I know not all people have played croquet. So few people have played croquet; in fact, that croquet may not even seem like a cool thing to do. It may seem like a nerdy, boring, or childish activity; a kids game. On the contrary, however, it is very cool. In fact, the game is cool in and of itself, and if you play it, you are bound to become cooler yourself. I am not just saying these things to defend myself from being not cool for having played the game myself. On the contrary, I am cool person and the game is cooler for my having played it.
I, myself, was first introduced to the game of croquet as a kid. I think that my parents had a set. I do not remember it very well, however; only a vague remembrance of seeing a croquet set around the house, so I will talk about my later introduction to croquet.
One of my friends in high school had a croquet set, and we used to play at his house sometimes. We always just played in his yard somewhere, rather than going to a field somewhere else to play. We could play in the front yard, the backyard, or on the side somewhere, wherever we wanted. That is one of the cool things about croquet, you can play it wherever and whenever you want. Sometimes we played in the day, and sometimes we played at night with the porch light on. Some of our games would end quickly, while others would last a long time. Basically, you never know what is going to happen when you play croquet, where you might play, who will win, or what exciting things will happen. It is always a wild adventure; a battle of perseverance, intelligence, and strategy.
But, are those things cool? Of course they are. What could be more cool than living spontaneously, not knowing what is going to happen next? Some call it living on the edge or on the wild side of life. You can play croquet anytime, anywhere, for nothing. Then you add in the competition, cold, merciless and heartless as you roquet a competitor’s ball off of the field or they roquet yours. Finally there is the glory of winning, the glory of having utterly defeated all of your opponents, crushing them under your foot. Is that not cool? I think it’s cool.
Now, I know croquet may not be for everyone. Not everyone can be cool, I guess. But for those out there who would like to be cool, to live wildly and spontaneously, to experience the fierce, relentless, and merciless competition, I would suggest getting a croquet set and playing croquet. If you would like, you can even play in the mountains by a large cliff, to add some more excitement, if any can possibly be added to such an extreme game.
Well, it was cool to play croquet while I was in high school. It is also cool to play in college. If you are really one who likes to be wild and cool and live on the edge, you can play croquet professionally. There are several thousand professional croquet players in North America today, and the number is rapidly growing. The competition is fierce, the players merciless, and the sport a little crazy. Like I said before, croquet is not for everyone. It takes a special breed of people to live such a wild and exciting life. But is sure is a cool one. Croquet is cool!
About the Author
Peter Jay is a Vice President with Yard Game Central and a manager and web administrator with PlayCroquet.com. For more information about croquet sets, visit PlayCroquet.com.
Developing a successful Internet marketing strategy is the key to your online success. Your strategy not only involves your marketing and promotional efforts, but your web site will also play an important role.
You must develop and implement both short-term and long-term marketing strategies to bring a continuous flow of targeted traffic to your web site.
Developing a powerful strategy is a very important part of your success. However, unless your web site is specifically designed to sell, your efforts will be useless. You must look at the entire picture before you begin.
Short term marketing strategies are those that bring you a temporary boost in traffic. Although these techniques are very important to your over-all plan, they are only a temporary traffic source and must not be solely relied upon.
Short-term marketing strategies include:
Purchasing Advertising
This form of short-term marketing includes ezine advertising, banner advertising and classified ads. Although it is important to occasionally purchase advertising, it is short-term and will produce short-term results.
Bulletin Boards
Although sharing your expertise at popular bulletin boards can provide you with a boost in traffic, it is a temporary boost. It will not continue to produce results. Most boards only display a certain number of posts and the rest are archived.
Search Engines
Obtaining a high ranking in the Search Engines is a never-ending battle. You may have a top ten ranking one day and the next day your site may disappear. It is very important to submit your web site to the Search Engines, but trying to keep a top ten ranking is very time consuming — your efforts may be better spent on more effective marketing techniques.
In order to create a steady stream of targeted traffic to your web site, you must also market for the future. Long-term marketing techniques are those that will continue to produce results even years down the road.
So what are some of these long-term powerful techniques? Here’s a few to get you started:
Opt-in lists
Ask for your visitor’s name and email address. In return, provide them with a valuable publication, a free course or some other valuable information. By continuously building your opt-in lists, you’re creating a long-term database of potential customers.
Freebies
Give away something of value engraved with your name, business, product or service. Your freebie might be software you’ve created, a free ebook, or even a free course. The key to creating a long-term marketing freebie is to allow it to be freely distributed. If your freebie is good, it will quickly saturate the Internet and continue to circulate eternally.
Content
Provide the Internet community with free content. Content comes in a variety of forms such as articles, tutorials, tips, reports or whatever you’d like. Allow your content to be freely published in ezines and web sites. Content is a highly sought after commodity and can provide you with a great deal of free exposure for years to come.
A solid Internet marketing plan will include everything from your ad to your thank you and follow-up letters. Each process in your plan must perform a specific task.
1. Your short-term marketing strategies will drive traffic to your web site in intervals. Each time you place an ad, your traffic will increase. After a few days, your traffic will drop off.
2. Your long-term marketing strategies will drive a steady stream of traffic to your web site. Your traffic will continue to increase over time.
3. Your ad must draw your potential customer’s attention and create curiosity. It must lead them to click through to your web site.
4. Your web site will then take over and provide further information, while leading your potential customer to your order page.
5. Your order page will be packed with all of the benefits your product has to offer and call for action.
6. Your marketing plan will continue to be implemented by closing the sale with a thank you letter.
7. Your final step will be to send follow-up messages in the future to provide good customer service and introduce new products.
A marketing plan is an absolute must. If you have no direction, you’ll travel in circles and ultimately never reach your goals. Plan your work then work your plan. You may be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
Copyright