I've found that leaning into the "I do not care for marketing myself or negotiating, but I'm expensive by default" approach can work, but it requires a degree o

I've found that leaning into the "I do not care for marketing myself or negotiating, but I'm expensive by default" approach can work, but it requires a degree of being overtly and brazenly 'idiosyncratic'/odd that I find uncomfortable because it still feels like marketing myself. But it's often better than the alternative. People like stereotypes, basically, and I'm trying to (sparingly) lean into the 'autist programmer' stereotype even if it sometimes feels like 'hamming it up'. EDIT: specifically, it means I dress down to a fault with some clients, let my inner geek out at 'social events', get too technical if I know there's someone present who can translate and 'explain me', etc. Whether this behavior is just another form of manipulation and self-marketing, or just undoing years of trying to mask my 'true nature' is something I often contemplate.