There's a pretty big industry surrounding how to promote yourself effectively, but ultimately, most of those things are secondary concerns. You shouldn't ignore marketing advice - there's often useful insights on what appears impressive to other people - but you'll always get more bang for the buck by actually doing things that are impressive to people rather than trying to make what you're doing appear impressive to others. Actions speak louder than words.
Doesn't that usually involve giving up your passion? Not every skill is worth getting, don't get me wrong though - I am apprehensive at doing things just to please some people.
Well, it definitely helps to be passionate about something that other people are impressed by, but unless you're into incredibly obscure areas of academia or work in a bubble, there's probably somebody out there that will be impressed by a job done well.
2. Tell people about them.
There's a pretty big industry surrounding how to promote yourself effectively, but ultimately, most of those things are secondary concerns. You shouldn't ignore marketing advice - there's often useful insights on what appears impressive to other people - but you'll always get more bang for the buck by actually doing things that are impressive to people rather than trying to make what you're doing appear impressive to others. Actions speak louder than words.