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Home » The Famous Blog » Promote Your Business Visibility Online Offering Daily Web Cartoons

Promote Your Business Visibility Online Offering Daily Web Cartoons

December 29, 2010 - Last Modified: December 29, 2010 by Dan Rosandich

Customized Cartoons

This is how a simple internet marketing idea and some PHP coding generated a 365 different daily cartoons to promote my visibility online. It’s really amazing how my single panel cartoon designed to offer a different gag-a-day type of cartoon for visitors to my own site and elsewhere which helped me to grow my internet business.

So, let me tell you the whole story and share my idea with you.

Since launching my cartooning “career” back in the 1970’s, I had no concept about anything digital, nor would the term “internet” cross my mind. Not so much until I noticed magazines to which I had continually submitted my gag panel cartoons start making a gradual shift to offering so called print versions of their product online in the mid 90’s.

Probably due to so much pre-hype by the newspaper industry proclaiming the internet was the next “big thing” in publishing. A great number of newspapers slowly began to offer their readers access to online versions of their print editions. Along with this transition, editors  began recieving syndicated material via “feeds”, the producers of content began providing what they created by offering it through their own web pages and soon all forms of writing, photography and journalistic content switched over to the online realm.

Learning to use technology

As a cartoonist, I began contemplating making that “paradigm shift” myself, and with much angst, since I was never a technically oriented person and hated the thought of learning to use technology to my advantage, not to mention the fact I could use it to build web pages and communicate with my editors, art directors and graphics people electronically.  I was so used to faxing my rough sketches, and sending final approved artwork via Fedex to the art directors and marketers I was working with at the time.

Many of my regular editors started asking the usual questions such as “can you send me the files digitally?”, or those new art directors who saw samples of my work in the various sourcebooks and talent directories would ask “where can I find your website?” and I then realized it was either sink or swim. After years of paddling upstream, I am still learning various marketing and promotional techniques on how best to get samples of my single panel gag cartoons, cartoon pictures and various portfolio samples made available to the right people.

One extremely important aspect for any artist, is to offer what you do through your own web site. Don’t ask someone else to do this for you because exactly then, is when you lose all control over what you want to offer, how it’s presented and in what format.

The single most important leap you can make is by intense study of web design and how using SEO or “search engine optimization” will get you the best results. It’s all very intimidating at first, I know . . I have been there / done that. But the leap is so necessary to take. And once you make that progression, your learning curve will gradually take you into other areas of using software such as Painter, Photoshop and all the other elements that can be used to your advantage.

Being Creative

Imagine being a “creative” in this day & age, and still sending your wares out through the mail system, setting it up for loss and / or damage…not to mention being misplaced by a careless editor somewhere. Besides, most editors today all learned journalism and their craft or business using computers and software anyway. This is now the way most professionals prefer working. You’re then left wondering where your submission is, who if anyone, has seen it and whether anything was used (plus the cost to mail all of them out)…emailing submissions in a compressed “zip” folder is free!

This same concept applies across the spectrum whether you’re working with a graphic designer on a direct-mail piece cartoon illustration or a logo or banner for a web development company in Cairo. You’ll ultimately need a good web presence to promote yourself. Period!

And once you’re marketing yourself online, you then need ways to “virally” promote who you are and what you do. In the simplest sense, I devised what is called a PHP script to offer interested web designers, webmasters and web development companies an auto-updating daily web cartoon. It isn’t so much a comic strip with a cast of regular characters but rather a single panel cartoon offering a different gag-a-day type of cartoon for visitors to my own site and elsewhere. The script was written so it “calls up” a new cartoon at a specific time every 24 hours and the actual control of each image is done on my web host’s server . . all I have to do is once every year, upload a folder of new cartoons (365 different cartoons) to my site and publish that new folder to my web host and “voila”…no muss / no fuss, I have it set and can forget, and am onto creating other cartoon-related projects and assignments.

Now, you may be a photographer, and are asking if this same thesis or modus operandi could apply and the answer is definitely yes….think of offering a “picture of the day” scenario.

Are you a writer?

Perhaps a “Thought” of the day or “joke of the day“.

daily cartoon
Daily Cartoon

By offering my cartoon and gradually getting it seen on various websites around the planet, I am not just getting seen but at the same time, optimizing my web site’s URL by getting a backlink….that “backlink” is important, since search engines spider my content and and other sites my daily comic appears and will provide me with greater “juice” or elevation in the search engine results pages based on my chosen keywords I prefer to be found by. It’s actually a win-win situation to have some sort of offering online.

My single panel gag cartoons have been published in many magazines including National Review, The National Enquirer, Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping magazine, Better Homes & Gardens magazine, Barron’s magazine, American Legion magazine, Saturday Evening Post magazine, First For Women magazine and Woman’s World magazine including a wide variety of trade journals ranging from dental publications, regional and national agricultural magazines including business newsletters and national medical trade journals including similar types of publications in Australia, England and parts of Europe.

Many other single panel cartoons I’ve created, appear in the popular Chicken Soup For The Soul series of New York Times best sellers such as Pet Lover’s Soul, The Mother’s Soul, The Christian Soul and The Gardener’s Soul.

I also offer a large selection of my favorite cartoons on various gift items through cartoon gift stores I make available where my cartoons appear on t-shirts, calendars, coffee mugs, caps and other cartoons on iPad covers also.

If you’re a web designer or blogger and have an interest in adding Dan’s daily web cartoon, it’s easy to add by following the instructions using one of the two variations of code provided. The image is even available as a WordPress Daily Web Cartoon plugin that can easily be downloaded and used on your WP blog or site!

In summation, I cannot emphasize enough as to how imperative building an online web library of of your work really is…whether you are an artist, painter, photographer, cartoonist, caricaturist, writer, marketer, sculptor …. ANY type of professional, you have to establish an extensive online portfolio. Study web design, how to offer an incentive to your visitors and offer yourself to professionals in the world of business!

Glad to hear your thoughts!

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Filed Under: Design, Freebies, Marketing, SEO

About Dan Rosandich

Follow @cartoon_picture

Full time cartoonist with over 30 years of experience. Currently contracted with several publishers, agencies and organizations creating customized cartoons and humorous illustrations. Own online cartoon image library that offers over 3000 single panel gag cartoons that are categorized in over 30 separate cartoon catalogs and available for licensing on a professional basis.

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{ 37 Responses }

  1. tracy ingram says:
    That is a really cool idea, but how much does something like that cost?
    • Cartoonist dan Rosandich says:
      Tracy: The pricing to add this daily cartoon is based upon your being a commercial website or a non-commercial website. In essence, it is good to provide information as to what URL you want to add the cartoon to, how many visitors that URL receives each month and what the name of your company is and what it is you do exactly. If however you have a small community-based web with no advertising, simply tell me this. Basically, convey any and all information regarding your web that you intend using my cartoon on, and we can negotiate something. Sincerely, Dan
  2. Dan Rosandich says:
    The WordPress cartoon plugin also takes visitors to my index page where all of my cartoon catalogs can be accessed. I now offer access below the daily cartoon there, for viewing the last week's worth of cartoons. This helps potential users decide on the merits and humor value of the daily web cartoon. Give it a try and keep your comments coming. Good getting your insights. My cartooning business was recently profiled in a press release also.
  3. Rae says:
    This post just hit some good points. cartoons are eye catching and has great visibility.
  4. Mani Viswanathan says:
    Good job Dan in building tht WP Plugin :) Will come handy in my future projects.
    • Dan Rosandich says:
      Hello Mani: Glad to hear you think my cartoon might be of value to your projects. The WP plugin is very flexible in that users can configure the actual width or colum size for the cartoon, if they want to add some cartoon humor to their overall WordPress template. It isn't hard to do and is fast and easy. In fact, my daily web cartoon is flexible enough not just for the WP family, but as you'll see here, he has a Blogspot based site and it is a BUSINESS oriented content (scroll down the right side column of the page). So my cartoon has very universal appeal for those who might be looking to add some humor and I hope you'll keep this in mind. Anyone having quuestions about this cartoon or how to add it, can email me directly if they wish. Keep up the good work at DailyBlogging!
  5. Kimi says:
    Wow, this is an exceptional post, guest bloggers of FB usually are bloggers and nice to read a blogging tip from you, Dan :-) I am far away from being creative, but i believe what i am doing is what i am passionate about. If we are passionate what we are doing, the creativity will come easier. Happy 2011! Kimi.
    • Dan Rosandich says:
      Kimi, Before blogging or putting what I am best at on a web page, I am a cartoonist first. I was drawing waaay before anything called the internet was a household word! Keep me in mind if you want to use or add humor!
      • Kimi says:
        Dan, That's awesome! keeping to be cheerful all the time. Yes i will keep you in mind, thanks. Kind regards, Kimi.
  6. Vivek Parmar says:
    web cartoons help a lot, webdesignerdeopt in a week publishes a cartoon article, many of us remmeber pictures only and this is a great advantage for any business that uses cartoons
    • Dan Rosandich says:
      Vivek: I've been "professionally" selling / offering my cartoons and services for well over 30 years but not even half that long dealing with technology. Needless to say, I feel I still have alot to learn so far as coding, hypertext markup language and wordpress is concerned. My daily web comic has been offered on other web sites and web platforms now, for over 7 years and only recently have I intensified my efforts in promoting, offering and advertising the feature and it's availability because I think humor (like cartoons) is imperative to drawing in eyes to written web content. Feel free to offer advice to me if you have it, I can use all the creative input I can get, so far as improving the availability of my web comic. I did visit WebDesignDepot and am thanking you for the "heads up"!
  7. Justin Germino says:
    I agree that being creative is an incredibly important attribute, I myself however have no artistic ability, I can take existing images and manipulate. I think adding a unique cartoon can work very well for some sites, especially those that leverage satire cartoons which can trend and go viral pretty quickly.
    • Dan Rosandich says:
      Justin: My cartoon can be added to community sites or blogs, including sites that offer humor or want to inject a bit of humor to their overall format….especially for those bloggers who cannot draw the kinds of cartoons they want, just download my wp pluguin and add it to your page or pages. The cartoon doesn’t necessarily have to be a standard 500 pixels wide (which it is)…the good thing about this plugin is that it allows the user to re-configure the cartoon to comfortably fir into their page layout where you think some humor is needed. Visit my index page and you can also browse that spot just underneath my daily panel where you can see the last week’s worth, or last 7 days of cartoons to get a feel for the types of cartoons I offer every day. Thanks for offering your comments, all of them are invaluable in that they allow me to plan things out for the future. Happy 2011 to all web designers, bloggers, marketers, tech-gurus and wp aficionados!
  8. John Garrett says:
    Dan this one is really hitting home with me. I've struggled with how to really get out there with my comics. I've recently had some really good advice on how to proceed and I think what you've outlined here is a way to complement my strategy for the coming year. Thanks much for sharing your process and knowledge!
    • Dan Rosandich says:
      John: It really takes time and devotion. I thought I could launch my online cartoon catalog and assume it would be fast and easy. No, it was NOT. You need to actually write down your plans on paper and how you want your layout (web page) to look, plan your links strategy, how you'll write the index page intro to include proper content & keywords etc. Then you set all of it aside, and forget about it....then pick it up in a few days and see all the various maistakes that need re-editing! And the longer you put that off, the worse it gets when you actually want to do it! Dan
  9. TJ McDowell says:
    Seems like you've found a system that really works for you. After reading, I'm still a little cloudy on how you get the backlink with the anchor text you want. How are you making sure the link points to the right page with the right text? Thanks for the interesting article. Congrats on your success!
    • Dan Rosandich says:
      TJ: I get the actual "backlink" to my own domain URL by having the actual web cartoon placed ONTO another web site that wants to use my web cartoon. A "for instance" would be a site like this joke site (which I own) and if you mouse over the cartoon, note how you are able to actually click the image? What happens? It takes you directly to my own index page! Thus, the ubiquitous instantaneous back-link. Now, imagine this same thing happening with 1,000 other sites who are using my daily web cartoon to bring humor to their visitors? That's 1000 backlinks to my own index page or domain if you will. This same process can apply to anyone else who offers content to the internet. Maybe you are a wedding photographer....let's assume you have TONS of excess snapshot that never turned out...well, how about a "Funniest Wedding Pic Of The Day" Or? There are so many variables to take into consideration, but that FWPOTD could be offered on a wedding photographer's site or blog and the pic of the day could then virally go out to hundreds or thousands of blogs who like daily content.
  10. Brent McCoy says:
    Eye-catching imagery can be a powerful means to generate views for your site, particularly when combined with either Digg or StumbleUpon. I've seen many people use this to great effect.
    • Dan Rosandich says:
      Brent: You are right on target with your thoughts. As mentioned in the article, I never realized all of the additional formalities that would eventually come into the equation, once I got into online promotion (as we all know it)....loike you mentioned, Digg & Stumbleupon...both of which I have accounts with. Had you asked me a few years ago whether I used them, let alone know about the value of these services, I'd have looked if not sounded dumbfounded. I've "dugg" quite a few articles or press releases and have "stumbled" a few URL's of my own but haven't used SU as much as I should have. Each web promoter like myself, use other techniques like the "commment luv" on the WordPress platform and also make appropriate blog comments on "like-wise" blogs. I also have sub-domains on my own URL whereby I also offer other aspects related to the cartooning services I provide, such as creating custom cartoon logos and try and mention those when I can, so as to receive an additional back link if anything. You need to apply leap-logic in all aspects of appropriate web promotion while you spend time online. In fact it was FamousBloggers which caught my attention when trying to do an appropriate tome on my related services.
  11. Patricia says:
    Hi Carl What an interesting post. My niece is studying graphic design and does graphics on my site for me. Just as well as I am neither a techie or artistic; although I do love writing. Will go check out your site. I love the idea of cartoons on a site. Great converstations can be started that way. I can appreciate the huge shift you had to make to the digital age. As a baby boomer, a lot of the techie stuff is still a mystery to me and I'm grateful to my much younger blogging buddies who help me out :-) Thanks for sharing your journey with us Carl. Really enjoyed your GP. Patricia Perth Australia
    • Rahul says:
      I also love cartoon in fact i done a lot of cartoon work. Ill check it out thanks.
      • Dan Rosandich says:
        Rahul: I have additional cartoon catalogs consisting of computer cartoons, religion cartoons, education cartoons....you name it. These are images that may be ideal for websites that deal specifically on those respective topics. It's just another way to get your work seen, not to mention when webmasters contact you to license any cartoons like these for use on an index page, I normally negotiate a "usage" or licensing fee based on their intended length of time they plan to use the image. For instance, if they want to run the cartoon for 6 months or up to a year (or more in duration), different fees would apply. That, plus the fact I can also include my index page URL along the top or "inline" somewhere in the image which will act as additional promotional advertising for my site and services that I offer. You could also request webmasters make the image as an active graphic hyperlink back to your index page that enables you to promote yourself more + you get that all-important ubiquitous "backlink" . . . "juice" for your URL!
    • Dan Rosandich says:
      Hi Pat: Let your neice know it takes time to develop a good web prescence. How about you do the writing for HER graphics related site and she can help you out in the graphics related department. A tandem act, so to speak. I offer customized cartoon logo designs and you may want to refer my samples to her so she gets an idea. Your comment was appreciated. Dan
      • Patricia says:
        My niece is still a student so not got her own site yet. However, she hopes to freelance once she finishes her degree. She is learning heaps while she helps me with my site. I did plenty of English homework with her while she was still at school, so now she is helping me. Thanks for your helpful tips. I like the idea of occasionally having a cartoon to get my message across. Don't want to become predictable on my site lol Patricia Perth Australia
        • Dan Rosandich says:
          Hi Patricia: Great hearing you could potentially use my daily web cartoon. There is all of the needed information to either download that wordpress cartoon plugin, or simply use one of those two variations of code if you decide to add it that way. Just remember that cartoons can be the great equalizer on this crazy thing we know as the internet. Imagine the entire web void of cartoons, photos, graphics and clip art....it would be sooo exciting, right?! Keep up the good work. Dan
  12. Pritam says:
    Using cartoon on the blog may increase the visibility of the blog. You may be creative enough to use the proper cartoon for your article. Its a good idea to install the WP plugin and use this.
    • Dan Rosandich says:
      Hello Pritam: By all means, advocating any plugin to assist in making one's own blog look/feel/work right, is a win-win for any blogger. What do we always hear? Content rules! Your insights are appreciated. Dan
  13. Rakesh Kumar says:
    I draw cartoons on my office pad but haven't try on web. But I need to think! Thanks
    • Dan Rosandich says:
      Rakesh: "I need to think" . . . THAT is exactly what MY problem was....thinking and NOT DOING. What you need to do is study web design, and take all of your cartoons and archive them on your web site! Cartoon Pictures keep visitors coming to your site! Dan
  14. TrafficColeman says:
    Being creative is what will give you that advantage over the normal people..you just have to learn how to step out of the box. "Black Seo Guy "Signing Off"

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