Armchair Olympian

I am not a die-hard sports enthusiast, but confess I enjoyed watching the winter Olympics held in Turino Italy. It was nice to watch something positive and motivational for a change and to delight in some truly amazing and generous acts. I find the wide variety of sports showcased fascinating, proving there is a lot one can do in cold climates of winter!

Consider the spectrum of sports. There are the many varieties of skiing. The downhill event has skiers reaching speeds of 140 kilometers per hour (87 mph), you get speeding tickets for going that fast in a car! Imagine what it takes to be a ski jumper as you attempt to imitate flight and defy gravity the longest once you are airborne. Picture the freestyle skiers who twist and turn in the air so fast I don't know how the commentators can describe their incredible aerial feats. The cross-country skiers have tremendous endurance, and some stop to shoot rifles while trying to manage their beating hearts and gasping lungs.

We were witness to a newer Olympic event that debuted in Nagano in 1998, snowboarding. I think the snowboarders had the most fun creating their lexicon when they speak of a McTwist, Fakie, Duckfoot, an Ollie or a Nollie! Didn't it just used to be Narly ... or was that suffer speak and I've just dated myself?

There are those flashy speed skaters in their skin-tight outfits who fly around an oval ice surface at up to 60 km per hour (37 mph) battling G forces in the turns. The figure skaters entertained us with their dance routines and inspiring jumps. They also showed tremendous grit when Zhang Dan a Chinese pairs figure skater had a spectacular fall which made anyone watching cringe. To our disbelief, this 20 year old got up, completed the routine, and won the silver medal. Awesome.

We can't forget the curlers. A sport many find strange, but appreciate the accuracy involved in curling your rock down a 44 meter (49 yard) ice surface and trying to hit a bulls eye with two sweepers helping control speed and direction of a heavy stone, while you opponent is attempting to block you or knock you on every throw. Lots of yelling and physics accompany this sport! Imagine four Newfoundlanders winning the gold - talk about a party when they get home!

There is the luge where, depending on the event, one or two people lie on their backs on a sled going down a tight twisty run ... feet first. You might think that is scary enough until you see those in the skeleton event, maybe appropriately named. These athletes go down a steep ice track, on a sled, that has no brakes, headfirst. Hmmm ... where do they find people to do this?

Then there is ice hockey. Grown men and women strap on boots with blades on the bottom, use curved sticks to shoot a hard rubber disk in the opponents net. This happens as they skate at up to 50 km per hour (30 mph) and shoot the puck at over 150 km per hour (95 mph) while maneuvering around on ice. A shame both the NHL laden U.S.A. and Canadian teams didn't even make it to the semi-finals. Perhaps too much talent, not enough "team".

Over the 17-day period, 2,500 athletes from 85 nations competed for 84 medals in seven sports. We shared the pride of those on the podium as they smiled or cried as their national anthem played before the world. Two single acts at this twentieth Olympic Games stand out in my mind and will for many years.

I applaud gold medalist Joey Cheek, the USA speed skater for donating his $25,000 bonus to Right to Play, an organization of former Olympic, Paralympic and professional athletes worldwide who support using sport for development, health and peace. Good for you Joey, you are an inspiration to many.

Perhaps the defining moment of the Games was when Sara Renner, a Canadian broke her ski pole in a cross-country team sprint event. A Norwegian coach gave her a pole to finish the race. She and teammate Beckie Scott went on to win the silver medal. To me this unselfish act defines sportsmanship and is hard evidence the true Olympic spirit lives on. See you in Vancouver in 2010.

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The 5 Commandments Of Website Promotion

Website promotion is truly the reason behind internet marketing. The purpose of all your internet marketing activities is to drive traffic to your website so that your website can make the sale, or otherwise generate revenue for your business. There are literally hundreds of tips and techniques for promoting your website and driving traffic your way. However, there are some that stand apart from others as proven effective website promotion techniques.

Some of the most effective website promotion methods I've experienced include:

- Search engine marketing
- Pay-per-click advertising
- Link exchanges
- Buying traffic in bulk
- Email marketing

Some other fairly effective methods include participation in newsgroups and online forums, operation of referral programs, banner advertising, and issuance of press releases to gain exposure from the media. Placement of classified advertisements in newspapers, ezines, magazines, trade publications and in online directories is also somewhat effective.

One of the most wildly effective methods of internet marketing that is absolutely free and really drives tons of traffic to a website is giving away free, expert content to be republished. The trick to driving traffic from your give-away content is to provide a link back to your website as part of the content and giving others permission to publish your content for free as long as they leave it unchanged. This is an incredibly effective way to get the link to your website published and presented to an audience that is interested in the products or services you provide. There is a great demand on the internet for high quality, expert content so it should be no problem to get your articles picked up and published. There are a number of free content sites, some general and some industry specific, where you can display your articles for website owners to view and download.

Whatever methods of website promotion you choose for your internet marketing program be sure to monitor the results. The server logs provided by your email host should tell you where your traffic is coming from. This is an exceptional tool for managing your internet marketing program as well as for planning your future website promotion activities. If a website promotion method seems that is not working for you after you have given it adequate time, then change your strategy and methods a bit to get the best results from your internet marketing program. The key to success is staying on top of your website statistics and spending your marketing money wisely on the methods that work best for your business.

Copyright 2006 Jason Tarasi

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