Flat out advertising will get you kicked off the site in a heartbeat. While it is in the Terms and Services that you cannot use Flickr to advertise, it doesn’t mean you cannot indirectly promote your business. But first, I want to address a common misconception people have about this site. If you are using Flickr and want to increase your visibility, there are several ways you can do so.

It has plenty of professional portfolios, amateur albums and even creative commons items that can be used freely for personal or commercial purposes. A place for people to show off their own work, it is probably the most popular photo site on the web. The one that has managed to cover all things image sharing is Flickr. Mainly because it is in a market that is so well covered by massive websites. Most are innovative but don’t quite manage to take off the way the creators hoped it would. Some are big hits, some are just carbon copy wannabes. The niche is ever widening, with more sites being created to fit new audiences every day.

You have the life-inclusive multipurpose Facebook, the quickfire thought sharing platform Twitter, the time wasting viral powerhouse YouTube, the professional networking tool LinkedIn, the inspiration generating Pinterest…well, you get the idea. Social media comes in many shapes and forms.

Flickr commons photos