Why Connections are Better Than Promotions

These days, using social media properly is more important than ever when it comes to promoting our lenses, articles, or blog posts. 

Something I have to continuously remind myself is that sharing on social media isn't about spreading links around, it's really all about connecting with other human beings.

Speaking for myself but surely others can relate to this, I'm often always in a rush, trying to get as much done as quickly as possible. So it's easy for me to just drop a link on Twitter or do a quick pin on Pinterest.  What's important, though, is spending an extra few seconds (and really that's all the time it takes) to compose a quick comment to include on someone else's post or lens, or replying to a tweet that catches my eye with as little as two words: "Loved that!"  Do you have followers who do that on your posts?  I do, and I just love them for taking the time.

Repinning, re-tweeting, and leaving personal responses on social media sites are the things that set us apart from link-droppers and spammers.  "Thanks for the pin/tweet/comment" are words that we all love to read, and words many of us need to use more often.

Connections build reputations and good reputations build businesses. So don't just promote. Connect!

P.S.  I love the graphic, don't you? 

Everything Kindle on Squidoo

Have I mentioned that I'm the new "Everything Kindle" Contributor on Squidoo? I recently talked about the new Contributor program here on the blog, but at that time I hadn't volunteered for an assignment. Well, now it's official.

Slowly but surely, I'm coming up with opportunities to promote lenses with a Kindle-related theme.  I'm also reaching out to Kindle lovers and readers who aren't on Squidoo yet by creating lensmaking challenges like this one which solicits reviews of nonfiction Kindle books.  Current lensmasters are encouraged to participate, too, so check it out if you're a reader.

I'll be offering more challenges as time goes by.  For those who respond with a new lens, I'll be pinning those to my new Everything Kindle Pinterest board, tweeting them on my Twitter account, and promoting them in several other places.

This is a new program, but many of our Contributors are quickly building great networks for promoting lenses and lensmasters who write in the same niche.  It's a win-win-win situation, benefiting the Contributor, lensmasters who want to take advantage of opportunities to have their work promoted, and the population of Squidoo as a whole.

If you're a Giant Squid and would like to apply for a Contributor position, keep your eyes open for an announcement coming up soon.

A New, Easy Way to Find Images for Your Lenses, Blogs, or for Pinterest

If you ever get stuck looking for images for your Squidoo lenses, for your blogs, or for Pinterest posts, then keep reading.

I've found a great resource that I want to share with you.  It's called Image Monthly and it's a very inexpensive way for bloggers and marketers to not only learn about and keep in touch with the best web image advice, tools, and resources, the monthly subscription includes all that plus royalty free stock photos, quotes, and backgrounds you can use as you promote your online real estate.

This is a new program, just opening, and if you grab it now you'll save 50 percent.  It's only $5 monthly and you can cancel anytime, so my advice is to sign up right now, try it out, and see if you find it helpful.  As for me, I'm pretty sure it's going to be exactly what I need.

Rather than trying to explain what the program includes, I'm just going to send you to the information page where you can read all the details. Just click the graphic:

This is an affiliate link, but my commission doesn't increase the amount you pay.  This is just produced by a very smart, very generous marketer who always - always - impresses me with everything she does.

Have you signed up for Image Monthly?  I'd love for you to use it then let me know how this resource works out for you.

P.S. Here's a direct link to Image Monthly in case you have trouble clicking through the image above.

 

Free Promotion For Your Squidoo Lenses

Got a niche?  Squidoo now has a program where lensmasters with true passions for their niche are chosen to serve as "Contributors."  The job of these Contributors is to promote lenses, as well as recruit new lensmasters, within their specialty area.  The task is open-ended to allow each individual to use his or her favorite promotional techniques to further the cause of his or her niche topic.

Want to make a new lens on your favorite topic and get some free promotion?  Want to join Squidoo and get involved in a community of like-minded individuals, lensmasters who love the same things you love?

Many of our Contributors are using Facebook for promotion.  If you want to see what some of them are doing, click to find a niche that you love and check out that Contributor's Facebook page.  Give them a shoutout.  Share with your friends.  Don't overlook the opportunity to get some free promotion for your niche lenses.

Feel that you could be a Contributor, too?  We'll be adding more positions soon so continue to build your own personal niche and, when the opportunity arises, perhaps you'll be chosen as head cheerleader for your favorite topic on Squidoo.  

How to Lose Followers on Pinterest

Please don't hijack the Pinterest home page.  Sheesh!

I follow quite a few people on Pinterest, but how irritating when one of those people pins and pins and pins, taking nearly every spot on the home page.  It's easy to tell it's one person, too, just by the similarity of the pins.  Makes it very tempting - and quite easy - to click their "Unfollow all boards" link.

If you want to keep your Pinterest friends, just pin a little bit at a time.  Then go back later and pin a little more.  Be courteous!

Please? 

(Getting off the soapbox now.)

P.S.  Wondering how this is related to Squidoo?  Pinterest is a fabulous place for finding cool stuff, including cool lenses.  I hope you're (judiciously) pinning your best lenses there for others to find. 

Getting Social on Squidoo and What It Can Do For You

There are a lot of reasons to be social on Squidoo. By being social, I mean doing such things as visiting other people's lenses, joining fan clubs, leaving comments on lenses and on lensmaster pages, and participating on the SquidU forum. If you aren't doing those things, here's why you should.

Participation on Squidoo unlocks privileges. Leaving comments or voting in polls on lenses will help you earn points. The more points you earn, the higher your level will climb and the more privileges you will unlock. For instance, when you first open an account on Squidoo you do not have access to certain templates and even certain modules within Squidoo. As you earn points from making lenses, leaving comments,"liking" lenses, participating in polls on other people's lenses, etc., those templates, modules, and a number of other privileges become available.

Participation on the SquidU forum leads to more traffic for your lenses, which leads to higher lensrank and more visibility for your lenses. As you become active in conversations on the forum and people get to know you, they're going to want to check out your lenses. The more noticeable your presence, the more likely it becomes that people will find your lenses, join your fan club, leave comments, participate in your polls and leave comments in your guestbooks, and rate your lenses. That extra traffic and subsequent interaction with your lenses results in better lensrank.

As your lensrank improves as a result of more traffic from people ON Squidoo, search engines begin to notice the attention to your lenses. This ultimately results in greater respect for your lenses by the search engines, leading to higher visibility of your lenses in search results and, thus, more traffic from people OFF Squidoo. Getting traffic from the search engines, of course, is your ultimate goal.

Oh, and did I mention that social interaction is tracked on Squidoo and is part of lensrank calculation? That's a fact.

Can you see how spending even 10 minutes a day interacting with other lensmasters and their lenses is a good investment of your time? Your lenses benefit in so many ways. Besides, you'll meet some of the smartest and friendliest people in the world on Squidoo. It's true!

How about you. Are you social on Squidoo?

Should You Own Your Own Blog? Join the Debate

I've been following a rather intense discussion the last couple of days having to do with the differences in owning your own blog versus using a free blogging platform or participating in a multi-user blogging community. It's been a very lively debate and quite informative from a technical standpoint. The two main participants have their own definite preferences, but they've remained quite gentlemanly in the discussion.

The bottom line sticking point between the two is retention of total control of the individual blogger's content, layout, promotion, and rules. One prefers to maintain total and complete control; the other is satisfied that each individual blogger in the community that he established and oversees does have complete control over his or her own blog (within certain guidelines). Both have conceded, while standing firm in his own beliefs, that each method has its benefits and that it's up to the individual to decide which type of hosting arrangement is right for him/her.

So now I'm wondering: What do you think? Do you have experience, good or bad, with multi-user blogs? Are you happy with simply using a free Blogger blog or have you moved on to hosting your own? What is your preference and why? Click on the comment link and join the debate.

Turn a Squidoo How-To Lens Into an EHow Article

Do you have a lens that explains how to do something? If so, it will be simple to use that same information to create an article on the how-to site called eHow.

Since you've already done the research and you've written about what you learned, the time-consuming part of the job is already done. Just take that information and rewrite it with an introduction and step-by-step instructions in the required format of an eHow article.

Writing an eHow article is very simple as the form for the article is presented to you in fill-in-the-blank stages. First you'll choose a name for the article (keep your keywords in mind), choose a picture for the article, then you'll list the items that are needed for the project (if that applies). Next, divide the project into logical steps and write those short steps in the boxes that eHow provides on its form. You can add a picture with each step, too, if you want.

Next, add a bulleted list of tips and warnings; again the form makes it easy. At the end you can add resources to provide more information for the reader. It's fine to include your original lens link as a resource.

That's all there is to it! EHow is free to join and they pay you based on the click-outs to ads that your article generates. Of course, hopefully you will also be paid in visits to your Squidoo lens resulting from clicks on your link.

You can join eHow here. Check out this article that I wrote based on a section included in this lens to see what the how-to format looks like, then take a look at your own lenses. I'm guessing you'll find a few topics that can be translated into a money-making article on eHow. Lather, rinse and repeat to create another residual income stream on a platform that's fun and easy to use.

Keyword Research for Squidoo - Is It Really Key?

Whew! I've been spending a good deal of the afternoon doing keyword research for some new Squidoo lenses that I'm planning. It's a lot of work!

I've come to the conclusion, though, that even though it's worth the time to do keyword research, sometimes you just have to stop and make the lens already! I knew little to nothing about keyword research when I made some of my most successful lenses and they're still doing well. Of course there are the others that could use a makeover of the "tags" field . . .

There are plenty of resources on Squidoo that help teach how to do keyword research on Squidoo - check out this search if you don't believe me - but certainly it's far more fun to just put a lens together. I think the 80/20 rule applies here: Spend 80 percent of your time researching and 20 percent of your time actually making the lens. Then spend 80 percent of the rest of your time promoting the lens, but that's a subject for another day.

How do you feel about keyword research for Squidoo? Do you bother with it? How much time do you spend researching keywords? Is it worth it? Leave a comment; I'd love to know what you think.

Facebook Fan Pages - Do You Have One?

In order to help separate personal and business on Facebook, many Squidoo lensmasters are creating Facebook fan pages. These fan pages are similar to a regular page; you can add photos, links, discussions, and more while keeping everything oriented to your Squidoo business.

To create a fan page for yourself, start here. Add your Squidoo avatar so people will recognize you, then add other pertinent links and information.

Once you've created your Squidoo-related fan page, feel free to post the link in a comment here. You can also post it to a plexo on this lens, kindly provided by lensmaster JenniferAkers.

Here's my link. I hope you'll become a fan!

Focus and Promote: My 2010 Goals for Squidoo

It seems everyone is writing about goals, which seems to be a less dangerous subject than resolutions, so I figured I'd throw in my52cents' worth.

I'm really looking forward to the potential that lies within Squidoo in the coming year. I'm determined to put quality over quantity when it comes to lensmaking, focusing on profit, a necessity for me this year more than ever. I have a little sign on my computer that says "Focus and Promote," something I got from Paul Duxbury. When I narrow down my goals to something simple, that phrase, which also summarizes my two weak points, is the result.

In 2010, I plan to focus my lenses in profitable subject areas. That means that I will likely divest myself of some of my older lenses, mostly those in which I've lost interest. It'll be tough getting rid of my little offspring, but I believe the time has come to find them new homes with lensmasters who can nurture them better than I. If you're interested, watch for lenses for sale in the coming weeks and months.

In 2010, I must learn to promote. Of course I know the basics, but I must draw up a plan and discipline myself to stick with it. As well as some of my lenses produced during the Christmas sales season with virtually no promotion on my part, it pains me to think of the sales I missed because I hadn't spent time promoting them in the preceding months. There's no reason I can't have a Christmas month (or close to it) every month, and that is the goal. Blog posts, articles, and forum participation must become priorities this year if I'm serious about improving my bottom line.

In all of the focusing and promoting, a huge and very important part will be contributing to the Squidoo community. I hope you will stick with me here on the blog and that I'll be able to provide you with information and tips that will help you reach your 2010 goals as well.

Happy New Year to all, and to all a focused and profitable year with Squidoo and all the possibilities that spring from it!

Squidoo Step by Step Guidebook

Is "Earn more money on Squidoo" on your list of new year resolutions? If so, boy are you in luck.

A group of generous professional Squidoo lensmasters has teamed up to produce an ebook, the Squidoo Step by Step Guidebook, to give you all the information you need to know to help make Squidoo lenses and to make them in such a way that you will get traffic and you will make more money on Squidoo.

Whether you need a checklist to learn to build your very first Squidoo lens or if you're looking for keyword and lens promotion tips for your existing lenses, this amazingly concise little book fits the bill. Honestly, I am impressed and I don't impress easily.

Find out where to download this f-r-ee ebook and learn about the associated Ning group that supports it on the Squidoo Step by Step lens. Here's to Squid-prosperity to all in the coming year!