Someone earned $2000 this payout on Squidoo. Now, that's a noteworthy accomplishment. In her topic of the day on the SquidU forum, Kimberly asked how earning $2000 a month would change your life, and she asked what you're going to do to make it happen. That got me to thinking about goals for 2011.
I've already decided that I need to do more to give back to the Squidoo community. There's a rule of life, called the law of reciprocity, that the more you (unselfishly) give, the more you get in return. In terms of income, it's tempting for me to make lots of lenses to promote affiliate products, but there's really very little sharing in that. Logically, it seems that the more I use my own affiliate links, the more money I should make. And it's true that I've made a lot more this year than last with personal affiliate earnings. But I have to wonder what I'm missing as I more frequently bypass the modules that are designed for sharing revenue with Squidoo.
I've always told new lensmasters that Squidoo provides their fabulous platform to us for free and that it's my opinion that we should honor that by donating a portion of our lenses' earnings to charity, through Squidoo. I also believe that we should use at least an occasional revenue sharing module on each lens even when we use our own associate links (Amazon being the prime example). I was really happy when the right-margin module option was added to our lenses; that's such a quick and easy way to spotlight an Amazon item or two (or three) and, frankly, it's an easy way to honor the revenue sharing relationship. While I'm doing all these things, though, I still feel that there's something I'm missing.
Could I give more? Could you? We each have to answer that question for ourselves, but I know I'm going to be thinking hard about it that law of reciprocity and acting accordingly. Whether I'll get to the $2000 mark or not, time will tell. But I know I'm going to feel better about myself for trying.
How about you? Any thoughts about your 2011 goals that you'd like to share?
P.S. The law of reciprocity applies to more than money. Giving of your time and talents pays off in great rewards, too. Just something else to think about.
I think it's important to remember that Squidoo earns money for ad impressions, and every time we visit another lens, we are helping. I think we forget that we are also visitors and are part of the traffic that earns money for Squidoo.
ReplyDeleteThe sidebar modules are a great way to use Amazon items that share with Squidoo. Remember, too, that all of the eBay modules are Squidoo shares, too.
Your blog looks great, by the way.
Thanks, Janelle. Great points!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! and I do believe in the law of reciprocity, too. and I agree with Janelle, when we succeed, Squidoo succeeds. I had not thought of my visiting lenses as helping Squidoo, but she is right, it does.
ReplyDeleteLooking at my drafted list of goals for 2011, I think it is reasonable to set a goal of $1000 a month for Squidoo.
And I would like to purchase at least one product each month from another lensmaster-even if the purchases are small. I would like to encourage the lensmasters who create on Zazzle and Etsy, especially.
Nice thoughts this morning, Susan. Good stuff to be thinking about right now.
Joan, I love our ideas as well. You and Janelle are just two of the many, many lensmasters with a giving spirit who stand as great examples to all of us. Thanks for the suggestions and the encouragement and for all of your support, all the time.
ReplyDeleteSusan, great post. I just started following your blog via google reader and am so glad I did. I can't even imagine earning that much but then back in 2007 I couldn't imagine earning from squidoo.
ReplyDeleteI earn a little more to help us sponsor a child through compassion international. I try to donate 30% of each lens to a charity and then of course the 100% lenses I make for challenges or things like that.
The one thing I like about Squidoo is the reciprocal relationship between us the writers and them the host. Yes, if we wrote on our own blogs using google ads and selling via affiliates we could earn more in affiliate sales but then you wouldn't have the community that is Squidoo - I also like having the earnings automatically given to charity - it really is amazing to see the totals at the end of the year.
Thanks for those kind words, Sara. Yes, it's amazing to see how fast the charitable contributions add up through the year. The Squidoo community is far and away the most unselfish of any I've ever been involved in, both in sharing profits as well as sharing knowledge. Those who choose not to participate have no idea how much they're missing.
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