Throughout my years as a photographer, and even in this marketing column, I’ve shown ways how to promote yourself as a creative. Through platforms like Facebook and Instagram, e-mail newsletters and even business cards, it’s important to market your skillset.

In today’s day and age, this is important. Doing so helps us get jobs and freelance gigs.

But what if I told you that it wasn’t all about you?

Silent networking

One of the core principles at Photofocus is that while our team certainly shares their own work, we try to share the rest of our team’s work too. This helps to create a sense of community, where we all feel like a team working together.

The same principle can be translated to the creative mindset that we all have as photographers. While we primarily push our own work, it doesn’t hurt to share someone else’s work on social media. Did you see a really cool series of images that you think your audience will love? Repost or share it. Give credit where credit is due.

Doing this regularly helps your perspective clients see that you’re all about being a creator, and giving praise where it’s due. You’re not about just yourself, and you don’t have a huge ego.

What about competition?

I often hear complaints about how saturated the photography market is. But really, as long as you do your work and do it well, you can make a living in today’s marketplace.

It’s because of this that you really shouldn’t be worried about competition.

Clients come and go, influencers at companies change jobs and we’re ultimately affected by it. But just as you lose one client, you’ll probably gain another (or two). Instead of focusing on taking work away from your competition, know that it’s part of a cycle. Because of this, don’t worry about re-sharing your competition’s content.

Rules when sharing

First off, just hitting the Share button on Facebook isn’t going to cut it. You need to show your excitement and love for what you’re sharing. Be engaged. Explain why you liked the images. Mention the original creator, and be sure to tag their business page if they have one.

They’ll see what you’re doing, and will more than likely return the favor.

What does sharing accomplish?

I know what you’re asking yourself — “why?”

Simply put, today’s world requires that we share more than just our own work. Whether it be creative articles we find online, photoshoot inspiration or our favorite photographs, it’s important to show that we’re engaged in the creative space. We can’t be photographing 24 hours a day. That’s why it’s important to share the love. If you do it properly, you might just find yourself with more engaged followers … which should lead to more clients.

For more on Photography Marketing, see my weekly column.