Deb Trotter, Cowboy's Sweetheart

“Admire a BIG horse. Saddle A SMALL one.” ~ Old Cowboy Saying

OK. I’ll admit it. Sometimes I’d love to be in the ‘Big League.’ And some days I’d love to ride a BIG horse.

I’d love it if I got 5000 hits per day on my blog. I’d love it if I had – say – at least 20 different license deals with manufacturers. I’d love it if my work could be displayed or sold at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center or The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.

As a cowgirl artist, yours truly is still riding on a pretty small horse. Oh – not a miniature pony. Let’s just say that I am fairly accomplished at riding a medium sized horse at a good trot.

But I know that in order to ride a BIG horse, I have to become a masterful, experienced ‘rider’ of the horse I already own. In other words … ya gotta pay yer dues. And ya gotta work yer tail off in order to succeed. These things are true, no matter which outfit (or league) you ‘ride in.’

In today’s post, let’s talk about Blogging On A Big Horse.

In the blog category, it would be one doggone, eye-opening experience to ride along with Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. According to this article in the Los Angeles Times, Ree Drummond’s main website (as of 9-2009) gets around 13,000 pages views each month. Matter of fact, her blog is listed as “one of the top 100 most influential blogs in the world.”

Although it may seem like she came out of no-where and suddenly took over the blogging world, The Pioneer Woman didn’t reach fame overnight. She began her blog in 2006, but really hit pay dirt a year later – when she posted her first recipe. (Women seem to love recipes.) Well – those delicious recipes – along with Ree’s wonderful photos and ‘gosh darn, I’m gasping and can’t catch my breath over Marloboro Man’ story-telling – make for a pretty powerful combination.

If you’ve never read The Pioneer Woman (have you been hidin’ in the shed?), you’ll be amazed to learn that her site is actually SIX different blogs in one:

• Confessions (Ree’s love story & life on the ranch & in the city)
• Cooking (Recipes Galore!)
• Photography – (Lessons & Tutorials, Banners, Downloads, etc)
• Home & Garden – Design, Gardening, Travel (& More!)
• Home Schooling ( Materials, Activities, Reader Contributions)
• Tasty Kitchen (Fav Recipes From Real Kitchens Everywhere)

The Pioneer Woman didn’t begin as a mega-blog. It developed over time – as Ree’s readership and popularity grew. Today, The Pioneer Woman is a full-fledged business. She has written a cookbook and is touring the country, book-signing – all the while, taking photos and blogging.

Here’s the thing about The Pioneer Woman. If you took away everything but the photos and the story-telling, you’d still have a Winner of a blog. Ree is a gal who knows how to write. I don’t know her, but I feel like I do. I suspect she writes like she talks … and she knows exactly how to hook an audience. Whether or not she intentionally embellishes her dreamy love story, family life on the ranch, her love for high heels, and Marlboro Man’s (her husband’s) sexy Cowboy butt – I really don’t care. I love it.

She makes me laugh! (Plus, what woman can resist a Cowboy who knocks her off her feet, makes her heart pound – and – as Ree says, “make her hiney tingle?”)

To use a quote that has been overused a thousand times, she “had me at hello.”

I will never be a Ree Drummond and my blog will never be The Pioneer Woman … but being Deb Trotter with a blog called “Cowboy’s Sweetheart” is OK by me. I just need to kick up my heels a little more, be myself, and WRITE WRITE WRITE (Blog, blog, blog).

Maybe one day I’ll ride a BIG horse in the blogging world. Maybe not. But the ride sure is fun.

Stay tuned for Part 2: Licensing On A Big Horse.

Happy Trails!

Deb Trotter ~ Cowboy’s Sweetheart Artist

Tags: Cowboy's Sweetheart Artist, Deb Trotter, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, Top 100 Blogs

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 1:00 am and is filed under Art and Life, Blogs for Artists, Cowboy's Sweetheart, Licensing Your Art, Photography, horses. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.