A little ditty about determination. When we brought home our first puppy from the rescue, a cute little white ball of fluff we named Tiki, we decided we didn’t want him to sleep on the bed with us.

We provided a comfortable doggie bed next to us and eventually a few others in various parts of the house.

Besides his bed, Tiki would find all kinds of places to sleep – under the bed, on a chair, even in the firewood storage nook. When we went camping he loves to snuggle up next to our feet at the end of the sleeping bag.

When guests came to visit he’d tear down to the guest room when it looked like they were retiring for the night to attempt sleep with them. The guest room bed was lower than our bed.

It always seemed like our bed was just out of reach and we didn’t encourage him to try to make the leap.

But after seven years and a long stay at the kennel, little Tiki mustered all of his might and made the leap up. He made it about halfway, catching his chest on the edge but managed to claw his way on. How triumphant he looked!

And there was no way anyone was going to get him off the bed. He spread himself low and glared at us with an expression that said, do you even try to remove me.

Ever since we’ve let him come up on the bed and sleep by our feet. We even moved a hope chest over so he could climb up in two quick bounces. The only restrictions we’ve enforced is stopping him from inching up towards the pillows.

Seven years and he never gave up trying until he succeeded in his quest to sleep on the big bed.

When I set out to sell my photography, I was determined to improve my skills and to seek out markets that would provide a return on investment in equipment, travel and time spent persuing the image.

I tried a bunch of things. First I thought stock photography would be the answer after reading a few books from photographers who had enjoyed the golden years of stock – when there were few competitors and enough demand to make it viable.

But eventually I found a better return on my efforts in selling fine art photography. After years of selling sportswear out of my garage with a company an artist friend and I stared called Fishboy Art and Design, I knew I was done with the idea of trying to guess the market and preorder a bunch of inventory and then try to unload it.

So the print on demand or POD model suited me. Print on demand allows the artist to offer a long trail or deep inventory of options, sell a variety of sizes, medium and products while having no investment in inventory.

I started at the bottom of the ladder like everyone else. Studied the successfully selling artists. Learn the tricks of the various websites. Read the advice, asked questions and started to sell a few photographs.

I was determined to become a consistent selling artist so I poured my efforts into building a quality portfolio with a diverse offering to appeal to different types of customers. I also dedicated my time to marketing myself through social media, blogging, press releases and exploring just about every promotional venue that I could discover.

After a number of year, I started to see more and more sales coming my way. Each month building on the next. Each success building off another. Every sale moving the images up the search. Gaining repeat business. Studying which price point sold the best and which promotion received the most attention.

Success in the creative fields does not happen overnight for most participants. Like any career it takes determination over a number of years. It takes a lot of hard work and consistent effort. Working smart while still maintaining your passion for what attracted you to the arts in the first place.

I’m sure Tiki never once thought that he wouldn’t make it up on the bed one day.

More info: edward-fielding.pixels.com

Wash Day by Edward M. Fielding – https://edward-fielding.pixels.com/featured/wash-day-edward-fielding.html

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