Artlist and NZ Art Guild membership - promoting your art

Today I proceeded to join up with both these sites - Artlist and NZ Art Guild. Cross fingers the exposure is worth it (and they accept my subscription request). It really is a kick in the pants to keep producing when you have put out there that you are an active artist. But the way I see it, we creative people can produce and just hope that our work gets liked, bought and admired for years to come by a lucky few. Or we can can be active and promote and make sure that more people than just those lucky few, get a chance to view, buy and put our works up on their walls/mantel piece/toilet. I often wonder actually where some of my paintings are today? I know some have been stored then pulled out and hung again once the house/decor has changed - but the rest?