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June 7, 2005 Corey Nicholas Rudl, 34; Internet Marketing Pioneer Was
Motocross Champion as a Teen
June 3, 2005 2 Amateur Racers Die in Crash at Speedway
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June 7, 2005
latimes.com
: Technology
Corey Nicholas Rudl, 34; Internet Marketing Pioneer Was Motocross
Champion as a Teen
By Valerie J. Nelson, Times Staff Writer
Corey Nicholas Rudl, who died Thursday in a high-speed car crash at
California Speedway in Fontana, was considered by many to be an Internet
marketing pioneer.
The 34-year-old Rudl, of La Jolla, was a passenger in a 2005 Porsche Carrera
GT when the car, driven by Benjamin Miles Keaton, 39, veered off the track,
struck a barrier and caught fire. Keaton also died.
A former teen motocross champion, Rudl built a pervasive Internet marketing
presence based on knowledge he gained promoting his book on car-buying
secrets.
By Monday, websites and message boards brimmed with postings lamenting his
loss. Many of those posting messages had spent almost $200 for his book "The
Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet" (2000) or taken
seminars offered by Internet Marketing Center, the business he founded in
1996 in Vancouver, Canada.
"He had an uncanny ability to figure out what the small business needed to
be successful, and he had an ability to predict what the next big thing
would be on the Internet," said Derek Gehl, Internet Marketing Center's
chief operations officer.
Although Rudl attended business school at the University of Western Ontario,
his knowledge of Internet marketing was largely self-taught. After he
self-published "Car Secrets Revealed" in 1996, he turned to the Internet
when the book didn't sell.
"I was glued to my computer - testing all kinds of wild and crazy marketing
ideas to see which ones worked," he once said. Most of the ideas failed, but
the few that clicked "worked like crazy."
They became the basis for his second book, which led to his
Internet-marketing business. It grew from a one-man start-up to a
$7.6-million-a-year business with 100 employees, according to the company.
He tried to steer businesses away from over-relying on Internet search
engines and instead championed linking to other Internet companies that
targeted the same market. Some of the techniques he advocated ‹ building
pop-up windows and devising ways to compel visitors to leave behind e-mail
addresses ‹ were more popular with businesses than Internet users.
Rudl, who was born and raised in Carleton Place, in the Canadian province of
Ontario, retired as a regional motocross champion when he was 18. More
recently, he joined an organization that allowed amateur drivers to race old
formula cars on professional tracks, and he was considered one of the racing
circuit's top drivers, the Ottawa Citizen said.
In 1989, he started a mail-order business selling parts for the discontinued
Pontiac Fiero. Sales topped a reported $250,000 before he sold the company
and started another home-grown business, selling discount coupon books for
Ottawa-area restaurants.
When he needed an example of how a successful Internet business could be
created from almost nothing, Rudl could always point to himself. He started
his first web-based business with $25.
Rudl is survived by his wife, Tracey; his parents, John and Pat; his sister,
Hope; and his niece, Taya. Services will be private.
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June 3, 2005
2 Amateur Racers Die in Crash at Speedway
The La Jolla men were driving the course during a club day at the Fontana
racetrack.
By Martin Henderson
Times Staff Writer
June 3, 2005
Two San Diego County men died when the Porsche they were racing crashed and
caught fire Thursday morning at California Speedway in Fontana, authorities
said.
Benjamin Miles Keaton, 39, and his passenger, Corey Nicholas Rudl, 34, both
of La Jolla, died from injuries after Keaton lost control of a 2005 Porsche
Carrera GT.
The car left the track, careened onto a grassy area and struck a barrier.
The engine compartment then caught fire, according to a San Bernardino
County sheriff's report.
On-site medical personnel, the same used for NASCAR and Indy Racing League
events at the speedway, responded at 10:40 a.m. and quickly extinguished the
fire, sheriff's officials said.
Rudl, who worked in Internet marketing, was pronounced dead at the scene;
Keaton was airlifted to Loma Linda University Hospital, where he died about
an hour later, according to the San Bernardino County Coroner's Office.
Both suffered multiple traumatic injuries, but neither suffered burns, said
Supervising Deputy Coroner Randy Emon. The vehicle made a passenger-side
impact at more than 100 mph. Both men were wearing helmets and safety belts,
authorities said.
"The driver's side was in good shape, but the passenger side was
obliterated," Emon said.
The accident occurred while the track was being rented by the San Diego
chapter of the Ferrari Owners Club. Such events are common at the speedway;
the facility is in use nearly 300 days a year for a variety of events,
including track days by auto clubs and driving schools.
The men are the fourth and fifth fatalities at California Speedway since it
opened in 1997.
Champ Car driver Greg Moore was killed during a race in 1999, and Ricky
Lundgren died during competition at an AMA Superbike event in 2003. Another
motorcyclist died during a track rental in September.
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Times staff writers Susannah Rosenblatt and Lance Pugmire contributed to
this report.
Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times |
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