In my experience every time I have invested in myself it has never gone wrong. I have never regretted it or felt like it wasn't worth the time or the money. Some of us are more inclined to invest time and some might find it easier to invest money. Maybe you love going to workshops or conventions, but you have trouble putting in the time painting or creating privately. Maybe you have no problem putting in tons of time creating, but you struggle letting go of money to get more education. Maybe you are introverted and it's just plain uncomfortable attending a show, workshop or promoting yourself. Let's face it sometimes you just don't want to make a change that you know you need to make.
I think you have to do all of these things in order to be at your best and to get the rewards you deserve for your hard work:
1. Daily solitary creating time.
2. Increasing your skills by investing in education.
3. Share your work with others (promotion-icky-lol).
You have to be self-aware. Recognize where your strengths are in these categories and where you are the weakest. Maybe you're the Instagram king but don't invest in taking classes or workshops. Maybe you paint all day every day, but don't have a gallery or can't afford art ads in the magazines. Whatever your situation you have to figure out what it is you want out of art and take chances by doing the stuff that you are uncomfortable with that will help you reach your goals. So figure out which one really is weak for you and start putting time and/or money towards it. In my experience, the reward from that will feel so great and it will return profits and growth.
Personally, I have struggled with letting go of money to invest in promotion, workshops and attending events. There is alot you can do for free with social media now a days, but at some point you'll find you just have to push a little harder especially if no one else is doing it for you. I have a lot of fear for being broke especially when I already spent $100,000 on art school. I also struggle with doing tasks that I just don't find interesting or they take a lot of time to change- like anything administrative or computer related. So those are my weak spots. My strengths are making the work, investing in education and free self promotion online.
One thing recently that I changed was getting a new website, which I put off doing for a year! Finally, 1 month ago I decided that was unacceptable and I would make a move. After making a list of what I needed and what I didn't want I decided to sign on with Fine Art Studio Online. And I gotta say that I am so in love with their service and product that I am highly recommending it. I wished I had done it a year ago. It has been incredibly easy to use, update and they transferred my original domain name and website very quickly and easily. I also can't say enough about their tech support! Computer stuff really annoys me sometimes, so I love that if I can't figure something out or find something that they are there to help...and help HAPPILY they do. None of them are jerks about it and they respond super fast.
So if you are in the market for a new site please check them out:
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