What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is a practice used by search engine optimization professionals to find and research actual search terms people enter into the search engines when conducting a search.

As Joshua Wexelbaum of Keywordresearching.com explains,

“If you are marketing on the internet, you need to know what words people are using in their searches. Without knowing the most popular words in your industry, you cannot effectively target the people who are searching for what you sell.

Once you find the keywords that are relevant to your industry or niche, you can use these keywords on your website to attract natural search engine traffic. You can also use these keywords in your pay per click advertising campaigns on Google, Yahoo, or MSN.”

There are many great tools that will allow you to do some basic keyword research for free.

First Book Mark this- the Google Keyword Toolbox:  www.googlekeywordtool.com
This page includes the Google keyword tool and the top 50 Google Tools

I would also suggest you download the Google Official SEO Starter Guide here

Here is a quick list of free tools I have used and found helpful.

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
recommends keywords based on a keyword you enter or a URL

http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook
Free tool based on wordtracker.com API

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com
free keyword suggestions from Wordtracker

http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html
free keyword tool from Trellian

http://wordze.com
one of the better “classic” keyword research tools on the market.
They offer a free limited access membership.

http://www.wordstream.com/keywords
allows you to export a list of thousands of keywords for free

http://labs.google.com/sets
creates a set of keywords based on a keyword you enter

http://labs.wordtracker.com/keyword-questions
shows questions people searched for that contain the root keyword you type in

http://www.keyworddiscovery.com
Has a free trial

Trend related:

http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends
shows keywords that are recently hot. Also archives older hot keywords

http://www.google.com/trends
shows seasonal search trends for most popular keywords.

http://www.google.com/insights/search

shows keyword trends, hot keywords by category, and top geographic regions for a keyword

SEOBook.com offers many more free seo tools including competitive research tools and link analysis tools.

Their SEO Basics Knol will help you get the basics of SEO down in about an hour, for free.

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Free Keyword Research Tools

This is a fascinating read that while it talks about Google and the way Google as a company operates…their business practices and philosophies…why they work so well… the book really isn’t about Google. It’s about using Google’s successful business model and applying it in to own business as we move into the Web 2.0 ‘Google’ world….

It’s about being open and transparent. And as the book itself states- in the end it’s about You.

The rules have changed. Consider this your rule book to doing business now and into the future.

I challenge you to read this and NOT find something useful that you can apply to your own business or see new and exciting opportunities. You can pick up a copy at Amazon.com or major bookstores. I highly recommend it.

If you have read it, I would love to hear your feedback- what was your favorite chapter or specific quote from the book?

This post from:

Book Review: What Would Google Do

Watch this amazing video by  Eric Qualman from Socialnomics

Then check out some very interesting stats below – for example did you realize…

• 80% of companies use LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees

• More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.

In the near future we will no longer search for  products and services- they will find us via social media.

Stats from Video (sources listed below by corresponding #)

1. By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
2. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
3. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
4. Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
5. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia
6. Yet, some sources say China’s QZone is larger with over 300 million using their services (Facebook’s ban in China plays into this)
7. comScore indicates that Russia has the most engage social media audience with visitors spending 6.6 hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month – Vkontakte.ru is the #1 social network
8. 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction
9. 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
10. % of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees….80%
11. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
12. Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway and Panama
13. 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
14. Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen
15. What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
16. The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
17. Wikipedia has over 13 million articles…some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica…78% of these articles are non-English
18. There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
19. 54% = Number of bloggers who post content or tweet daily
20. Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
21. If you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia you would earn $156.23 per hour
22. Facebook USERS translated the site from English to Spanish via a Wiki in less than 4 weeks and cost Facebook $0
23. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
24. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
25. People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services  than how Google ranks them
26. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
27. Only 14% trust advertisements
28. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
29. 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
30. Hulu has grown from 63 million total streams in April 2008 to 373 million in April 2009
31. 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
32. According to Jeff Bezos 35% of book sales on Amazon are for the Kindle when available
33. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
34. In the near future we will no longer search for  products and services they will find us via social media
35. More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.
36. Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
37. Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser

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Video: Social Media Revolution or Fad? Now you know…

In reality, Internet marketers can pick and choose from a whole host of options available to help them make money.  Your opportunities are virtually endless, and include one or more of the following:

•    Selling digital downloads (information products like eBooks)
•    Promoting other people’s products for a commission (affiliate marketing)
•    Selling on eBay or other auction sites
•    Running a membership site
•    Selling and promoting your own online services as a freelancer (writing, graphics, programing, consulting etc.)
•    Owning a website that sells dropshipped or wholesale items

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Being a newcomer to Internet marketing, you might be worried that you don’t have anything to sell.  That’s okay – most people don’t start out with anything, and you never have to stock a tangible inventory if you don’t want to.

Internet marketing creates no gender or age boundaries for you.  There are teenagers who have launched multi-million dollar companies as budding Internet marketers whose ideas sprung to life and catapulted them to instant success.

You don’t have to do anything unethical or shady to succeed at Internet marketing, and in fact, launching a respectable business with a solid reputation is the secret ingredient that will allow you to hatch an empire on the ‘net to fulfill all of your dreams and those of your family.

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Internet Marketer – Defining What It Really Means

I’m afraid I’ve neglected my blog in the process. It’s Friday and before I let another week go by I wanted to  let my readers and the blog community know about 2 exciting Social Media education opportunities available to you.

First, a little more about Social Media Magic and a free live webinar.

Social Media Magic is a marketing and PR firm specializing in managing social media campaigns for busy business entrepreneurs, CEO’s and executives.

Social Media Magic delivers strategic, comprehensive social media solutions so you can focus on your core competencies while we focus on ours—bringing you effective, affordable, and on-point social media campaigns to maximize your marketing ROI while saving you time and money.

For the past several months, we’ve been successfully helping our private clients:

• Set up totally customized social network accounts.
• Writing and posting their keyword-optimized profile.
• Discover revenue opportunities where they can add to the conversation and then post strategic, keyword-driven communications with customers and prospects.
• Helping them build their standing as a Subject Matter Expert in their field with engaging, ongoing content distribution.
• Helping them own, control and protect their online reputation from competitors and imposters.
• Establish, build, and maintain quality customer relationships.
• To use Social Media to attract top paying, high-end clients
• Find business partners, affiliates, and investors for their company

We just recently launched and made available our Social Media marketing solutions on a grander scale at SocialMediaMagic.com and are kicking this off with a series of Free Live webinars.

Social Media Magic presents…
“Capitalizing on the Conversation”

How To Increase and Optimize Your Social Media Marketing ROI … for Businesses and Executives

A no-nonsense discussion of how successful entrepreneurs and executives are using Social Media to generate revenue, increase site traffic, build new business partnerships, and bring in new, qualified leads.

I invite you to register to attend for free here.

You’ll get clear answers to these important questions:

• How much revenue is actually being generated for those successfully using Social Networks? (A lot more than you might think.)
• How do successful individuals and businesses get started—and how do they sustain it?
• How can entrepreneurs and executives manage the time-sink Social Networks require for success?

In this 90 minute webinar you’ll also learn:

• Real solutions to minimize your time investment and maximize your social media marketing ROI
• How to ramp up more quickly for more aggressive returns

Register for Free here >>> SocialMediaMagic.com/webinar

In the next day or two, I’ll be posting here another Social Media Marketing event coming up in July that you don’t want to miss!

~ Rhonda

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Social Media Magic for Businesses and Executives- Free Webinar

If you’re looking for a simple but clean looking solution to create your popups then I recommend you check out GreyBox. It’s easy to use and install and it doesn’t conflict with popup blockers. It’s lightweight and you can easily modify the styles in css.

You may be familiar with the popular ‘lightbox’ script and Greybox is similar but it allows you to display more then just images.

I now use Greybox just about anytime I need to create a popup plus I’m always finding other uses for it. As it says on their website… Greybox is a popup window that doesn’t suck.

Click here to download Greybox for free.

Let me know how you like it.

Enjoy!

~Rhonda

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Simple and Clean Popup Windows with Greybox

It’s been a long year and I thank God that he’s coming home safely.

Evidently we have to go attend a weekend seminar within the next month or so to help him reintegrate and get along with his family. Luckily Ben did not experience some of the horrors other soldiers have buy I did notice some changes when I  met him in europe during his 2 week leave.

Midway through the trip I had to remind him that I was not one of his soldiers and not to be in charge so much

There’s a big welcome home ceremony planed for their entire unit tomorrow- then some festivities at home with family and friends later in the day.

The girls sure have missed their daddy – at 16 and 18 no less

Ben also has a new grandson to meet tomorrow.  Our son Josh is looking forward to that moment as well.

I’m so excited as I write this I know I won’t be able to sleep tonight.

Rhonda

This post from:

Welcome Home Ben- We Missed You!

Seems everyone is an expert these days.

There are so many ’self-proclaimed’ experts and gurus out there these days that it’s hard for a person just entering the internet marketing and work from home arena to really know who to trust.

With all the online noise… Who do you listen to?

Listening to the wrong ‘expert’ could set you back months not to mention the amount of money you could be taken for. So many are a victim of the blind leading the blind.

I felt inspired to start a new blog series on Bloggers and Internet Marketers that go beyond ‘Guru’ or ‘Expert’ status…

They are on a whole other level that I call ‘HERO’ status.

These are individuals that OVER DELIVER of their time and compassion and truly care about helping others succeed. Many times asking nothing in return.

You won’t find them pitching you on the next greatest launch or affiliate product with each email they send.

They’re all about Sharing The Love!

They are leaders and an inspiration to others.

Now some of these Heroes you may not have even heard of…YET.
Yes, they are all very very successful BUT they’re not shouting to the roof tops how great they are.

So now to kick this blog series off…

Here’s My First ‘Hero’ pick:

Mark Ress of Ressonomics.com

I’ve been following Mark on Twitter and I’ve participated in his Ustream shows and webinars and he has impressed me from day one.

As Mark himself says, “I just try to keep it real. It’s not just about the money. It’s about serving and helping people with honorable intention.”

He’s very passionate and he tells it like it is. He pushes you to take action but he does it with love and has your best interests at heart not his own.

Just this past December, Mark hosted a Free 5 hour Live Event on Ustream he called his ‘December Stimulus Plan” which was just another way of him ‘giving’ back and blessing others. And those attending were truly blessed by Mark not only of his time and training but other free gifts and bonuses- cash, free hosting, T-shirts, Omaha steaks, coaching and more. Attendees came up with several acronyms for his DSP event… such as Doing Something Positive. The event took on a life of its own as other marketers such as Mark Joyner and Tony Blake joined in and donated items of their own to bless others with.

Mark’s personal story is an inspiration in itself… growing up and surviving in the rough streets of LA as a kid, an ex ‘gang banger.

He is now very active in his church and works with the youth to help get them off the streets and have a chance at a brighter future.

Mark is on a mission to change lives in 2009 with his new free training program, Ressonomics.com
I encourage you to head over there asap, and sign up. I promise you’ll be completely blown away by what this guy is giving you for free.

In addition to the wealth of knowledge and empowerment Mark will share with you, you’ll always get a good dose of entertainment, laughs and of course some good salsa music

Mark has blessed so many including myself so this blog post and series is my way of paying it forward.
Be sure to continue to share the love by letting your friends know about Mark Ress and Ressonomics.

Side Note: I wrote this article a few weeks ago but waited to post it because Mark’s wife, Jen Rey, has been in the hospital. He’s been posting updates on her status via Twitter. “Thanks to everyone who was there w/ supporting Tweets, prayers, retweets, prayer requests and prayer circles. ” – Mark Ress via Twitter.

Do you know a Blogger or Internet Marketer that has what it takes to be considered Hero material?

Post your votes and comments.

Be inspired,

Rhonda

This post from:

Will the Real Guru Please Stand Up?

Space fills up fast so if you have a need for a custom designed attention grabbing squeeze page for better personal branding and list building, then head over to squeezepagebydesign.com now before I have to close down the order page again.

No more squeeze page templates or software that makes you look unprofessional and like everyone else. No more frustration of figuring out how to add your sales copy, autoresponder form, audio or video, uploading files – We do all this and more for you!

We also understand internet marketing and list building and have years of experience producing lead capture and squeeze pages for our clients that get results.

I’m also throwing in a custom designed Twitter Profile page background as a limited time bonus.

Here’s the link to the page the will give you all the details and what’s included: SqueezePageByDesign.com

This post from:

Squeeze Page Custom Design Service Re-Opens Briefly For New Clients

I’ve personally noticed an increased interest in ‘what I do for a living’. I’ve been working from home for several years now but I’ve never has so many people at once ask me to show them how to make money from home.

There are other posts here on the blog about starting your own online home business(i.e. as an affiliate marketer or creating your own product or service) but this post is really about work from home and telecommuting ‘job’ opportunities. These days ‘working from home’ falls into many categories and there are more options then ever before.

For example, there are now many companies that hire you either as an employee or independent contractor, pay you an hourly rate while you work from home, in most cases on your own schedule. I’ll list several of these for you in a moment.

Telecommuting and web work jobs seem to be on the rise. Whether this is in spite of the economic downturn or it is due to the the increasing unemployment rate pushing more people into freelancing positions while they look for other work is a question up for debate.

oDesk, a popular and high quality freelance site, said job posts on oDesk were up *120%* in Quarter 4 of 2008 compared with Q4 2007.  They posted on their blog some stats showing the skills with the highest growth rates in 2008 Blogging seems to dominate as a tech growth area in 2008.  Demand for Wordpress designers has increased by more than 4 times. Demand for freelance writers, a good portion of which are online or blog related, more than tripled.

Whether someone is laid off completely or the economy has caused a reduction in hours or commissions, if you have skills such as customer service, writing, data entry, computer and tech related, consulting, even cooking… there are ways to get some extra cash working from home.

I did some research and put together a list on some of the best ways to earn some extra cash from home and some of the best companies that are hiring right now.

1.  Get Paid for Writing or Blogging

You don’t have to publish a bestseller to get paid for your love of writing. Content is King online and there are many companies and blogs that are in constant need for fresh quality content.  Here are just a few:

Constant-content.com – They buy unique articles, tutorials, and purchase all types of content for your magazines and websites. They offer opportunities for freelance article writers, blog writers, review writers. They even buy videos and photography.

Payperpost.com – Get paid for blogging. Write about web sites, products, services, and companies and earn cash for providing your opinion and valuable feedback to advertisers.

AssociatedContent.com – Another site where you can be a content producer and get pad to write and submit content. Content can be in the form of text, videos, audios and slideshows.

Helium.com – a knowledge co-operative where  writers are also  editors who read and rate every article on the site. Write, Get Published, Get Paid!

oDesk Writing Jobs

eLance Writing Jobs

2. Customer service or technical support representative

Alpine Access - this company plans to hire 1,200 new employees in the first three months of 2009.  Besides offering the flexibility to work from home, Alpine Access, a virtual call center, provides health-care benefits, 401K, flexible work schedules and opportunities to grow. Each worker is an actual company employee with regular work hours and assignments.

1800flowers.com- If you have a phone headset, a way with people and, hopefully, a love of flowers, consider working for the long-established 1-800-FLOWERS. The company expects to hire temporary, full-time customer service representatives this year. It even promises competitive hourly rates plus a bonus at the end of the temporary assignment.

Aetna - From nurses to contract negotiators to account managers, Aetna is a nationwide company with a variety of telework-friendly jobs to offer. Whether you are medically savvy or are simply good with people on the phone, you could find a position with this reputable company that offers benefits and a possibility of a bonus.

Arise -  offers opportunities for work in technical support, sales, and customer service with some of the most exciting companies in America.  They offer the certification courses you need to become an Arise Certified Professional, which signifies that you have the basic skills and knowledge to be a customer interaction specialist.  As an employee of  Virtual Services Corporation, once you are certified as an Arise Certified Professional, you choose which clients to serve, when you work, and how many hours each week to work.

3. Virtual Assistants

A virtual assistant is a professional office administrative assistant who can work from anywhere.

HireMyMom.com -  a Web-based job service designed especially for professional working mothers. One of the most popular positions HireMyMom.com is a virtual assistant. You provide the skills. They provide the clients.

You’ll also find multiple Virtual Assistant Job posting on the Simply Hired job board.

4. Typing and Transcription

Workingsolutions.com – If you are a fast and accurate typist, you might be interested in a contract position as a transcriptionist. This is someone who types down information from a audio or video recording, live reading, or conversation. Established in 1996, Working Solutions hires independent contract agents for various transcription and customer service assignments. You can earn up to $30 an hour if you have the right skill-set and experience.

Here are 2 other transcription sites to explore.

www.tigerfish.com
www.speak-write.com

5. Work From Home Teaching

Sylvan Online – If you have experience teaching but aren’t interested in managing an entire classroom or have lost your teaching job due to cutbacks and layoffs, Sylvan Online may work for you. It’s a Web-based tutoring service that seeks certified teachers to tutor various subjects and levels. Job requirements include a current teaching certificate, a Windows-based PC and high-speed Internet access. Sylvan offers paid training on-line and opportunities range from 8 to 29 hours per week.

Language Lab: Language Lab lets at-home students visit “English Town,” a virtual city where teachers help them learn English as a second language. Language Lab is looking to hire more English teachers. The company also plans to hire actors and part-time customer service reps.

6. Computer Skills

If you have web design, programming, marketing, seo, IT and networking then  freelance sites like Elance and Odesk can match you up with clients who need your services.

Side Note: oDesk also has career openings within their company http://www.odesk.com/w/careers

7. Be An Online Juror

Yea- this one was new to me…

Instead of spending time watching the courtroom programs on TV, try making some pocket money while determining verdicts as an online juror. Lawyers deciding whether or not to accept a case or looking for preliminary feedback on cases they’re currently handling use various websites as a cost-effective tool for research and focus groups before heading into a real courtroom.

Sites include
www.ejury.com
www.onlineverdict.com
www.trialpractice.com

8. Cooking Consultant

Think you’re the next Top Chef? That might qualify you to become a home-based consultant for Chefsline.com , which provides live, professional advice to anyone who needs help with cooking or baking. Chef consultants must excel at cooking, teaching, and customer service, and must be available to take calls for a minimum of eight hours per week during afternoon and evening hours. A culinary degree is preferred, but not required.

9. Internships

This is not really a true work from home job but internships, especially with web startups, can really open some doors and get you some valuable experience and contacts.

Conotes _ If you’re just starting out and want to get your foot in the door with some great web startups, head on over to http://conotes.com/

Twitter is Hiring! Twitter, a well known privately funded start up offers an internship.  They also offer competitive salaries and full benefits, including health, dental, vacation, 401k, and stock options. You would  be joining a unique group of experienced folks who are doing their best work to create something great.

On a sidenote: For companies and business owners looking to hire interns, Conotes also has a free listing service for internships.

Another free resource that includes many many ideas for starting an online home business, download a copy of my book Escaping Your 9 to 5 here.

If you know of any work from home job resources, other companies hiring, or have some experience in any of the job categories or companies above, please share them in comments.

This post from:

Top Work From Home Jobs and Internships – Companies Hiring Now