OK -- so in the 30 day challenge, we were told to pick a keyword with >80 searches per day, according to our tool, and less than 30k competing pages. All well and good. I picked a niche that had 165 searches a day and only 615 competing pages. On the day I installed the blog, I rechecked the tool -- and it told me that I would see 165 searches and 6150 competing pages. A tenfold jump, but still low for the challenge. I kept going.

A couple of days ago someone posted to the forum that the searches given to us by the tool are BROAD MATCH searches, and the 80/day we need are PHRASE MATCH searches. Off to the Google External Keyword Tool -- which told me I would be lucky to see 10 visitors a day to the ENGINE on that phrase, let alone to my site. I actually do well to get 5/day.

(And a HUGE RASPBERRY to the moderators who are now, after Day 18, wandering around the posts saying, "I don't know why you picked that phrase to go with." Because we didn't know until recently why it was a dud, thanks so much for the sensitivity. "It was discussed in the lessons." No it bloody wasn't. You show me where. "It's in the Niche Black Book." I read it, don't remember seeing it. I just don't like the fact that I'm assumed to be an idiot for following instructions. Especially when those same moderators spend a measurable percentage of their time typing, "That's outside the scope of the challenge. Just do what Ed says." I did what Ed said. So don't come 'round expecting omniscience.)

So I spent all day yesterday researching niche keywords: to the Web for ideas, to the tool to refine them down, to Google to check pages and searches. And I think I found a winner -- at least for a short, sensational time. See, I'm an affiliate for a really cool toy company -- that uses phrases like "mens toys" and "big boy toys" as its key search engine phrases. I've always thought there's an article there: why men's toys? Don't females deserve cool toys too?

So that's my Unique Selling Position: "Mens toys are for women too!" So I went to put up a blog for it under my old domain name (just moved) in a subfolder -- and ran straight into a brick wall. WDP won't install. I've got a help ticket in, but I spent two hours this morning like Barry Benson from the Bee Movie -- "This time! This time! No, This time!" All the while ramming my head.

So I'm taking a small break. Again. I think I'll go watch my soap . . .

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