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

Twitter Bird eating out of my hand - soon!

Spent much of this last week getting familiar with Twitter. Learned a lot and a lot
to learn. Too soon to tell whether there is much benefit to the time, energy and
thought that goes into Twittering or Tweeting. Part of the process is just learning
the lingo. I found my way to twictionary. That helped.

However, as you may know, when you Tweet (post) on Twitter, you are confined
to 140 characters for your tweet. That gives rise to a whole shorthand of
abbreviations. More to learn. Now, you may think that I am down on Twitter.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. I think it is fascinating and has the
potential for being the engine for a whole new world of communication and
collaboration.

Because of my personal bio and the tweets I have posted, it is fairly clear to
others that a primary interest of mine is in how to use Twitter to make extra
income and to learn how to show others how to use it for the same purpose.

However, too much selling or promoting is surefire way to be unsuccessful.
You have to write, share and respond in such a way that other tweeters
will grow to know, like and trust you. Developing a reputation for honesty
is critical. Distinguishing your personality from the crowd is also of great
importance. I’ve found that Twitter is a good place to let your hair down
- even, as in my case, you are bald.

Twitter is one of the fastest growing social networking sites. A raft of
tools is available to increase the ease of use and reduce the time necessary
to make effective use of the social networking potential. The jury is still
out on the ROI but that is a very individual matter because Twitter is
a very personal community and each user brings a different set of needs
and purposes to the community.

As we go along in this blog, I will be sharing my experiences with you
and, I hope, you will be sharing your thoughts, feelings and experiences
with the rest of us as well.

I’m excited about the potential in a lot of respects but cautious about the
time demands. Time will tell. When it does, I’ll let you know what I am finding
out.To start with I am installing a TwitterCounter plugin to let you know
how many “followers” I have attracted to my SeniorTweet page. (292 total
so far).

There’s a lot to write about - let me know what you think about it and
what you would like to know about Twitter. Just realize it may be a while
before the Twitter Bird is eating out of my hand.

- Val Spangler, Mister Senior Blogger.

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