I want some of Ree Drummond’s inexhaustible energy and ideas to rub off on me. She’s the creator of The Pioneer Woman website, originally a straight-forward blog that I first came upon almost three years ago. If you go visit her online empire now, you might not appreciate just how much she’s expanded from her beginnings. Earlier iterations of the site included blog postings about her life raising a family on a ranch in Oklahoma, and a serial of postings about how she, a City Girl, ended up dating and marrying her Marlboro Man.
Her witty voice kept you coming back. And, her transparency. She started sharing her photos. And recipes. And the tribulations of remodeling a lodge on their ranch. AND, she started inviting her readers to play along and enter contests. “Name a caption for this photo.” “Which stain should I pick for the cabinets?” And more, with sponsors and prizes.
These days, she’s published a cookbook, created a recipe-sharing site, sold calendars of her photos, and has avid readers encouraging her to offer ranch retreats at their remodeled lodge.
Sign me up, I’d like to go. 
I look at her website today and am inspired and awed by the community she’s built. And, I want our website for Lost in Sunshine to emulate hers in so many ways.
Speaking of our website, okay, really, I’m hoping we launch in January. This, after avowing an August, 2009 launch, then September, then October… Agh. The delays haven’t been for lack of effort; but, we are endeavoring something ambitious! And, my team is doing it around their “day jobs.”
I’m actually meeting with Ari, our fabu developer, this afternoon, to be trained by him on how to input content into the site. We’ve used a content management system called Drupal – the same one used by the team of The Age of Stupid – to create the architecture, and I need to learn how to “drive.”
Wish me a clear head and sticky memory!
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sunshine & clarity vibes aimed your way!!