I have
recognized that sometimes when I start browsing Etsy and looking around at all
the beautiful items that others are creating, I get overwhelmed. I start to feel like a little fish in a
gigundoid pond. I start thinking, “How
will people find me in this sea of glorious products? What makes me so special?” Other times I decide to do an Etsy search to
see if my tags are working the way I want them to. Let’s say I have some hot pink flower
earrings and I want to see when they come up in search, so I type
in that tag and I am then faced with fifty pages of hot pink flower
earrings. I start looking for mine and
realize that there are some really talented people out there selling gorgeous
hot pink flower earrings. The self-doubt
kicks in and I start clicking further.
Inevitably I click on some shop’s cute hot pink flower earrings and see
that they have 2000 sales under their belt and they opened their shop a year
after I did. Total psych-out.
Here is what
I have realized from going down this path one too many times that inevitably
gets me back on track on the Psyched-Up Groove Train.
- Recognize that others have proven they can be successful on Etsy and that means you can, too!
The fact
that there are other jewelry makers out there getting ten sales a day (in a
land with hundreds of thousands of jewelry sellers) is proof that people can be
successful on Etsy. I reframe my
thinking to ask myself how I can get more of that Etsy revenue pie goodness. I also consider what I might be doing/not
doing that is preventing my sales from skyrocketing. I focus on what I can do better with my
business.
- Remember why you went down that rabbit hole in the first place.
Oh yeah, I was
trying to improve my tagging when I stumbled into Psyched-Out Land. So maybe I should get back to that and focus
on my own business… Tommy Hilfiger didn’t
get where he is today because he was worried about what Ralph Lauren was doing. Reframe and refocus and get back to it.
- Celebrate your own unique abilities.
If you haven’t
read Gay Hendricks’ The Big Leap, you
might want to grab yourself a copy. The book
is all about discovering your unique abilities so that you can focus on that
and live in your Zone of Genius, where you will be most content and serving
your purpose for the world to benefit.
Look at your body of work and recognize what it is that you do that is
different from everybody else and just celebrate it and adore it for a
while. Let it sink in. Each of us is one of a kind in this whole
universe – our experiences, relationships, talents and interests all come
together in this luscious soup of uniqueness that no one else can
replicate. And the art that comes from
your hands is representative of that uniqueness. Cherish it.
- Realize that there is an endless amount of abundance in this world. The more we create, the more there is, and that benefits everyone.
In a book I
read recently called The Art of Earning, this message of abundance was described through nature. A deer drinks from a stream and lives and
thrives. It passes on and other deer are
born and drink from that same stream and the circle continues. The stream continues to flow. Success in business works the same way. There is room for everyone who wants to
partake in the offerings of the Universe.
You just need to ask for it, work for it, and be ready to receive it. Just because there are other people getting 2000
sales on Etsy doesn’t mean that you won’t or can’t get 2000 sales on Etsy. It may not be easy, but it’s certainly not
impossible.
Have any of
you grappled with similar psych-out thoughts?
If so, how have you dealt with them?
2 comments:
When those exact thoughts strike, I try to then stay away from etsy for awhile and look for an inspiring blog or book to lift my "I can do it also!)spirits.
The Art of Earning is a wonderful book, helping me to see that it is a abundantly beautiful pool that we can all share in. I started reading it again last week.
Lisa as I was reading your insightful post it got even better for me when I saw my painting! Thanks!
Susan,
Thank you for your additional advice. That's a great idea to read something that inspires you to help refocus.
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