TORONTO (Reuters) - Do your homework, pick your stocks, reinvest the dividends, and wait.

That is the yawn-inducing advice of market pros who recommend a long-term investment strategy focused on high quality, dividend-paying blue chips.

"It's worse than watching paint dry," said Doug Warwick, portfolio manager of the C$4.2 billion ($4 billion) TD Dividend Growth Fund.

But with all the recent market turmoil, including Thursday's 1,000-point freefall on the the Dow, dividend stocks could hold more appeal than ever.

"At times like this when the market enters a renewed phase of uncertainty, those stocks become really attractive, because they offer stable cash flows and the dividend essentially acts as a cushion against a sharp downside," said Elvis Picardo, an analyst and strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver.

When the market was surging from last year until quite recently, he said, investors favored so-called "high beta" stocks, or those that rise the most when the market is rocketing upward.

"Now that things have turned, you might see a renewed appetite for some of these defensive names," Mr. Picardo said.

He said he likes media companies Shaw Communications and Telus, as well as energy player TransAlta, for their consistent dividend hikes.

Dividends can provide a major source of reliable returns.

Warwick said the compounding effect of growing, reinvested dividends can represent as much as 75 percent of an investor's returns over time.

A spate of fresh dividend increases and reinstatements has also attracted investors.