mario

Golf umbrellas are not just for the golf course. The beauty of a promotional umbrella is that it can be used in so many different settings. As well as on the golf course, golf umbrellas can be seen at the beach, the cricket, the football and even at childrens sports days. Add to that the high usage of umbrellas for community events, and even clusters of umbrellas sheltering market stalls, and you soon see that promotional umbrellas are a good branding tool for your business.

Imagine that you have had a successful promotion and have given away your branded umbrellas to conference participants, clients or staff. Your umbrellas may go to all parts of the city or indeed, the nation. The one thing they have in common is that your company name and logo is on every single one of them.

Now lets take that one step further. The clients take the umbrellas with them on their weekend outings. Some of your promotional umbrellas are seen at the beach. People passing by notice them for their visual appeal. On a particularly hot day they may attract envious looks from people whod like some shade. No matter what attracts their glance, your logo is in their line of sight. That all reinforces your brand name and heightens awareness of what you have to offer.

All of those people who notice your promotional umbrellas are potential customers. If they arent in the market for your services or products right now, they may be in the future. Dont underestimate word of mouth. They may pass on your company details. How many times have you jotted down a number youve seen in passing because you thought it would be useful for yourself, a colleague, friend or family member?

But now for the jackpot. Some of those participants are bound to take your umbrella to a televised sporting event for some shade or to fend off the rain. Mad keen sports fans arent going to let either scorching sun or rain stop them. They come prepared, and part of their sports outing toolkit is the trusty umbrella. When the television cameras pan the crowd and home in on a spectator with your branded umbrella, imagine the kudos and awareness factor for your company.

Given the number of televised local, regional, national and even international outdoor sporting events, that umbrella with your brand name could be seen on television by thousands, if not millions of viewers at home. Do you know the cost of television advertising? Let me tell you, a promotional umbrella campaign is a very inexpensive investment.

In Australia a popular radio station encouraged listeners to be creative with getting the station logo on television at televised outdoor events. Incentives were given and of course, it created a media buzz too. Like the radio company, you can get other people you dont even know to partner with you in advertising your business. All it takes is deciding on your promotional umbrella campaign. You can start right away.

For additional information on printed umbrellas, promotional gifts, advertising marketing business gifts and corporate promotional products simply check out the internets leading promotional gift suppliers where you will find a massive choice of promotional items and whats more available at highly competitive prices compared with traditional offline gift companies.

Gareth Parkin is the co-founder of Ideasbynet, the UK's leading online promotional umbrellas and printed umbrellas company based in the north of England. Established in 2001, he has taken the UK gift market by storm by the application of modern business thinking and the latest search engine marketing techniques. For more details visit www.ideasbynet.com

A good set of golf clubs is the weapon of choice for the advanced golfer. A complete set of clubs consists of at least one driver, fairway woods (which are now metal woods), irons and a putter. Some clubs in recent years have been replaced with hybrid golf clubs to replace longer irons and fairway metal woods.

There is an entity known as the USGA or the United States Golf Association. This group determines the rules of golf, including the number of golf clubs that can be used in a round of golf. This limit is fourteen golf clubs. Normally, the standard golfer would have one driver, one putter, three wedges, seven irons, and two fairway woods in their golf bag. The combination of golf clubs is as varied as there are golfers. Hybrid golf clubs have begun replacing some of the longer golf irons and fairway woods in the golf bag.

The driver is the club that is most golfers favorite golf club, even though it is usually not used on every hole. The driver golf club is the longest golf club with the biggest head at the end of the shaft. This allows the golfer to hit the golf ball with the greatest distance, but not always the most accuracy. Rules regulate the size of the club head. The golf club driver will be the most expensive single golf club in the golfers bag. Name brand golf club drivers will cost between $200 and $400. Discount golf club drivers can be purchased for around $100 or even less.

The fairway woods have club heads that are slightly more lofted than the driver, and are used for long shots when the ball is lying on the ground. The club heads used to be made of wood, but now are mostly metal. Fairway woods normally retail from $150 to $300. You can realize major savings with clone golf woods that run at quite a discount over name brand golf woods.

Hybrid golf clubs have made a big entry into the world of golf clubs. They are very versatile golf clubs that are used in place of long irons and fairway woods. Hybrid golf clubs combine the best features of the fairway wood and long irons. Wit this versatility, they can be used almost anywhere on the golf course. Prices for hybrid golf clubs run similar to drivers, but discount hybrid golf clubs are available along with clone and knockoff hybrid golf clubs.

Golf irons are the essence of a set of golf clubs. Two thirds of the shots in a normal round of golf will utilize an iron. Irons are used to hit the golf ball off the ground from distances of 125 yards to 225 yards. Each iron is assigned a number based upon the loft angle of the club head. The 9-iron has the most loft, a shorter shaft, and is used to hit short, high shots. A 2-iron has very little loft, a longer shaft, and is used to hit low, long shots.

Golf club wedges can be part of the golf club iron set purchase. Normal golf club wedges include a pitching wedge, the sand wedge and different lofts of lob wedges. These golf club wedges are used for shots that are within 100 yards or closer to the green. These shots are sometimes referred to as the money shot because they should get you very close to the pin. The number of wedges carried by the golfer is dependent upon their particular golf game and their strengths and weaknesses.

The golfer has the choice of 2 primary types of golf club irons. For the more experienced golfer, forged irons are mad for precision and enable easier shaping of shots for draws and fades. Cavity-backed golf irons have a larger sweet spot and are more forgiving on off-center shots, providing straighter shots. A set of golf irons consisting of 2 through 9, a sand wedge and a pitching wedge, would range in price from $250 to over $1,500. Discount golf irons can provide great savings and are sometimes referred to as knockoff golf irons or clone golf irons.

The final and perhaps most important golf club, is the putter. The putter is also known as the "money club" because it is the club used to tap the ball into the hole. The purpose of the putter is to roll the ball, so there is no loft on the club head.

Being the most important golf club, the putter has gone through quite a change in recent years. The size and shape of the putter head comes in many different varieties. The shaft length also can be very short or very long and anywhere in between. Conventional putters, belly putters, mallet putters - the choices seem endless. Golf club putters also have a wide range of prices, ranging from around $20 to around $300.

Kevin is the husband of Becky and the father of 2, Nicholas and Kirsten. He is an avid sports fan and over-all good guy. He has taken his love of sports and developed web sites that offer that love of sports to others.

http://www.GolfClubsHome.com

http://collectiblesport.com/golfmemorabilia

It would appear that Swindon Town have been keeping an eye on Football England recently, at least that's what I'm claiming anyway. Since I tipped them as most likely to stay up in the now ferocious relegation battle, they haven't put a foot wrong.

This was confirmed by another good win at home to Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.

The 2-1 victory, gives them three on the bounce on the row, and confidence seems to have been restored. Any struggling teams yet to visit the County Ground - beware.

Manager Iffy Onoura was well pleased with the latest result, and also seems optimistic of survival. Perhaps he's also in a good mood because the proposed television project featuring Big Ron has been booted into row z, early doors.

At the top, Southend reconfirmed their promotion credentials with a fine 2-0 away defeat of Yeovil, which keeps them top. Shaun Goater scored the second, and his goals could be vital in the remainder of the season.

Brentford too perhaps have been reading this column. Last week I voiced a concern that letting DJ Campbell disappear to Birmingham for a pittance could harm their promotion aspirations. Seems I'm wrong.

The Bees absolutely paggered Walsall 5-0, proving that they can score without the DJ (League one player of the month for Jan), and heaping misery on a forlorn Paul Merson. Brentford still look nicely poised, sitting 5th with games in hand. Walsall look to be in terminal decline, and Merson has hinted that he will quit if results don't improve.

Colchester continue to make us marvel at their impressive record this term. A comfortable 3-1 home win over Bradford City, after going 1-0 down racks up a club record of nine consecutive wins, and perhaps more impressively winning 19 out of 21.

Bradford went ahead through stocky veteran Dean Windass just before half time - the chunky striker is still a force to be reckoned with at this level. The game, now a tough test, was turned by the inspirational Richard Garcia who headed home twice early in the secone half. Garcia has now notched 6 in his last 4 games. A confident display was rounded off by Chris Iwelumo, also heading in just after the hour.

Colchester must now believe they can go up without the lottery of the play offs - they sit second, 1 point behind Southend, with a game in hand.

Also at the top, Barnsley have slipped in unnoticed in recent weeks, while others have floundered. A 2-0 victory over Bristol City at home this weekend lifts them into fourth spot. Much of this recent form can be attributed to striker Marc Richards, who bagged both goals, bringing his tally to 10 in the last 15 outings. His first was an exquisite finish after lobbing a defender on his approach.

Back at the bottom, a predictable dour affair between Rotherham & Hartlepool ended 0-0. Both these sides are in deep trouble and must turn the corner soon or bye bye. Hartlepool were under the instruction of Youth team coach Paul Stephenson for the first time after the much publicised turmoil at the club. Hopefully he can get them on track.

MK dons look to be adrift without a paddle after going down 2-0 to Scunthorpe. Scunny will be glad of the points to keep them above water, thanks again to their prolific goal getter Billy Sharp. Another brace for Sharp put the game away after just 10 minutes.

As for the dons - it looks like they are going. Will anybody miss them?

Blackpool continue to show great determination at home, and look to have what it takes to stay up. The Seasiders were very unlucky to take only the 1 point from their home meeting with Notts Forest.

A creditable 8,399 turned out for this 2-2 draw in which Blackpool were always in control, until the last minute equaliser by Forest's Julian Bennett.

Oldham Athletic tripped themselves up by going down 1-0 in an eminently winnable game at home to Port Vale. This leaves the Latics adrift by 7 points from the play off spots. Manager Ronnie Moore knows he has to improve quickly.

Finally, Chesterfield kept up their unbeaten run and their play off hopes with a late home equaliser against Gillingham. Chesterfiald lie in 7th, with the Gills out of trouble, for the moment.