What is keyword research? When you go to Google and type in something you are looking for…that thing you typed is a keyword. You might think a keyword is just that,  A Word. Well that is wrong information. A keyword is a word or phrase that is typed into a search engine by someone looking for something.

Okay, we know what a keyword is, but what now? ;Here is the deal. You want to find a keyword that is popular by the fact that a good number of people search for it every day. AND there is not too many people out there that are already working it. Low competition.
So how do you figure it out. How do you choose the keyword you want to build your empire on. Well you might think it is really difficult. We are talking about millions of people using the internet, but it doesn’t have to be.

You need the right tools.  I have talked to you about the thirty day challenge. It is an annual event hosted by Ed Dale for teaching people like you and me how to make money online. Well through the thirty day challenge I learned about Market Samarai.

Market Samurai is a marketing tool that is so advanced it cannot be easily explained, but let me tell you, keyword research becomes the easiest thing ever with it.

Here is a video from the thirty day challenge 2009 that is an introduction to keyword research with the Samurai. It is extremely interesting, and it is important that you get this mastered. Have a look.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq0BvBb7QI4

Market Samurai has a free trial version. It is not the complete power of this tool but it has all the keyword research included. You owe it to yourself to check this out.   http://www.marketsamurai.com/

Technorati Tags: Ed Dale, Keywords, make money online, Market Samurai, marketing, Samurai, Technology/Internet, thirty day challenge, Web search engine

This is not easy. I have blogged, I have internet marketed, I have had things for sell and then upsell. I have given things away and then caught them on the back end. I have captured customer’s emails and I have marketed to them. I have made a ton of Squidoo lenses. I have done it all. My leaning curve is growing daily.

There are two things I have to say about it all.

1. I have accomplished the most difficulty job of chasing that elusive first dollar AND I CAUGHT IT!
2. I LOVE this business!!!

No I am not a millionaire, I am not even a thousand-aire, but I have hit the over a hundred dollar mark. I have written and sold some ebooks and I have sold quite a few affiliate products, and I am making money with my Squidoo lenses. So I am feeling pretty happy with my efforts.

So the number one thing that “they” say about internet marketing is that once you have managed to make your first dollar on line that you have arrived. You have made it. You are now among the ranks of successful marketers. All you have to do is duplicate whatever you have done and rinse and repeat.

Isn’t that a cute cliché, rinse and repeat, I actually get it and it is the truth, you have to do it. For instance if one Squidoo lens makes me money then 50 will make me more. If one product sold makes me money, then whatever I did to sell it, do it 100 more times. Yeah, I get it.

Sounds easy doesn’t it? Well it ain’t! And that is what I have been doing. If I sold one ebook, why can’t I sell 50 more? Oh sure I can make 50 lenses, actually right now the count is 37, but what does it take for those lenses to make me money. Which affiliate product is going to sell best and where should I sell it? These are all the questions that must be answered.

I think a lot of the legwork must be done by you. There are some wonderful people out there that actually want to help you succeed but there are a bunch of scoundrels too. The information is there and then you have to try it and then try something different. And start over again.

Keep trying and eventually we are going to find what works and what we like. An important distinction. We must like what we are doing. But that elusive first dollar is out there and you can grab it. I did.

And now I am learning where to spend my time. Where to focus my attention. Where to expend my energy. And that is a lesson unto itself.

But that is another post. For now, just keep fighting for yourself and your future and keeping trying. You must not give up. It can be done. No magic, no miracle, just good hard work.

See you next time.

Technorati Tags: internet marketng, make money online, work at home

One of the things that is really important about working from home is starting to make some money. If you spend day after day toiling at your new craft and you see nothing for your effort, you may become discouraged and give up.

DON’T DO IT!

You see this is one of those things that can get you in a lot of trouble with yourself. You must be able to see some progress. There are some measuring tools, like Google analytics or statcounter, which you can use to see progress. But money is number one.

When I first started I tried a few things. Remember I used to get over 200 e-mails a day from all the gurus lists that I was on. Each of them telling me just what it was that I needed to do, and what latest must have product I needed to buy, with money I had not yet earned. Well what did I learn?

Of course, I already told you to get off those lists! They are sucking you under, they are killing your productivity and they are breaking your spirit. Is that clear for you? I mean it.

But logically why is that the wise thing for you to do? Well, we have already spoken of in some length about time and how little of it you have when you are working at home. Remember, you are a mother or father, breadwinner, housecleaner, teacher, peacekeeper, and veterinarian. First of all, just when will you spend some of your precious online time reading emails that are truly just sucking the life out of your internet business?

And second of all, Every time you choose to try something new, you now have to invest your time and effort into learning it, getting together whatever you need to put it into play and then put it into practice. Now you are spending precious time to learn a new task, and you are not doing anything to advance your business that you have already established.

Remember, and this is key to your online success, so wait for it…

You need only three things to become successful online.

1. You need a product in a market that has buyers. (market/keyword research first, then product)
2. You need a place to sell this product (website of some kind, blog, lens, hubpage etc)
3. You need people to sell it to. (traffic)

Pretty easy huh? Well if you said yes to that question, you really need to rethink a thing or two.

No! it is not easy. But it is doable.

More on the details of the above later, but now we need to start seeing some money.

This is what I have been doing and I am starting to see some money. Squidoo.

Squidoo is a website that allows you to build a “lens” (the name they use to describe the website you build) The lens can be on any subject you like, writing about something you know and then expanding the lens into all kinds of fun interactive “modules” or pieces of your lens. It is great! However, this is not play time, you are an internet marketer. So if you want to use your lens to sell something so you will earn some money, keyword research would be good, and then build the lens around that keyword. You can also put as many links into your lens as you like pointing back to your main site if it has anything to do with your keyword.

That is an advanced thought. If you had taken the thirty day challenge you would know exactly what I am talking about. You still can, just go over to the Thirty Day Challenge and sign up. It is free! This is not an affiliate link, I get nothing but the count of the number of people taking the challenge through my link. So check it out.

But for now I just want you to focus on making some money. You can just build lens and not sell a thing. You see Squidoo has Google adsense on them and you can earn money from just that. Or if you put a Amazon or ebay module on your lens and sell something, you earn additional income. You have to tell Squidoo when you make your profile that you want to be paid cash or they will give it all to charity, so don’t forget that.

Now the catch here is that you only earn of percentage of the whole pot if your lens are ranking well. They need to be in the top 100 of your category. There is a ton of stuff you will learn when you sign up to Squidoo, which by the way is a FREE service. 100%! Getting them into the top 100 is the fun part. You have to be interactive and give a little. You know look at other people’s lens and vote on them and favorite them and duel on them. And join the forum, to learn from as well as to interact some more. All this behavior is rewarded by Squidoo. Plus your nicely ranking lens that are interesting and interactive can earn you some cash.

Some people on Squidoo are earning hundreds of dollars every month. Some even over a thousand. Could you use that? I know I can. Just to start reducing debt or replacing JOB income

Here is an example of one of my lens. CLICK HERE, and by the way, vote for it if you like it while you are there. I hope you will take the time to look into Squidoo, it has turned into a way to lighten the load for me, and it is fun, filled with genuinely nice people. And as an added benefit, well loved by Google. A win-win situation.

Until next time,

Susan

Technorati Tags: A Blog for Baby Boomers, Google Adsense, internet marketing, lensmasters, make money online, squidoo, squidoo lens, work from home

First of all, I took the Thirty Day Challenge the whole month of August. It was fantastic! I think my brain grew I was so stimulated by the information that I learned.

For those that are not familiar with the 30DC, it is a month long intense learning seminar put on by Ed Dale and Dan Raine, an Aussie and a Brit that have one goal: to make you successful as an internet marketer. It really is outstanding. This was year four. I came in late last year so didn’t get the full affect of it. But this year, made me know I will not miss another year of this great FREE service.

Yes! It is 100% free. They do give you the option of spending some money. For instance this year, we could buy our own domain name $8, and we could get our own hosting $7. But they always give you free alternatives that are ever bit as good for the purposes of the challenge.

The goal of the challenge is for you to make your first dollar online. And of course after that to go ahead and make a business come to fruition.

I learned about keyword research, blogging-the proper way, search engines and what makes them tick, social marketing. The list goes on. I loved it. I wish you all could have been there, maybe some of you were. If so, I would love to have your comments.

I made some very good friends. They were my team mates and each of us supported the other in our blogging efforts. It was actually quite remarkable My blog, Baby Knitting Patterns Blog, is actually number 5 on Google for my keyword. Isn’t that great?!

You should also check out my friends’ blogs too, for the quality of work that the thirty day challenge produces. Debra McGauley, produces a gorgeous and wonderfully entertaining blog filled with fascinating ideas for county living. Her blog is A Little Bit Country Decorations.

And my friend Arthur Sherin made a blog that is so educational and filled with great ideas all about herbs. His main idea is aero herb gardening. But he covers everything from indoor gardening to container gardening and all to do wit all kinds of herb. You must see his blog called Aero Herb Garden. I know you will enjoy them both.

After the challenge was over, I have been seriously implementing all that I learned, unfortunately that equates to my neglecting you all.

The last time I posted I talked about all the things that can distract you when you work at home. Well, I am happy to say I believe I have now mastered that. Yet another thing I got out of the 30DC. I am now so much better at focusing, and actually getting things done.

So no excuses needed. I have actually been doing what I am always telling you do. Follow your dream. Find an alternative to the back breaking, mind numbing work that is called the JOB! Get yourself involved in some new type of income. Get started with an online income and make some changes in your life that will lead to your freedom.

It is doable, I am living proof. Have I quit my job yet?

Not yet, but it is coming. Just watch me!

Technorati Tags: aero herb garden, Baby knitting patterns, country decorations, Dan Raine, Ed Dale, make money online, thirty day challenge, work at home

I don’t want you to miss out on an opportunity that only comes once a year.

It is called the Thirty Day Challenge. It is a Free internet
marketing learning seminar that lasts literally 30 days. It is
intense training that is 100% free. You will not spend one penny.
It is put on by Ed Dale and Dan Raine, both very
successful internet marketers. They say they will take your money
11 months of the year but for one month they will give it all back
by teaching you how to make money online.

It is really remarkable. I took the challenge last year and I
thought my brain was going to explode because of all I learned.
It was really exceptional.

You would not believe the tools that are available for
FREE! and of course, the knowledge and know how that you learn is
amazing.

This is the fourth 30 Day Challenge and it starts August 1, 2008.
But Pre-Season started today. For the next 60 days we learn all
about the new tools for this year and all the things necessary to be
successful in this challenge.

I am telling you, some people from these challenges are now very
successful internet marketers that have quit their J.O.B.s. And now
they are assisting to put on the challenges.

Isn’t that what we all want?! To quit our J.O.B.

Well go on, check this out. You will not regret it.
If you are interested in becoming successful on line and quiting that J.O.B. you must
check this out.

The Thirty Day Challenge

Please don’t deny yourself the opportunity to learn
from the best.

The Thirty Day Challenge

To your success,

Susan Kaul,

Technorati Tags: 30 day challenge, 30DC, internet marketing, make money online, marketing, work from home

Well the point of telling you that is that I have only a certain amount of time that I can devote to my online business and that is one of the factors that can really sink you in the water.

You must be able to prioritize your life. You have to clean your house, do the laundry and do the shopping and if you have kids, well is there any end to it? See what I mean? Throw an actually JOB on top of all that and you can become undone.

The problem of working from home is that everything else becomes more important and demands your attention more than you “work”, and if something is going to be cut it is going to be your online work.

It’s a fact! I am living proof of this phenomenon. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female. The fact is you can only do so much with your 24 hours.

People won’t take your work seriously until you do.

Think about this. If we didn’t have our JOB’s and we were dependent on our online work for our income, how would you react then?  Do you see what I mean?

We MUST treat our online work as a business that can and does make us money. Otherwise we will always figure out a way to do something else and maybe fit this in someway or other. But without having a set pattern and an aggreement with ourselves and also our families,  that we will work this many hours on these days, no matter what!, we will find success extremely difficult.

Now of course, later when we are established and doing well, we can afford the luxury of being more relaxed and lenient with ourselves.  But not in the beginning.

I only just learned this in the last few weeks.  I was having serious information overload and reading so much that I felt like I could only chase my own tail.  I was never getting anything accomplished.

Well no more! I have  exercised some discipline in my efforts. I have organized my inbox so that I can look at things of interest when it is the appropriate time. Not when I need to get some things accomplished today. Do you see what I mean?

So make a contract with your self. Set up a schedule. Decide what you want to do and DO IT!

To our success,

Susan

Technorati Tags: internet marketing, make money online, work at home, work from home