think that this is just prospecting, but it’s not. You’re crafting emails thoughtfully, not using mailmerge. You’re looking for opportunities to add value, even if it doesn’t result in business for you directly. You’re trying to be helpful and serve, with the understanding that it’ll all come back around somehow—even when you don’t know quite how yet. You’re creating good luck for somebody else.