Question To Londons Times Cartoons Why So Many Products

I doubt a day does not go by that I'm not asked, "Rick, why so many products, why so many stores? (We have 9 stores). There are a number of answers to that question, but I will start with the obvious.

We want to make money. Ok, ok, that is western education school of thought. Of course we want to make money. But that is a very tiny part of the bigger picture.

We want to dominate the cartoon world on the Internet. Ok. That sounds a bit arrogant but it is true. I am told that in any given year there are approximately 10,000 cartoons on the Internet and out of those 10k cartoons only about 5 or so last longer than a year. This is our tenth year and to be honest, we didn't even start to monetize the site with stores until 14 months ago; and even think about Google Adwords until a few years ago? Why? Because we really looked at the entire thing as a hobby and everyone was pitching in during our spare time. Suddenly we looked up and we had very high ratings, mases of visitors and people telling us, "Figure out a way to make money on this site".

Our main site, Londons Times Cartoons remains free. We want to always keep it that way; as, with 8500 original cartoons, mostly in color, we look at it as a cyber-museum of sorts, and to make it a membership site, as we once thought about doing, to us, would dampen the spirit of the whole idea of it. Why pay for the opportunity to have a good laugh (we hope, anyway).

But, we also now offer various ways to buy products online, at reasonable prices at our various stores.

We have looked at all the available merchandise on which to manufacturer our cartoon images, and stuck with about 60 different items.

Some of the larger sellers are t-shirts, coasters, sweats, hoodies, aprons, clocks, infant wear, thongs, maternity dresses (yes, really), chamisole tops and baseball jerseys, tote bags and a number of other items that have surprised me.

We have two large variety stores that carry it all including LTSuperstore, Rick London Collection, and RickLondonwear, and a number of niche ones like Justfunnyhoodies, Justfunnyaprons, AThongInMyHeart and a number of others.

Why do we do it that way instead of packing everything into one store? A number of reasons. A lot of people don't want to go to a large department store, for instance, for one or two items that for which they are looking.

If they seek a funny valentine's gift, they are more likely to visit our thong store rather than RickLondonCollection simply because they don't have to wade through other items and can find exactly what they want click, buy, and have it at their door within a few days. (or if outside the U.S. within a week or two). Not too bad a deal, and the prices are excellent.

The same is true for hoodies, mouse pads, greeting cards, mugs and steins, and other such online shopping stores in which we have narrowed it down to niche marketing. We do not charge any more for products that are in those stores, that are also in our larger stores, we simply offer an alternative quicker convenient buying method for those who do not want to "go shopping" but have a general or exact idea of the item for which they are seeking.

Just because we do it this way, does not mean it is "the way" to do it. There are so many other ways to sell one's wares on the Internet, and money need not be the only motivator.

We get a kick out of watching the analyticals from sites that measure rankings and such and see how each site is doing. Generally they remain popular and gain in popularity as the days go by (thanks to you) and it keeps us motivated to keep our creative juices flowing.

If just starting on the Internet, it never hurts to try a number of e-stores and see what works. Never get married to one. After your time frame (I generally give it 6 months or so), and if it is not moving up in popularity and/or making a profit, I sadly pull the plug and don't look back.

Another idea will pop up before I know it. And the same is true of most netrepreneurs with whom I associate.