If you publish a newsletter or e-zine or have a website or blog - and if you're in business and reading this you probably should - how about writing about your contacts? Assuming your business contacts like promotion and publicity, writing about them is a clear benefit to them and if their story is interesting and well written, it's good content for your publication as well.
If your contacts are in related fields to your core business, if they sell goods or services that many of your readers or viewers use, or if their stories are interesting and positive, you have the makings of compelling content for your publication or site and an extremely valuable promotional service to offer the people and businesses you write about. Your focus should be more on the personalities and human side of the people and their businesses to be most interesting and effective.
Of course you'll want to ask permission to write about a contact and to check the content with them, during and after publication - all of which are chances to relate to them on a topic related specifically to them. In my mind, it can't be much better than that.
Sometimes you may want to write about people who don't want the publicity - so back off (unless that's your business) because doing otherwise will have the opposite than desired result. Also, at times you might want to write about someone or a business that interests or appeals to you just because you want to share the news or story with others, with no thought of "relationship marketing" - that's fine, too, but still check that it's okay with your subject.
Promoting others when you can do it sincerely is a great gift to give; consider it super-testimonial.
