If you produce work, you shouldn’t be afraid to share it. When you know others will see something you make, write, or shoot, you’ll put more thought into it.
Sharing work online isn’t the same thing as working for free. Your ideas are freely available, yes, but the chance to turn your work into a message, a tribe, a movement — that’s priceless. The good stuff. Untapped opportunity.
What’s also priceless is the opportunity to show people your expertise or passion with a body of work. A public portfolio, completed little by little over time, on a consistent basis.
After a while, you may have something great on your hands. Then the door opens to make a difference — a lesson learned; a good story told. Making the unknown known. Everyone needs more of that stuff.
Public work is better than something you produce in private. Think of a journal entry versus an online article. Or a sketchbook under your bed versus oil paintings hanging in your living room. Once the quality is up to par, you can place an obligation on yourself to share it as a way to improve.
Produce, share, and repeat. If done thoughtfully, this process allows you to hone your craft while shedding light for others on whatever it is you are sharing. When you’re generous with good ideas, they (and you) get better.
The more open you are about your ideas and work, the more people can learn. And the more people can learn, the more people will notice.
Your perceived expertise increases, and so does your actual expertise.
Being generous with your ideas — rather than gatekeeping industry secrets — allows them to spread. I’m not saying to work for free, but generosity (of ideas) can pay dividends, especially if the right people happen to see. Generosity always has a way of returning the favor.
Do the work you can manage, and then share it with others so it can become something greater. Plus, if you fall in love with doing the work for the sake of the work, the kickback you get from sharing is the cherry on top.
The lesson here isn’t that you should work for free, or that sharing work is a way to indulge in your own vanity.
Consider this: if you gatekeep your knowledge, skill, or passion from others, then what’s the point?
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Nice Post
Some artists are reluctant to share their process because they don’t want to be influenced by public reaction.