This was a big week for Apple. Not only did they unveil their new iPhone 6 models, but also the new revolutionary Apple watches and mobile payment system.

Since its early days Apple has led the tech market with all of its innovations. For it to stay on top it needs to continually put out products pertinent in today’s fast moving highly technological world.

Like Apple, we too, must stay on the cutting edge of our career. I always make it a practice to ask my acting clients if they utilize the available social media. Surprisingly, many have yet to tap into the potential of how it can benefit their career. What may not be realized is that social media is free advertising. It allows us a platform where we can shape and create a marketing advantage.

Successful companies do not rest on their laurels, and neither should we. Our career, or marketing image, should always be evolving to stay in pace with trends and new ideas that are always flowing. Can we afford to rely on the old system of waiting for things to happen? Don’t we have at our disposal the very tools to make things happen? Our initial introduction into social media doesn’t have to be a big one. We can slowly get familiar with how it works and how we can form our image.

Hollywood is about packaging and marketing. Without a big agent doing that for us we have to do it ourselves. Successful companies, along with working actors, are continually investing in their careers. We can go months or possibly years without seeing the fruits of our labor and then seemingly, out of nowhere, it changes overnight.

We can learn from Apple. We can’t rely on what was done in the past but what we can make happen in the future. The old adage “out of sight, out of mind” works in the world of acting. Acting jobs can appear because we were fresh in the minds of casting directors or agents by staying active on social media. So the place to start is not having expectations but, rather, signing up and navigating our way through it.

There may be that initial resistance (I know that I had it), but when we feel more in control of our careers it will wane. Sign up for Facebook, Twitter, Flckr, or even tumbler. Find your voice. Start slowly and build connections at your own pace. Find out where the acting jobs are. Read up to date information on various sites that write about them. Social media is the next wave.

Apple is continually investing in the next best thing. We, too, should not sit back and wait. Sign up today and start posting. I post a few times a day of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and continually update my website material. Find what it is about you that is unique and market that as though it’s the next best thing.