Fail Again. Fail Better.

Since I've started my business' on Etsy I've gotten really good at failing.  I didn't mean that in "I'm a loser slash failure" sort of way.  I meant it in a "I don't give up when things don't work out quite the way I meant them" kind of way.  My life has become all about taking chances and sometimes succeeding and, more often than not, failing and then getting back up and trying again.  And trying again as many times as I need to in order to  succeed.  It's a lot of work and I'm not saying that I don't get frustrated or discouraged, because I do.  However, my desire to succeed is a driving force in my life - and failure is not an option. I know that successful people have their failures - but what sets them apart from others  is that they don't quit.

I'm always looking for ways to promote my shop.  I  just know that it's all about numbers - the more people who know I exist - the better chances of making sales - I know I have a customer base out there - we just haven't connected...yets.  Tonight I tried Tophatter for the first time.  Tophatter is an on-line, virtual auction house.  According to their website "Every day, buyers and sellers from all over the world gather for live auctions that are fun, fast, and feature fabulous items at exclusive prices."  So...I set up my account, I chose the lovely photograph of the tulip to auction off, I set a reserve price of $5.00, submitted it to an upcoming auction...and didn't get one bid and no one bought my photograph.  What I did get is exposure.  I got thirty views on Tophatter - so there are thirty more people who know about my shop tonight than knew about it a day ago.

So what are my plans?  I'm going to do it again.  I've submitted four more of my photos for other auctions.  What the hell...it didn't cost me anything but a little time...which I have plenty of.  And I refuse to be defeated - I will sell a photo if it kills me (and even if it's a loss).  That's just how I roll.