The Perfect Tee

Even though nearly every adult in the U.S. is reported to have a favorite t shirt, and at least fifteen in their drawer, how do you know what tshirt to buy as a gift. Sometimes it’s even harder to choose the right one for you.

But what is the perfect tshirt? That can be quite objective, but its not a “hit or miss” proposition.

When choosing a t shirt for someone else, I usually try to get inside their head and heart. What do they feel most comfortable in? Do they love humor or would feel embarrassed wearing a funny item of clothing? Do they prefer a historic place photo? All these things have to be taken into consideration. Like me, most of my friend’s tee philosophy is “the funnier the better”.

Knowing the recipient’s personality is pertinent when choosing the perfect tshirt. Is tha person a visual type or enjoys words more. Perhaps both. I am one of those proud tee owners and so most of my favorite t-shirts have a graphic cartoon image with some text. These never fail to be mentioned in passing conversations when wear them in public. , I am stopped every time by people wanting to know where I got it, or just a simple compliment on it.

Is the recipient a doctor, a lawyer, a horse rancher or cowboy? A scientist or marriage and couples counselor? That kind of information can go a long way in deciding what type of tee to purchase.

The best part of giving a tee as a gift, aside from the price usually being between $14 and $25 depending on the quality and graphic, is the fact that it is something people don’t talk about a lot, but get great use out of them. It is, in many ways, an ideal and unexpected gift, especially when humor or cartooning is involved.

Order your favorite tee or tees online today. Try some for yourself and wear them around, go shopping in them, or walk the dog in the park. Watch the difference in attitude people have when approaching you, especially if you are wearing one that is humorous. It happens nearly every time to me. Someone will stop me and want to know where I got it, and sometimes are even crass enough to ask what I paid for it. But that’s okay. It’s usually a nice person simply giving a compliment and seeking information on how to order a similar one.

Tshirts, historically have been an excellent way to express oneself. If you’ve not tried one on for size,and seen the positive reaction of your circle of friends (and those outside the circle) you will. Order one today and see the difference.

Add a matching cap or dog sweater for your dog and get the attention of a supermodel.

www.LTSuperstore.com
www.ricklondonwear.com
www.ricklondoncollection.com
www.londonstimes.us

How We Market Our Stuff

As a cartoonist, I don't get asked too many questions regarding the world of website SEO. As an Internet consultant who studied business at Western Governor's University, I get asked questions daily. And it really is not much of a surprise. A great many web owners do not know SEO. There are others who think they know SEO, and “learned from experts”, only to find out within a few weeks or months that their site has been removed from Google for using backdoor or blackhat methods of marketing. The sad thing is that most of them didn't have a clue they were doing it unethically. They simply downloaded an Ebook that they paid way to much money for and followed the instructions.

What they fail to realize is that most of the time, the author of that ebook has downloaded another ebook before writing his/or hers and simply plagiarized most of it, thinking, “If I bought it on the Internet, and from a guru, chances are it's good information. Usually it is not.

I do not write or sell Ebooks at this time. Why? Because I don't consider myself a guru or an expert. A lot of people shouldn't who do. I am very good at it, and I am one of the few who has SEO'd my own cartoon website into the Alexa Top 100,000 websites (as low as 65,000), but that still does not make me an expert. I am pursuing more education before I use that word to describe me. Let's just say, for the most part, I believe I know what I'm doing, and people pay me to do it, generally before they pay “an expert”. And there is a reason. I research, I read, I double read, and I triple read, not just sites on the Internet, but scholarly books in our university library.

I guess the most asked questions are, “What should I do, PPC Advertising, article marketing, blogging, link exchange, keyword optimization, or what?

The question is not the same for everyone, though a few of the basics apply to all sites.

The first thing I usually tell them is that once their website is complete, look at it as a desert Island and a large hotel chain has an option to build a hotel there which will attract millions of happy visitors.
Your job is to make sure that hotel gets built, the word gets out about it, and people not only visit but purchase from you while staying at the hotel. After all, you have built a shop or shops very nearby the upcoming four star hotel.

Can it be done overnight? Sure, if you want to get kicked off most of the major web engines. You simply start spamming and spamming is a numbers game. The problem is spamming is bad netiquette and even illegal in some states. And you will be spinning your wheels. That is not just email spamming but blog spamming, article spamming and any other kind.

The first key is patience and to take things one thing at a time. Keywords are a basic. Overture and others offer keyword services. Find out what the most appropriate keywords are for your tags and metatag and use them. Don't overdo it. Simply use the most targeted ones.

Get a blog, preferably a blog within your own domain. Remember you are also branding your product or service and you want it to be your blog, not Myspace, or Facebook. When you blog with them, which is okay for meeting people, socializing etc., you are helping brand them. If you feel so charitable then do so. I have blogs at many different sites, but I use my main blog with my company's name on it the most often. That is my “focus blog”. I go to pinging services like Pingoat and make

certain they update the blog at least twice a week. This sends it out to other blogs that might be interested in the story.

If you are a good writer, article marketing is king. But it is a slow process. You will not get a following from it overnight. There are hundreds of thousands of article directories on the Internet. You want to make certain you are at least on the top one, Ezinearticles and if you don't mind paying, also Usnare.

There are others that are very popular and lists of them. You don't want to submit to every single one out there; as many of them do not have topics that pertain to your product or service.

There is good article submission software and services that prevent spamming, and can write and rewrite your article and allow you to use targeted keywords that prevent it from pinging unwanted blogs.

Be careful though, when using these softwares and services and make certain they do what they say they do. A good place to start is Tucows or Download and read some of the reviews. Cnet offers a good many reviews as well.

Again, be patient. You will have written at least fifty articles, probably, before you notice a change in your ranking and dramatic increase in visitors. Also, in article marketing, as in any other kind of SEO, “Its a jungle out there” or even a war, and everyone is vying for the top position. So for heaven's sake don't just write an article and put your link. Google is on to that and can see through it pretty fast. Write something of value and substance that people can and will use.

PPC Advertising often comes up in conversations. I use it, and so should you. But before using it, read the tutorial or knowledge page that the service offers. I have used most of them and find
Google Adwords to be the easiest interface and most flexible. MSN Adsense, though not as
big, offers some fun surprises too. Both offer quality hits.

There are many second-tier ppc services and I tend to stay away from them. They bring in a lot of traffic but it tends to be low quality curiosity-seeking untargeted surfers. It is more economical but one gets what one pays for.

There are many other things to know, and a lot of them I am currently learning. I will share them as I research and find them to be true. I know proper SEO works in my own Londons Times Cartoon stores, and I have seven of them. If I didn't use it, I would simply have seven desert islands with seven unbuilt hotels.

www.londonstimes.us
www.ricklondonwear.com
www.ricklondoncollection.com
www.justfunnyaprons.com
www.justfunnyhoodies.com
www.LTSuperstore.com

My Brother's Real Estate Company

I want to take this time and opportunity to congratulate my younger brother who runs the family real estate business back home. His company, started by my maternal grandfather, Marcus London, is 75 years old today. Here is the story and my baby brother. Way to go Andy. Keep up the great work! This is reprinted from today's Hattiesburg American:

London and Stetelman has been buying and selling since 1933
By EMMA JAMES

Third-generation family-owned business London and Stetelman Commercial Realtors celebrated its 75th anniversary this week - a milestone that hasn't quite sunk in for President Andy Stetelman.

"I don't think it's really hit me yet," Stetelman said. "We've been here for 75 years and we want to see the business continue to grow."

ADVERTISEMENT

London and Stetelman sells commercial real estate in the Pine Belt area, including office and retail spaces as well as independent properties. The real estate agency also manages residential real estate.

"The whole year after Katrina was a blur," Stetelman said. "There was growth before Katrina, and the availability of GOZone money made the growth here pretty monumental. Business owners didn't want to miss out on that opportunity."

While not moving at as frantic a pace as right after Katrina, Stetelman said that the city of Hattiesburg is continuing to grow in the commercial market.

"I think that we're going to continue to have that steady growth," he said. "It would be nice to have a crystal ball so we'll know for sure, but I think that Hattiesburg will continue growing. Nationwide, you have a soft market, but Hattiesburg has traditionally remained somewhat immune to that."

Hattiesburg's seeming immunity to the softening real estate market nationwide should be credited to primarily a strong infrastructure supported by the University of Southern Mississippi and other colleges as well as the medical community.

While a large amount of retail growth may result in the saturation of the market, Stetelman said, the market has a way of taking care of itself.

"It's a free enterprise market," he said. "If it becomes saturated, some businesses will succeed and some will fail, but what those might be, I can't really speculate."

The influences of Hattiesburg's administration and the recruiting efforts of the Area Development Partnership also play a role in the city's growth, Stetelman said.

"Their presence makes Hattiesburg as successful as it is," Stetelman said. "We rely on them to keep us in business."

London and Stetelman was founded in 1933 by Marcus London and was originally located on Front Street. Originally a full-service real estate agency that focused on residential and commercial real estate, London started the business because he was tired of the grocery business. Stetelman said.

"My grandfather owned London Grocery on Mobile Street and was tired because he never saw the family," Stetelman said. "He needed more time to take care of his personal life and real estate seemed like a good option."

Stetelman's father, Mike Stetelman, joined the agency in 1955.

"It was a one-stop shop," Stetelman said. "You could get a loan from the bank next door, take care of the real estate and get insurance at the same time. Most of the time you could get all of your business taken care of in a day - two at the most."

The decision to shift to the company's focus to commercial real estate, Stetelman said, came after the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which changed the regulations surrounding commercial real estate.

"We had to decide in what direction to take the company and we chose to specialize in commercial real estate," Stetelman said. "We've grown and haven't looked back."

Specializing in commercial real estate before most real estate companies began specializing their services also benefited London and Stetelman over the years, said Adam Watkins, president of the Hattiesburg Board of Realtors.

"They found that niche in the Hattiesburg community and by focusing on commercial real estate and property management, they're still here," he said. "It's a strategy that's worked well for them and we're very proud for them."

Stetelman joined the company as a gofer in 1975 while he was still in high school. He succeeded his father as company president in 1988.

The lack of sibling rivalry inherent in family businesses, Stetelman said, is one of the reasons he believes the company has survived.

"I was the only one of my siblings really interested in the family business," he said. "There wasn't any of that sibling rivalry that can really hurt family businesses."

London and Stetelman is extraordinary because of their longevity, Watkins said.

"Historically real estate companies that are started locally don't last long," he said. "It's amazing that they've not only been able to survive, but grow and thrive."

London and Stetelman also relocated out of downtown Hattiesburg for the first time, moving to the newly-renovated Roseberry Piano House in the University Mall off Hardy Street. The move's purpose, Stetelman said, was to give employees more space and give Oak Grove clients easier access to the company.

The biggest goals London and Stetelman has for the year, Stetelman said, include sustaining the growth of the company and the Hattiesburg area.

"Our goal is to keep focused on our mission," he said. "We've had 75 years of continuing success and we want to keep moving in that direction so we can enjoy 75 more years."

The True (Gory) History Of St. Valentine's Day

Real History Of St. Valentines Day & Why We Give Gifts & Cards

As early as the fourth century B.C., the Romans engaged in an annual young man’s rite to passage to the God Lupercus. The names of the teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion for the duration of the year, after which another lottery was staged. After eight hundred years of this cruel practice, the early church fathers sought to end this practice… They found an answer in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred some two hundred years earlier.

Ancient Rome is riddled with strange ceremonies and traditions, especially toward the end of its reign as a mighty empire. In fact, the way young men and women learned love was from a lottery. Once a year, in a ceremony, a teenage boy picked a girl’s name out of a box (all the teenage girls in the village names were in the box). She was his for a year. She was at his command. And sometimes it was not a pretty thing to witness. It would be another 800 years before the church put an end to this practice.

The event turned out to be a celebration of a good man, a priest and bishop named Valentine who lived near Rome in the mid to late second century. During this time Emporer Claudius 11 had outlawed marriage as he felt it made his soldiers weak, and he needed the strongest men available. After all, Rome was crumbling.

After witnessing the horrors of young lovers being torn apart for wanting to be married, Valentine held secret ceremonies and married them anyway. He was soon caught by Claudius’ army. Claudius tried to convert him to the Roman way of thinking but Valentine held firm to his Christian beliefs and was executed.

Valentine’s execution date was February 24th, 270.

During Valentine’s prison sentence, he came in contact with his jailer, Asterius who had a blind daughter. Asterius requested him to heal his daughter. Through his faith he miraculously restored the sight of Asterius’ daughter. Just before his execution, he asked for a pen and paper from his jailer, and signed a farewell message to her “From Your Valentine,” a phrase that has endured eternity.

Valentine was later named a Patron Saint, and spiritual overseer of an annual festival. The festival involved young Romans offering women they admired, and wished to court, handwritten greetings of affection on February 14. The greeting cards acquired St. Valentine’s namesake and still has it.

Valentine’s day grew in popularity along with Christianity, and is now celebrated all over the world, celebrated by almost all faiths. One of the earliest Valentine’s cards was sent in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. It is now showcased at the British Museum.

I only found out the origins of Valentine’s Day today, and found it quite interesting. So what I decided to do was add a “Sex, Love, & Relationship” section to my main gift shop, and mark everything down up to 80% just through Valentine’s day, just to make the Patron Saint proud. It can include a gift card and the customer does not have to sign it “From Your Valentine” but can if he/she wishes.

By the way, we are offering up to 80% off all gifts and collectibles in our "Sex, Love, And Relationships" section at www.ricklondoncollection.com . It is well worth the visit. From pillows to keepsake boxes to day planners to tshirts. They are all a lot of fun and make for the greatest gift, laughter....the gift of healing.

Its hard to believe

This ten years has passed by so quickly it is really
hard to believe. I can hardly even think of what life was
like prior to starting Londons Times Cartoons www.londonstimes.us
and even after starting it I was certain it was always going to be
more or less a hobby and I would always be in a sales job that I
didn't like at all. The biggest irony of it all though is now,
I rarely have time to create, which is what I love to do the most.
The majority of the day is done article marketing and blogging.

I still enjoy visiting the main cartoon site and seeing the counter
at nearly 9 million visitors and can hardly believe it; like it must
be some kind of mistake. But I guess with around 8000 or so cartoons
up, maybe there is something there to please everyone. I hope so, anyway.

Rick London Goes Xanga

Offbeat cartoonist E-tailer Rick London www.ricklondonwear.com, www.LTSuperstore.com, www.londonstimes.us, said today he is trying the social network blog Xanga because
he has read it receives a phenomenal amount of hits, easy to navigate, and will help him network over the coming year for next holiday season.

"London say, "I was a late bloomer in life, so needless to say, a late bloomer on the Internet, but better late than never.

London has already started posting pictures and text in categories at Xanga.com that are of interest to him such as pets, entertainment, news, current events, health, and more. His Xanga blog address is http://www.xanga.com/beardiethor

He invites all to join in and blog to your heart's desire.

Press Release


September 27, 2007 Contact: Alexa Ferotina
For Immediate Release 501-588-1966 info@londonstimes.us



Rick London Expanding Londons Times Cartoon Empire After Decade On The
Internet With Thousands Of New Gifts And Collectibles


By now, most who have spent any time at all typing “rick london” or “londons times cartoons”

into Google, are aware that Londons Times Cartoons (www.londonstimes.us) is the most sizzling wild

offbeat cartoon on the market. But cartoonist/writer/entrepreneur Rick London looks at it from both a

humorous and serious angle.

“Of course there is no better feeling in the world to receive emails and letters saying how better

we made someone feel just because of our humor. But I wanted to take that a step further and

bring it into the retail market so that people could do more with the images than just view them, but

actually use them, wear them, or play with them.”

And bring it to the retail market London did.

He has opened stores featuring about 70,000 items of his 8500 or so (mostly color) single

panel cartoons, with shades of The Far Side (critics often compare).

London has opened a megastore that sells everything from porcelain plates to t-shirts to

tote bags to his own cartoon gourmet coffee gift basket at Londons Times Superstore

(www.londonstimessuperstore.com) which he opened in September of 2006”.

Londons says, “I truly had no idea people would go for the merchandise the way they have. It's

been a bit of a frenzy but I like that and I know people are enjoying the merchandise.”

More recently, London has opened more niche-oriented stores, with all the items also featuring

his cartoon images such as Rick Londonwear (www.ricklondonwear.com) which might be the

first line of cartoon designer clothes (and gifts and collectibles), Prozacwear (www.prozacwear.com),

clothing that will make you laugh at your own depression, Just Funny Aprons

(www.justfunnyaprons.com) which showcases his cartoons on bar b q aprons, and Just Funny

Hoodies which showcase cartoons on fine quality hooded sweatshirts.

London a full-time return-to-school business student has also launched his own communications

firm which specializes in medical devices. He invented the first fully-automatic one which can be

seen at North American Satellite Systems, Inc. (www.nsatinc.com).

The websites have remained highly rated by such analytical companies as Alexa.com and

Netcraft.com, among others.

London's main cartoon site has received over 7.8 million visitors since 2005 making it one

of the only one of its kind to ever break such a record.

Londons success story is legendary in that he began his business in a vacant rural Mississippi

warehouse where he lived and worked for a year, with no heat or air, sleeping in a sleeping

bag on a concrete floor at age 44 because nobody believed he could do what he said he was going

to do in his hometown of Hattiesburg, Ms.

He started with #300, a beat up used IBM clone 386 pc, a phone line with dial up Internet,

free domain, a book titled “Internet For Dummies” (he knew nothing of the net), and his

stray mutt Thor (who still lives with him a decade later in Hot Springs, Ar. Where he works

at his computer in a high rise studio overlooking the beautiful Ouachata Mountains.

London said, “If I had known it could be like this, I would have started the project at a much

earlier age.”