Depending on the size of your Twitter account, you might know a lot about the users who are following you, or nothing at all. How can you possibly keep track of 1,000s of friends and followers all at once? A new web site, Ad.ly,  has created the perfect tool for getting full stats and demographics on who is following you on Twitter.

Checking your Twitter analytics is easy. If you haven’t already, be sure to signup to Ad.ly, it’s free and only takes a few seconds. Next, visit the analytics.ad.ly page. You can sign in through your account, or Twitter. Allow the application to connect through Twitter, then waiting a few seconds and your full stats will display.

Source: RoyalTutorial.com

Dan Schawbel is the author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 09), and owner of the award winning Personal Branding Blog.

Looking for a job? Consider creating your own. There are a number of social resources to help you connect with other entrepreneurs and get your business ideas off the ground.

Here are the top 10 social networks for entrepreneurs. Each helps entrepreneurs succeed by providing them with the guidance, tools and resources they need to setup their company and gain exposure.

Have another social site to add to this list? Tell us about it in the comments.

1. Entrepreneur Connect

Entrepreneur Media, the company that produces Entrepreneur Magazine, started a social network over a year ago specifically for entrepreneurs and small business owners called Entrepreneur Connect.   Like all social networks, you have the opportunity to create your own profile, explore the community, share ideas with other entrepreneurs and network. Unlike most social networks, this one frowns upon too much self-promotion and applauds idea sharing.

You can use this network to connect to service providers, suppliers, advisers and colleagues.  Just like LinkedIn and Facebook (), there are professional groups that you can join or create.  Another cool feature is that you’re able to start your own blog and possibly have it appear on the main page.  This is similar to what Fast Company has done with their website.

2. PartnerUp

PartnerUp is a social network for entrepreneurs who are searching for people and resources for business opportunities.  Anyone can join, but business partners, co-founders, executives and board members will get the most out of this one.  In this network, you can ask or offer advice, find commercial real estate and find service providers like accountants and marketers for your business.

The big differentiator with this social network is the commercial real estate “MoveUpSM” program that serves entrepreneurs who have experienced a hard time trying to find office space for their business.  They also have a Resource Directory that allows small and mid-sized businesses to advertise their services.

3.  StartupNation

Most social networks neglect the content aspect that makes StartupNation so useful.  With articles, forums, blogs, on-demand seminars, and podcasts, entrepreneurs will be better prepared for their ventures and have the resources required to make better business decisions.

There are a wide range of topics being discussed on StartupNation right now, including business planning, marketing and web-based business.  The site also offers a series of competitions, such as a dorm-based 20 contest and an elevator pitch competition. If you’re an entrepreneur or hope to become one, this site is definitely one you can’t miss out on.

4.  LinkedIn

It’s difficult to leave LinkedIn () off of any social networking list because it’s so useful for anyone who’s either searching for a job, is trying to network with like-minded individuals, or building a company.  LinkedIn offers many resources for entrepreneurs, such as groups, including the very popular “On Startups” group that has over 54,000 members.

Entrepreneurs on LinkedIn should brand themselves properly so they can attract the right kind of business opportunities, and perform searches to find service providers or partners.  As an entrepreneur, you should also be looking to participate in LinkedIn Answers, events and applications to spruce up your profile and become a valuable member to your community.

5. Biznik

This isn’t another LinkedIn clone.  Instead, Biznik brands itself as a social network that “doesn’t suck.”  The Biznik community is composed of freelancers, CEOs, and the self-employed.  Like the other networks, this is a place for you to share ideas, instead of posting your resume.  It is mandatory for all members to use their real names and provide real data, and Biznik editors actually review all profiles to ensure compliance with that policy.  There are three levels of membership, including basic, active ($10 a month for an enhanced profile) and supporting ($24 a month for increased visibility).

6.  Perfect Business

If you want to meet thousands of serious entrepreneurs, experts and investors from a variety of industries, then Perfect Business might be the perfect social network for you.  The type of people you’ll find are potential business partners, potential clients and advisers. Additionally, the site has leading business partners like Entrepreneur and Virgin Money.

From business networking to a video center where you can learn from successful entrepreneurs, a business plan builder and even an investor center, you’ll have most of the resources you need to create or regenerate your business. There is a free basic membership and a gold membership that costs $29.99 per month.

7.  Go BIG Network

The Go BIG Network embraces job seekers, in addition to funding sources, service providers and entrepreneurs.  In this social network, you post requests for help, which are then routed to other people in the network that can answer your questions or support you.  Members of this social network can search through profiles of other members, contact them or post a request (a classified ad) to talk about what they are looking for (such as a business partner).  The profiles on this network are targeted and specific so it’s easy to find an investor in a particular region.

8.  Cofoundr

The Cofoundr network is made up of idea makers, entrepreneurs, programmers, web designers, investors, freelancers and executives.  The primary purpose of joining this network is to start a new web venture.  Unlike most of the social networks already listed here, Cofoundr is a strictly private network, which means that you can’t view member profiles before you register for an account.

Membership requires having a valid university or work email address, which means high schools students and younger aren’t allowed.  The first thing you have to do is sign up, then specify your abilities and the people you are trying to network with and finally, post your idea on the bulletin board or in the forum.

9.   The Funded

The Funded is an online community of entrepreneurs who research, rate and review funding sources.  Entrepreneurs can view and share terms sheets to assist each other in finding good investors, as well as discuss the inner workings of operating a business.  General benefits of this site include viewing facts, reviews and commentary on funding resources, and accessing RSS feeds of the most recent public comments by members.

By joining the site, you have access to detailed fund profiles with specialty, reference investments, and investment criteria, in addition to accessing partner vCards that have full contact information of all partners at venture funds.  In order to get any value out of this social network, you pretty much have to become a member.

10.  Young Entrepreneur

If you’re young, entrepreneurial and socially active or just curious, then Young Entrepreneur is a great starting point for you.  This community appears as a discussion forum, with topics such as e-commerce, search engine optimization, marketing, IT & Internet, and franchising.  Aside from their main forum and threads, there is a popular blog and some great videos.

Source: mashable.com

How can you get online freedom at work places? Usually work environments are restrictive and keep tab on your online activities. While at work, IT guys try to prevent you from indulging in online activities deemed “un-productive”. There are number of web tools that allow easy access to blocked stuff without coming under IT department radar (hopefully).
Get Online Freedom at Work

Access your email, webpage, read ebooks and even Twitter at work using the following:

1. Read ebooks at Work - If you love reading ebooks, then head over to ‘Read at Work’ website. You can read ebooks without drawing any suspicious attention or getting caught. It allows you to access ebooks in the form and look of Microsoft Powerpoint (Powerpont!). While you enjoy reading ebooks others will think “you are working damn hard on your next presentation”. Keep everyone happy and away while you read ebooks of different types like: black comedy, classics, short stories etc.

2. Twitter at Work - Can’t get off Twitter addiction at work? You can Twitter with ease within Microsoft Excel spreadsheet window without catching anyone’s eye. SpreadTweet is an Adobe Air based application that allows you to use Twitter disguised as a spreadsheet. You can try the online version or install the offline version depending on the Microsoft Office version you are using among: Office OSX, Office 2003 and Office 2007 (Windows).

3. Share favorite webpages - Just found an interesting webpage you want to share with a co-worker? Instead of sending webpage link, why not send the whole webpage via email using Email the Web. Enter webpage URL, sign in using Google account, preview the webpage and quickly send it to your friends.

4. Open Gmail at work - Gmail addicts love to try different methods to access email at work while IT guys try hard to block every such method. Among various ways to access Gmail at work, using iGoogle is the easiest. Go to iGoogle homepage, login to see Gmail messages in a small box on the right side.

5. Instant Messenging at Work - There are number of web based ways to access instant messengers like Meebo. However, such websites are most likely blocked by IT guys in the office. You can try newer (and  fairly unknown to IT guys) web based messenger access service like webuzz.im. It is JavaScript based online web instant messenger that helps you chat with your friends on Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger or AIM.

Source: Techf5.com / Quickonlinetips.com

Although this blog doesn’t have Adsense ads on it I have a number of other websites that do. I posted way back about my initial Adsense earnings and promised to get back to you with how my income went after implementing some tactics I read about. Well there is LOTS of good news after I heard about a little tool that you should utilise for your sites that are monetized with Adsense. This is one of the tools for blogs that will make it into my top ten list I’m creating.

You have probably heard the saying ‘not all Adsense clicks are created equal’; damn right they’re not! I have set up a few static niche sites specifically targeting high paying Adsense keywords. Now when I heard about this new little Google tool that is designed for Adwords users I was very excited. This tool lets you in on a little secret…how much the guys and gals who use these words in their Adword campaigns are likely to be paying. The higher they pay, the more likely it is that the Adsense payout will be higher too.

Yes, there are lots of things that can affect your Adsense value but generally speaking, and yes I’ve tested it, the higher the Adwords cost the better your Adsense earning will be. So what’s this little tool? Well you can find it here. This is a Google tool and although it’s still in Beta is worth using!

Simply type in the url of one of your sites that you intend to or already have Adsense on, or any site in your niche, and include a couple of keywords in the ‘keyword/phrases’ box. Simply hit ‘find keywords’ and you will discover a list of related terms. So what? There are many keyword generating tools right…so many we often get confused by them and which ones to use. Well when you get your keywords with this tool you will see a column that specifies a $ amount, or cents in a lot of cases! Simply click on the ‘Sugg. Bid’ menu tab and you will have sorted from highest to lowest the approximate amount that advertisers are paying for those specific keyword phrases.

So I used this site as an example. Typed in the url then I added the keyword phrase ’adsense money’, the list then tells me that the term ‘make money’ could cost an advertiser $2.37 and the term ‘more money with adsense’ would only cost around .40 cents! So if this site had Adsense on it and I wrote a post around the keyword ‘make money’, using that phrase wisely in the content, then my Adsense ads would be in context to that and any clicks I received would have the potential to earn me perhaps double or even more than if I chose the ‘cheaper’ keywords.

Now this is certainly not the best way to decide on what to title your blog posts or website pages in all circumstances as you need people to be interested in your content too! That is the beauty of this Google tool, it also includes the number of monthly searches! So if a high cost phrase has very few searches then it might not be worth looking at…but when you find a phrase that can cost $18 and it also has lots of searches, let me tell you, it certainly can give your adsense earnings a boost!

So there you have another little tool that can help your blogs with Adsense to earn perhaps more than they might normally have. You can use this tool to your heart’s content right here, remember it is Beta though so be patient with the hiccups, they’re worth working through.

Source: ToolsForBlogs.com

Just about every day I receive an email, ticket, comment etc. asking what tool I use for “xyz.”

I’ve been wanting to offer a list for a while and this is as good a time as any. The following list of Internet Marketing tools is composed of the tools I use on a somewhat regular basis. There are others I use as well, but less frequently.

I tried to stay away from the obvious, Autoresponders, Analytics etc.

Here they are in no particular order:

1. The SEO Book Keyword Tool – I use this on a daily basis, primarily for the keyword research of my mini-site and article marketing efforts, but it’s useful for selecting niche phrases on any type of site. Just like any other keyword tool, the results aren’t exact, but it’s worked well for me.

2. Internal PR Checker – While not pretty, this is one of only TLPR (toolbar pagerank) checkers I’ve seen that is up most of the time. It checks the TLPR of all internal pages, which is pretty cool. PR means very little these days, but it’s still nice to see your pages gain some…for your own ego if nothing else

3. Fresh Drop Domain Finder – This is a site I just recently came across, but I’m now addicted to. They show lists of recently expired domains, domains up for auction that are about to end, etc. and they have an excellent search tool. But, be very careful with this tool or any other related tool. There are alot of people out there offering domains with fake data.

4. PC Names Domain Search Engine – This is similar to Fresh Drop (above) but much simpler. It’s quite simply a search engine for domain names. Type in a keyword and it shows a list of related domains. Depending on your niche, you may have to go through a few, but on average I’d say about 50% of those shown are available. I’ve found some golden nuggets with this!

5. Article Post Robot – I’ve been using this for a very long time. If you’re a regular reader you’ve probably heard me mention APR several times in the past. It makes article submission much quicker and easier and allows you to insert multiple titles and summaries!

6. SEO for Firefox – This is possibly one of the most useful and time-saving tools I use. It inserts alot of useful data directly into the search results of Google and Yahoo. You just do a search as usual and directly below each result you’ll see data such as PR, Age, Cache date, Yahoo Links, DMOZ, Alexa etc. It makes competition analysis much quicker and easier and is just neat all around.

7. Rank Checker – This is Aaron Wall’s newest tool from SEO Book, which provides a very simple way to check your sites rankings on Google. This is also a Firefox addon. You just open it up, insert the domain name and the keywords you want to analyze and it shows you the rankings.

8. RoboForm – This isn’t just an Internet Marketing tool, it’s useful for all of your online activity. It works with Internet Explorer and FireFox for sure, and possibly other browsers, although I’m not sure. You enter all of your usernames and passwords and with the click of a button RoboForm inserts the details for you. With all of the UN’s and PW’s we deal with on a daily basis this tool is awesome. I’ve been using the pro version for several months now and I Love it!! You can also insert your personal details for forms if you like. Alot of neat features.

9. Instant Article Wizard Pro – This is the first article “creator” I’ve ever recommended. My initial feelings on this type of software was that it was impossible for software to create an article that was actually readable and useful to others. I can honestly say that I was wrong. I started using IAWP about a month ago and although some articles need a little editing, it’s cut huge amounts of time off of article writing. I’ve been having my sister write my articles lately and she’s been using this and sending twice as many articles than before. Just take a look at the videos!

10. Camtasia Studio – ok, I don’t use this on a daily basis. I’m actually HORRIBLE at video and produce very little of it, I do have a copy of Camtasia and use it on the rare occasions in which I do need to produce a tutorial. It’s very simple to use and understand and produces quality video. This is the industry standard for screen capture. I just wanted to mention it because I do see alot of value in it. If I were a better speaker and teacher I would be using this on a daily basis.

Tools Recommended by Readers – If you have a useful tool to add just let us know about it in the comment section and I’ll add it here. Please no affiliate links or links to tools you own or are affiliate with. Although I’m using some aff. links above, there is no way for me to tell whether or not a tool is recommended because of its affiliate program or not.

Source: Ez-OnlineMoney.com/blog

Selecting the perfect domain name for your website is the most important, and oftentimes hardest, step in establishing a web presence. There are plenty of tools out there that can help you ease the burden of checking available domains and suggesting similar names that are related to your searches.

In this article, you’ll read about 10 neat web tools that will lend you a hand in finding and choosing domain names. You’ll find a variety of search and suggestion tools that have an assortment of features so that, hopefully, you’ll discover a few favorites.

1. Domainr

Nowadays, it’s difficult to find a domain name that end with the popular .com, .net, and .org TLD’s. Domainr is an innovative web tool that helps you explore other TLD’s that have made popular websites like last.fm and del.icio.us stand out from the crowd. Of course, searches will also include popular top-level domains that are available.

2. Dot-o-mator

Dot-o-mator is a web tool that suggests site names based on prefixes and suffixes that you’ve entered (keywords). Alternatively, you can use a category of prefixes (like “Tech” or “Games”) and suffixes (like “Hardware” or “Web 2.0 words”) to generate suggested site names for you. It’s a helpful tool for, at the very least, obtaining inspiration for a site name.

They also have a fun tool called Web 2.0 Domain Name Generator that generates “Web 2.0″ site names like “Yakidoo” or “Zoompulse”.

3. BustAName

BustAName is a robust and feature-packed domain finder that uses linguistic data to help you search domains. BustAName allows you to save and manage/organize your searches for later use. It has a “List of Words” feature that advise you of similar words to your search – which you can then organize inside folders.

Available domains that are returned can be sorted in a number of ways such as “by quality (readability)” or “by length” for easier viewing. Though the web tool is very intuitive, the creators have a video tutorial on how to utilize BustAName.

4. Domain Tools

Domain Tools is a set of domain name search engines that will help you uncover relevant information about certain domain names. They have a “Whois” search that reveals records about the party who registered the domain, a “Suggestions” search to help you find similar domain names, a “Domain Search” which shows you what TLDs of a domain name are available, and domain names that are “For Sale” or “At Auction”.

5. Domize

Domize is a fast, Ajax-based search engine that you can use to rapidly check the availability of domains. Domize has a widget that you can install on your website to provide a domain search engine to your visitors. Domize also has an iPhone app – because domain name inspiration can hit you at anytime (hopefully you have your iPhone with you when it happens).

6. squurl

squurl is another fast Ajax-based domain search engine. It has a “Suggestions” feature to help you discover similar domains to the ones you’ve typed.

7. DomainsBot

DomainsBot is a domain search engine that has an “Advanced” search feature so that you can conduct a more customized and refined search. For example, you can set the maximum domain character length to eliminate lengthy domain names from the results or exclude domain results that have a hyphen (-).

8. dnScoop

dnScoop tries to estimate the value of a particular domain based on several statistics such as site traffic, links pointing to the domain, and other factors. This will help you gain some insight on the value of a particular domain name in case the name you really want is “for sale” and you want to see if the asking price is fair, or to make an offer to a site owner that owns the domain you really want.

9. StuckDomains

StuckDomains is a database of expired domain names that previous owners have not renewed. This can be an opportunity to find a domain name that doesn’t involve odd names like “fujiyakuku.com”.

10. Nameboy

Nameboy is a popular domain name generator. This straightforward web tool asks for a “Primary Word” and “Secondary Word” that describe the topic of your website, and based on your input, it suggests possible domain names.

For example, typing in “web” as the Primary Word and “superman” as the Secondary Word returned results such as webhero, supeweb and supermanweb. There’s a “Rhyme” option that tries to suggest domain names that rhyme with the search phrases, but the feature didn’t seem to work on the above example.

Source: SixRivisions.com

uTorrent was very slow for me until recently I applied a few tweaks. Here’s what I did.

Note: Some of the settings mentioned below are optimized for 256k connection. If you want to calculate the optimal settings for your connection, check at the end of this tutorial. But I suggest you to read the entire tutorial for guidance on other settings.

First go to Options>Preferences>Network

1. Under ‘Port used for incomming connections’, enter any port number. It is best to use a port number above 10000. I use 45682.
2. Randomize port each time utorrent starts: UNCHECKED. I leave this unchecked because I have a router. If you do not have a router or a firewall, and want extra security,check this option.
3. Enable UPnP port mapping (Windows Xp or later only): UNCHECKED. I leave this unchecked because I have experienced it slowing down speeds. It is not needed if you manually port forward.
4. Add utorrent to Windows Firewall exceptions (Windows XP SP2 or later only): UNCHECKED (do this only if you have windows firewall disabled)
5. Global Maximum upload rate (kb/s): [0: unlimited]: 22 (for 256k connection)
6. Protocol Encryption: ENABLED. I would recommend everyone to enable this. This can help increase speeds with many ISPs.
7. Allow incoming Legacy Connections: CHECKED

Options>Preferences>Torrents

1. Global Maximum Number of Connections: 130 (for 256k connection)This number should not be set too low or the number of connections made to your torrents will be limited. Setting it too high may cause too much bandwidth to be used and can cause slowdowns.
2. Maximum Number of connected peers per torrent: 70 (for 256k connection)If you see that the peers connected to a specific torrent are exactly this number, or very close, increase this number to improve speeds.
3. Number of upload slots per torrent: 3 (for 256k connection)This depends on how much you want to upload to other users. Do not set too low or it may affect download speeds.
4. Use additional upload slots if upload speed <90%: CHECKED
5. Maximum number of active torrents: 2 (for 256k connection)
6. Maximum number of active downloads: 1 (for 256k connection)
7. Enable DHT Network: CHECKEDThis is recommended to be checked to improve speeds. More people will be available for sharing if this is checked.
8. Enable DHT for new torrents: CHECKED
9. Enable Peer Exchange: CHECKED
10. Enable scrapping: CHECKED
11. Pre-allocate all files: CHECKED
12. Append .!ut to incomplete files: UNCHECKED

Options>Preferences>Advanced

net.max_halfopen: 50

If you use Windows XP SP2, patch tcpip.sys with LvlLord’s Event ID 4226 Patcher to get better performance.

DO NOT CHANGE THIS OPTION unless you have Windows XP SP2 and have patched tcpip.sys.

You can also patch tcpip.sys with xp-Antispy

If you have a firewall

• Open up the options/preferences/settings for the firewall – usually your firewall will have an icon to click in the taskbar
• Look for the keywords “allow list” or “programs”
• Add the application you want to give access to the internet
• Make sure to save your settings when you are done

If you have a router

1. Go to start>run>type cmd, press enter>type ipconfig, press enter
2. Remember both your ip address and your default gateway
3. Type in your default gateway into your default browser, a password prompt may come up. The default username and password are admin for my router
4. Under ‘Applications’ fill out one line for each p2p client you use
5. You need to use your ip address, the correct port range and set either tcp or udp
6. You can find and change the ports in the actual p2p client’s settings, just make sure they are the same in the router
7. Most p2p apps need both tcp and udp checked, if you are not sure check your p2p client’s FAQ
8. Save your settings

Check PortForward.com to forward ports for uTorrent.

Some of the settings I mentioned above are relative to my bandwidth.

How to calculate optimal settings for your connection

In order to apply the following tips you need to know your maximum upload and download speeds. You can test your bandwidth over here.

Maximum upload speed

If you use your Maximum upload speed, there won’t be not enough space left for the files you are downloading. So you have to cap your upload speed.

This is how I calculate my optimal upload speed…

upload speed * 80%

Maximum download speed

Setting your maximum download speed to unlimited will hurt your connection. So use this to calculate your optimal setting.

download speed * 90%

Maximum connected peers per torrent

upload speed * 1.3

Maximum upload slots

1 + (upload speed / 6)

Disable Windows Firewall

Windows Firewall hates P2P and so disable it and get yourself a decent firewall like Zone Alarm.

And last optimize your Internet Connection with TCP Optimizer.

Know any other tricks to increase uTorrent’s download speed? Please share them here.

Source: JohnTP.com

Image editing software has become ubiquitous in this digital age. Whether you’re creating a web interface or simply cropping and enhancing your family photos – you’ll need your favorite image editor to do it.

In this article, you’ll find the top image editing applications currently out in the market.

Last week, readers of Six Revisions were asked what they thought was the best image editing software. Over 150 people responded and here, you’ll find the pick of the litter.

5. Pixelmator

Pixelmator is a fast and powerful image editing software for the Mac operating system. With its intuitive and beautiful Graphical User Interface (GUI), support for layers to organize your document, a large assortment of painting tools, and simple-to-use photo correction tools – Pixelmator is an excellent pick for Mac users who don’t quite need the features (and price tag) of Photoshop.

4. Inkscape

Inkscape is an open source vector graphics editor much like Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, and Xara X. Its default file format is web standards compliant Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) under W3C’s specifications. Want to learn more about what Inkscape has to offer? Check out this list of articles and presentations about Inkscape.

If you’re interested in finding more open source and free alternatives to Photoshop, you may want to read this list of ten open source and free alternatives.

3. Fireworks

Fireworks is Adobe’s image editing software for the web designers. It excels in several areas over its big brother Photoshop, namely in high-fidelity prototyping of sites and a workspace environment that’s optimized for web designers. It is also a raster and vector hybrid, being able to work with raster-based images and vector-based graphics better and more symbiotically than Photoshop.

Fireworks is a popular tool of choice for many web designers and was once voted as one of the top tools for web designers.

2. GIMP

GIMP – which stands for the GNU Image Manipulation Program – is a feature-packed and powerful open source image editor that can be used in all major operating systems (Linux, Mac, and Windows). It has a customizable interface so that you can easily set the view and behavior of GIMP.

It has a huge set of retouching tools that will allow you to perform advanced image retouching and manipulation. The GIMP outputs your work in many common formats like JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, and even PSD (Photoshop’s native file format).

Here are a couple of articles you may wish to take a look at if you’re interested in learning about the GIMP:

• 10 Websites to Help You Master GIMP
• 25 GIMP Video Tutorials to Help Get You Started

1. Photoshop

Not surprisingly, Photoshop is the winner by a landslide, garnering over half of all the total votes. Photoshop is what comes to mind when image editing is involved there’s very little that can be said about it that hasn’t been said already.

With an insurmountable amount of features that help you manipulate and enhance photos as well as create web graphics, all while helping you manage your workflow and image editing environment – Photoshop comes in at numero uno as the best image editing software currently in the market.

Source: Six Revisions

Want to modify your pictures and make them fun? Don’t know how to edit those photos using picture editing software such as Photoshop?  Well don’t worry because there are many websites out there that will do all the hardwork for you and produce fun pictures that you can plan with.  These websites are great to checkout if you are bored and want something to do.  They are also very fun to play with if you just want to make your pictures interesting and exciting.  There are probably even more than the 15 mentioned below but check these fun websites and see what you can do with your pictures!

One thing to keep in mind is that most of these websites are FREE! That is one of the great things about the Internet.  Most people don’t want to have to pay for 15 fun websites that can edit your pictures.  Luckily for you that most of these are free.  So check them out below!

1) PhotoFunia – This is one of the hottest photo editting websites out today! What it allows you to do is to add cool backgrounds to your photos or it puts you in the background.  You can select from a large list of effects and then all you need to do is add in your picture and it will put you into that effect!  You can also see premade ones that other people have done.  This website is all hosted in numerous languages.  Below is an example of an effect I did on myself:

2) Fun Photo Box – Very similar to PhotoFunia.  However if you aren’t able to find the effect you wanted with the previous website you should definitely check out this website because it has a wide of of additional effects you can use on your photos!

3) HairMixer - Ever wondered what you or a celebrity would look like with a particular haircut?  Well ponder no more.  With this website you have the ability to mix and match hair from two people.  You can select a photo on the left and a photo on the right and then you can mix their faces and hair to see how it would look.

4) Photo505 – This one is very similiar to the first two but has more effects! So if the first two websites weren’t enough for you I’d consider checking out this website for fun effects that will keep you busy for days on end!

5) YearBook Yourself – The title of the website itself so make it pretty clear what this website is all about.  Basically what you do with this website is you register with the website and then you have the ability to select a picture of yourself and put it in the yearbook.  It is a pretty neat tool.  Check it out and see what you look like in the YearBook!

6) Loonapix – This website is a bit different then the rest of fun picture editting websites because it gives you the ability to do effects to your pictures, face effects, photo frames, ad photo trims.  So there is a few more options with this website that is sure to keep you busy for hours!

7) Magmypic – This one is a lot of fun!  You can take a picture of yourself and use it to create a magazine cover! There is also a section on the website where you can rate other peoples magazine covers! You also have the ability to select either magazine or comic book covers.

8 ) Your Own Wired Cover – This one is similiar to the website above but has additional options.  You are able to choose the logo color, create cover headlines, and upload a photo.  If #7 above did not give you what you wanted then check this one out and see if you can find what you are looking for!

9) Hollywood Hair Makeover – This feature is pretty neat because you can stylize a picture of yourself with celebrity hair and makeup.  All you need to do is upload your photo, try on new star styles, try on tons of lipstick, and try the best beauty buys from their annual list.

10) Write On It – This website is fun because you can create multiple types of pictures.  You can create captions, fake pictures, and fake magazines.  You also have the ability to battle other people on the website for who has create the best image!

11) Dumpr - Like many of the other websites above you can use this website to apply many effects to your pictures. There are lots of great effects here to try so check it out.

12) Montagraph – This website allows you to take an original picture and then erase part of the picture where the face was and then add in your own picture to make a new picture.  See below for an example of how this works.

13) My Heritage – This website uses advanced face recognition technology to produce celebrity morph pictures and many other pictures.  My Heritage also has fun effects such as Celebrity Morph, Look-alike Meter, Celebrity Collage and Tag Photos.

14) Letter James – Letter James is a website used to put writing effects into your photos.  So if you have a photo of say a beach and you wanted to add writing to the sand you could do so with this website!

15) Personalized Money – Have you ever wanted to put your face on a dollar bill or even better a $100 bill?  Well here is your chance to do so.  With this website you can choose the type of money (dollar, yen, etc), upload your photo, optionally re-position the photo, and then download the final image!

Are you struggling to find the right keywords to optimize your site and drive more traffic to your site? I know I have in the past until I found these 3 tools that I now use for all of my websites. It is important to use the right keywords because without the right keywords you will generate very little to no income with the wrong keywords and it will be difficult to generate traffic.  With the wrong keywords there is a lot of competition and therefore makes it difficult to generate traffic naturally through search engines.  Especially when you are creating a niche website it is important to have the right keywords.  All niche websites will fail unless they have the right keywords.  Without anymore delay here are the Top 3 tools I use to generate very successful mini-niche websites:

Research of Keyword Worth
- Spyfu – gives you a rough estimate of the cost per click for particular keywords.  It will also give you useful information such as: clicks/day, cost/day, search results, etc.  You can also enter domain names and get information on them as well.

Research of Competition
- Google Keyword Tool – this helps you research competition and the amount of searches to particular keywords.

Research of longtail keywords
- SEO Book – I use this one to get an idea of how many people search for certain keywords and spinoffs of those keywords. I look for keywords with over 100 views per day.  With these topics I create pages for my niche websites.

So there you have it.  My Top 3 keyword research tools that I use to make successful mini-niche websites.  Try them out for yourself and see how you like them.  If you have any other tools you use to for keyword research feel free to share in the comment section below!