Keyword Search Trends

I've spoken before about using Google Trends to find out about search trends... but now there's an even better tool for measuring and comparing keyword search trends, volume, demographics and location.

Check out: Google Insights for Search.

You can even enter several search terms and compare them:

Essential Steps for Small Business Internet Marketing

The first thing any locally based business should do is make sure they are listed in the local business directories for Google, Yahoo and MSN. The submissions are free and easy to do. The results come up above almost all the other "natural" search results.

Here are the links for Local Search Engine Submissions:

• Google Local Listing Submission

• Yahoo Local Listing Submission

• MSN (now known as Bing) Local Listing Submission

If you have questions or problems, just Ask Joanne.

Why GMail is best.

Why is GMail the best email solution? It's not just because it has the best SPAM filtering of any email program I ever used. No, Gmail is the best because you can archive emails forever and never have to delete anything.

I am currently trying to find an email verification of a directory submission done in June of 2007. I used Gmail for the first time in 2006, then went back to Outlook for a few months (because I liked to have my mails linked to my contact records). Then in Fall of 2007, I went back to Gmail and have been there since.

Wouldn't you know, the email message I am missing and can't find anywhere in my Outlook archives (!) is during those few months that I wasn't using Gmail.

With Gmail you can use the search box to search your email archives just like you search the internet with Google. If I had used Gmail all this time, I would be able to grab that email at a moment's notice an would not be about to pull out all my hair trying to find it!

Highlighting Web pages Made Easy

Have you ever wanted to highlight a part of an online article, either for your own future reference or to point out something specific to someone? Well, I just found a cool tool called AwesomeHighlighter.com that lets you do just that.

Once you've registered for an account, you can highlight text on any URL. AwesomeHighlighter will save a summary of what you've highlighted and create short URLs to the highlighted page that you can share using email, twitter, facebook, delicious or wordpress.

I just used it this morning to send links to my sister on several articles (important parts highlighted) on a topic of interest to us both. Check it out.

Make your own Videos - Super Easy!

Ok, I'll admit, I was behind the eight ball on this one. I found out about Animoto from a client of mine (www.AllSmokedUp.com) and was totally impressed. There's a free version and a paid version. You can use your still photos to create videos with great movement and sound, quite frankly they are much cooler than the "plain vanilla" slideshows I recommended in my post about creating YouTube videos with Picasa. Like the Picasa slideshows, these "music videos" can be uploaded to YouTube, added to Facebook, linked to your Google local listing, and put on your blog or website. Enjoy!

LOOKING FOR A TIME-TESTED BUSINESS STRATEGY?

In this economic climate, you go with what works. Becoming a published author is just such a tactic. With “Doing Business By the Book: How to Craft a Crowd-Pleasing Book and Attract More Clients and Speaking Engagements Than You Ever Thought Possible” by Sophfronia Scott you will learn how to write the right book for your business. You’ll find ideas for powerful lead generation strategies as well as the basic nuts and bolts on choosing and assembling just the right stories to tell in your book. If writing books works for the likes of T. Harv Eker, Robert Kiyosaki and Jack Canfield, it can work for you!

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Make Your Own YouTube "Commercials"

I just discovered the coolest, easiest tool to create little "commercials" to post on YouTube. Picasa3 from Google now has a nifty little button called "Make Movie" which will make a slideshow of any photos you choose from a Picasa album. You can add audio (make sure it's public domain or copyright free!) There are a variety of ways to display and scroll your photos, you can add text slides in between, you can add captions to each photo, and much more!

Then once you create the movie, you can automatically upload it to YouTube (I had trouble with that feature) but you can easily upload it through your YouTube account.

Check out a couple I did this weekend:

Doreen Osto - Black and White Fine Art Photography
All Smoked Up BBQ Catering - NY Giants and NY Jets Tailgate Parties at the Meadowlands

7 Secrets to Success - Sue Stebbins - Over it Already

I'd like to share a link with you to an inspiring free business coaching presentation by Sue Stebbins, the Maven of Accelerated Results. I listened to this presentation the other day, and it highlights the simple steps that any entrepreneur can take to catapult their business to the next level of success. This is a particularly important message now, when most of the news about "this economy" is filled with doom and gloom. Sue is inspirational and upbeat and has a real and concrete message about a new approach to large scale success.

Sign up here to get the link to Over it Already - 7 Secrets to 7 Figure Success