You may have noticed from my other hubs that I have signed up with The Keyword Academy, which is a subscription based service that offers to teach newcomers everything needed to be successful in making money online, particularly through generating Adsense revenue.

As there has been some discussion on HubPages about the TKA (The Keyword Academy) I wanted to detail my journey with them so far.

Up until I joined TKA, I was generally quite disillusioned with the world of online marketing--at least the section of it that seems to be primarily aimed at teaching people who know nothing how to (not) successfully make money online. I am fairly cautious by nature, especially when it has to do with parting with my hard-earned cash, but even so I fell prey to hyped up sales pitches on how to make money instantly on line. So, I was greatly relieved when I finally stumbled on TKA and realized the abundance of worthwhile information this program offers.

Some who read this will probably be familiar with Griz and his "How to Make Money Online for Beginners" posts. I can't remember exactly how I found Griz's sites, probably from searching for "Make Money Online for Beginners" in Google. (Try it and you'll find Griz sitting there on top of page one.)

I devoured his sites, subscribed to them, read all the comments and went to work at starting my first blog. One was about Oolong tea, the other about making money online for mothers or some such thing. Needless to say, I really didn't know that much about keyword research but I learned at least how to set up a blog and I started to familiarize myself with the world of MMO, its terminology and some of the basics. I slapped Adsense on my blogs and didn't make a cent. I think the ads that came on my tea blog were along the lines of ceramic work, or some health related thing.

Griz has quite a following, and he's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to learning how to make money online, and making money with Adsense too (he has a blog specifically on this topic.) However, I need to have things spelled out with checklists, and formulas to follow. I do best when there's step-by-step instructions.

After that I signed up with Wealthy Affiliate for a couple of months. It didn't click with me. They seemed to be into a lot of affiliate marketing which I knew nothing about. I was still struggling with setting up my blogs properly, and learning what keyword research was. I think they're a fairly solid program, I have no beefs with them other than they're just not for me. They certainly offer up a lot of information and promotional materials although they dribble it out in weekly doses which keeps you paying for another month's subscription just to find out what you get in the last couple of weeks training.

Griz frequently referred to Court and Mark and the Keyword Academy. I'd taken a look from time to time but never went very far with it. Then one day he had a post announcing the new Keyword Academy Crash Course, where you could sign up for only $1 and try it out for a month. His post was pretty compelling, he bandied words around like "strongly suggest you take a look at Court and Mark's Keyword Crash Course"; " designed for beginners just starting out and you can get your feet wet for a buck"; " I wouldn't recommend the Keyword Academy if I didn't endorse the fellows fully."

Being a Griz die-hard, I dutifully checked out the Keyword Crash Course, and before long found I had signed up via PayPal, with the first month costing only $1. My thinking at the time was that I really couldn't go wrong with paying out just $1. I could cancel my subscription at any time, and hopefully really rake the site over for all the content I could find in that one month. Needless to say, I didn't cancel my subscription. And I'm still learning and benefiting daily from all the advice, tips and support that I get.

Just about everything a beginner could hope to find.

The series of tutorial videos and monthly Webinars are awesome. There's also a transcript available of the videos, which makes it incredibly easy to go back and check on a point you're unsure about without having to go through the whole training video again. (Though I have re-watched a few of the videos, and seem to get more out of them the second time around.)

Support on the forum is fantastic. I have hung around in forums where there was just a lot of hot air, or related crap, nothing of any substance. In the KWA forum there's a nice bunch of people from beginners to people who have been making money with Adsense or affiliate marketing for a long time. People share tips, advice, give encouragement to keep going, share helpful links and there's always some activity there. Mark and Court also frequent the boards and are quick to step in when there's a question no one else can answer.

Once you delve into SEO (search engine optimization) you'll soon realize the value of getting people to link to your site. There's ample opportunity to link build with other KWA members, as well as a ton of helpful link-building possibilities once you subscribe to the KWA Crash Course.

There is a well detailed plan on exactly how to go about building your Web empire from day one to day ninety and beyond. Steps are laid out plainly and simply, things are clearly stated and contrary to the usual info overload with similar programs, this information is handed out in manageable chunks. You can work through the material at your own pace which I like, though it's highly recommended that you stick to the actual plan that is presented for your site development and link-building and don't rush ahead of things there.

If you're keen on affiliate marketing, you can also become an affiliate for the KWA coaching course and you stand to gain 35% for each sale made. If you can sell people on the KWA and get them signing up for the second month you could easily cover your subscription to KWA. (Incidentally, I am horrid when it comes to affiliate marketing, so I'm covering my subscriptions from my Adsense payouts, which regularly come in because I'm following the plan.)

I'm not sure there is a single compelling reason why I keep on subscribing. I could leave now, and struggle on with what I've learned, without having to pay out $33 every month and I'd still make money. If I did that, though, I would lose out on a lot of networking that is really the foundation of having a successful making money online venture. Currently, I am networking with people I trust. If you think about it, that kind of opportunity doesn't come along that often.

If you're still at the beginning stage of your 'make money online' journey and you don't really know what you're doing, check out the KWA Crash Course. Even if you just stay for one month and go through the training materials, you will benefit immensely. If you're further along in your online money making ventures, I'd still recommend you pop in and see what there is to offer. You will find a lot of people you can connect with, possibilities for more link-building, and a chance to ask any question about any program or tool or method you've heard about and get an answer from someone who is in the know about it.