My friend Sam Parmelee is composing some original music cues for a series of Generosity Water videos I’m producing, and he just sent me his invoice.

He’s doing me a favor and is getting paid very little compared to his normal rate, but he included this in his invoice: “Thank you for your business!” (I don’t think I’m a special dame — I bet he writes that for all the producers he works with.)

He might have said, “Thank you for believing in my talent,” or “Thank you for trusting me with this project,” or “Thank you for keeping food on my family’s table.”  It doesn’t matter.  He expressed his thanks for the business opportunity — that he, as a creative type, isn’t so precious about his artistry to not realize that I could go anywhere to get it, but I chose to work with him.  Thankfulness means a lot.

Expressing gratitude means you have to suck up your pride.  Be selfless.  Be humble.

And then, be crafty to use the tools you have — like an INVOICE! — to express it.