"Don't wait to be discovered" - Gil Atkinson

I absolutely love quotes. I find a lot of inspiration and motivation in them, and often look to them when I need a boost. My quote today is "Don't wait to be discovered" by Gil Atkinson, and I think that is so true. Often we just think people will come to us, and for some people that does happen, but not for everyone.

I opened my Etsy store in September and took a couple months setting it up. I began listing items just before Christmas, and for whatever reason, I thought "If you list it, they will buy"....right. I fell into the trap of thinking that just by listing items people will just flock to my store and buy everything! Or maybe that's what I hoped would happen. I didn't do anything to really put myself out there and promote my store.

http://www.angiesdesignshop.etsy.com/

After about 10 days, I started poking around the Etsy website and checked out the forums. I read a thread regarding how long it took to get your first sale. It was very eye opening. Some people had sales within the hour, others took months for their first sale. It was comforting to know I wasn't the only person to not get a sale right away. In the forums is where I heard about twitter and blogspot, and signed up for both right away. http://twitter.com/AngiesDesign
I have since noticed an increase in the traffic to my store, and found out some other great tips.

It is really hard to just put yourself out there and really promote yourself. It does get easier, but it takes work. Our success is in our own hands, and I think we forget that. We need to keep trying, exploring, and promoting ourselves. I think of it as being in a maze, with more than one way to get to the exit. Our goal is at the exit. While going through the maze, we may reach a dead end, and in that case, we have to back track and find a different path. That's ok! What's important to remember is to never give up, keep moving. We don't always know if the path we select will take us where we want to go, but enjoy the journey and take away everything you can from it. It may take us to anther path that will get us where we want to go.

So, put yourself out there and "Don't wait to be discovered"......