Google Adwords is an online advert campaign program where some selected keywords are used to attract traffic to a particular website. The keywords must be related to the niche of the website being promoted. It is something that is easy to do, yet it can become complicated especially if you are not very conversant with the basic concepts of online advertising. The following steps will be helpful in starting an online campaign with Google Adwords -:
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Guys Find Advertisers for Your Website
There are diverse ways and things which one can do in order to get people to advertise on your website. This is a means of generation revenue for yourself if you own a website where you publish content. The whole idea of advertising involves people paying you money to promote or market their products and services on your website. There are several ways of finding these merchants who may desire to use your web pages as a marketing platform. Some of these strategies include:
Write Quality Content
The success of most online adverts is related most times to the amount of traffic or visitors to that website. Visitors will only visit a particular site all the time if there is good content for them to benefit from. Whenever the quality of any website content is good, the traffic of that site is always likely to increase and when advertisers see a high volume of traffic, they will be willing to buy advert space on your website.Increase Your Web Traffic
Another strategy to employ in order to find advertisers is to increase your website traffic. There are several ways to do this. It can be done by writing articles about your website niche area and submitting them to article directories, writing press releases on high ranking press release websites about your products and services and also making use of various social networking sites. All of these places have the potential to bring to your website additional traffic. Once advertisers notice that the number of reader especially mail and feed subscribers is high, they will be willing to pay you to advertise on your site.Highlight Your Advertising Spots
A lot of people will not know that you are willing to offer advert space until you talk about it. A good way to let people know there is advert space for sale is to leave a sign on the vacant advert box that describes that the space is available to people who want to advertise on the website. You can also make use of other websites to advertise your own website. In doing this, it is important to create an attraction that will make potential customers to come rushing for it. You can offer high discount rates on your advertising or high bonuses for people who will take advantage of it within a particular period of time. The offer prices should revert back to normal rates after the expiration of the bonus period.Try 30 Awesome Tools To Find Available Domain Names
As you probably heard, domain names are the real state of the 21st century. Whether you want to build a personal blog of a startup company, the first step will be to find a good and available domain name. The task is not an easy one, but with the help of the 30 tools we listed below we are sure you’ll manage it!
This website offers a wide range of domain search tools. Particularly useful are the lists of available domains. For example, you can view lists of available domains with 5, 6, 7 and 8 characters, and use filters to refine the results.
A complete suite of domain name search tools. Here you’ll find word manipulation tools, random domain generators, tools to search for domains with a specific length and so on.
SaveSpell offers a database of domains that expired recently. On the homepage you’ll find the list of the most recent expired domains, and you can also use the search function and filters to refine the results.
Very interesting tool that allows you to find domains about to expire. You can choose the date to look for, and the tool will even order the list according to an internal quality score. Notice that you might need to wait some days before the domains listed here become available.
Just like thousands of domains are registered every day, thousand others are not renewed by their owners and become available in the market again. With StuckDomains you can search for these dropped domains using keywords or other filters.
Looking for a brandable domain? This tool is what you need. It creates a list of random words, and checks whether the respective domain is available or not. You can specify the length of the words and what characters should be used.
This tool will generate hundreds of domain ideas for you. You just need to specify how the domains should start and/or, and the tool will output the suggestions in real time.
A wordoid is a made-up word that looks and feels like a real one. This tool will generate dozens of wordoids for you, and they can be great to name a startup or Web 2.0 company.
This tool enables you to see which domains are registered and which are available as you type them in the search box, letter by letter. It checks the .com, .net and .org extensions.
Another real time domain research tool. It works similarly to Instant Domain Search, but it has more features. For example, it allows you to search more extensions, and it also has an iPhone app and a Firefox extension.
With Psychic Whois you can also see the available domains in real time, but it creates a list of suggestions as you type the letter.
Domize works like the other real time search tools, with one difference: it will break down the word you input. If you type “marketing”, for example, the tool will check the availability of mar.com, mark.com, marke.com, market.com, marketi.com, marketin.com and marketing.com (it also checks the .net, .org and .biz extensions).
One of the best domain research tools on the Internet. Simply insert any number of keywords, prefixes, or suffixes, and the service will mix and match them for you, revealing what domains are available out of the formed combinations.
AptDomain will mix and match words for you, just like Bust A Name. The difference is that each words has a “Synonyms” link you can click to explore and add the synonyms of that word to the list.
A basic tool that offers domain name ideas. All you need to do is type in a primary keyword (and a secondary one if you want), and it will display a list with relevant domain names, highlighting which extensions of the domain are registered and which are available.
A domain hack is a trick used to form a word by combining both the domain name and its extension. Examples include bla.st (blast), del.icio.us (delicious), and blo.gs (blogs). Once you input a keyword, this tool will automatically create the domain hacks for you with extensions from around the world.
This tool works like other real time domain searchers, but apart from checking the normal domains it will also list for you the available domain hacks. As a bonus there is a Web 2.0 domain generator tool on the left side.
Another tool that will create domain hacks for you. Domai.nr is supposed to search among 280 top level extensions and 2,014 second level ones.
This tool operates like a domain name search engine. After you type in some keywords it will create a list of related domains for you. The more keywords you include, the bigger the list. You can also use filters to refine the results.
This tool offered by GoDaddy is really useful if you want to research a large amount of domains at the same time. You can list up to 500 words in the input box, and choose from a wide range of extensions (e.g., .co, .me, .asia, .mx). After that hit “Search” and the tool will tell you which domains are available.
The tool allows you to choose a set of pre-defined prefixes and suffixes, and then it will mix and match them for you, checking if the resulting domains are available or not. You can also add your own prefixes and suffixes.
Domain Tools offers a wide range of tools for domain owners. If you are looking for available domain names, however, you should check the “Domain Suggestions” one. Simply input a keyword and the tool will create a large list of domain suggestions for you.
This tool will automatically add adjectives, nouns, business words and other categories of words to your specified keyword. You can also select the starting and ending characters, as well as the length of the domain.
This website offers two interesting tools: Domain Word Combiner and Domain Word Cruncher. The first one will combine words (e.g., adjectives, prefixes and suffixes) to your chosen keyword, while the second tool will make up words for you. The results are displayed in a real time list on the right side.
If you are looking to get domains with foreign extensions, this tool is just what you need. It can search for domains with extensions on Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania.
Simply select a keyword, a category, and whether you want to add prefixes or suffixes. The tool will do the rest for you, creating a list with hundreds of domain suggestions.
Short domains tend to be very valuable, and that is why all the 3-letter domains are already gone. There are still some 4-letter domains available, though, and this tool will help you find them.
This tool will help you find 5-letter domains instead. You just need to insert a base domain (e.g., zoloc.com) and the tool will swap the vowels for you and check if the resulting words are available domains or not.
If you are going to build a website you’ll probably create a Twitter account for it too, right? Domain Pigeon will help you on this task, and it has a lit of available domain names where the respective Twitter user name is also available.
Another tool you can use to generate Web 2.0 and startup names. You just need to click on “Generate” and one company name will be suggested to you, along with its status (i.e., whether it is available or not).
1. 123Finder
This website offers a wide range of domain search tools. Particularly useful are the lists of available domains. For example, you can view lists of available domains with 5, 6, 7 and 8 characters, and use filters to refine the results.
2. Domain Name Soup
A complete suite of domain name search tools. Here you’ll find word manipulation tools, random domain generators, tools to search for domains with a specific length and so on.
3. SaveSpell
SaveSpell offers a database of domains that expired recently. On the homepage you’ll find the list of the most recent expired domains, and you can also use the search function and filters to refine the results.
4. Scoratic
Very interesting tool that allows you to find domains about to expire. You can choose the date to look for, and the tool will even order the list according to an internal quality score. Notice that you might need to wait some days before the domains listed here become available.
5. StuckDomains
Just like thousands of domains are registered every day, thousand others are not renewed by their owners and become available in the market again. With StuckDomains you can search for these dropped domains using keywords or other filters.
6. NameStation
Looking for a brandable domain? This tool is what you need. It creates a list of random words, and checks whether the respective domain is available or not. You can specify the length of the words and what characters should be used.
7. NXDom
This tool will generate hundreds of domain ideas for you. You just need to specify how the domains should start and/or, and the tool will output the suggestions in real time.
8. Wordoid
A wordoid is a made-up word that looks and feels like a real one. This tool will generate dozens of wordoids for you, and they can be great to name a startup or Web 2.0 company.
9. Instant Domain Search
This tool enables you to see which domains are registered and which are available as you type them in the search box, letter by letter. It checks the .com, .net and .org extensions.
10. Ajax Whois
Another real time domain research tool. It works similarly to Instant Domain Search, but it has more features. For example, it allows you to search more extensions, and it also has an iPhone app and a Firefox extension.
11. Psychic Whois
With Psychic Whois you can also see the available domains in real time, but it creates a list of suggestions as you type the letter.
12. Domize
Domize works like the other real time search tools, with one difference: it will break down the word you input. If you type “marketing”, for example, the tool will check the availability of mar.com, mark.com, marke.com, market.com, marketi.com, marketin.com and marketing.com (it also checks the .net, .org and .biz extensions).
13. BustAName
One of the best domain research tools on the Internet. Simply insert any number of keywords, prefixes, or suffixes, and the service will mix and match them for you, revealing what domains are available out of the formed combinations.
14. AptDomain
AptDomain will mix and match words for you, just like Bust A Name. The difference is that each words has a “Synonyms” link you can click to explore and add the synonyms of that word to the list.
15. NameBoy
A basic tool that offers domain name ideas. All you need to do is type in a primary keyword (and a secondary one if you want), and it will display a list with relevant domain names, highlighting which extensions of the domain are registered and which are available.
16. Xona Domain Hacks
A domain hack is a trick used to form a word by combining both the domain name and its extension. Examples include bla.st (blast), del.icio.us (delicious), and blo.gs (blogs). Once you input a keyword, this tool will automatically create the domain hacks for you with extensions from around the world.
17. DomainTyper
This tool works like other real time domain searchers, but apart from checking the normal domains it will also list for you the available domain hacks. As a bonus there is a Web 2.0 domain generator tool on the left side.
18. Domai.nr
Another tool that will create domain hacks for you. Domai.nr is supposed to search among 280 top level extensions and 2,014 second level ones.
19. DomainsBot
This tool operates like a domain name search engine. After you type in some keywords it will create a list of related domains for you. The more keywords you include, the bigger the list. You can also use filters to refine the results.
20. GoDaddy Bulk Search
This tool offered by GoDaddy is really useful if you want to research a large amount of domains at the same time. You can list up to 500 words in the input box, and choose from a wide range of extensions (e.g., .co, .me, .asia, .mx). After that hit “Search” and the tool will tell you which domains are available.
21. Dot-o-mator
The tool allows you to choose a set of pre-defined prefixes and suffixes, and then it will mix and match them for you, checking if the resulting domains are available or not. You can also add your own prefixes and suffixes.
22. Domain Tools Suggestions
Domain Tools offers a wide range of tools for domain owners. If you are looking for available domain names, however, you should check the “Domain Suggestions” one. Simply input a keyword and the tool will create a large list of domain suggestions for you.
23. Domain Exposer
This tool will automatically add adjectives, nouns, business words and other categories of words to your specified keyword. You can also select the starting and ending characters, as well as the length of the domain.
24. Shout Domains
This website offers two interesting tools: Domain Word Combiner and Domain Word Cruncher. The first one will combine words (e.g., adjectives, prefixes and suffixes) to your chosen keyword, while the second tool will make up words for you. The results are displayed in a real time list on the right side.
25. EuroDNS
If you are looking to get domains with foreign extensions, this tool is just what you need. It can search for domains with extensions on Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania.
26. Domain Fellow
Simply select a keyword, a category, and whether you want to add prefixes or suffixes. The tool will do the rest for you, creating a list with hundreds of domain suggestions.
27. dyyo.com
Short domains tend to be very valuable, and that is why all the 3-letter domains are already gone. There are still some 4-letter domains available, though, and this tool will help you find them.
28. Readable Domains
This tool will help you find 5-letter domains instead. You just need to insert a base domain (e.g., zoloc.com) and the tool will swap the vowels for you and check if the resulting words are available domains or not.
29. Domain Pigeon
If you are going to build a website you’ll probably create a Twitter account for it too, right? Domain Pigeon will help you on this task, and it has a lit of available domain names where the respective Twitter user name is also available.
30. Company Name Generator
Another tool you can use to generate Web 2.0 and startup names. You just need to click on “Generate” and one company name will be suggested to you, along with its status (i.e., whether it is available or not).
Do you know How To Get Your Website On Google
Most Internet users rely on Google and other search engines to find information online. If you are building a website, therefore, it is very important to get your site listed on those search engines. But how do you achieve that? In this article will explain the two options you have.
Direct Submission – Not Effective Anymore
Virtually all search engines have a direct submission option. That is, they have a specific page where you can go and submit the URL of your website, to notify the search engine about its existence.You can visit Google’s submission page to see an example.
When search engines first appeared, this method was the best one, because the search index was created almost manually. These days, however, search engines rely on automated web crawlers and algorithms to index the web almost in real time, so the direct submission is no longer an efficient option.
In fact here is what Google says on its submission page: “We do not add all submitted URLs to our index, and we cannot make any predictions or guarantees about when or if they will appear.”
Moreover, there is the fact that most low quality and spam websites resort to the direct submission, hoping it will help them to appear on Google. That is why search engines pick the websites that get submitted to them with a grain of salt.
Getting Backlinks – The Best Way
As we mentioned above, these days search engines have a very sophisticated technology to crawl and index the web. They are capable of discovering new links in a matter of hours, and if that link points to a website that is not in their index yet, they’ll add it on the fly.That is why the best way to get your website listed on Google is to get other websites linking to your own site (when another site links to yours it is called a backlink). If you manage to get an authoritative site on your niche to link to your site, Google will probably index you within 24 hours. Even if you just get links from average sites, you should still be included in Google’s index within 48 to 72 hours.
Not sure how to get backlinks? Here are some simple methods you can use:
1. Ask Friends to Link to Your Website
If you have friends who have their own websites or blogs, ask them to link to your website. They could write a post recommending your website to their readers, for example, or simply include a link to your website on their sidebar.2. Submit Your Website to Web Directories
Getting your website listed on web directories won’t send you much traffic, and it won’t give you fantastic search rankings either, but it should be enough to let Google discover and index your website. Here is a list with hundreds of web directories you can use.3. Submit Content to Article Directories
When you submit an article to a directory, it will publish the article on its website, including an author byline. You are allowed to include a link to your website on that byline, and that is how you can get backlinks by submitting content to these directories. Here is a list with the top 50 article directories on the web.4. Join Online Forums and Put A Link To Your Site on the Signature
Most online forums allow their members to create a signature, and you can also include a link to your website on that signature. After you create your member account and setup your signature, therefore, it will be a matter of writing posts in the forum, and each post will count as a backlink. You can use the Big-Boards.com site to find online forums in your niche.Checking If Your Site Is Indexed
Once you get some backlinks to your website and wait a couple of days, how do you check to see if the site is already indexed or not?The right way to do it is to use the “site:” parameter on Google. That is, search for “site:yourdomainname.com” on Google. If your website is already indexed, the first result should be your homepage, and the other results represent the internal pages that Google also indexed from your site. Here is a screenshot of this search query for our own website:
The Sandbox Effect
One common mistake webmasters make is to search on Google for the name of their website, expecting to find it there right away. When they don’t, they freak out and start thinking that something is wrong.For example, let’s suppose that you just launched a website called SuperCars.com. You put some content there, get some backlinks, and then you use the “site:” parameter to see if it is indexed. It is. You then search on Google for “super cars,” hoping to find your site there, but it is nowhere to be found, even when you look on the second, third and fourth page of results.
Is there something wrong here? No. This is a perfectly normal pattern, and people call it “the sandbox effect.”
Google basically has a separate index, the sandbox, where it places all newly discovered websites. When websites are on the sandbox, they won’t appear in the search results for normal search queries, like “super cars.” Why is that? Because Google still needs to evaluate whether the website is legitimate or not (i.e., that it has unique content, that it doesn’t have spam or malicious content and so on).
Once Google verifies that the website is legitimate, it will move it out of the sandbox and into the main index. That is when the site will start ranking for normal search queries, and that is when the owner of SuperCars.com would be able to find its website when searching for “super cars.”
How long does it take to get out of the sandbox? It varies from site to site. Sometimes it happens in one month, other times it takes three or four months.
The best way to make sure you’ll get out of the sandbox as soon as possible is to keep publishing unique content on your site to keep getting backlinks from quality and relevant websites.
More than 99 Ways to Increase Your Website Traffic
Traffic is the currency of the web. The more traffic your website has, the easier it will be to achieve your objective, be it to make money, to spread your ideas, to connect with other people or anything else.
That is why we decided to create a compilation with 100 ways you can use to increase your website traffic. Apply some (or most) of them and we are sure your numbers will go up!
Blogs
1. Add a blog to your website. If your website is static (e.g., a corporate site or an online store), consider adding a blog to it, where you’ll write new content regularly. This will give your visitors a reason to come back, and your search engine traffic will increase too. If you need a blog software, check out WordPress (it is free and easy to use). 2. Leave comments on other blogs. Develop the habit of visiting blogs inside your niche and leaving comments on them. You can include a link to your website on each comment, and some visitors will certainly come through those links. You can use Alltop to find blogs in any niche.
3. Write guest posts. Most blogs accept guest posts. That is, they allow you to write a post for them, and usually the post carries an author byline with a link to your website. Simply send your article to the blog owner and ask whether or not he wants to publish it as a guest post.
4. Sponsor blog contests. Another common practice around the blogosphere are contests. You can sponsor one by donating products or money, and the blogger will link to your website from the contest page.
5. Join a blog carnival. Blog carnivals are online events where bloggers get together to write about one specific topic. The host of the carnival will them write a round-up post linking to all the participant entries, and participants usually link to each others’ entries as well. You can organize one with your friends, or browse for existing ones at BlogCarnival.com.
6. Network, network, network. Ever heard the saying “it is not about what you know, but who you know”? It applies to promoting a website as well. If you become a friend with a blogger or website owner, he will be much more likely to link to your website and send traffic your way. A good way to achieve this is to link to other bloggers first and to establish a relationship via email.
Subscribers
7. Publish an RSS feed. Once you publish an RSS feed your visitors will be able to subscribe to your website using an RSS reader. After that whenever you publish new content they will receive it automatically, which is a great way to keep these visitors engaged with your content and visiting your website regularly. 8. Use Feedburner. If you want to get the most out of your RSS feed you should sign-up for a Feedburner account. It is completely free, and you’ll get a wide range of features, including statistics about your subscribers, customization options and so on. Feedburner will also make your RSS feed compatible with most browsers and RSS readers, so you won’t lose any subscribers due to technical problems.
9. Offer email subscriptions. Many Internet users still don’t use RSS, so offering an email subscription to your content is a must. Fortunately it is very easy to do this once you have a Feedburner account. You just need to activate this feature under “Publicize,” and then copy and paste the subscription link on your website.
10. Create an email newsletter. You can take your email subscription option one step further and create an email newsletter. This will give you more control regarding the messages you send to your subscribers. For example, you could create an auto-responder sequence, sending specific messages at specific time intervals to your new subscribers. You’ll need an email marketing software to manage your newsletter, and you can use Aweber for that (it is a paid solution).
Content is King
11. Break a news story. If your website is the first to talk about a news story it will receive many links from other sites who will cover it as well, and your traffic will increase as a result. 12. Write a controversial article. If you manage to write something controversial, people will talk about and link to your article, either because they agree with you or, most likely, because they disagree. The result will be a lot of traffic.
13. Write a “Top 10″ list. Internet users love “Top 10″ lists, because they are easy to digest and contain useful stuff (i.e., 10 resources, 10 tips, and so on).
14. Write a “Top 100″ list. If “Top 10″ lists are good for traffic generation, “Top 100″ ones are great. This article is an example. People will bookmark and share your “Top 100″ list naturally because of the value it packs together.
15. Write a “Definitive guide” to something. People love to learn new things, especially if such things will solve some of their problems. Make sure to make your guide as complete as possible, and visitors will flock to read it.
16. Publish an interview. This strategy works even better if the interviewee has a blog or website, as he might link to the interview and send his readers to your site.
17. Leverage holidays and seasonal events. You can drastically increase your traffic if you publish content related to big holidays and seasonal events. Examples include Christmas, elections, Olympic games, the World Cup and so on.
Linkbaits
19. Create a quiz. People love quizzes, and if you create an interesting one your traffic might increase as visitors both take the quiz and share the results with their friends. You can use ProProfs.com to create your quiz.19. Create a ranking of people. For example, publish a ranking with the “50 Hottest Female Entrepreneurs.” Such rankings tend to get a lot of traffic because it plays with people’s ego.
20. Create a ranking of websites. A similar strategy is to create a ranking of websites, say the “25 Best Weight Loss Blogs.” The owners of the sites mentioned are likely to link to your article (especially if you contact them to let them know about it, thus sending your traffic.
21. Publish a funny image. At the end of the day, people just want to have a good laugh. Publishing a funny image is a good way to help them with that, and it might increase your traffic at the same time. Want some inspiration? Check the Pics section on Reddit.
22. Create an infographic. If you are creative and like to research, then you should try creating infographics, as they tend to attract many links and traffic. Here is a tutorial that will help you to create one.
Freebies
23. Release an eBook. This is one of the most efficient ways to generate traffic. Simply write a compelling eBook, and then release it on your website. Include a direct download link, and email bloggers and webmasters in your niche to let them know about it. The better the information in your eBook, the more people will share and recommend it, and the more traffic you’ll gain. 24. Create a free CSS template. CSS templates are very popular around the web, and if you submit yours to CSS directories many people will end up using it. Include a footer link to your website and you’ll surely get some traffic.
25. Create a free WordPress theme. You can also transform your CSS template into a WordPress theme (or create a new theme from scratch). WordPress is used by millions of users, and many people will download your theme if you submit it to directories (including the Official Themes Directory).
26. Release a cheat sheet. Cheat sheets are very popular on the web, and if you create one you’ll certainly see a bump in the number of website visits. If you want to see some examples, check this article listing 25 useful cheat sheets for web developers.
27. Create web design resources. The web design community is one of the most active online, and creating resources for them is a good way to increase your traffic. Examples include icon sets, fonts, textures, Photoshop brushes and the like.
Contests
28. Launch a retweet contest. You can launch a contest where people need to retweet the contest page in order to get an entry to the random draw. The prize can be either money or products and services from your sponsors. Depending on the size of your prize the retweets could go viral after a while. 29. Launch a comment contest. An alternative contest format is to ask people to leave a comment on your contest post in order to get an entry. This will increase your traffic because your RSS and email subscribers will need to visit your website to leave a comment, and it will stimulate them to comment on your posts more often.
30. Launch a review contest. If you want to increase your search rankings you could launch a contest where people need to write about the content in order to get an entry. The links you’ll get will send you both Google juice and new visitors. Keep in mind that you need a good prize to motivate people to write about your contest though.
31. Launch a voting contest. You basically need to create a contest where the winner will be picked with a voting session. Suppose you have a fitness website. You could invite your readers to submit their best fitness tip, and then a voting session would decide which tip gets the prize. This would motivate participants to link to the voting session and to encourage their friends to visit your website and vote.
32. Launch a traffic contest. If traffic is what you want, why not be direct about it? You can launch a contest where people need to send traffic to one particular page inside your website. It could be the contest page (for a viral effect) or a resource page (e.g., a page where you give away an ebook). After the established time frame (e.g., 2 weeks, 1 month or anything else), you’ll simply need to check your web analytics to see which websites sent you more visitors, and then award the prizes.
Multimedia
33 Experiment with video. As you probably heard, video is huge on the web right now. If you are not experimenting with it yet, you should. If you want to do something simple, just record yourself talking in front of the web cam (obviously what you are talking about should be interesting to your visitors, as opposed to some general rambling).34. Create screencasts. A very efficient way to create compelling videos is to record your computer screen while you perform some task. For instance, you could use it teach other people how to use the computer or how to do things on the Internet. You can use a free software called CamStudio to create your screencasts.
35. Submit your videos to multiple sites. Once you have your videos ready to go, you should spread them on as many video websites as possible, and not just on YouTube. Luckily there is a site that can help you do that without spending too much time at it. It is called TubeMogul.com, and it automates much of the submission process for you.
36. Launch a podcast. This could be a good traffic generator for one main reason: there isn’t much competition out there as far as podcasts go. In other words, as long as you put some effort into it, your podcast could become the leader inside your niche quite fast. All you need is a USB microphone to start recording.
37. Release audio interviews. We already mentioned that interviews are good for traffic. Apart from text interviews, however, you can also release audio interviews. Skype makes it really easy to record one. You’ll just need to use a software to record your Skype conversation. PowerGramo has a free version that works well.
Social Bookmarking Sites
38. Get people to stumble your articles. If you have friends using Stumble Upon, ask them to stumble your best articles. This should get the ball rolling, and if other Stumble Upon users like your content it might receive a lot of traffic from it. 39. Try to reach Digg’s front page. Reaching Digg‘s front page is quite difficult, but it is worth a try, because once you manage it you’ll receive tens of thousands of visitors. You should start by becoming an active Digg user, trying to make as many friends as possible and to understand the kind of content that works there. Once you have these two things, get a friend to submit one of your best stories, and get your network of contacts to vote on it.
40. Submit your content to Reddit. If you fail to get success with Digg, try Reddit. It works in a similar way, but it is smaller and has a more friendly community, so your content might do better there. Funny stuff, technology and politics are topics particularly suitable for the site.
41. Get your visitors to bookmark your articles on Delicious. If you publish many how-to articles and tutorials, Delicious could be a good traffic generator for your website. Simply add a Delicious icon below your articles, try to get some friends to bookmark your articles as soon as they get published. If you get enough bookmarks in a short period of time your article might get promoted to Delicious front page.
42. Include social bookmarking icons on your site. You can increase the number of votes and bookmarks you’ll get by including social bookmarking icons on your site. You can use this generator to create the icons automatically and paste the code on your website.
43. Try niche social bookmarking sites. The four social bookmarking sites mentioned above are the largest ones on the web, but there is also a wide range of smaller, niche focused bookmarking sites that can send you some traffic. Here is a list with 83 of them. Simply join the ones related to your niche and check how much traffic they can send you.
Social Networks
44. Create a profile on most social networks. When you create a profile on a social network, you are usually able to include the URL of your website. Guess what? This is a link building opportunity, and it might increase your traffic (both because of the visitors you’ll get and because of the link juice). Mashable has a list with over 350 social networks, so use that to get started. 45. Start using Facebook. If you want to generate social media traffic, you must have a presence on Facebook. The very least you should do is to create an account there and network with as many people as possible. After you’ll be able to generate traffic by posting links to your website on your Facebook stream.
46. Create a Facebook fan page. Another great way to leverage Facebook is to create a Fan page. This is basically a page dedicated to your website, where your visitors can become fans, leave comments and so on. Here is a tutorial to help you create your first Fan page.
47. Include a Facebook “Like” button on your site. Facebook recently introduced the “Like” button, which you can embed on your site to let your users share your content through their Facebook accounts. Getting the button is just a matter of copying and pasting some lines of code. Here is the page where you can get it.
48. Start using Twitter. Another must have social network is Twitter. You can create an account for yourself, or one for your website directly, where you’ll post updates with links to your recent posts and related content from around the web.
49. Include a Tweetmeme button on your site. By including a Tweetmeme button on your website you’ll allow your visitors to retweet your posts and pages with a single click, which can increase the traffic you’ll receive from Twitter.
50. Explore niche social networks. You problably won’t get as much traffic from niche social networks as you will from Facebook and Twitter. But you should still give them a shot, because the traffic will be much more targeted. Here is a list with 233 social networks divided by niche.
Website Optimization
51. Customize your 404 error page. Whether you like it or not people will get 404 errors on your website. Maybe they will misspell your URLs, maybe someone will link to an inexistent page inside your website, and so on. If you use a normal 404 error page, visitors will simply move on to another website. If you customize your 404 error page to include some useful links, however, you’ll channel these visitors to other parts of your site, thus increasing your traffic. 52. Interlink your pages. This strategy will increase your traffic in two ways. First of all it will allow your visitors to explore your website more easily, increasing the number of pages views per visit. Secondly, it will also improve your search rankings because your link juice will be distributed among all pages of your website.
53. Highlight your most popular content. People like to know “what is hot” when they are visiting a website. You can increase the number of page views you’ll get per visitor if you highlight your popular content and encourage them to read it. The easiest way to achieve this is to create a “Popular Articles” section on your sidebar.
54. Test your website in different browsers. If web users can’t visualize your website properly they’ll just move on to another site. That is why you need to make sure that your site works fine on the most popular browsers. There is an online service called Browsershots.org that can help you with that, and it is completely free.
55. Speed up your website. There are many research papers confirming that most Internet users will only wait a couple of seconds for a web page to load. If it doesn’t, they will close it and move to another website. On top of that search engines also use the loading speed as a ranking factor, so the faster your site loads, the higher your search rankings. The first thing you should do to improve your loading speed is to remove unnecessary elements from your site and to reduce the size of your images. You can use the Firebug extension for Firefox to perform a more detailed analysis of your loading speed.
56. Serve cached pages. A very efficient way to improve the loading speed of your pages is to serve cached versions to your visitors. This will also reduce the load on your web server, and make your site more responsive. WordPress users can install a plugin called WP Super Cache to achieve this.
57. Get a decent hosting plan. No matter how much your optimize your website, however, it will still load slowly if your hosting plan is mediocre to begin with. That is why you should stay away from free and cheap web hosts. Investment $10 per month to get a quality hosting plan is a must.
Search Engine Optimization
58. Create unique content. If you want to receive search engine traffic and only had time to work on one thing, you should work on creating unique content for your website. This is what Google and company values most. The more unique content you have, and the more frequently you publish new stuff, the better. 59. Build backlinks. The second most important thing you can do to improve your search rankings and receive organic traffic is to build backlinks. That is, you need to have as many websites linking to you as possible. The higher the quality and relevancy of these links, the better. If you have a tech blog, for example, getting a link from TechCrunch or some other authoritative tech site would do wonders to your SEO.
60. Perform keyword research. Search engines work around keywords, and if you understand the keywords that people use you can tailor your content to match that. For example, the term “funny pictures” is 15 times more searched than the term “funny images,” so you probably should use that in a post title . You can use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to discover the search volume of any keyword.
61. Optimize your title tags. The title tag is the title of your pages. It goes inside the <title></title> tags in the header of your HTML code, and it is displayed on top of the browser when visiting your page. This is a very important on-page SEO factor. You should make sure that you have a unique title tag on each page of your site, and that your main keywords are present there. WordPress users can install the All in One SEO Pack plugin to achieve this automatically.
62. Build an HTML sitemap. An HTML sitemap is basically a page inside your website linking to all other pages (and preferably being linked from all other pages too). The HTML sitemap helps search engines to crawl and index your website, thus increasing your search rankings.
63 Use images. Most webmasters forget that Google has a feature called “Image search,” which is quite popular. This means that by using images inside your pages you can increase the amount of search engine traffic you get. Just make sure to optimize the name of your images with relevant keywords, and always include an ALT and a TITLE attribute in your image tags. You can use the sxc.hu website to find thousands of royalty free images to use on your website.
64. Translate your content. Depending on the topic of your website, translating your pages into other languages could multiply your search engine traffic. In order to achieve this you need a plugin that will get your translated pages indexed by search engines. WordPress users can use one called Global Translator.
Mobile
65. Create a mobile version of your website. As more and more users start accessing the web through mobile devices, it becomes important to have a version of your website that works perfectly these new platforms. If you are using WordPress you can install a plugin called WPTouch to create a mobile version automatically. 66. Create an iPhone app for your website. iPhone is arguable the most popular smartphone around, and most of its users rely heavily on apps to consume their content. If you create an iPhone app to display the content of your website you could both get new readers and allow your current ones to read your stuff on their iPhones. There is an open source project that will help you do this for free.
67. Create an Android app for your website. Google’s mobile operating system, called Android, is quickly catching up, so you could create a website app for it as well. You’ll need some coding knowledge for this though.
Online Forums
68. Join online forums and put a link to your website in your signature. Regardless of the topic of your website, you’ll certainly find dozens of related online forums to join. Most of them allow you to put a link in your signature, and you can use that to send visitors to your own website. If you need help to find online forums, check Big-Boards.com, as they have a database of thousands of forums divided by categories. 69. Link to your articles from post threads. Apart from putting a link to your website in your signature, you can also link to your articles when writing forum posts. For example, if you just wrote a post that is useful to other forum members, you could start a thread letting them know about it, and asking for feedback. Just make sure to do this when your article is relevant, else you might get flagged as a spammer.
70. Join the Craigslist forums. If you browse on Craigslist (the most popular classifieds site on the web) you’ll notice that inside each city there is a “Discussion forums” section. You can write posts there, and include links to your website whenever relevant to the discussion.
71. Consider adding a Forum to your site. Once your website reach a critical mass of users (i.e., 5,000 daily unique visitors or more) you could consider adding a Forum to it. This will give your visitors a place to ask questions and contribute content, while increasing your traffic. phpBB is a reliable and free Forum software you can use.
Content Hubs
72. Create “lenses” on Squidoo. Each “lens” on Squidoo is an overview page about a specific topic. Creating lenses is free, and you can include any kind of information on them, including links to your own website. 73. Create a “hub” on HubPages. A very similar site is called HubPages. You can create “hubs” about specific topics, and include links to your website there. Just make sure to read the site guidelines, to make sure your hubs will be published.
74. Answer to questions on Yahoo! Answers. Spend some time browsing the questions on Yahoo! Answers, and whenever you come across one related to the topic of your site, answer it. You can include a link to your website as an additional resource, or to a specific article inside your site that answers the question too.
75. Answer to questions on LinkedIn. LinkedIn Answers is another platform where you can answer to questions from other users and include a link to your own website or articles. Keep in mind that topics gravitate around career and business here.
Old School
76. Submit your site to web directories. The amount of traffic you’ll get from this tactic depends on the quality of the web directories that will accept you. If you submit to hundreds of them, however, the traffic might build up. Here is a list with hundreds of web directories, organized by Google PageRank. 77. Submit your blog to blog directories. If you have a blog, you can also submit to blog directories (i.e., web directories that only list blogs). This article lists 50 of them to get you started.
78. Submit content to article directories. Article marketing is a very common and effective way to increase your traffic. You basically need to submit your articles to article directories. Virtually all of them allow you to include a link back to your site, and that is how your traffic will increase. Here is a list with the 50 most popular article directories on the web.
79. Exchange links. The practice of exchanging links is as old as the web, but that is so because it works. You just need to be careful to only exchange links with sites that have unique content and are relevant to your visitors (else Google might get upset).
80. Use ad swaps. A similar strategy is to use ad swaps. That is, you use your unused ad space to promote the website of your partner, and he does the same with his unused ad space. The ad itself could be anything, from a banner spot to an email message to your newsletter.
81. Distribute a press release. Creating and distributing a press release can still send some traffic to your website, especially if you have something new in your segment. You can pay companies like PRWeb to do most of the work for you, or you can submit the press release manually (here is a list with 50 sites you can submit to).
82. Include your website’s URL in your email signature. Email is the most used communication channel these days, and as such you should use it to let your contacts know about your website.
Paid Methods
83. Google AdWords. Pay-per-click advertising is one of the most efficient ways to buy traffic for your website, and Google AdWords is the largest ad network for that on the web. Creating an account is free, and then you’ll need to bid on keywords. Depending on your niche it is possible to buy clicks for as low as some pennies. 84. Facebook ads. The best alternative to Google AdWords is the Facebook Ads platform. You’ll be able to pay both per click and per 1,000 impressions, and you can also target very specific demographics, to make sure the visitors will be interested in your content.
85. StumbleUpon ads. If your content performs well on social media you could try StumbleUpon ads. Your website (or a specific page inside it) will basically be displayed to StumbleUpon users, with a cost of $0.05 per view. If many users vote positively on your content you’ll also receive some free traffic.
86. Reddit sponsored links. Another social bookmarking site where you can buy ads on is Reddit. You’ll basically create a sponsored link that will be featured on the homepage, and Reddit users will be able to vote it up or down.
87. Purchase banner ads directly. Virtually any website owner is willing to sell banner ads. If you find a website that is closely related to yours, therefore, you could contacts the owner asking how much he would charge for a banner ad. The return on the investment might be high here, because the visitors that will come will be likely to stick around and become loyal readers of your site.
88. Purchase banner ads through networks. There are ad networks that might also help you purchase banner ads, paying a flat monthly fee. BuySellAds.com is a large one with a really big inventory of websites.
89. Purchase sponsored reviews. Sometimes sponsored reviews work better for traffic generation, because your website will be featured inside a post (i.e., it will be exposed directly to the readers of the other site). If you want to buy a sponsored review you could either contact the website owner directly, or browse through the marketplace of sites like SponsoredReviews.com (make sure the sponsored links will have the nofollow attribute, else Google might get pissed).
Offline Methods
90. Tell your friends and family about your website. These folks are certainly going to be interested in checking your website out, and if you put new content there frequently, they might keep coming back. 91. Tell your co-workers about your website. This is another group of people that will be interested in visiting your website at least one. If the content of your website is somewhat related to your work this strategy will work even better.
92. Include your website’s URL in your business card. If you give business cards away frequently, consider including your website’s URL there. Professional contacts might be interested in visiting it after all.
93. Print your website’s URL in some T-shirts. It is very easy and cheap to get custom T-shirts these days (just Google it), so getting some with your website’s URL could be a nice way to spread the word about it.
94. Create stickers with your website’s URL and spread them around. If you really want to go guerilla, get some stickers with your website’s URL and spread them around. Cars, windows, computers, you name it!
95. Put an ad at a local newspaper. Depending on the niche of your website, getting an ad on a local newspaper could be a good investment. For example, if you have a blog about local news or events an ad on the local newspaper could definitely bring you some new readers.
Out of the box Methods
96. Come up with an April Fools’ prank. The first of April is a very lively day on the Internet, where many companies and webmasters come up with funny pranks. If you come up with a funny or interesting one other website owners might link to your, sending you traffic. You can check TechCrunch’s summary of the 2010 pranks for inspiration. 97. Set your website as the homepage on any computer you use. If you apply this tactic consistently it might actually bring good results. For instance, you could set your website as the homepage of all computers in your school, work, libraries and so on.
98. Navigate to your website on computer stores. This might not bring you a lot of traffic, but it sure is a funny tactic. Whenever you go to a store with computers being showcased, open the web browser and navigate to your website, so that people passing by will see it.
99. List your website for sale. Even if you are not planning to sell it, that is. The interested buyers will visit your website to check it out, and that is how you’ll increase your traffic. If you list your site on popular marketplaces, like Flippa.com, you might actually get thousand of visitors (and possible some good offers!).
100. Fake a hacker attack. The community of bloggers and webmasters gets in turmoil every time a website or blog gets hacked. If you fake such an attack (i.e., by putting a weird message in your homepage) you’ll certainly receive many backlinks and a bump in traffic. People might get pissed if they find out it was a prank, though.
Don’t have a website yet? Then check our main tutorial. It is a step by step guide that will help you get your own website up and running today!
World Biggest Holes on Earth
It is believed that holes are wrath of god on this earth and are pathway to hell. Most people reading this would agree but here it is certainly not the case. Holes created in different parts of the world either due to human works like mining, as sum of these are diamond mine shafts that have been abandoned or due to wrath of god as we all know through meteor shower or something similar falling that made the dinosaurs extinct are today popular vacation spots as they are a visual extravaganza.
Whether it’s the Great Blue Hole of Belize, Mirny Diamond Mine of Siberia or the Burning Gates of Turkmenistan, all of these attract a hell lot of tourists and adventure seekers every year just to get a glimpse and experience the ultimate souvenir of nature. Check these cool pictures.
Whether it’s the Great Blue Hole of Belize, Mirny Diamond Mine of Siberia or the Burning Gates of Turkmenistan, all of these attract a hell lot of tourists and adventure seekers every year just to get a glimpse and experience the ultimate souvenir of nature. Check these cool pictures.
Mirny Diamond Mine of Siberia
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| World Biggest Holes on Earth |
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| World Biggest Holes on Earth 1 |
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Great Blue Hole – Belize |
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Great Blue Hole – Belize 1 |
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Burning Gates of Turkmenistan |
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| World Biggest Holes on Earth 3 |
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Kimberley Big Hole - South Africa |
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| World Biggest Holes on Earth 4 |
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Bingham Canyon Mine – Utah |
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| World Biggest Holes on Earth 5 |
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Glory Hole in Monticello Dam California |
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Diavik Diamond Mine – Canada |
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| World Biggest Holes on Earth 6 |
Guatemala Sinkhole
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| World Biggest Holes on Earth 7 |
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| World Biggest Holes on Earth 8 |
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Chuquicamata Copper Mine – Chile |
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| World Biggest Holes on Earth 9 |
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Udachnaya Pipe – Russia |
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| World Biggest Holes on Earth 10 |
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Ronnie Coleman Biography
Biography
Birthplace: Monroe, Louisianna
Education: Bastrop High School 1982; Grambling State University, 1986 (BS in Accounting, Cum Laude)
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 300 lbs. (contest); 330 lbs. (off-season)
Current residence: Arlington, TX
Ronnie Coleman: His Rise to the Top and How He Stayed There!
From humble beginnings
Ronnie Dean Coleman came into this world on May 13, 1964, in Monroe, Louisiana. He grew up in nearby Bastrop, raised by single mother Jessie Benton along with a younger brother and two younger sisters. Always big for his age, Ronnie tried various sports but excelled at football. His high school coaches and teammates remember him as the hardest-working kid on the squad, the only one who hit the weight room all summer long to get bigger and stronger for the gridiron in the fall. Ronnie was also a hard worker when it came to helping out his family, always holding down one or two jobs after school and on weekends to do what he could to ease his mother's financial burdens. After high school he played football for Grambling State University, but was also quite serious about his studies. He graduated Cum Laude with a BS in Accounting. A stable career as a CPA was his plan at the time. Had his plan come to fruition, chances are we would never have heard of Ronnie Coleman in the bodybuilding world.
The move to Texas and the toughest years
Ronnie left Louisiana for Dallas, where he expected to find greater job opportunities in his chosen field. Instead, he was denied time after time in his quest, and delivered newspapers, and pizzas for Domino's to make ends meet. "Domino's was the hardest job I ever had," he recalls. "I dreaded every day working there, but I knew I was destined for something better." One day while skimming through the want ads in the newspaper, he saw that the police department in Arlington, a Dallas suburb, was hiring. The idea of better pay and job benefits appealed to Ronnie, and he joined the force. He had always lifted weights, and continued to do so in the police station weight room. In 1989, one of his fellow officers persuaded him to check out Metroflex Gym, which had been open just two years, but was already known as the best hardcore gym around, home to many competitive bodybuilders and powerlifters.
Metroflex Gym and early glimmers of greatness
Metroflex Owner Brian Dobson talks about the first time he met Ronnie.
"I was in need of a training partner and a police officer named John Morgan told me about a rookie cop that was unbelievably built and was working out at the police gym just to stay in shape. He got Ronnie to come visit me. When he walked in he had on a red old-fashioned sweat suit like you would buy at Sears. The sweats were so tight on his legs and arms that I could see all of his veins poking through. I knew immediately that I was looking at a genetic freak. At first, Ronnie was a little apprehensive, but I am very good at coaxing people into competing. I don't think he believed me when I told him he could be Mr. Olympia. But it turned out to be very prophetic. I gave him a free membership to be my workout partner, and to compete for the gym. Ronnie always likes a good deal, so he took it. I knew he was going to go all the way to the top of the sport even then."Ronnie's training background was as a powerlifter, and many of the exercises and techniques used by bodybuilders were foreign to him. Dobson passed on his considerable training knowledge and expertise, and the results were simply astounding. Brian was a very strong man, but within a year, the 5-11, 215-pound beginner with 20-inch arms had grown to 230 pounds and eclipsed him in every lift. Within a year, he could squat 500 pounds for 20 deep reps, deadlift over 700 pounds, leg press nearly a ton, and do walking lunges in the 100-degree heat of the parking lot with as much as 350 pounds on his back. He could bench 500 and row 405 for reps, and all completely drug-free at this point, it should be said.
1990 - on stage for the first time
Brian took Ronnie to compete in his first bodybuilding contest after he had only been training at the gym for four months, and he won with ease. The promoter of the 1990 Mr. Texas, Glyke Zguris Dixon, still remembers that fateful day.
"When he first stepped on the stage, and my contest was the first stage that he stepped on, I heard gasps. One of my judges came up to me afterwards and made comments that his upper body and especially his arms were of the caliber of Mr. Olympia. As a promoter, I often did not want to hear comments about the competitors, whether positive or negative. However, at the night show, I took a closer look and yes Ronnie had the 'guns' of a superstar already. He did not yet have the leg development, and I always felt that his calves were 'high calves,' and that might hinder his search for Mr. Olympia. He certainly has overcome his weaknesses and he had enhanced his strengths - hat is the key to bodybuilding - show them the strong points and hide the weak points during the posing."Months later, he swept the Heavyweight and Overall titles at the 1990 NPC Texas Championships, and went on that fall to enter his first pro qualifier, the NPC Nationals. That year, the contest was held in Los Angeles and was drug-tested. At least some of the competitors took that seriously, as they dropped down into lower weight classes from the year before. Ronnie took third place behind Jerry Rodgers and Edgar Fletcher in the Heavyweights, as Al'Q Gurley won the lightheavies and the Overall.
1991 - Final amateur year
Ronnie was not an amateur for very long. His second and final bid at the NPC Nationals saw him place fourth behind Heavyweight and Overall champion Kevin Levrone, Flex Wheeler, and the late Paul "Quadzilla" DeMayo. In the years before there was an NPC Team Universe, the NPC used to send its best amateurs from the Nationals that could pass a drug test off to Europe or Asia to vie for a pro card against the best amateurs from every other country at the IFBB World Amateur Championships, previously known as the Mr. Universe. Ronnie passed the test and was flown to Poland, where he beat the best Heavyweights from the rest of the world and earned an IFBB pro card. It was shortly after this that I first met Ronnie, who was helping out the IFBB as a stagehand at the Mr. Olympia contest at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel in Orlando. I saw him walking down the hallway outside the giant ballroom where the stage was still being assembled, 22-inch veiny arms bursting from the sleeves of a Polo shirt. It actually looked as if the sleeves were cutting off his circulation. A few people were following him around, wondering who he was. There was no way to know that this man would someday be the world's greatest bodybuilder. For the next few years, Coleman paid his dues and then some in the IFBB.
1992 - Welcome to the pro's, new guy!
Ronnie made his pro debut at the Chicago Pro show on May 9, with an inauspicious eleventh place. Interestingly, all ten men who beat him there are now retired, and one is dead. I would bet that many of you won't even recognize half of their names. They were, in the order they finished, Porter Cottrell, Thierry Pastel, Kevin Levrone, Henderson Thorne (who I consider semi-retired, since he only competes at the Toronto Pro show), Milos Sarcev, Kevin McGaunn, Mauro Sarni, the late Ray McNeil, Flavio Bachiannini, and Bob Paris. Right behind Ronnie in twelfth was Darrem Charles, making his IFBB debut after turning pro in 1991 at the Caribbean and Central American Championships. A couple weeks later in New York, Ronnie entered the Night of Champions and finished fourteenth. That contest was Kevin Levrone's first of twenty pro wins, and some of those that beat Ronnie at that NOC who have since retired include Robby Robinson, Norway's Geir Borgan Paulsen, Dan Smith, and Alan Ichinose. Darrem Charles was eleventh, and Nasser El-Sonbatty, competing in his first IFBB event, did not place at all. Back then, the weight class winners at the IFBB World Amateur Championships were eligible to compete in the Mr. Olympia if they so desired, and this is how Ronnie qualified for his first O. The contest was held in Helsinki, Finland, and the two biggest stories were the start of Dorian Yate's six-year headlock on the title, along with Lou Ferrigno's return to competition after seventeen years away from the stage (only to place a disappointing twelfth). Ronnie was one of seven men who 'tied' for sixteenth place, meaning that the judges didn't bother to sort anyone out after the top fifteen. So in essence, Ronnie took last place in his first Mr. Olympia, still weighing around 215-220 pounds. Some more blasts from the recent bodybuilding past that finished ahead of Big Ron were Lee Labrada, Shawn Ray, the late Mohammed Benaziza, Vince Taylor, the late Sonny Schmidt, Ron Love, Steve Brisbois, Al'Q Gurley, and Francis Benfatto. This roll call of retired competitors should give you an appreciation of the longevity and staying power that Ronnie Coleman has. He truly is the last holdout of that generation of 90's bodybuilders, yet continues to improve and win.
1993 - Climbing the ladder
Certainly it had to be discouraging for Ronnie to finish out of the top ten at all three of his first pro shows the year before, but he put his nose to the grindstone and kept working hard in the gym, the only way he knew how, and got right back in the game. In 1993, he entered four shows, all in the spring, yet failed to qualify for that year's Olympia. His best finish was fourth at one of two Grand Prix events held in France that year, where Flex Wheeler was racking up consecutive victories in his rookie season, and Nasser shot up to third place behind Flex and Vince Taylor. At all other three contests, Ronnie was just out of the top five with sixth place. Flex won one of those in Germany, Porter Cottrell won the Chicago Pro, and Italy's Mauro Sarni nabbed the Niagara Falls Pro Invitational. There, Ronnie was beaten by now-retired pros Jim Quinn and David Dearth. The Niagara show was most significant for being the pro debut of a 20-year-old sensation named Lee Priest, who had planned on doing the NPC amateur event held along with the pro show. As many of you know, Jim Manion took note of the short blonde kid with the freaky arms the week before out at Gold's Gym in Venice and petitioned Wayne DeMilia to give the three-time Mr. Australia a pro card. Lee was three places behind Ronnie, in ninth.
1994 - Knocking on the door
Ronnie entered three contests in the 1994 spring season. At the San Jose Pro show, he took fourth place behind Levrone, Porter Cottrell, and David Dearth. He did better in Europe, finishing third at both the French and German Grand Prix shows behind Paul Dillett and Vince Taylor. Both qualified him for that fall's Olympia in Chicago. At the Olympia, Dorian won his third Sandow, and Paul Dillett scored his highest-ever finish with fourth. Chris Cormier debuted in the Olympia in sixth, as did Gunter Schlierkamp, who was in a five-way tie for sixteenth, or last place. It was Gunter's first year as a pro, having won the World Amateurs the year before. Ronnie didn't do much better in fifteenth. Though he had shown signs of being a front-runner in the spring, Coleman had definitely fizzled out at the Olympia.
1995 - First pro win
1995 saw a bigger and better version of Ronnie Coleman, as his off-season following the dismal Olympia months before had yielded somewhere around fifteen pounds of new mass. He now had a supplement contract with Met-Rx to boost his income as a full-time police officer. This was a breakthrough year for Ronnie, as he won his first contest as a pro, the Canada Pro Cup. Right behind him in second place, oddly enough, was Gunter Schlierkamp, who wouldn't place that well again until he beat Ronnie at the 2002 GNC Show of Strength, and who wouldn't even make the top five at his next fifteen contests. Ronnie competed in two more spring shows, taking sixth at the Houston Pro, where Nasser El-Sonbatty won his first pro show. Nasser won his second pro contest a couple weeks later at the Night of Champions, where Ronnie was third behind him and Vince Taylor. His NOC finish qualified Ronnie for the Olympia on September 10 in Atlanta, where once again he didn't exactly light the place up. In eleventh, he was just ahead of Paul DeMayo, but behind the now four-time champ Dorian, Levrone, Nasser, Shawn, Vince, Chris Cormier, Mike Francois, Flex, and Aaron Baker. Ronnie joined the Grand Prix tour that followed, where he placed fourth in France, sixth in Russia, and third in the Ukraine. By now, Ronnie was gaining plenty of stage experience and confidence, as well as the size he would need to keep moving up the ranks.
1996 - Joining the A-list
1996 was another good year for rising star Ronnie. At his first contest of the season, he won his second pro show, again at the Canada Pro Cup. The other two spring shows would see him foiled by Flex Wheeler, first at the Florida Pro Invitational, then the next weekend at the Night of Champions. But second place to Flex was nothing to sneeze at, since Wheeler started 1996 with seven pro wins and would finish it with an even ten. The Olympia took place September 21 in Chicago, and at last Ronnie broke into the top ten with a sixth place. He actually would have been seventh, but Nasser was disqualified due to a failed diuretics test. A week later, Ronnie did three shows in three days, competing in Grand Prix events in Madrid, Germany, and England. Dorian Yates fattened his wallet by winning all three shows, and Ronnie showed his consistency by taking fifth place at each.
1997 - The calm before the storm
Ronnie competed in eleven contests in 1997 and won just one, the Russian Grand Prix. That was a critical turn of events, however, as he managed to beat several men that had been kicking his ass over and over again until then: Levrone, Nasser, Cormier, and Dillett. Kevin was victorious, however, in six other events in Europe where Ronnie's placings were up and down: Czech Republic (fourth), England (fifth), Finland (third), Germany (fifth Markus Ruhl made his pro debut there in tenth), Hungary (sixth), and Spain (seventh). Interestingly, Lee Priest beat him in three of those six shows, and Ronnie beat him at the other three. Ronnie competed in the Arnold Classic for the first time and was fourth, just after placing third at the Pro Ironman behind Flex and Priest. Just after the Ironman and Arnold, he went to the San Jose pro show and finished sixth. In his last Olympia before he began his reign, Ronnie was near the bottom of the top ten in ninth, behind Dorian in his sixth and final win, plus Nasser, Shawn, Levrone, Dillett, Priest, Jean-Pierre Fux, and Chris Cormier. I seriously doubt any of those men had the slightest idea that they would never beat Ronnie again in the Olympia. Kevin would get him one last time a few months later, but that would be the very last time he would edge out Coleman in bodybuilding competition.
1998 - The Reign of King Ronnie begins
Ronnie began this landmark year of his career with a loss to Kevin in San Jose, but proceeded to trounce Kevin en route to winning the Toronto Pro show and the Night of Champions later that spring. Then it was on to the Olympia in New York on October 10th. For this event, Ronnie worked with an up-and-coming nutritionist named Chad Nicholls, who Flex had referred to him. It would be a partnership that endured for many years to come. A sold-out crowd of 5,600 fans was there to see who would succeed King Dorian. The heavy favorites were Flex Wheeler, who now had fifteen pro wins under his belt and what many considered the most perfect physique of all time, and Nasser, who had been a very close second to Dorian the previous year in Long Beach. Ronnie didn't get nearly as much publicity leading up to the show, but it didn't matter once he walked onstage and showed off 250 pounds of striated, dry muscle. Flex pushed him hard and actually won the symmetry round, but when the dust had cleared, Ronnie had beaten him by a slim three-point margin. Since he had barely beaten Flex, few assumed Ronnie would hold on to the title for any length of time, not like the six years Dorian had been Mr. O, and certainly not close to the record eight years that Lee Haney had ruled bodybuilding. Surely, either Flex, Nasser, Shawn or Kevin would get their hands on that Sandow next. But unfortunately for all those great athletes, at 34 years old, Ronnie was just getting warmed up and entering his prime.
1999 - Unbeatable
Now that he was Mr. Olympia, Ronnie skipped the spring season and concentrated purely on training to retain his title, as Dorian and Lee had done before him. After all, when you're number one, what do you have to prove? The strategy proved wise, as he won his second title with a perfect score, in the first year that the event moved to Las Vegas. Flex Wheeler was so upset at being runner-up to Ronnie again that he turned his back to the judges and audience, removed his medals from around his neck, and put up his finger in the 'number one' sign to show that he felt he had been cheated. Ronnie traveled to England and Rome to win two Grand Prix events, beating Flex a second and third time for that year.
2000 - Three for three again
2000 was deja vu all over again. Ronnie went to Las Vegas to win his third consecutive Sandow with a perfect score, now weighing in the 260's. Again he won two shows in Europe shortly afterward, but this time there was a surprise in the form of a young upstart named Jay Cutler. Jay had finished only fourteenth in his initial Olympia in 1999 and eighth in 2000, but at both Grand Prix shows he was runner-up to Ronnie. This would set the stage for their re-match a year later at the Olympia.
2001 - Coleman slips and Cutler comes close
Ronnie must have decided he wouldn't mind a Hummer and an extra hundred grand in his checking account, so he broke tradition and competed at the Arnold Classic in March, winning handily at a ripped and streamlined 250 pounds. To this day, there are still many who consider this the best 'look' Ronnie has ever displayed, as his waist was tight, he was thick and full all over, and his condition was spot-on. However, he paid a price for competing in the spring, and was slightly off at the Olympia. As luck would have it, Jay Cutler showed up looking absolutely phenomenal and in the shape of his life. Suddenly, it seemed as if Ronnie was not unbeatable after all. The judges had Jay beating Ronnie in rounds one and two, the entire prejudging. Going into the night show behind Jay, Ronnie somehow managed to rally and win the last two rounds and pull out a win with a six-point lead. Ronnie finished off the year with a trip to New Zealand for a Grand Prix show, which he won handily.
2002 - Ronnie as an underdog? A controversial loss
The Weider magazines seized the opportunity to promote Jay Cutler as the incumbent Mr. Olympia, and over the following year provided Jay with a publicity blitz like never before seen. But the big rematch never materialized, as Jay shrewdly decided to forego the Olympia that year and focus on winning his first of what would be three consecutive Arnold Classic titles. Ronnie, after having had to listen to critics talk about how out of shape he had been in 2001 (though he was far from it), overcompensated and arrived at the Olympia a ripped but drawn and overdieted 247 pounds. This gave his old nemesis Kevin Levrone a chance to best him, even though Kevin's legs were no longer as impressive as they had once been. Ronnie won both rounds of the prejudging with perfect scores, but Levrone turned the tables on him at the finals, winning the posing and posedown rounds. Ronnie still won by nine points. The surprise of the evening was Gunter Schlierkamp, who vaulted to fifth place at a ripped 300 pounds, after failing to do any better than twelfth place in four previous Mr. Olympias. Ronnie went over to Holland to win a Grand Prix event, but returned to the GNC Show of Strength the next weekend to the most controversial loss of his career - to none other than Gunter! As popular as Schlierkamp was among fans and among the Weider camp, the win seemed all but impossible to justify and left Ronnie with a bitter taste in his mouth, as well as a burning desire for revenge. That revenge would be sweeter than a Wonka bar, my friends!
2003 - Redemption
2003 was the Year of 'Guntermania' in the Weider/AMI magazines. Jay was still being promoted as a threat to Ronnie's crown, since he had announced his intention to go for the Olympia again, but it was Gunter Schlierkamp who was touted as the man that Ronnie should be quaking in his boots about. Those of us who know physiques were scratching our heads and thinking, are they serious? Do they really think they can brainwash people into believing that Gunter, with his wide waist and big joints had a chance in hell of becoming Mr. Olympia, just because he had managed to beat Ronnie in a bullshit decision at the GNC? Apparently, the Weider/AMI camp was dead serious. Gunter's image was plastered all over the covers and inside their issues, and his GNC win over Ronnie was dredged up over and over again. Meanwhile, Ronnie Coleman was busy in Arlington, making damn sure that he not only won the Olympia again, but did so in such convincing fashion that anyone who had doubted him would end up feeling like an idiot. Two months before the show, he filmed the training DVD "The Cost of Redemption," which was documented in great detail in this column. Had Gunter or any of Ronnie's other rivals been able to watch the video before the contest, they would have known they were screwed. And indeed, from the second Coleman walked onstage at 287 ripped pounds, thicker than ever before from head to toe, the contest was over. Gunter repeated his fifth place from the year before, which many thought was a gift this time, as he wasn't as full or sharp. Jay managed second place as he had in 2001, but he was never in the running to topple Ronnie. Ronnie won his sixth Mr. Olympia title with a perfect score, shutting up every critic and serving notice that he was not to be trifled with. He did one Grand Prix show in Russia and won it with ease.
2004 - Not of this world
To say that the 2003 Olympia had taken the wind out of the other men's sails would be an understatement. Any brief glimmers of Ronnie's vulnerability were gone. The man was going to be forty years old by the time he went for his seventh title, but the standard effects of age on athletes seemed to not apply to him. Again, Cutler, now a three-peat Arnold Classic champion, was pushed as the heir apparent. And another monkey wrench was thrown into the mix with the addition of the Challenge Round, which seemed specifically designed to snatch Ronnie's stranglehold on the Sandow. How else can you explain the fact that the scores from the prejudging, in which Ronnie held a monstrously large lead, were tossed out at the beginning of the Challenge Round and the competition was essentially re-started? But Ronnie was not worried, and had no reason to be. This time he was an earth-quaking 296 pounds. Admittedly, he was not as sharp as he had been the previous year, but Cutler had also given up some condition to compete in the 270's. Ronnie won his seventh title with yet another perfect score, then went to Europe and won Grand Prix events in England, Holland, and Russia to finish off the year with some more change in his pocket and three more wins to his credit, bringing his total IFBB victories to date to an even twenty-five.
2005
This would be the year Ronnie hoped to tie the great Lee Haney's record of eight Olympia wins. Though Dexter Jackson was sitting this edition of the event out, Coleman still faced strong opposition in the form of Jay Cutler, who had improved his back to the point where many felt it equaled Ronnie's in the rear double biceps pose. Gustavo Badell was also in excellent condition and eager to 'beat' the king again, as he had in the previous year's Challenge Round. The close match-up between Ronnie and the much-hyped young Russian giant Alex Federov never materialized, as he showed up out of shape and with a disfiguring pec tear. Cutler put up a hell of a fight, but in the end, 280-pound Ronnie emerged triumphant and joined Haney as the greatest Olympia champion ever. Should he break the record in 2006, it would take another athlete a full ten years of winning the title to exceed his achievement. The odds of this happening are very, very slim, as it's hard to imagine someone coming along with his combination of genetics, work ethic, faith, and sheer love for what he does.
Training is his job, but Ronnie loves to train
Ronnie's most famous video, The Unbelievable, was shot just five weeks away from the 2001 Mr. Olympia contest. In that tape, Ronnie was dieted down close to contest condition, with all the low-carbs and increased cardio that this entails. Yet Big Ron does not let the stress and fatigue rob him of the joy that heavy lifting brings him. Dennis and Jay both brood miserably between sets, while Ronnie smiles and cracks his famous catchphrases. Speaking of the catchphrases, a lot of people like to poke fun at Ronnie for his now familiar utterances, oft repeated in his videos, such as:
"Light weight, baby!"
"Ain't nuttin' but a peanut!"
"Yeah, buddy!"
"Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but don't nobody wanna lift no heavy-ass weight!"
These are often hollered across the gym before launching into a heavy set, which in Ronnie's case, is just about every set. They are certainly part of his psych-up, but they are also a strong indication that training is sheer fun for the big man. It may also be his job, but in Ronnie's case, he loves his job. At the Mr. Olympia victory seminar in 2003, Ronnie told the audience that he would always train hard, long after he quit competing. Ronnie is now 42 years old, and has made no mention of wrapping up his career any time soon. "I will keep winning the Olympia as long as God wants me to," he has said.
But the bottom line is that Ronnie Coleman loves to train. It's in his blood. He was lifting heavy for many years before he ever contemplated becoming a bodybuilder in his mid-twenties, competing many times as a powerlifter in the decade preceding his first appearance on stage. For him, nothing could ever take the place of the challenge that enormous amounts of heavy iron provide. The gym is his proving ground, his playground, and his sanctuary. He even has a very well-equipped home gym, in contrast to other bodybuilders who may have only a treadmill or stationary bike in the garage. Ronnie loves the gym so much he just had to have one twenty feet away from where he sleeps, for God's sake! For those of us who share that same love of training, even though we know Mother Nature never intended us to look anything like Ronnie, he is still one of us.
Ronnie is perfect proof of this bit of wisdom: "Find a job you love, and you will never have to work another day in your life."
Boring life? More like consistent
Until the newest DVD, "On the Road," Ronnie's videos did not capture any of the many guest appearances he does around the world throughout the year. What they did give you a good idea of was his daily routine. In "The Unbelievable," we followed a week in his life while he was still employed full-time as an officer for the Arlington, Texas Police Department. Ronnie's life consisted mainly of work, working out, eating, and sleeping - and that was it. Two years later in the second tape, "Cost of Redemption," Ronnie had left that job and was now a full-time professional athlete. From what I could figure, the only thing that really changed is that a couple of his daily meals are eaten at Outback Steakhouse and Black Eye Pea restaurants, rather than out of Tupperware in his patrol car. By all accounts, Ronnie does not go out much, except to a few Dallas Cowboys or Mavericks games in the off-season when he's not yet in his Olympia prep mode. You never hear about Ronnie going out club-hopping. He doesn't drink, he doesn't use recreational drugs, and though unmarried, he has maintained two long-term relationships over the course of his bodybuilding career so far, one to fellow pro bodybuilder Vickie Gates, and currently with IFBB fitness pro Alti Bautista. Surely, with his status in the bodybuilding world, his physique, and let's be honest since we're talking about what attracts many women to a man, his considerable income, he could have a different 'girlfriend' every week, or even keep a constant harem of five or six women at his beck and (booty) call if he were so inclined. But that's not Ronnie.
I am sure his Christian faith has something to do with it, but Ronnie chooses to lead a simpler life, free of drama and upheaval. He stays right there in quiet Arlington, Texas, close to his beloved family, rather than live in a faster-paced, glitzy city like Los Angeles or Las Vegas. There are a few pro bodybuilders with a reputation for partying and going from woman to woman constantly, even moving from state to state several times. Ronnie's life may not seem as exciting compared to theirs, but this 'boring' life is actually one of his most powerful 'secret weapons' in being the dominant bodybuilder of his time. His life is incredibly consistent. Think about it ' if you've seen "The Cost of Redemption," you know he eats the same exact meals every day. He doesn't even waste mental energy deciding what he's going to eat! Ronnie's day-to-day life is geared entirely toward making him a better bodybuilder, rather than seeking the next thrill or different type of pleasure. If you were to really look into the personal lives of many bodybuilders who had a very brief moment or moments of success and then fell out of the sport like shooting stars, you would find that partying, volatile romantic relationships, legal problems, and substance abuse often played major roles in why they didn't last. Ronnie has been on top of his chosen sport for seven years running now, and I wouldn't count out another seven years. Success has been defined by some as nothing more than doing the right things, consistently over a long enough period to bring about the desired outcome. If that's true, then Ronnie Coleman is a true role model for others to pattern themselves after.
His training does not change
This is related to what was just discussed, but Ronnie's training is also remarkably consistent. He has said that the way he trains now is exactly how he has been training ever since he started bodybuilding, down to the exercises and bodypart split. He doesn't have heavy days and light days for muscle groups, or break the weeks or months of the year up into different phases. Many pro's train very differently in the off-season, focusing on more basic free-weight movements, heavier weights, and low reps. When they are anywhere from twelve to sixteen weeks out from a contest, their workouts start to shift toward more isolation movements, more cables and machines, and lighter weights and higher reps. The only way you would know whether Ronnie was in the off-season or dieting for the Olympia, by watching him train, was by seeing how lean he was. Those fundamental movements like squats, bench presses, and deadlifts are still being done, and still being trained heavy, right up until show time. You also need to keep in mind that he also includes isolation movements, but he can do both types of exercises every week because he trains each bodypart twice a week. Few men can handle this workload, mentally or physically.
Another maxim Ronnie proves with his training program is "Keep It Simple, Stupid!" Other bodybuilders are constantly searching for better ways to train, and that's fine, but in doing so there is certainly a lot of wasted or misdirected effort. Ronnie found what works for him, and stuck with it, never doubting himself or feeling the need to hire a trainer to push him in the gym and dream up innovative new angles and exercises to maintain his interest.
Is Ronnie Coleman the greatest bodybuilder alive, or even the greatest that has ever lived? That may be up for debate, but for the past eight years, Ronnie has been king of the bodybuilding world. Long may he reign!
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