Got this notice in my email this morning:

EzineArticles Announces Formation of the EzineArticles Racing Team

There are several interesting aspects to this announcement that I will get into in a
moment… but first, for those unfamiliar with EzineArticles, a little background.

EzineArticles.com is an article directory for writers, blog/ezine publishers and for
internet users looking for more organized information on any particular subject.
It is also a matching service — bringing real-world experts and ezine publishers
together. For those of us who publish blogs (or ezines), it is a resource for article
content. For writers and niche experts, EzineArticles.com provides an opportunity
to get your articles published/disemminated across a much wider audience than is
possible on your own.

Now to the “why” of this development.

Varooom ROI?

As Christopher Knight, CEO, explained in the press conference, “Internet marketing
is all about driving traffic to your site. Making a big splash to an audience as big as
pro auto racing is a great way to stand out from the crowd and bring people to our
site.” The company and its CEO are showing considerable chutzpah and more than
a bit of humor in this venture.

First, “driving traffic” and race car driving provide lots of material for writers and
media PR people to create a “buzz” with. I don’t know the percentages of racing
fans and internet participation. However, racing is BIG! Lots of fans…and, I am
sure, many (most?) have not heard about Ezine Articles or its role in internet
marketing.Regardless of their present internet participation, seeing the Articles
car #404 on the track is bound to stimulate their curiousity. More people visiting
the EzineArticles website means more eyeballs and more eyeballs means more
advertising dollars and more opportunities to monetize that traffic for the company.

Quoting from their blog, “The team’s choice of car number 404, a reference to the
Internet error code for “Page Not Found,” speaks volumes about EzineArticles’
tongue-in-cheek approach to sponsorship.” Whether that choice turns out to
be an ironic one remains to be seen. Pro racing is a big gamble for any group
involved, It is high risk in many respects. Whether the risk of this investment
pays off, again, remains to be seen. For writers like yours truly, it will be an
interesting “trip” to follow. However, for you poor readers, I am sure you will have
to put up with more than your desired share of puns, analogies and poor efforts
at humor in the process.

The bottom line question - great ROI or “crash and burn”?

Stay ‘tuned”! - see, it starts already …

Val Spangler, Mister Senior Blogger and @SeniorTweet on Twitter.
Senior Tweet Blog
Senior Writer Blog
Blog Success for Boomers
Boomer Extra Income
Blog Success for Seniors
Senior Extra Income

After about 10 minutes of dancing, we catch these 2 stars (HandZ) taking a break.
Always the stars - not always the glasses. (H is eight and Z is 18 months.) Enjoy!

Truly the big stars in my galaxy- wait - - make that grandpa’s AND grandma’s galaxies.

Entertainment Tonight - eat your heart out.

- Val Spangler, Mister Senior Blogger
@SeniorTweet on Twitter.com
Senior Writer Blog
Comics Cartoons and Creativity
Business Twitter Uses(coming March 1st)

Expand your universe. Join the Twitterverse!

Create your own galaxy of stars and new friends on Twitter. Friends from around the country and around the world - people you’d never meet otherwise - expand your universe - follow the stars of your choosing - great fun!

This senior does! How about you?

In my entry to the world of Twitter I am discovering some interesting things.
I captured some of it in the Ampersands comic strip below. Read it and tell me
what you think - both about the strip and about Twitter.

Well, what do you think?

Please comment and then follow me on Twitter. You’ll be glad you did.

Thanks for visiting.

- Val Spangler, Mister Senior Blogger.

Please follow me on Twitter: SeniorTweet

Just finishing posting on Gobala Krishnan’s blog a poetic response to his question,
“Do you Twitter?”.

I’ll share the little ditty - it’s not so witty - and not so pretty.
What can one expect from such a little ditty?

To help you understand this Twitter thing,
This “SeniorTweet” brings forth this borrowing
From the Noble Bard
Tis sure to make him turnover in his earthly yard:

To Tweet or not to Tweet.

To Tweet or not to Tweet.
That is the question:
Whether tis nobler to suffer alone
Their slings and arrows
Or join with all the other sparrows?
And take arms against the doubters muzzles.

And tweet, tweet, tweet about our troubles,
Victories or defeats - neither kind is near as sweet
Without the mundane sharing of one’s tweet.

Tis is a very human thing to share
The sound of words upon the air,
Or, read them - share them in this blogosphare.

- VS, Twitter url: http://twitter.com/SeniorTweet

The more efficient bloggers repurpose their content ( and aren’t above using other’s
works with just a bit of careful editing). So wanting to demonstrate best practices
and improve my efficiency, I present to you this example of repurposing some
cartoon content. The Fence Critters are featured in another of my blogs, Comics
Cartoons and Creativity. So with this brief visual introduction,
I present to you my friendly little critics, The Fence Critters.

Friendly cartoon critics.

This song has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it many years ago.
Can you remember who wrote it - it’s been covered many times. The lyricist is said to
have written it after hearing a sermon.

This song seems very timely in our country’s (and our own?) present financial
circumstances. Even if you are not religious, it wouldn’t hurt to sing it once in
while! I provide a part of the lyrices - they repeat:

You gotta accent-thu-ate the positive,
E-lim-inate the negative,
An latch on
To the affirmative
Dont mess with mister in-between!

You gotta spread joy up to the maximum,
Bring gloom down to the minimum,
An have faith ( amen! )
Or pandemonium’s
Liable to walk upon the scene!

To illustrate
My last remark
Jonah in the whale!
Noah in the arc!
An what did they do ( what did they do? )
Just when everything looked so dark?

( what did they, what did they, what did they do? )

Man! they said
You better accent-thu-ate the positive,
E-lim-inate the negative,
An latch on
To the affirmative
Dont mess with mister in-between!
No, dont mess with mister in-between!

I’m not sure if it was Bing Crosby and Andrews Sisters version that I remember -
maybe you can remember? It first came out in 19_ _. Don’t worry about showing
your age - it’s OK, we are all in this together. Maybe you Boomers can remember
one of the “covers”.

By the way Boomers, it’s 2009 and the Boomer age range is now considered to be
45 -63 years of age. Interestingly, for most who concern themselves with us older
folks, the beginning age for seniors is still considered to be 62. So, … some of you
boomers just became seniors - Congratulations!!!

- VS