Pick a Pony and Ride!

Making decisions is sometimes very difficult for me - especially when there are so many choices to choose from.  When I was about nine years old, I remember being at Baskin-Robbins, trying to decide which flavor ice cream to choose from the 31 flavors they carried.  I was absolutely dizzy with indecision and couldn't make a choice.  As the line grew longer and I felt the pressure from the crowd behind me, I finally said "vanilla."  The lady behind me laughed out loud and a man behind her said something like "all those flavors and she chooses vanilla!"  I was embarrassed almost to tears.

Since closing the studio in June, I've been concentrating my marketing efforts to on-line venues.  My philosophy is that while the studio was excellent local exposure for my art; kicking my on-line efforts up a few notches would multiply the number of viewers tremendously.

But over the past few years, I've managed to hook into so many different art marketing venues that I found I couldn't keep up with them all.  To give you an idea, here is a list of some of them:

1.  My website
2.  My blog
3.  Facebook
4.  Twitter
5.  LinkedIn
6.  Laguna Art
7.  ETSY
8.  EBay
9.  Wholesale Crafts
10.  Fine Art America
11.  Zazzle
12.  CafePress
13.  Art Slant
14.  Turning Art
15.  HARO
16.  Tumblr
17.  Weebly
18.  Squidoo
19.  Glossom
20.  Zatista
21.  Artfire
22.  The Craftstore
23.  Tophatter

And then there's my newsletter and emails that I send to my clients in addition to keeping my 4 galleries stocked with current inventory plus the Original Art 4 Rent business that I'm working on.  With all of these things to keep up with, when is there time to make art???!!

A few nights ago, I was unable to sleep.  It was 2:00 a.m. and I was anxious and edgy and  filling myself with the old Catholic guilt, telling myself I needed to work harder and not giving myself credit for what I've done.  As I started to write out my thoughts and my "to-do" list for the next day, I decided instead to write out all the things I had accomplished and went a step further and made up the list that you see above.

No wonder I felt overwhelmed!!  Who could possibly maintain a presence on these sites and do any art? I had a bad case of  "paralysis by analysis" and I needed to make some changes.  Quickly.

As my beloved grandfather used to tell me, "pick a pony and ride it."  And he'd follow it up with "and don't ever look back."  He was such a wise man.

Today the list has been whittled down to 8 items and I've put these items on my calendar so I know when to update them.  I finally have some peace of mind, and am actually starting to swirl some designs around in my head again.  I've "forgiven" myself for not keeping up with all the sites and am in the process of deleting and closing my accounts.

What a relief.  With these new ideas in my head and a clear path ahead, I may actually get some art done!  If nothing else, I think I'll definitely sleep better.