Even though I’ve been at this SEO (search engine optimization)/social media stuff for maybe 8 or so years now, and blogging is a major part of it, I really have to be in the mood to blog….and I’m rarely in the mood to blog.
So this is very special…I mean this blog…is very special. Don’t you feel honored? I know I do….and I thought you would. I feel so special writing it. I feel so facetious writing this part of it.
They say before starting a blog, have a vision, a goal and a purpose of the blog. I have none of the three. Does that mean I stop the blog? Not really. I’ll keep writing but only reluctantly.
Since I write cartoons and design products featuring those cartoons, I’ll write about that. (They say “Write what you know”). The funny thing is, this March 19th, Londons Times Cartoons will be 18 years old (or LTCartoons) as we now like to call it since nobody pronounces “Londons Times” correctly (including me).
My RickLondonGifts.com turns 9 years old sometimes this year but for the life of me I cannot remember the date so I celebrate it all on March 19th.
One neat thing. I’m in the middle of writing a book titled “Useless Quotes And Funny Cartoons” which will be released by March 19th. I think it’s neat to do something for anniversaries. My beloved wife Lee and I went out to Garvin Woodland Gardens for our last anniversary and I imagine we’ll do something for this one too.
Both of us are sort of homebodies though. I mean we like to get out and mingle with the townsfolk but I’d have to say our favorite “social event” is shopping at our smaller Kroger’s where “Everybody knows our name” and we sit and chat with all the happy Kroger employees, and they are quite happy. They get paid well. At the risk of sounding political, one would be hard-pressed to find a happy soul at the Wal-mart just around the corner from Kroger.
However they just raised the minimum wage several dollars so this might change the attitude of Wal-Mart. We buy our dry-goods there; but the organic and/or vegan selection is best at Kroger. Wal-Mart did make a promise several years ago on network news that they would have an organic/vegan department in most their stores and low and behold they followed up on their promise. Sam would be proud.
Oh good. I just thought of my goal, my vision, my reason for this blog; even though it’s almost over now.
Why do I work hard (and I do) at age 60 creating new gifts and collectibles of our images? The answer is not black and white nor easy to explain, but I can only say it is part of maybe being empathetic to other shoppers.
I know a lot of people, who, are sort of like me. That is they like to find unique hand crafted/designed products at reasonable prices on the net that they know absolutely they cannot and will not find at their local mall. Those are my products. Lee’s are the same.
We do allow Sears to sell them but only at their online store. Same with Amazon, Cafepress, Zazzle, Red Bubble, Oarttee, etc. There may come a day that we go 3-D retail establishments, and I imagine there is more money in it, but by keeping it online, we give people a chance to explore and find. Eureka.
But until that time comes, we’ve managed to offer some of the most unique and highly rated gifts and collectibles on the net. My offbeat cartoons and gifts are recognized as Google and Bing #1 ranked and have been every year since 2005.
If I spread myself too thin, I can’t guarantee I can keep that level of quality or recognition (though I would do everything possible to try).
Meantime, the way I see it, I’ll fall off that bridge when I get to it. Little things happen all the time that make me glad to be selling and creating online rather than at a physical store. For instance recently my CafePress funny tees & gift shop RickLondonCartoons.com added an Amazon checkout (Lee has one at her shop there as well). This is big, as most online shoppers love their Amazon accounts, and though we have plenty of items at Amazon, we have others at CafePress that can’t be found at Amazon, but can be checked out there.
Now I’m rambling, but expressing some of the good things about why I spend most of my time working on the Internet. Why not?
—————————————————————————————
Rick London is a writer, songwriter, cartoonist, and designer living in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. He is best known for launching Google’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoons & funny gifts “Londons Times”. He is married to nature/wildlife photographer Lee Hiller-London who has the popular nature blog Hike Our Planet.
Rick London Syndication 