"Congratulations, Ms. London," I used to joke that the OB/GYN told my mom, "It's a Realtor". My parents owned a very old real estate stable family real estate company and were from a generation where, if and when an offspring arrived, especially a male, they were born to be bred.that is, bred into the family business, or made to be the prodigal son.
In my early days on the planet, I was not aware of these southern traditional family values, and, as I became more aware of my environment around me, I was certain I wanted to have something to do with humor as I grew older. How did I know this? The answer was so simple. But I was a slow learner.
I can remember being grounded, in trouble, about to get in trouble, or locked in my room with no going out with friends for some wrong-doing (never violent or terrible); just pulling pranks since I was very small.
The only time I remember my parents smiling and happy around me is when they had friends over on weekends and were playing record albums by such comedy greats as Don Rickles, Tom Lehrer, Jack Benny, and the like. I introduced them to The Smothers Brothers as a teen, thinking I would earn brownie points but again given the pink slip for buying "bad comedy".
The comedy bug hit me finally and by 1982 I was attempting stand-up in New York City. Keep in mind this was straight off the farm from Mississippi to the Big Apple. I won't "even go there" as to how awful I was. It was sort of like Dan Quayle in his memorable v.p. debate, but more like me debating, say, Steve Martin and my comparing myself to Lenny Bruce. Steve to me: "Mr. London, Lenny Bruce was a friend of mine, and you, sir, are no Lenny Bruce." Need I say more?
Years later I got hooked on humor writing, and was planning a book but decided on forming a group of artists and creating a cartoon instead. All of us were surprised when Londons Times Cartoons shot to the top of the Internet rating charts.
Reaching mid-life, and suffering a lengthy illness, I decided to start opening stores, selling products with my cartoon images which now amount to over 8500 in number and our Londons Times Cartoons remains one of the most visited sites on the web, again to our surprise (and happiness).
Starting a cartoon is not an easy task, but an interesting and educational one. No matter what branch of humor in which one may find their niche, it is a growth experience and a process. I found out rapidly it is not so much knowing what you are doing when you start, though that doesn't hurt of course, but being persitent and not giving up in spite of the obstacles, and there will be many, I can assure you. But the obstacles are important in developing one's creative skills. So take a new attitude toward obstacles and even look forward to them. Believe it or not, I do, and I'm much better at turning them into opportunities.
If it is in your blood, you will know it, and no matter what you were "born to be", will not matter. It will have to come out in some way, shape, or form. Educate yourself, hang out with others who have blazed the trail, educated yourself and let others help educate you. Don't start with the attitude that you are going to conquer the net and be the next Ebay or Amazon.com in a day. You aren't, most likely. But if you are patient, and learn proper netiquette, you will increase your chances tenfold.
Everyone on the Internet needs lots of new, high quality content. Website owners, bloggers, and publishers of ezine and newsletters all need content. All businesses including yours need exposure and advertising. Writing articles allows you to get your exposure and advertising while sharing your expertise with others. Further, writing articles provides needed content, and can benefit you in a number of ways.
Branding. Your articles will help you to brand your product, your website, your business and yourself. Make sure you include your name, business name, credentials, and website address in your article's resource box. For more detail go to: www.lazyman-article-guide.com.Do not add your email address to the article resource box; it could be improperly used by spammers.
Gain credibility. You will become known as an expert author on the topics you write about. Get an edge on your competition with a boost in credibility.
Free advertising. Sites that publish articles do so at no cost to you. This will broaden your advertising efforts in addition to your normal advertising budget. However, you must remember that your article must be presented as an information article rather than a blatant advertisement. The resource box is where you get to advertise.
Get Published All Over The Web. There are publishers all over the world who need free content for their websites, ezine, Blogs and more to continue drawing new visitors to their sites. Your article can ensure they have the content visitors are looking for.
Get Published in Offline Content. For more help visit to: www.ezines-success.com. Some publishers may put your content in ebooks or even in printed newsletter and so your advertising can multiply further with no additional work on your part.
Gain Trust. If when people read your article they like it, they will be more likely to buy your product or service increasing your profits.
Highlighted Exposure. A publisher may choose to place your article on their homepage or high traffic blog as a featured article. Highlighted placement can increase credibility as well as exposure. Your article is likely to be highlighted if it is well written and covers a subject that is currently very popular.
Long Term Advertising. Your article may be kept on an article publishing site for years or end up in archives to ezine publications and newsletters. Some subscribers like to read back issues before subscribing.
Multiply Income. You may get extra income from people who want to hire you to write other articles, books or even speak at seminars. This can be a great way to multiply your income.
Link Popularity. There are literally thousands of article sites that publish articles like yours. In addition to article sites there are topic specific forums numbering in the thousands where your article can be published. When publishers begin placing your article on their sites along with its resource box you will start to gain incoming-only links that can help raise your search engine rankings. The more links back to your site the more popular you are with the search engines. Start gaining all sorts of search engine popularity today!
With all of the benefits you stand to gain, what's stopping you from writing an article? Better yet, what's stopping you from writing several articles? The benefits of article writing are significantly multiplied when you submit articles regularly.
Both Rick London & November are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Rick London has sinced written about articles on various topics from Depression Cure, Affiliate Programs and Health. The Internet's top cartoonist Rick London is loaded with surprises. Two of his big ones are his cartoon site and his cartoon superstore with over 85,000 cartoon gifts and collectibles. Rick London's top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.