Academia - Are we supposed to be closing questions that may be thinly-veiled self-promotions?

As someone who started in CV. I can vouch for this questioner as he has been nothing but a wonderful participant at CV. He always provides very apt and helpful answers.

Though, I think the question can definitely use some clarification. The deep root is about networking in academia, which I believe is a valid question for this board.

If the question was asked from the other side of the table and was about finding a reputable paid statistical consultant, I think it would be fine (assuming on topic otherwise).

The question itself reveals the potential conflict of interest with the "advertising" discreetly mentioned in his profile. This is exactly what we ask for in situations like this.

While he might be looking to gain clients here, it reads to me like he is trying to improve his networking/advertising efforts. So in general, I think questions with this level of "advertising" are okay.

Specifically, I am not sure the question is particularly clear or really answerable. I am not sure it is so unclear that it should be closed.

To take yet another point of view and to address the more general question:

I do not think that we can distinguish whether such a post was created for purposes of self-promotion or from a genuine interest in learning about new ways of finding customers, jobs or similar. Therefore we should apply the presumption of innocence to such posts (maybe unless we are overrun by them). In this specific case, I find it plausible that the asker is honestly interested in what he is asking for. Therefore I do not think that it should be closed for this reason.

Moreover, I do not see how this question is much different from many questions from users who are looking for a position. Both imply that the asker has certain skills and is available for hire.