Google trends and more trends

Mary Ellen Bates is a superb librarian, and Bates Info Tip has transferred her skills of classifying information to the internet.  I received this from her and am using the tools provided by Google below.

Google has been doing some interesting things with its analyses of what people are while they are on the web. Google Trends, which was rolled out in 2006, lets you see how frequently words or phrases were search for in Google, over time. You can even compare the relative frequency of two different words or phrases. I was curious about how people referred to the H1N1 flu, and when the shift occurred from calling it “swine flu”. I typed in the two phrases, swine flu and H1N1, separated by a comma. [“swine flu”, h1n1] According to the search results, it wasn’t until October that most people shifted over to referring to the flu strain as H1N1. I can also see search trends in specific countries and in specific cities and states or provinces.

Google’s latest analysis tool is Google Trends for Websites. You provide one or more URLs; for each web site, Google displays the number of daily unique visitors, the countries or states/provinces they came from, other web sites that they have also visited, and terms they have also searched for. Just as Google Domestic Trends went beyond search queries to compare financial trends to its information, Google Trends for Websites extends its reach and analyzes information on web traffic from a number of outside sources.

Google Trends for Websites only works for fairly high-traffic sites, but can be a useful tool for seeing the relative popularity of web sites, and for getting ideas on alternative search queries on a topic.
Companies can use this as a quick way to see how their web traffic compares to those of its competitors, as well as to see what search words were being used to find them. See, for example, the difference in traffic by geographic location and over time for NBC, CBS and ABC.

Use this tool well to help you increase your keywords to direct traffic to you web site.  Also good information to use to see what your competition is doing.

Happy Time of Year!

Wishing to all a Happy Time of Year made possible by the ability of each of us to find our happiness within ourselves and share it with the world. 

The Rush for Private Schools

We are in the middle of "rushing" for private schools for D#2.  She is touring and viewing, we are calculating the costs and wondering how we will do it.  We will fill out reams of questions on application forms that will tell the administration everything about us short of a DNA map.

I find these "gauntlets" interesting as they are as discriminatory as they can be within an inch of the ethical and morals boundaries. And they all stand proud on their non-discriminatory philosophy. Bah!

Each private school forms it's own "tribes" with a uniform student body. They look for the commonalities that allow them to create insular worlds and for 30K per student per year to cater to the delusions parents have that their child is the next  "Bill Gates."  And if not, at least entrance into a top Ivy League school.

In Los Angeles there are 57, yes that's right 57, private schools that vie for a small percentage of students that qualify for entrance.

The private schools, funded in the past by tons of money from parents, allowed them to "overbuild." Every school had to offer it all in order to compete with each other.

That is exactly what has gotten them into trouble.  57 flavors of schools is NOT sustainable even in a large population center as Los Angeles.  Parents able to pay for a customized education that emphasized their values, morals and delusions about their kids, are rare and far between.

I think the schools are now the ones with delusions!  Offering to "mold" the students into perfect cookie cutters semblances of their parents expectations is ridiculous.  Children are as varied as their parents and only those with the gumption and determination make it in life.

If I am to find the perfect "tribe" for D#2 then I guess I need to look at the commonalities of culture. Wonder where I can find that school, seeped in reality, with a touch of low-cost.  That's my kind of tribe.

Shut It Down - Part Two

They say humans learn through repetition. I think that nothing is learned between the ages of 14 and 20. Well after Friday night let's include the age range of 45 and 60 as well.

D#1 gave us the heads up she was driving to an "after party" held between 11PM and 2AM. As any parent knows, this raises alarm bells deep inside the belly of our bear selves. The expression "NO WAY-JOSE" leapt to our lips simultaneously. I immediately thought of the party we had had at our house. See blog "Shut it Down."

The discussion raged around the dinner table for a week. Father and D#1 made the decision that it was OK for her to drive home alone in the middle of the night. I dead stopped the idea as I was raised in LA and I KNOW the types of trouble the exist at 2AM. Thus sides were taken and the debate was on.

D#1 is exceptionally good at convincing her parents. "Mom," she says in all seriousness, "This is a private party, with tickets and a shuttle from the parking lot to the house. See, here is my ticket." I envision a well-organized transportation system similar to what we go through for non-profit events. The discussion raged on .....

One thing I am particularly good at is coming up with a solution in the middle of a heated argument. Training from my Telecom Corporate days created a "leadership under fire" set of skills and low and behold, they emerged fully engaged.

I suggested D#1 go concentrate on homework and while Hubby and I worked out our differences. I listened as Hubby gave his point of view and then let the silence fall. Silence is good as it lets the body calm down and the logical brain engage. It's one of my favorite techniques on getting Hubby to listen to me.

I committed to driving her myself if it meant staying up to all hours to make sure she was accompanied by an adult at 2AM. Hubby suggested I drop him off at the location of the after party and he would drive D#1 home.

"That's an even better idea, dude-man!" As I thought of my wonderful bed I would tumble into as soon as I got home around 1:30AM. And Hubby was once again my hero!

But - the best laid plans of mice and teenagers do go awry. This was no exception.

D#1 never made it to the after party. D#1 never made it as the traffic was so bad up Sunset Plaza and she couldn't find parking, kids were walking in the middle of the street saying "it's shut down," someone was vandalizing the parked cars and the neighbors were up in arms. 911 was called to help the passed-out-from-too-much-liquor girl. So once again the cry of "Shut It Down" was heard for miles.

"What does not kill you makes you stronger" says Friedrich Nietzsche. Any person will tell you that this is true. Especially when you are 16.

D#1 was pulled over twice by the cops as the car had a broken headlight. She handled it with honesty and aplomb. She drove carefully out of the crowded streets without mishap and drove home while her friend kept us updated with progress reports. That's my girl!

As we debriefed this morning, we wondered who was this parent that signed and paid for the party house? Who was in charge of the shuttles and parking? Why did they not figure out that 388 teenagers via FB, texting, etc. meant an average of 1000 kids showing up, tickets or no tickets. Why did they not think that liquor would flow, some teenager would be too inebriated to function and mayhem would ensue?

Well I think it's true - humans never learn, even between the ages of 45 to 60!

Demise of Print, Part 2

Previously on Innerwealthspeakers blog, I covered my love of books and absolute rebellion towards the e-book concept.  The gist was that the e-book will dominate the printed book and how sad it will be for those of us who love them. That is until someone turns off the electricity.


Electricity powers our ability to read e-books, use cell phone, computers, and any modern invention that somehow fuels our lives. Without it, life comes to a stand still. Remember the movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still?" (version from the 50s) when the aliens shut off all electricity and mayhem ensued?

Electricity is the new gold.  Where once governments funded teams of adventurers to find natural resources of wood, water, gold, fertile land and cheap labor,  electricity is the new replacement as the "most precious commodity" on earth.  Now the solar/wind scientists are racing each other to increase our electrical output.

Reading is the first of skills that you need to function in the electro-literate world. The second is learning new commands and navigation of the electricity-fueld organization of information.   Every time I log on to a new web site, I have to learn a new software. AHHH.....it is fueling my resistance to change greater than my natural resistance to change.

The demise of print does not stop with books. Newspapers, magazines, reviews, brochures, flyers, pamphlets, leaflets, treatise, yellow and white phone book pages filled with names, numbers and addresses, are all becoming obsolete. So how do you know you exist?


Can you really count yourself among the citizens as bona fide because you are stored electronically somewhere?  Will you be able to vote just because you have a chip in your birth certificate or passport or neck?

Will an electronic profile a server somewhere produce the kind of outburst similar to Steve Martin's in "The Jerk?" While holding the white pages he starts jumping around yelling "I am somebody! I'm in the PHONE BOOK!"

I ponder these questions as I am the last generation that bridges the gap between fully electronic and paper-based for the verification of my existence.


I never battle my kids time spent on the computer as I know they are developing their "electronic literacy" that prepares them for a future of 100% electronically based information of all types.

But as for me, I plan on becoming the dinosaur of my generation, comfortably installed in my little house lined with books that I can read at any time, rain or shine, electric lamp or candlelight and without the need to push a button to create a deeply ingrained joy!

Laurelle Rises to the Top Once Again!

Laurelle Johnson is
“Entrepreneur Mother Of The Year”

Los Angeles (April 14, 2009) - Laurelle Johnson will be honored as “Entrepreneur Mother of the Year” by Working Mother magazine at a ceremony in New York on May 8. “The Working Mothers of the Year are extraordinary moms who adeptly balance career, motherhood and self development with grace and determination,” says the magazine. Laurelle joins a select group ranging from high-powered executives to the First Lady of the United States.

Laurelle balances being mother of two teenage daughters with a business helping entrepreneurial women prepare to present their companies to angel and venture capital investors.

Women are terrified to ask for funding. Knowing what to say and how to say it is key to gaining interest in their products and services. Laurelle’s business experience both at high corporate levels and as entrepreneur, puts her in an ideal position to craft messages that bridge the communication gap between women-owned businesses and male investors.

With her help, women entrepreneurs have raised over $1.5 million in financing.

Her workbook “Is Your Elevator Speech Taking Your Business To The Top Floor,” takes women through a process that helps them present their core message succinctly to potential investors. The workbook costs $17.00. Order it here. [this is a link to your order page]

Read Laurelle’s profile in Working Mother magazine here. http://tinyurl.com/wmlaurelle