For example, I have to track and record rankings for my clients on a regular basis. I do not want to report on rankings showing up in personalized search, that’s for sure.

Well fortunately there is a way to turn it off. Before proceeding, make sure you are logged OUT of Google first.

When you visit Google.com, enter something in the search box and hit “Google Search”. On the results screen in the upper right-hand corner, click on the link that says “Web History”:

Then click on the link that says “Disable customizations based on search activity”:

Now enter the url to Google.com again in your browser bar and personalized search will be turned off. To verify, click on “Web History” again and you should see this screen:

If you know an easier way to deal with this, please let me know! For now, this is what works for me. So at least I feel confident knowing that I am reporting rankings that are NOT influenced by customizations based upon my interactions with Google.com.

Cheers!
Kaz

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Anyhow – I have somehow accumulated over 400 bookmarks, tagged with a slew of keywords that aren’t exactly organized in any beneficial way. One tag (category) I do maintain however is called “themes”. Periodically I enjoy scrounging for new and interesting Wordpress themes (by scrounging, I’m talking digging into 20+ pages of Google search results!). I thought I’d share a few more with you (see this post for a few others):

New Wordpress Themes

As of this post, they are offering 92 free themes. You need to look for yourself – these are top notch designs. A few I personally like are Creatismo, PressBlue (which this site is/was using – I might be changing themes again!),  and Praven.

DigitalNature

Only 4 themes available here – but they are unique. If you are looking for something different yet slick, take a look.

CSSJockey

Just one theme to show you here… called Imagination. Looks gorgeous! Can’t wait to try it out on one of my sites.

If you find any unique or interesting themes, drop me a line because I’m always on the hunt!

PS: I’m going to try and update my blog more often. TRY being the operative word.

Kaz

Related posts:

1. Decided On A Theme, Found Some Nice Theme Sites Too
2. It’s Time For A Change

I came across several articles that didn’t even utilize effective anchor text in the links within the resource boxes. Many resource boxes simply contained links to the actual url without any anchor text at all. When you’re viewing an article at EZA, if you view the page source you can see what keywords they assigned to the article. This is a terrific way to find additional keywords for your niche and you would be surprised at how often people are not researching properly for sensible keywords.

I agree that whatever you are writing should be geared towards your audience – you should always write in such a way that compels your readers and provides useful and relevant information. But that doesn’t mean you have to forego optimizing for the search engines! With a few simple steps you can write keyword rich articles while still maintaining your writing style and create a stunning article:

Don’t neglect keyword research

A popular approach is to find long tail keywords which are phrases that contain 3 or more words. While these phrases may get searched on a lot less that generic 1-2 word phrases, they are often much more targeted and less competitive. There are many keyword tools available both free and paid, but I suggest you use a combination of tools to get a solid understanding within your niche. Different tools aggregate their data from different sources, so don’t isolate yourself within just one tool.

Include your main keyword phrase in the title of the article

This is such a simple step to do but amazingly many people don’t utilize it. Try to keep your keyword phrase in the beginning of the title for maximum results. Sometimes you can combine keyword phrases and/or repeat them within a title for even better optimization. An example using the phrase “RSS Marketing” could be: “RSS Marketing – Learn How RSS Marketing Can Boost Your Business”. Another example that uses main and secondary keyword phrases could be: “RSS Marketing Isn’t Difficult – Learn How RSS Advertising Is Done”.

Weave your main keyword phrase throughout your article

This is often referred to as keyword density. In other words, how often does your keyword phrase appear within the body of the article? There are varying opinions on keyword density but in the end you’ll have to decide. Your article should flow nicely and be easy to read. Some article directories actually implement rules that a keyword phrase can only be included once per 100 words. Generally, I use this as a rule of thumb. So within a 400 word article I will try to weave in my main keyword phrase about 4 times. This isn’t a strict rule though, because if my main keyword phrase doesn’t flow nicely within the article 4 times then I simply won’t do it.

Weave secondary keywords throughout the article

When you perform keyword research, you should come up with 2 or 3 secondary keywords as well. Choose keywords that will mesh easily with your main keyword phrase, and try to include them a few times throughout the article. This will help you get additional exposure in the search engines.

Use your main keyword phrase as the anchor text in your links within the resource box.

This is really a very simple step and there is no reason to link to your website without using keyword rich anchor text. Remember your articles are providing backlinks to your website, and you want those backlinks to contain keywords that are relevant to your content. Simply having your anchor text be “click here” or “read more” is not leveraging the power of backlinks. Do you want to be ranked in Google for the phrase “click here”?! Well, Adobe is but that’s another story.

At the end of the day, you definitely want your articles to be interesting and easily digestable. But for the little effort it takes to properly optimize them for the search engines, don’t disregard the power behind this!

Karen

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1. Decided On A Theme, Found Some Nice Theme Sites Too
2. More Great Wordpress Themes Worth Checking Out

Well, not this time. I’m dead set serious about getting into a niche that I can actually leverage my own true passion about. But I must be honest and up front here. I’m not actually looking to start into a new niche for the purpose of making money – not initially anyways. I want to get into something enjoyable and entertaining for ME. Of course I want to be successful in what I do so I will eventually look to monetize it.

You hear time and time again from many sources that the best place to start niche hunting is to look at your own hobbies and likes. Like I said before, I’ve always glossed over that and went the other direction (and certainly both can be successful). So now I’m faced with this looming over my head… what are my hobbies? It saddens me because I’ve long given up my most beloved hobby which is quilting.

Forget about that for a minute though because I want to ramble. Let’s talk about this blog for a minute. There are a billion “internet marketing” blogs online and a billion people who want to tell you how to make money and sell you their info. For a long time that’s exactly why I didn’t create a blog about marketing. But then came a time when I said screw it – I want somewhere to record, regurgitate, share, rant, vent about MY experiences online. I wanted my little place on the ‘net and to be honest, really didn’t care if it got traffic much or not. As you can undoubtedly tell, I don’t focus very much on monetizing this site! The whole point I’m getting at is this is so LIBERATING. Finally, just to have some little place that isn’t about making money online – ha, well the blog IS about marketing, but the purpose isn’t to empty your wallets! It just feels good to let loose, write when I feel like it, not feel pressured to get “xx” amount of posts out. Not feel pressured to heavily promote this site at all etc. Pressure cuts off creativity!

So the reason I’m rambling on about all this is because I’m TIRED. I’m tired of ignoring everything I used to love to do before I got into marketing. Don’t get me wrong – I’m still 1000% committed to my business. But it’s high time I started doing something for MYSELF. It’s time I revive those old hobbies and if that means I get my feet warm again via a content site for example, then so be it. At least I’ll be building something that I have a passion in and can actually enjoy.

So – back to niche hunting! I’m a little spooked at trying to identify what my hobbies are because it’s such a touchy subject for me. Since I gave up many of my hobbies and turned into a work-a-holic! But this is like therapy for me… and I need to take baby steps.

My first task I’ll assign myself is to just brainstorm things that I like, with no thought as to whether or not they would make a good niche. I’m not even going to rank them according to interest. You should try this, I have a feeling it’s going to be liberating too!

Likes:

• Quilting – traditional, art, designing patterns, sewing room organization and decor, applique, machine quilting, scrap quilting, textiles, quilt book reviews
• Decorating – interior decorating, feng shui, decorating children’s rooms, on a budget, etc.
• Astrology – really love this topic
• Photography – taking photos (kids & people), editing and enhancing digitally
• Scrapbooking – traditional and digital
• Baking – and cooking but mostly baking, have a good collection of favorite recipes
• Games – I love all kinds of games, board games, cards, online games ranging from puzzles, to first person shooter! Oh yeah and I have a PS3, love Guitar Hero – World Tour rocks!
• Problem solving – it’s not a hobby but I’m really good at it, and I really love doing it. That’s one of the reasons why I love programming so much. Oh yeah, and researching.. love to research things.
• Programming – voila, I am a programmer! Yep, been doing that for 10+ years. I’m staying away from this niche though because I do enough of this during the day (J.O.B.)

Well, there we have it. That’s pretty diverse, don’t you think? I’m going to have to look at this list closely now to determine what topics interest me the most, and then the fun part begins! I like the next part – the research required to identify if a niche can be profitable or not. Even if I don’t plan on monetizing it at first, I need to know what the potential is and I want to know about my market.

I’ll be making more posts as I progress but nothing is on any type of schedule. If you want to stay updated on what’s going on just subscribe to my feed, easiest way. Comments are always welcomed!

Cheers!
Kaz

Related posts:

1. Facing Your Fears – What Niche Do I Choose?

If you’ve been involved in Internet Marketing for any length of time, you’ll know that gaining contacts can be very valuable to your success. I firmly believe networking properly is key to not only broadening your horizons but opening doors for you that may never have existed before.

But a lot of new people come into this game thinking that they don’t have anything to offer, and often struggle with making contacts and developing mutually profitable relationships. Well from my experience, I’ve never had that problem.

Why? Simply because when I’ve met fellow marketers I’ve always just treated them as I would a friend. I don’t worry about what I have to offer or not. I don’t start a conversation with someone with any specific goals in mind, I just simply enjoy the camaraderie. I’m curious by nature, and love to get to know what others are doing in my field. This just naturally opens up doors when you’re willing to GIVE without having any expectations whatsoever.

Some of my online friends have opened doors for me that I’ll be forever grateful for. Others have not done that, yet they remain just as important within my circle. We share tips and ideas – and brainstorm together. It’s amazing what kinds of things you can come up with just by yakking (Skype, MSN etc) with another like minded individual.

So this is my point. Get out there and get sociable! Don’t do it with any specific goals in mind besides making a pal with similar interests. Then when an opportunity arises that you can help with – do it without ANY expectations. Of course, if it requires considerable time or effort, it’s not a bad thing to still have to charge. Business is business after all, and each one of us knows that time is very valuable.

One thing to keep in mind if you start gathering contacts – keep it under control. Constantly chatting with several online friends may become a detriment to your business, if it consumes too much of your time. Set aside scheduled times when you make yourself available for chatting.

So get out there and start socializing!

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ProductWiki: They claim to be the resource for free and unbiased product reviews. Information is written and maintained by the user community. Plenty of product ideas here.

3LUXE: Several categories of products reviewed. 3LUXE performs research on the cream of the crop of physical products. If you’re looking to target an expensive niche, this might just be the place to gleam some ideas.

ILikeTotallyLoveIt: An interesting social community featuring sometimes bizarre products. If you’re looking for strange and uncommon ideas, it’s worth a review.

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1. Facing Your Fears – I Can’t Decide What To Do!

Isn’t it SO easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of information at our fingertips? We surround ourselves with people telling us left and right how to make money online.

Here, follow this plan! While you’re at it, check out this guide! Oh don’t do that, that won’t make you any money. This is the BEST way to make money online. And so on and so on.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed. And when people get overwhelmed, they naturally shut down in a sense. It’s tough to take action when you feel like there are a million decisions to make. How are you supposed to know where to start?

What I’m talking about here is deciding what business model to adapt, or what plan of action to pursue. Some examples include creating your own product, affiliate marketing, CPA (which is a form of affiliate marketing), content sites with advertising (such as Adsense), content sites to build a list for future monetization, etc. etc.

Even when you get past this point, choosing one of these plans brings up more questions. For example, what KIND of product will you create? An ebook? A physical course? How about audio or video?

ARGGGGH I can’t decide what to do!!

When I start to feel like this, the best thing that helps me is to write steps out in my own words. When I initially start looking into a niche, and get stuck with the thought “I can’t decide what to do”, I review these steps:

What do I know about my target market? Where can I find out more about them?
Sometimes, this helps me figure out what TYPE of plan I want to pursue in this niche. For example, let’s say my niche is digital music. Are there PROBLEMS that my target market faces, that I can SOLVE? If so, I can create a product. I can also create a content site. The point is, I know I’ll want to deliver the SOLUTION in some way. My market might not have a problem requiring solving, but still may be a profitable niche. For example, a good plan might be to create a content site about mp3 players, and monetize either with advertising or affiliate marketing to physical products.

What am I more comfortable doing in this niche?
I might not have a lot of knowledge in this niche, so therefore creating a product (if I’m not outsourcing it) would be a less desirable option. That narrows down my choices. Perhaps now I might look into creating a content site.

What are the demographics of your target market?
Do you know if they love to watch videos online? Do you know if they are big into the social networks like Facebook etc? Do they have the ability to SPEND MONEY? What do you KNOW about your market? This is crucial to helping you figure out WHAT and HOW to present content to your market.

Those points will definitely help you but you are still faced with DECIDING how to attack a niche. This is truly a fear of taking action. If you know the basics like the back of your hand, and you’re STILL not taking any action, then it’s a serious fear to own up to.

You will only succeed if you are willing to put yourself out there and allow yourself to fail.

Related posts:

1. Facing Your Fears – How In The World Can I Compete?
2. Facing Your Fears – I Still Have A Lot To Learn
3. Facing Your Fears – Fear Of Failure

I still have a lot to learn before I can begin making money online.

I’ve felt this way before, and see this revealed in a lot of newcomer marketers. Some people feel that they can never start something until they’ve learned every nugget of information they need to be successful from start to finish.

In Internet Marketing, this will take you a LIFETIME.

Why? Because every single day there are new techniques to learn, and new technologies arising to help you. How in the world will you ever get started if you keep waiting? There is definitely a necessary learning phase for anyone newly entering internet marketing. Nobody can really dispute that. But at what point have you learned enough to start applying and taking action? Of course, only you can answer that. But this little fear can sneak up on you and you won’t even realize it until so much time has passed. It’s an obsessive thing, learning about Internet Marketing. It’s so easy to get sucked deeper and deeper into the web.

This is where you need some DISCIPLINE. You need to be serious about your business. Set aside official times for creativity and learning, and official times for WORKING. The bottom line is you need to organize your time, create goals, and focus focus focus.

Goal setting will help tremendously with many of your fears. Search online for topics like this. There are many great sites about goal setting, organizing and how to stay focused. If this is an area where you feel you‘re weak in, then create a plan to conquer this fear. Be organized about it. Give yourself a fixed amount of time to research and learn about this advice that will help you get out of your learning slump. Then use the knowledge you’ve gained, and put together a plan of action.

It doesn’t have to be a huge plan!

Even a small plan with a few minor steps will help you move away from “obsessive learning” to “organized planning, working, and learning”.

REVIEW:

• You don’t need to master every single technique known to man to get started
• You should organize your time effectively, to include the things you want such as building your business, seeking out new marketing techniques, building a new product, etc.
• Goal setting, organizing your time, and learning how to focus are key tools that will help you succeed

Related posts:

1. Facing Your Fears – I Can’t Decide What To Do!
2. Facing Your Fears – Fear Of Failure
3. Facing Your Fears – What Niche Do I Choose?

I’m too scared to invest the time or money into a project, only to end up failing.

Fear of failure stops many people in their tracks. You‘ve likely either experienced or seen this happen in the offline world just as much as the online world. I‘ll go back to what I stressed earlier in the series.

Until you‘re able and willing to take risks, you won‘t get very far.

What does failure mean to you? If you perceive failure as a bad thing, you‘re not off to a very good start. You control how you think and feel about anything. Nobody else controls YOU. You might think failure is bad, because it means “not succeeding”. How in the world are you supposed to change that perception?

First, take a close look at what you can learn when you fail. If you can learn anything from your failures, you’ve already changed your perception. Because learning from your failures is a POSITIVE thing. You’ve just gained something positive, from something you perceived as negative.

Always try to learn from your failures. Don’t agonize and spend forever pouring over your failures, but do pay attention to elements that factored in. Tweak and test your methods while you continue to TAKE ACTION. Record what worked and what didn’t work. Set aside time to consistently review this.

If you’re investing money, you might view it as a bigger risk than investing time. This may or may not be true, depending on how you prioritize money versus your time. I’m not advising anyone to go broke just to assume risks. You have to put some thought into it. Find out what your able to invest into your business without sacrificing necessities.

Virtually everything to do with online marketing can be done with a) more time invested or b) more money invested. It’s your choice what to invest, but either way you must be willing to assume the risks. If you’re paralyzed because you’re scared to invest “xx” hours of time into a project without knowing if it will be successful or not, how will you move forward?

You won‘t!

There you go. Continue fearing this investment, and you‘ll simply stand still.

The only way to get over this fear IS to take action. It’s ironic. You fear taking action, yet you must take action to get over the fear. But people can’t convince you of this with a few words online. Only you can convince yourself and make yourself BELIEVE. The truth of it is, once you start taking action, it gets EASIER to continue taking action.

REVIEW:

• You must be willing to assume RISKS
• You must be willing to invest time or money or both
• You must BELIEVE in yourself in order to start taking action
• The more action you take, the easier it gets to TAKE ACTION

Related posts:

1. Facing Your Fears – How In The World Can I Compete?
2. Facing Your Fears – What Niche Do I Choose?
3. Facing Your Fears – I Still Have A Lot To Learn