The LuxMob Info Tags

With all the talk about the players on tour getting stronger and
more flexible, we hear a lot about exercising for golf from
television commentators and read about it in the golf
publications. But what exactly are the best exercises for the
amateur golfer?

A great question that has a good answer, but before we give you
the answer let us provide some background so the answer makes a
little more sense to you. First of all, discussing the golf
swing for the time being will get us rolling.

What exactly is the golf swing? The golf swing is an athletic
movement that requires using of the entire body from “feet to
fingertips” in order to complete the swing. Realize that the
golf swing is not about the club, not just about your grip, or
where your head is during the swing. The golf swing is a
movement that requires your entire body to move through a
sequence of movements with the correct timing. To perform the
“athletic movement” of the golf swing requires the body to begin
at address, move through the actual phases of the golf swing and
complete it with the follow through. In order to perform this
activity with efficiency and repetitively, the body must have
certain physical parameters.

These parameters, as I call them, are actual physical categories
of the body that need to be developed to a certain level. These
categories of the body are the platform from which the body is
able to perform the athletic movement of a golf swing
efficiently. The categories are probably familiar to many of
you, but for the purpose of this article let us briefly run
through them.

The body is required to have certain levels of flexibility,
balance, endurance, strength, and power to complete a golf
swing. If the body lacks in any of the above categories, then
the results will be seen in the golf swing. The results are
usually in the form of poor mechanics, bad shots, or poor scores
on the course. So, now that we know what the connection is
between the “body” and the “swing” let us address the question
about the best exercises for golf.

The Best Exercises for Golf

Let’s say you walk into your local health club and see all the
fancy machines and aerobic machines at the facility to get you
shape. What ones would choose? Would you choose running on the
treadmill for 30 minutes, or would it be better to push out a
couple sets of bench presses? Well, the answer to our question
really lies within the connection between your swing and your
body.

I will tell you that exercises meant to “pump you up!” or give
you that “six pack” are not necessarily the correct exercises
for your golf game. Neither is that weight training program you
used back in high school. So, with those thoughts in mind what
do you think the best exercises for golf are?

Right now we know, in general terms about the golf swing, what
is required of the body for the golf swing and what exercises
are not good for the swing. Armed with that knowledge we can
decipher what the best exercises for golf are for you.

Beginning with flexibility, we know that the entire body must
move through certain ranges of motion to perform an effective
golf swing. And what happens if your body is not able to move
through the required ranges of motion of the golf swing? The
answer: the golf swing will mechanically suffer resulting in
shots that are less than optimal. So part of the exercises that
are good for golfers are flexibility exercises and, even more
so, flexibility exercises that work the muscles used in the golf
swing through the movements involved in the golf swing. So first
and foremost flexibility exercises should be on the top of your
list.

The second category of exercises that would be conducive to the
golf swing would have to do with balance. We hear about balance
in reference to the golf swing all the time. “Stay balanced
through the swing; transfer your weight to maintain balance
during the swing…” But what does balance exactly mean? Balance
is the ability to control your body through a specific movement
pattern. The movement pattern we are discussing just happens to
be the golf swing. We know the importance of balance in relation
to the golf swing, so how do we train our body for better
balance in the golf swing? Before we answer that question we
need to know a little more about balance. Balance in relation to
the body has to do with the connection between your nerves and
muscles. Essentially your nervous system, as a result of
messages sent from your brain, tells your muscles how to move to
maintain the body’s balance. The more efficient your nerves and
muscles are to these messages the greater balance abilities the
body develops. So balance exercises train both the nervous
system and muscular system to become more efficient at this
function. Summing it all up, balance is the second category of
exercises that will assist your golf game.

The third category of exercises that are beneficial to golf have
to do with your muscles. The golf swing requires the muscles of
your body to move through a specific range of motion
(flexibility) and help with your balance capacities. In order to
perform these actions and others, your body needs certain levels
of strength and endurance. The definition of strength is the
ability of the muscles to exert force for the given “athletic
action” (simplified definition but a good working definition for
us). Endurance is the ability of your muscles to do the same
activity over and over again for a specific amount of time.

First off, let us discuss strength. The golf swing has one
intention of developing club head speed while maintaining
balance through the swing. The muscles in your body must have
enough strength in them to do both. Now, when we discuss
building strength for the golf swing it is NOT the type of
strength needed to bench press 250 lbs. Or squat 500! It is
strength geared towards the improvement of your swing. I refer
to this type of strength as “golf strength.” So when you get to
the gym, performing strength exercises like bench press will not
help your swing. Exercises that train the body in the positions
and through the movements of the golf swing will help your swing.

In addition to strength, we need to develop endurance in your
muscles. Think of how many swings you may take over the course
of 18 holes. In order for you to be able to swing the club the
same way on the 18th hole as you did on the 1st hole. Your body
has to have high levels of endurance. This will allow your body
to perform the golf swing without getting tired. You develop
endurance similar to how you develop “golf strength.” Utilize
exercises that train the body in the positions and through the
movements of the golf swing. Lighter loads with higher
repetitions will be used for these exercises. The end result
will be the development of “golf endurance.”

The final segment of exercises beneficial to your golf swing is
power training. Power training is geared towards the ability of
your body to generate high levels of club head speed. Power
development by the body is what allows for greater distance on
your shots. Clubs help, golf balls help, but it really comes
down to the piece of machinery, your body, swinging those club
and hitting those golf balls. Development of power for the golf
swing is very similar to the development of “golf strength and
endurance.” It is the utilization of exercises that place your
body in the positions and move you through movements similar to
the golf swing.

Summary

So there you have it, the answer to the types of exercises best
for the improvement of your golf swing. I think you now realize
it is not one exercise, but a group of exercises that
incorporate flexibility, balance, endurance, strength, and
power. A combination of these exercises is what will enhance
your golf swing. Looking for specific exercises? Take a look at
our website (See below)

Introduction

In nursing particularly, absolute competence is a must as
patients’ welfare is directly connected to any action or
decision that you take. Give the wrong dosage or medication and
a patient can be killed. Naturally, this can have devastating
consequences so it is absolutely crucial that you take all the
precautions in keeping up to date and maintaining your skills.

Dosage calculations are no exception and the reported cases of
medication errors on an annual basis is very high. Despite this,
many nurses absolutely fear performing calculations of any sort!
Why is this? Most likely because the calculations involve a
knowledge of maths and maths can be a daunting task - especially
if it has been a long time since you studied at school or
university.

The reality of the situation however, is not as bleak as it
often appears to nurses. To perform dosage calculations you
really only need a very basic level of math skills. Basic means
a level that really does not exceed primary school: fractions,
decimals, percentages and ratios.

But how do you learn and maintain your skills in maths? Well
there really are 3 ways:

1> Through a textbook

2> Using Software

3> Hiring a private tutor (which generally requires a lot of
money)

1. Textbooks

Learning math from a textbook can be unsettling - often because
it brings back memories of a screaming teacher throwing algebra
problems in front of you while you anxiously try and avoid
looking directly at them just in case they ask you to go to the
front of the class and solve the problem in front of all your
class mates!

Textbooks can also be notoriously dry and have their own
limitations in terms of interactivity and efficiency of
learning. They rarely account for people who don’t like (or
can’t) read very well and have a limited range of questions.

2. Software

Software has a number of advantages - the main one being the
fact that it offers an extremely interactive way to develop your
skills without having to open a book. Questions are in the
thousands, difficulty levels are included to cater for all skill
levels and you receive instant feedback to your answers (without
having to look at the back of a textbook for the answer).
Further most features are only a simple click away. Repetitive
practice suddenly isn’t such a dry chore but more of a personal
challenge to beat your best score!

Most Software packages even cater for the computer phobic as
they use large buttons and a simple “click on where you want to
go system”. Before you know it your math and computer skills
will be improving!

In a world in which computer are becoming general household
items computer based education is slowly replacing textbook
based methods for its many advantages.

3. Private Tutor

Probably best for the wealthy but you will still be referred to
a textbook or computer program to develop your skills!

Hedges and Fences

Donna, my wife, and I recently moved into a small flat. We have
been married for three years and in all that time we had never
had a home of our own. We had lived our whole lives as
missionaries with no home and no possessions. We travel a lot,
all over the world but had been praying for our own space for a
long time. God provided a small flat in our little village where
we could finally have a two bedroom home and we were overjoyed.

The flat had a little garden in the front and at the back of the
house and suited us fine. The house was in varying stages of
disrepair and we wondered how much time and money we should
spend on fixing it up as we were just renting. In some ways I
think it was indicative of how we as Christians are unsure of
how involved in the world we should be since we are “just
passing through”. We relinquish our duty as Christians not
willing to engage with the world because we don’t think that it
is worth it! All the while disregarding the one verse we all
know by heart (For God loved the world so much that He gave His
one and only begotten son… how much more can you invest, than to
die for the ones you love?) But that is another story and I
could possibly write chapters on it, but we’ll leave that for
another day.

On that note, we realised that we had a lot of work to do on the
little place. We came home from the office and spent every
evening cleaning until midnight as it was such a mess! As I said
before we had no furniture or any worldly possessions so we had
an empty house to fill and we would have to, over the next six
months, trust God to fill it with everything we needed!

We would need appliances, cutlery and plates, a sitting room
suite, tables, a bed, cupboards, drawers and wardrobes. We also
needed to get into the garden which was looking like a jungle! I
remember how exhausted I felt coming home from work each day and
seeing all the work we still had to do.

I also used to borrow garden equipment from a neighbour. I
distinctly remember the first time I cut the hugely overgrown
hedge. The neighbours all noticed and commented on the change.
The elderly neighbour upstairs was very grateful too. It was
amazing how encouraged the neighbourhood was that someone had
moved in and was actually looking after the property and taking
the time to look after the garden.

I realised that pruning hedges makes people stand up and take
notice. If people in my neighbourhood are touched by the fact
that I cut my hedge, how much more is the world touched by
Christ in me on a daily basis through my life. This hedge was a
witness in the neighbourhood and was in complete contrast to the
previous tenants way of thinking. People noticed and appreciated
the effort we made to make our home inviting.

In this small way I realised that people, like children, notice
the smallest detail of our lives and can be affected by it both
positively and negatively. We have lived in this little flat for
seven months now and recently new neighbours moved in to take
the place of our elderly friend upstairs, as she went to a home
where she can be better cared for. These new neighbours have an
effect on us too. They are very loud and constantly fight and
scream obsenitys at each other. It has been a loud and hard
lesson to learn, but how we live really has an effect on the
world we live in and people take notice!

We can either put up hedges which need maintenance and upkeep
and are a delight to see when they are cared for or in our lives
or we can put up fences which distance us from the world and
become a judgement on the world. We all like friends we can
relate to and be real with not holier-than-thou people who keep
up a façade of holiness. Putting up fences make me less
approachable and more unreachable. The Pharisees had many fences
to “keep them from sin” and they were fenced in and bound to
them and by them.

Pharisees had the most law because they figured that if they did
not keep the law they would suffer the consequences of
disobeying God. For this reason they decided to make more laws
to protect them from being tempted to break the original law of
God. If there were grey areas new laws were made to clarify old
ones, it was never ending. These laws were to prevent them from
coming anywhere close to temptation and gave them a sense of
holiness not because they just kept the law of God but also
because they were trying to keep the man-made laws that were
thought up to keep them as far away from sin as possible!

So in their minds they were holy and blameless above and beyond
the law of God. In effect going beyond the call of duty! This
sounds good doesn’t it? Yet ultimately it turned to bite them in
the heel. No one can keep the law of God and that is why we need
divine redemption because nothing in us can save us. Humanism
will never be salvation to us. The Pharisees started out wanting
to please God and ended up displeasing Him because though they
had made it harder for themselves to sin against the law they
had now nurtured pride for this achievement in their hearts!

Many of us today are just as Pharisaic and want to be noted as
spiritual and above reproach, praying longer, studying more
diligently, fasting more often and tithing the greatest amounts.
There is nothing wrong with any of these things but ultimately
what other people see is either hedges or fences in our lives.
Both need time invested in them and yet they can conjure up
different responses from the world. The differences between
hedges and fences is in their motivation, the idea of pleasing
God can be executed in two very different ways depending on our
focus, either ourselves (selfishness) or God (Godliness). One is
holier than thou and judgemental, demanding that others follow
to the letter of the law, and the other is humble and upright
but realistic and vulnerable and without care for reputation.

Which one am I building up in my life? Hedges or fences? I think
that many times we call a fence a hedge. Time will tell what
will survive and last into eternity as an offering dedicated to
God and what will just be a work of dedication to self.

My prayer is that God would search my heart and allow me to see
the fences that need to be pulled down to make way for hedges.

for more….www.god-life.com

One area of search engine marketing that has changed dramatically
over the years is submissions. Submitting to the search engines
used to be so complicated, with having to choose between manual
versus software submissions, only being able to submit so many
pages a day, having to be careful about oversubmitting, and the
list goes on.

Submissions used to be the worst part of the search engine
optimization process, at least for me.

Now, I can literally write this whole article in two words:

Pay Inclusion

Yep, there you have it. If you want to take the headache out of
submissions, and, if you want to make things much easier for YOU,
use pay inclusion!

It’s hard for someone like me to admit how powerful pay inclusion
programs are, because I’ve been in this “game” long enough to
remember when everything was free. So, moving into the pay realm
has been a difficult thing to do.

However, the benefits of pay inclusion far outweigh the cost.

Benefits of Pay Inclusion

* Your pages are indexed much faster than submitting through
free add URL or waiting for the spiders to find the pages on
their own.

* By using pay inclusion, your pages are getting outside of
the 95%+ spam that the engines say come through free add URL
submissions.

* With pay inclusion, your pages are respidered on a very
regular basis, depending on the engine. For example, Inktomi
and Fast respider their pay inclusion pages every 48 hours.

* With pay inclusion, you never have to submit your pages again!
As long as you continue to use pay inclusion, your pages will
continue to get respidered based on each engine’s schedule.

* Because your pages are respidered on a regular basis without
your doing one single thing to initiate this action, you can make
changes to your pages today and begin to see the results of those
changes within a week. If you didn’t use pay inclusion, you may
not see the results of the changes for a month or two.

* If you use pay inclusion, you’re forming a “partnership” with
the search engines, which I personally feel is important and very
beneficial. You’re now outside of the realm of the millions of
spammers and that’s exactly where you want to be.

* Most of the pay inclusion programs offer some sort of
submission reports.

* Pay inclusion programs are ideal for dynamically generated
sites.

Now that we’ve looked at the benefits of pay inclusion, let’s
create an example to see how inexpensive it really is. Let’s say
we have a brand new Web site, and we have three main pages that
we want to submit through pay inclusion.

Pay Inclusion Programs

Inktomi
(Provides secondary search results to engines such as MSN and
HotBot) < http://www.positiontech.com/directSubmit.htm >

Benefits:

* Upon submission, your pages will make it into the Inktomi
index within 72 hours, as a general rule.

* Your pages are respidered every 48 hours.

* The term of the pay inclusion program is 12 months.

* Reporting services are included, such as verification of page
acceptance; refresh reports; URL validation; and account
management.

* Here’s the audience reach of some of the engines that use
Inktomi’s secondary results, according to Nielsen NetRatings in
October 2002: MSN: 28.1%; Overture: 5.4%; LookSmart: 3.0%; (also
provides results to the “new” HotBot)
< http://www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/netratings.html >

* Cost? $39 for the first URL, and $25 each for additional URL’s
up to 1000. So, the total cost for our three pages would be $89.
(See Special Note at the bottom of this article on how you can
save 20% off the price of Inktomi and Fast pay inclusion – for a
limited time only.)

Fast
(Provides search results to AlltheWeb, Lycos, and HotBot)
< http://www.positiontech.com/directSubmit.htm >

You can use Position Tech to submit your Fast pages too, so be
sure to enroll in both pay inclusion programs at the same time.

Benefits:

* Upon submission, your pages will make it into the Fast index
within 48 hours, as a general rule.

* Your pages are respidered every 48 hours.

* The term of the pay inclusion program is 12 months.

* Reporting services are included, such as verification of page
acceptance; refresh reports; URL validation; and account
management.

* With Fast, you can choose between several different programs,
including some that include a free onsite search engine, bulk
inclusion, etc.

* The audience reach of Fast, according to Nielsen NetRatings in
October 2002, was: Lycos: 4.4%; (also provides results to the
“new” HotBot)
< http://www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/netratings.html >

* Cost? $34 for the first URL, and $16 each for additional URL’s
up to 1000. So, the total cost for our three pages would be $66.
(See Special Note at the bottom of this article on how you can
save 20% off the price of Inktomi and Fast pay inclusion – for a
limited time only.)

Teoma and Ask Jeeves
(Provides results to Teoma, Ask Jeeves, and HotBot)
< http://ask.ineedhits.com/ >

The only way to get in the Teoma index is through pay inclusion.
This is one engine that doesn’t have a free add URL page.

Benefits:

* Upon submission, your pages will make it into the Teoma and Ask
Jeeves indices within 7 days.

* Your pages are respidered every 7 days.

* The term of the pay inclusion program is 12 months.

* Reporting services are included, such as click-through
reporting.

* The audience reach of Teoma/Ask Jeeves, according to Nielsen
NetRatings in October 2002, was: Ask Jeeves: 10.3% (also provides
results to the “new” HotBot)
< http://www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/netratings.html >

* Cost? $30 for the first URL, and $18 each for additional URL’s
up to 1000. So, the total cost for our three pages would be $66.

Special Note:

After writing this article, I found that Lycos is offering a
discount on both Fast and Inktomi pay inclusion programs for a
limited time. If you submit to both engines, you can receive a
20% discount! I don’t know how long this will last, but here’s
the URL:

< http://insite.lycos.com/searchservices/select/
select_overview.asp?co=undefined >

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Nobles, Director of Training, Academy of Web Specialists,
(http://www.academywebspecialists.com) has trained several
thousand people in her online search engine marketing courses
(http://www.onlinewebtraining.com) and is the content provider
for (GRSeo) Search Engine Optimizer software (http://www.se-
optimizer.com).

By atherosclerosis the inside of the arteries are thickened, hardened and stiffened, causing the space for blood flow to be narrowed or closed. This will decrease the oxygen supply to local or distant tissues.

The primary symptom of this is pain, poor organ function and bad general condition. The further consequences are tissue damage, sometimes acute damage because by stop of blood flow caused by a sudden blood clot formed in the narrowed areas.

THE MECHANISMS AND CAUSES OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS

The inner walls of the arteries consist of an innermost layer of endothelial cells (surface cells) and under these a layer of smooth muscle cells. The changes by atherosclerosis take place under the endothelial cells and in this muscle layer. The changes consist of: A certain degree of cell proliferation or tumour, gathering of cholesterol and fat. Deposition of calcium salts. Deposition of blood elements like fibrin.

The deposits are called atherosclerotic plaque or atheroma. Atherosclerosis is one of several types of artery thickening and hardening. A common name for thickening and hardening of arteries is “arteriosclerosis”. Often atherosclerosis is also just called arteriosclerosis.

The development of atherosclerosis probably begins by a damage in the endothelium. This damage causes cholesterol and fat to penetrate into the vessel walls and deposit there. This also induces cells to proliferate. Later also calcium salts are deposited.

Factors that cause endothelial damage and thus atherosclerosis are:

-High content of cholesterol in the blood.

-High content of blood fat and especially saturated fat.

-Inflammation in the blood vessels. A sign of such inflammation is the presence of a substance called c-reactive protein.

-High amount of oxidation agents in the blood.

-High blood pressure.

-High content of low density lipoprotein (LDL) in the blood serum, and low content of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in the blood. Lipoprotein is a combination of a protein molecule and fat or cholesterol. Lipoproteins carry cholesterol or fat from place to place.

-Diabetes.

-High age.

-Smoking.

-Men have a somewhat higher chance of getting this condition than women.

-High content of the amino acid homocystein in the blood serum.

Many of these factors are ultimately caused by a bad diet and lack of daily exercise.

THE SYMPTOMS AND CONSEQUENCES OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Since atherosclerosis can affect all body parts, the symptoms will vary. However, general symptoms from the affected body parts are:

-Decreased performance, easy to tire out.

-Pain by physical activity, so called anoxic pain.

-By severe impairment of blood flow, tissue damage or sores can occur.

When the heart is affected, the symptoms will be:

-General bad condition.

-Anoxic pain from the heart and surroundings by physical activity, called angina pectoris.

-Feeling of not getting enough air, or breathing problems.

Atherosclerosis can cause blood clots that close the blood flow. There are several ways this can occur:

-The atherosclerotic plaque can rupture, making a sore in the inner wall of the vessel. At such a sore blood can coagulate, making a blood clot.

-The atherosclerotic plaque itself can grow to close a blood vessel.

-Blood coagulated at an affected area can tear loose, float with the blood stream to another place and prop a blood vessel at the new place.

-A portion of the plaque itself can tear itself loose and clog another blood vessel.

When the heart is stricken by a blood clot, heart tissue is suddenly destroyed, a condition called heart infarction, causing sudden heart failure or death.

When a blood clot strikes the brain, brain tissue is destroyed or impaired, causing paralysis, decreased consciousness, coma or other sudden functional impairments.

THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Atherosclerosis can be prevented and to some extend be cured by these measures, of which most are lifestyle adjustments:

-Eating just a little or moderate amount of fat.

-Eating just a moderate amount of sugar.

-The fat eaten should be a blending of different types of unsaturated fat from sources like: Olive oil, rape oil, sunflower oil, soy oil, walnut oil and fish. Then you will get enough of mono-unsaturated fat, omega-3-unsaturated fat, and omega-6-poly-unsaturated fat, but not too much of any of them.

-Eating much fish and just a little red meat.

-Eating a good amount of fruit and vegetables each day.

-Supply of enough vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.

-Only consuming moderate amount of salt.

-Stop smoking.

-Getting high blood pressure treated if lifestyle measures do not bring blood pressure down.

-Daily exercise fitted for one’s own condition.

-Eliminate stress in the daily life and at the job.

-Stressing down and getting enough rest.

By high cholesterol levels that do not react properly to lifestyle measures, cholesterol lowering medication can be used, such as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.

By serious local narrowing of an artery, surgery to clean out or widen the artery is sometimes performed. Sometimes the artery is replaced by a graft taken from another body part or by an artificial vessel. When this is done in the heart, it is denoted as bypass surgery.

Alternative treatment to clean out the arteries is an option. There is for example a treatment consisting of using the substance EDTA to carry constituents of plaque away from the arteries. The molecules of this substance have the ability to grip around other molecules, for example cholesterol molecules, and carry them away. There is however a controversy about the effectiveness of this treatment, called chelating therapy.

Knut Holt is an internet consultant and marketer focusing on health items.

—-TO FIND natural medicines against common diseases, for example: Circulatory problems, over-weight, acne, eczema, hypothyroidism, fatigue, depression, hemorrhoids, joint pain, hypertension, high cholesterol, digestive ailments, allergies, menstrual problems, respiratory diseases and more, PLEASE VISIT:—

http://www.panteraconsulting.com/salg2.htm

—-Free to reprint with the author’s name and link.

I am The Outdoor Guy. I didn’t win a contest to get this name or lobby for the right to own it. I assumed the title. I doubt anyone will ever be able to take it away from me. No matter what happens, I will always be The Outdoor Guy – in my own mind. However, it is possible others won’t agree with me on this topic. Let me explain why I am convinced I am The Outdoor Guy.

My childhood of scouting, bike riding, hanging around the cemetery at night and playing baseball equipped me with complete comfort whenever I was outside. As a youngster, I was always outdoors, always sun-burnt and for some reason my night vision was creepy good. I was more comfortable camping, fishing and star gazing than I was watching television or playing around the neighborhood. I remember showing my friends how to use a telescope when I was only twelve years old. For the first time, we all saw the moons of Jupiter. As time passed, I drifted away from those who spent their time going to movies and shopping. I was at home in the woods and spent countless hours walking alongside the creeks, lakes and rivers. There was a time in my teens when I swear the mosquitoes left me alone. Looking back I doubt it, but I recall a three year period when I didn’t get a single insect bite - pretty impressive in Ohio.

I entered the United State Marine Corps and found myself at home on military excursions and cruises. I remember how I guarded trucks on the top deck of a ship in the North Sea - how crazy is that - and how I nearly wept when I first saw the Northern Lights. I volunteered for as much outdoor duty as I could. Everyone thought I was strange, but I thought being indoors was even stranger.

Life passed and I found myself making up excuses to be anywhere off of the pavement. I became a hunter, I picked up geocaching and I found that I couldn’t hike enough. I really, really, really liked being outdoors. I’ve found outdoor companions in my wife and our two Labrador retrievers. We all feed off each other’s zest for fresh air. I even started my own outdoor business. While it is product sales that pay the bills, it’s helping others find their own outdoor passion that provides me with the real rewards. I don’t know everything about outdoor recreation, but I know enough to thoroughly enjoy every minute doing it and I can’t wait to share it with others.

A person with the moniker of The Outdoor Guy should be someone who inspires others to wonder about their own outdoor life and someone who nudges them to pursue it. Welcome to my world.

Use this information and you’ll Get It Right The First Time. Get Outdoors!

Chuck Fitzgerald, The Outdoor Guy, has written a beginner’s guide to bird watching call “Learning to Bird.” Visit http://www.birdwatchingebook.com to see just how easy and how much fun Bird Watching really is. Chuck is the owner of Arizona based BackCountry Toys, an online store helping you to have fun in the great outdoors. To get maximum enjoyment out of your outdoor life, visit http://www.BackCountryToys.com where you’ll find great gear and the Tips & Tales e-newsletter, “FreshAir.” (800) 316-9055.

Whatever business you’re in, it’s essential to have a presence
on the World Wide Web. Your business web site moves your company
into the global economy and provides your customers or industry
with the information and service that they’re seeking. Without a
web site, a business loses its competitive edge; many potential
clients either search the Web when seeking a company with which
to do business, or review a company’s web site prior to making
their final selection.

Although a Web presence is essential, few companies have the
in-house expertise necessary to undertake web site design or web
hosting. Unless a company is heavily into e-commerce, it
typically doesn’t have technical personnel on staff. As a
result, businesses must contract out services ranging from
registering a domain name to web site design to web hosting.
When doing so, it’s crucial that companies look to providers
that have a proven track record. Otherwise, they run the danger
of either having an inferior web site design or paying
exorbitant prices for custom web design.

When choosing a company to develop your web site, it’s important
that they deliver the highest possible quality at the lowest
possible price. Here are some tips for finding a quality web
site design service:

* Ask friends and colleagues for recommendations.

* Surf the Web to find web site designs that appeal to you and
that would work for the information you wish to convey on your
own web site. Web sites often note the design firm’s name and
contact information.

* Look for a company that does web site design by writing the
code themselves, rather than using template design software
programs. Your site will have a more unique look and the code
will be cleaner, making it easier for search engines to crawl
your site.

* Use a company that can provide web hosting. A good web hosting
company will not only register your domain name, but will also
provide an online file service where customers can share file
folders or use the space as an offsite backup for their critical
data. This feature should have an easy-to-use web interface.

* Use a company that can provide an SSL certificate and
encryption for security of your company’s data and peace of mind
for your customers or clients.

* Look for a company that provides low-cost or no-cost customer
support, preferably with U.S.-based customer support
representatives. Although support staff in other countries may
have the technical knowledge to solve your web site’s problems,
language barriers sometimes make the process cumbersome and
frustrating.

* The company you choose should also be able to set up email
accounts for you and your staff using your company’s domain
name. They should also be able to host your email accounts on
their servers.

Many nonprofit organizations struggle, quite understandably,
with technology planning and investment. New computers,
sophisticated Websites and database systems can be expensive.
Staff members may be resistant to change and to learning new
applications.

But, to quote a famous saying from my homeland: “penny wise can
be pound foolish”. Sound and well-thought out purchases in the
short term have the potential to save significant resources in
the medium to long term.

So, how should your Board of Directors and / or your Technology
Committee approach technology planning and investment?

One technique is to start out with a “blue-sky” session. First,
take an inventory of the capabilities that you currently have,
what’s working in your operations, and your limitations and
frustrations. Then, without consideration of constraints such as
cost or staff resources, list the things that you should ideally
be able to do.

I like to use “What’s the One Thing” questions for this process
to help you focus and prioritize:

* What’s the One Thing that you’re currently doing that is most
valued by your constituents? (i.e. Board, members, funders,
staff, the general public . . .) * What’s the One Thing that you
currently don’t do that your constituents wish that you would? *
What’s the One Thing that would give you maximum competitive
advantage? (or fundraising edge, or whatever is your most
burning need . . .)

Look at the procedures that are currently absorbing staff time
and resources. Is there potential to streamline these, or to
recreate them in a way that would be more cost-effective?

For example, many organizations produce small informational
leaflets, brief white papers, or regularly updated research
findings. These are sold for a few dollars, which may not cover
the true cost of printing, mailing, and check or credit card
processing.

An alternative is to provide these as downloadable e-books on
your Website. When the buyer enters their credit card, they gain
instant access to your materials in whatever format you choose -
Adobe Acrobat (pdf), Word, html, etc. Once this system is set
up, you should have few maintenance or support issues, and
you’re in business on a 24/7 basis. You can change the documents
whenever you need to, without leaving stocks of outdated print
copies.

Are you using e-mail as effectively as you could? There are two
elements to successful implementation of e-mail:

1. Maintaining a comprehensive database of all the contacts that
your organization has, including appropriate details of your
dealings with each one.

This allows you to create personalized, targeted and timely
e-mail messages that you can send to selected recipients, such
as:

* News updates about your organization * Special events,
discount purchase offers * Legislative alerts and tracking
notices * Fundraising appeals * Membership renewal reminders

Of course, you should include and adhere to a privacy policy
whenever using e-mail, and you must honor requests to be removed
from your mailing list.

2. Having clear e-mail usage procedures. Sometimes it is
preferable to use direct personal contact such as telephone or
letters instead of e-mail - for instance, when responding to
complaints, or thanking donors for gifts.

But your staff should be clear and comfortable about using
e-mail to save time and resources. Sending bulk e-mail from a
good database is faster and cheaper than sending bulk faxes. One
association that I consulted with recently linked their staff
bonuses directly to savings realized from using e-mail over fax.

A great deal of Board business can be conducted via e-mail. This
may not include actual voting (check your by-laws and legal
obligations for this). But much of the background information
that is provided at a typical Board meeting could be
disseminated by e-mail ahead of time, thus freeing up valuable
meeting time for substantive discussion.

How effective is your Website in promoting and achieving your
strategy? An intranet (password protected area) can be very
useful if you have staff or chapters geographically distant from
your head office. It can provide training materials, mentoring
discussion boards, templates for frequently used documents, etc.
And, you can have a private section of your site for your Board,
as an alternative to sending information via e-mail.

Depending on your operations, there are other technologies that
might be appropriate for you to consider as you plan your future
strategy and investments. These could include handheld devices
and laptops if you have employees who are often out of the
office. Voice recognition software can be used for dictation by
disabled staff, or those who are really not comfortable with
keyboards. For larger organizations, virtual private networks
may be appropriate for file sharing and synchronized database
maintenance.

Whatever your size, use the strategic and prioritizing “What’s
the One Thing . . .?” questions that I listed above, together
with your estimation of current inefficiencies in staff time and
resources to come up with a wish list. Then you can start to
analyze the potential investments that you need to make, and the
potential savings or revenue that you can realize in the longer
term.

© Philippa Gamse, 2002. All rights reserved.