Squidoo just announced a new project that might prove to be very lucrative (or maybe a bust) called Squidoo Book Club and that link takes you to the details. The Squidoo Book Picks program is a test run at creating a book recommendation and sponsorship platform on Squidoo.
Trying to harness the power of all the Squids, giant and otherwise can be a good thing (but a daunting task). Apparently there are 23,000,000 page views a month at Squidoo (and climbing) and SquidooBookClub poses an intriguing thought. What if Squidoo sold 1,000 copies of a book every single day? Basically, publishers would be clamouring to pay to get their newest books recommended by Squidoo. This I like. Obviously, this is still in it's embryonic stages, but is an interesting concept. I'm wondering who will be on the "Squidoo Board" that decides which books to recommend. I know we have a lot of good (and literate!) people at Squidoo who can offer a wide variety of excellent book choices, (me, I like One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss, among others).
Amazon sales through Squidoo can provide a big chunk of money, and this could be another venue or portal which might deliver even more to the Squids and once again, provide yet more dollars that Squidoo can donate to the various charities supported by Squidoo. That's always a plus.
Take a look at the link to the Book Club. Provide your 2 cents. This might be something very interesting. Or a bust. Either way, it gives you something to think about and might provide a few shekels.
100th Post On Squidoo Land!
I can't believe I am already writing my 100th post on Squidoo Land. It feels like yesterday that I started this blog about my attempts to succeed at Squidoo and here I am, a little more successful each month and still looking forward to getting on Squidoo and working on my various Squidoo lenses. If you're interested, here's my Squidoo lensmaster page where all my lenses are listed. I now have over 200 fans (thanks!) who approve of my work. I look forward to updating and creating new lenses. I have 140 published lenses now and I think I should be close to 200 by the time I hit my one year anniversary in August.
Looking Forward
I am going to try to join the Top 100 Club at Squidoo in the next round and also work at getting even more traffic to my various lenses. Some are getting lit up with visitors every day while some are languishing at the bottom of my Squidoo dashboard waiting for major updates. When I look at some of my early failures, I see potential for improvement in the various lenses I've allowed to sit without increasing the amount and quality of my content. The only way to get people to visit them is by working on them more often and continuously improve them. They will start increasing their lensrank and contribute some coinage to my Squidoo bottom line.
Money From Squidoo
I'm getting money from Squidoo just about every month and although it is not sackfulls of cash, it is a little bit of money each month that I wouldn't be receiving if I wasn't there. Getting and keeping lensrank is difficult but I'm getting better, and my lenses are getting better too. My goal is to eventually get about $1,000 a month from my various Squidoo endeavours and I'm slowing building to that point. I'm no where near 1K a month yet, but it is coming. Stay tuned and I'll tell you how I do it.
Looking Forward
I am going to try to join the Top 100 Club at Squidoo in the next round and also work at getting even more traffic to my various lenses. Some are getting lit up with visitors every day while some are languishing at the bottom of my Squidoo dashboard waiting for major updates. When I look at some of my early failures, I see potential for improvement in the various lenses I've allowed to sit without increasing the amount and quality of my content. The only way to get people to visit them is by working on them more often and continuously improve them. They will start increasing their lensrank and contribute some coinage to my Squidoo bottom line.
Money From Squidoo
I'm getting money from Squidoo just about every month and although it is not sackfulls of cash, it is a little bit of money each month that I wouldn't be receiving if I wasn't there. Getting and keeping lensrank is difficult but I'm getting better, and my lenses are getting better too. My goal is to eventually get about $1,000 a month from my various Squidoo endeavours and I'm slowing building to that point. I'm no where near 1K a month yet, but it is coming. Stay tuned and I'll tell you how I do it.
New Squidoo Lens: the Big Bang Theory
My latest lens is on the air! It is about the TV show called The Big Bang Theory which stars Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco. Galecki and Parsons are the leads in the series, as CalTech physicists Leonard and Sheldon who are also roommates. Cuoco plays Penny, a blond waitress who moves across the hall from the two mega-nerds and disrupts their lives. The show has been on since 2007 and recently was renewed for 2 more seasons.
Galecki is best remembered for playing the boyfriend of Darlene on the Roseann show and the actress who played Roseann's daughter, Sara Gilbert has a recurring roll in this show as Dr. Leslie Winkle. Even Laurie Metcalf has appeared on the show as Sheldon's mother. Parsons was recently a member of the cast of Judging Amy and plays the character of alpha nerd, Sheldon Cooper, a supremely self-confident (and self-obsorbed) physicist. Lovely Kaley Cuoco, who plays Penny in the series and the love interest for Galecki's Leonard character was seen as the eldest daughter in 8 Simple Rules.
The Big Bang Theory: Episode Guides
On the lens, I've included guides to all the episodes that have aired to date (about 38 so far). I started watching the series last year and recently had a chance to watch it again. The Sheldon Cooper character is hilarious and the supporting cast provides a lot of yucks. Sara Rue, who was the lead in the series Less Than Perfect (she played Claude Casey from 2002-2006) plays Leonard's sometime girlfriend, Dr. Stephanie Barnett is also good. If you are a fan of the series, stop by and say hi.
Wow! Squidoo Traffic Is Up!
I've been at Squidoo for about 6 months now and the traffic to my various lenses has been hot and cold (very cold for some lenses), but smokin' hot on others. I just hit a new high for traffic to my lenses again! I've read that it can take 6 or more months to really get your lenses established and that seems to be playing itself out as far as I can see.
How To Get More Traffic To Your Squidoo Lens?
Well, create a first-rate lens for starters. Get the word out that there's a great new lens for those who are interested in that topic. Keep letting people know about the lens. Tell'm at Facebook, HubPages, blog about your lens, tell your friends and family and buddies at Squidoo about your great lens. Talk about it til you are blue in the face.
Update your lens! Some lensmasters can create imaginative, creative lenses easily - (I'm sooo jealous!) while others, myself included create some good lenses, some well, not so good. Keep trying to improve your lens if you are the latter group like I am. Sometimes, taking a break from working on one lens and working on another one helps you when you return to that first lens. Look at the fine work of other lensmasters. Here's a link to My Favorite Lenses at Squidoo. There's a bunch of lenses listed that can help you make better looking lenses and help you if you need some assistance with HTML or images or content.
Where To Go From Here?
More of the same. Keep working at improving the lenses you have, make some new ones, update, change, test. Keep at it and you will start getting some traffic. It may be only a trickle, but that is people stopping by to see what you are up to and some might buy some something from one of your lenses, or leave a comment that will make you feel good about what you are doing. Keep working at making your lenses better and after you have been at it for awhile, you'll get the itch to create enough to become a Giant Squid, then you'll want to join the Top 100 Club at Squidoo. You will start seeing some lenses moving up in the lensranks and your traffic increasing. Then you will want to do even more. This Squidoo thing is so addicting (but in a fun way!)
How To Get More Traffic To Your Squidoo Lens?
Well, create a first-rate lens for starters. Get the word out that there's a great new lens for those who are interested in that topic. Keep letting people know about the lens. Tell'm at Facebook, HubPages, blog about your lens, tell your friends and family and buddies at Squidoo about your great lens. Talk about it til you are blue in the face.
Update your lens! Some lensmasters can create imaginative, creative lenses easily - (I'm sooo jealous!) while others, myself included create some good lenses, some well, not so good. Keep trying to improve your lens if you are the latter group like I am. Sometimes, taking a break from working on one lens and working on another one helps you when you return to that first lens. Look at the fine work of other lensmasters. Here's a link to My Favorite Lenses at Squidoo. There's a bunch of lenses listed that can help you make better looking lenses and help you if you need some assistance with HTML or images or content.
Where To Go From Here?
More of the same. Keep working at improving the lenses you have, make some new ones, update, change, test. Keep at it and you will start getting some traffic. It may be only a trickle, but that is people stopping by to see what you are up to and some might buy some something from one of your lenses, or leave a comment that will make you feel good about what you are doing. Keep working at making your lenses better and after you have been at it for awhile, you'll get the itch to create enough to become a Giant Squid, then you'll want to join the Top 100 Club at Squidoo. You will start seeing some lenses moving up in the lensranks and your traffic increasing. Then you will want to do even more. This Squidoo thing is so addicting (but in a fun way!)
R. L. Stine's Mostly Ghostly Books
I just did up a Squidoo lens about R.L. Stine's Mostly Ghostly book series. The series of 8 books is about an 11 year old kid named Max who discovers his house is haunted by brother and sister ghosts named Nicky and Tara Roland. Over the course of the book series, Max, Nicky and Tara battle scary ghosts and become friends as they try to locate Tara and Nick's missing parents.
R. L. Stine is the bestselling author of the Goosebumps books that are really popular with young readers. Stine has sold over 300 million copies of his various book series including the Mostly Ghostly books.
Fallen Canadian Soldiers Lens Updated
My lens called Fallen Canadian Soldiers In Afghanistan has now been updated to reflect the latest losses suffered by the Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
In March 2009, 8 more soldiers have fallen and a higher number have been injured. There have been 116 casualties so far in the Canadian mission to Afghanistan. There are currently about 2,000 canadians serving there.
Time To Become A Writing Maniac On Squidoo
Okay, time to begin writing like a fanatic. I have a bunch of Squidoo lenses that need to be completed as well as new lens ideas that need to be fleshed out with content. And I have a number of blogs (Squidoo Land included) that need to be updated and EXPANDED! I've set a short term plan into action to hunker down and get very busy with my Squidoo lenses and get them up to a certain level of quality. I have decided that on the next round, I'm going to submit for The Top 100 Club at Squidoo.
My writing has curtailed in the last few months and I am feeling the urge to write, write, write. I have about 4-5 lenses that I am on the verge of publishing for all the world to see and approve or dismiss. I can't provide a link to them just yet, but I will shortly. As I mentioned in my last post, my Squidoo traffic has been going up and up, so what I would like is to increase it even further. I hit the 1,000 visitor mark in a 7-day period which even 2 months ago I didn't think I could possibly approach. Now it's time to solidify my visitor base by adding new compelling content and create interesting lenses and get the word out.
As far as money at Squidoo, I am getting some every month and my next payment should be a new record as I've had one lens in the top tier for an entire month straight as well as several in the 2nd tier to go along with the two dozen in the 3rd tier. As I've said before, you can't rely on simply having a great lensrank to make a lot of money at Squidoo. Several other lensmasters have 3-4 or more lenses firmly lodged in the top 2,000 lensrank and I know I won't be making oodles of dollars with my lensrank, so what I have to do is to try to entice some more sales from my lenses. No, I'm not abandoning the fun aspect of Squidoo for a more mercenary path. I have always tried to make some money from my lenses, but I also just enjoy creating fun lenses about topics that I enjoy and hope that others will take pleasure in reading. If I make a buck or three, fine. I am still going to create more lenses about anything and everything that I like and that I think I can speak about. Hopefully you will join up at Squidoo and start making some lenses too. It is a fun and enjoyable hobby and you can make a little bit of money doing it, so why not give it a shot?
My writing has curtailed in the last few months and I am feeling the urge to write, write, write. I have about 4-5 lenses that I am on the verge of publishing for all the world to see and approve or dismiss. I can't provide a link to them just yet, but I will shortly. As I mentioned in my last post, my Squidoo traffic has been going up and up, so what I would like is to increase it even further. I hit the 1,000 visitor mark in a 7-day period which even 2 months ago I didn't think I could possibly approach. Now it's time to solidify my visitor base by adding new compelling content and create interesting lenses and get the word out.
As far as money at Squidoo, I am getting some every month and my next payment should be a new record as I've had one lens in the top tier for an entire month straight as well as several in the 2nd tier to go along with the two dozen in the 3rd tier. As I've said before, you can't rely on simply having a great lensrank to make a lot of money at Squidoo. Several other lensmasters have 3-4 or more lenses firmly lodged in the top 2,000 lensrank and I know I won't be making oodles of dollars with my lensrank, so what I have to do is to try to entice some more sales from my lenses. No, I'm not abandoning the fun aspect of Squidoo for a more mercenary path. I have always tried to make some money from my lenses, but I also just enjoy creating fun lenses about topics that I enjoy and hope that others will take pleasure in reading. If I make a buck or three, fine. I am still going to create more lenses about anything and everything that I like and that I think I can speak about. Hopefully you will join up at Squidoo and start making some lenses too. It is a fun and enjoyable hobby and you can make a little bit of money doing it, so why not give it a shot?
Great Traffic At Squidoo!
My traffic continues to increase every time I check it at Squidoo. I just checked and it shows that I have had 970 visitors over the last several days. Obviously I want that counter to click over the 1,000 visit level (for the first time!), so if you haven't visited any of my lenses, now's the time. I have 137 different Squidoo lenses so there is a wide choice for just about any visitor to find something of interest.
You can stop by my Lensmaster Page and pick and choose which lenses you would like to visit. Okay, enough with the blatant begging for visitors. For those who have already somehow found my little corner of the Squidoo universe, I thank you for visiting. Now, I have get those other lenses I have waiting patiently in the wings published and drawing even more traffic. My goal is to get to 1,000 visitors soon, then move it up to 2,500 visitors and so on. I can't believe I'm almost at 1,000. It seems just yesterday when I got my first visitors to my lenses and hit my first goal of 50 visitors.
Payday At Squidoo Land!
Well, today's the day we get paid for all our work at Squidoo. Here's the breakdown:
Tier One $11.43
Tier Two $1.81
Tier Three $0.08
If you are unsure what these "tiers" mean, take a look at my post called Ka Ching! Payday At Squidoo!. There's a lot of effort to getting and keeping a top ranking for Squidoo lenses, but when you get one or two lenses in the top tier for any extended period, you feel like a worldbeater. Just remember that high lens rank shouldn't be your only concern. Make sure you sprinkle in some affiliate links, eBay and Amazon links and other assorted doo-dads which visitors to your lenses click on that make you some added coin in addition to what your lens rank provides. Just make sure you start off with good original content. The money won't pour in immediately, but a slow, steady trickle gives you something to work on.
Hone Your Craft
Are you honing? You need to keep adjusting, adding, removing content to your lens. Keep working to find out what drives people to your lenses and find out what brings people back. There are a lot of great, helpful people over at Squidoo that you can ask for help if you need assistance with a particularly vexing dilemma. Don't send personal emails to other lensmasters pleading for help or for them to rate your lenses - that's a big no-no. Ask for Squidoo lensmasters to visit your lenses in the forum. Let me correct that, ask them in the Critique Me... sub-forum. Don't try to post a request in the Help, or Chatter Box areas because your post will just get moved to the correct sub-forum by one of the already overworked forum moderators. Just try to keep improving your lenses, and try to get the word out that you have a great lens worthy of a look see. It takes time for some lenses to find their feet (or tentacles in the case of Squidoo).
At Squidoo Content Is King (And Queen)
Keep working on improving your content. Fresh, intriguing words that will bring visitors from miles around. Try making Squidoo lenses about topics you are interested in and have a passion for and the writing part will usually take care of itself. Even a ragged article is only a first draft. You can improve on it. Change it around until it is a polished gem. When you know it is well done, publish it at Squidoo and ask for a critique of your work. You won't be clobbered by other lensmasters unless you've copied your content from someone else's work (another no-no). Watch for spelling mistakes.
Visit Other People's Lenses!
The whole purpose of being a Squidoo lensmaster is that you create lenses for others to visit. I want you to visit my lenses. Some you'll like, others you'll like not so much. I don't think I have many fugly lenses, but maybe you will disagree. That's why there's usually an area to leave comments from visitors. Search Squidoo for topics that interest you, read them, enjoy them, leave positive comments. Get ideas, develop them, and write, write, WRITE! I love finding fantastic lenses and so do most other lensmasters.
Get Paid
I started out writing about how much you can make from Squidoo. Being a lensmaster is not just about the monetary aspect (Yes, that's important), but you'll become richer by following this simple advice. Sure, you will have some coins to jingle when you start, but you'll be richer in web skills, friends (have you hugged a Squidoo lensmaster today?), and generally richer overall. What price can you put on that?
And the advice? Stop reading Squidoo Land and get yourself over to Squidoo and start writing!
Tier One $11.43
Tier Two $1.81
Tier Three $0.08
If you are unsure what these "tiers" mean, take a look at my post called Ka Ching! Payday At Squidoo!. There's a lot of effort to getting and keeping a top ranking for Squidoo lenses, but when you get one or two lenses in the top tier for any extended period, you feel like a worldbeater. Just remember that high lens rank shouldn't be your only concern. Make sure you sprinkle in some affiliate links, eBay and Amazon links and other assorted doo-dads which visitors to your lenses click on that make you some added coin in addition to what your lens rank provides. Just make sure you start off with good original content. The money won't pour in immediately, but a slow, steady trickle gives you something to work on.
Hone Your Craft
Are you honing? You need to keep adjusting, adding, removing content to your lens. Keep working to find out what drives people to your lenses and find out what brings people back. There are a lot of great, helpful people over at Squidoo that you can ask for help if you need assistance with a particularly vexing dilemma. Don't send personal emails to other lensmasters pleading for help or for them to rate your lenses - that's a big no-no. Ask for Squidoo lensmasters to visit your lenses in the forum. Let me correct that, ask them in the Critique Me... sub-forum. Don't try to post a request in the Help, or Chatter Box areas because your post will just get moved to the correct sub-forum by one of the already overworked forum moderators. Just try to keep improving your lenses, and try to get the word out that you have a great lens worthy of a look see. It takes time for some lenses to find their feet (or tentacles in the case of Squidoo).
At Squidoo Content Is King (And Queen)
Keep working on improving your content. Fresh, intriguing words that will bring visitors from miles around. Try making Squidoo lenses about topics you are interested in and have a passion for and the writing part will usually take care of itself. Even a ragged article is only a first draft. You can improve on it. Change it around until it is a polished gem. When you know it is well done, publish it at Squidoo and ask for a critique of your work. You won't be clobbered by other lensmasters unless you've copied your content from someone else's work (another no-no). Watch for spelling mistakes.
Visit Other People's Lenses!
The whole purpose of being a Squidoo lensmaster is that you create lenses for others to visit. I want you to visit my lenses. Some you'll like, others you'll like not so much. I don't think I have many fugly lenses, but maybe you will disagree. That's why there's usually an area to leave comments from visitors. Search Squidoo for topics that interest you, read them, enjoy them, leave positive comments. Get ideas, develop them, and write, write, WRITE! I love finding fantastic lenses and so do most other lensmasters.
Get Paid
I started out writing about how much you can make from Squidoo. Being a lensmaster is not just about the monetary aspect (Yes, that's important), but you'll become richer by following this simple advice. Sure, you will have some coins to jingle when you start, but you'll be richer in web skills, friends (have you hugged a Squidoo lensmaster today?), and generally richer overall. What price can you put on that?
And the advice? Stop reading Squidoo Land and get yourself over to Squidoo and start writing!
How Many Squidoo Lenses Do You Have On The Back Burner?
I've been reading a great thread over at the Squidoo Forum called WIP Anonymous about lensmasters saying how many Squidoo lenses they have started but that are currently in a "Work-In-Progress" stage. The thread is already up to 77 posts with several sheepish admitting to having lots of lenses on the back burner. Me, I've got lots of lenses that I am sloowwly working on trying to get them into a publishable state. I usually can publish 2 or 3 a week, so it will be a couple of months before all the lenses I have in my back pocket see the light of day.
What I think I need to do is update my notebooks of lens ideas and try to get them a little more fleshed out prior to starting them on Squidoo. The problem is I just can't help myself. I have one of those moments of "Hey! What a great idea for a Squidoo lens!" and the start writting away furiously and leave it incomplete. Then I move on to one of my other WIP lenses polishing it a bit more, trying to get it a little bit more presentable. I have published some that are not in the state I'd like and I have to fix them and write some more content on those ones.
I think I will take a little vow. No new WIP lenses until all the ones I have waiting to get published - actually get published. Or deleted (shudder). If I do get those lenses all published I will be closing in on my goal of having 200 lenses published by the end of the year. I currently have 133 published lenses, so you'll just have to guesstimate the number of unpublished lenses I am working on. And what about you? Do you also have a stash of "not ready for prime time" lenses waiting patiently for their moment in the sun?
What I think I need to do is update my notebooks of lens ideas and try to get them a little more fleshed out prior to starting them on Squidoo. The problem is I just can't help myself. I have one of those moments of "Hey! What a great idea for a Squidoo lens!" and the start writting away furiously and leave it incomplete. Then I move on to one of my other WIP lenses polishing it a bit more, trying to get it a little bit more presentable. I have published some that are not in the state I'd like and I have to fix them and write some more content on those ones.
I think I will take a little vow. No new WIP lenses until all the ones I have waiting to get published - actually get published. Or deleted (shudder). If I do get those lenses all published I will be closing in on my goal of having 200 lenses published by the end of the year. I currently have 133 published lenses, so you'll just have to guesstimate the number of unpublished lenses I am working on. And what about you? Do you also have a stash of "not ready for prime time" lenses waiting patiently for their moment in the sun?
My Latest Squidoo Masterpiece
Well, I don't know if it could be considered a masterpiece, but I like it. It's called James William Goring. He was my great-great-grandfather and I thought I would do a little tribute to him. Hopefully all his descendants (my cousins) will stop by so that means lots of traffic because he had 17 children and hundreds of grandkids. Basically, I guess I'm related to just about one in ten people in Canada's western provinces and most of the western states of the USA through my 2x-great grandpop.
The lens isn't just about my family, because I've tried to include a bunch of good links to various relevant genealogy websites. If you have even a passing interest in family history, this lens will hopefully give you some ideas of where to look for records about your family. Especially if you're ancestors lived in Canada or England. I hope to add even more to it as I go along and if you have any suggestions, as always I'd like to hear them.
The lens isn't just about my family, because I've tried to include a bunch of good links to various relevant genealogy websites. If you have even a passing interest in family history, this lens will hopefully give you some ideas of where to look for records about your family. Especially if you're ancestors lived in Canada or England. I hope to add even more to it as I go along and if you have any suggestions, as always I'd like to hear them.
