Squidoo Policy Changes and How They Might Affect You

There are a couple of recent Squidoo policy changes that pertain to everyone but are especially important for those of us with existing lenses.

First, the Intro module MUST contain at least 200 characters, so be sure your intro text is long enough! The intro must also contain a picture. IF YOU EDIT AN OLD LENS and the intro is too short when you hit "publish," the lens will revert to unpublished.  You'll get a message that your intro module is too short and you'll have to fix it. However, when you fix it and publish again, lensrank will start all over, which means your first lensrank will likely be in the millions. Since Squidoo ad pay is based on average lensrank for the month, even if the lens previously ranked in the top payout tier (from 1 to 2000), your average likely will be shot and you probably won't get that top tier payout. So be careful when you edit your lenses and check the length of that intro module!

The second policy change is that lenses may contain no more than 10 Amazon modules and five eBay modules. If you have existing lenses with more, don't worry because those old lenses are grandfathered into this policy; however, when you edit one of those lenses you won't be able to add any more of those modules, so just keep that in mind.  For new lenses, though, no one is exempt from this policy so plan accordingly.

To keep updated on important changes within Squidoo and how they might affect you, subscribe to the SquidBlog and visit the SquidU forum regularly. 

Squidoo Lens Reorganization Project for the New Year

If you've been thinking that you need to get more organized in the new year, you're in luck when it comes to organizing your Squidoo lenses.

This SquidBlog post is a heads up on the new, three-level categorizing system coming soon to a Squidoo near you.  I think everyone will be thrilled to know that we will soon be able to categorize, sub-categorize, and sub-subcategorize each of our lenses.  (Well, not everyone.  Sometimes change doesn't come easily to Squidoo lensmasters, but I digress.)  Clearly, having a new, more specific way to assign topics to our lenses should be a good change.

Once the system is live, lenses will be re-ranked within the new topic areas.  Seems to me this should allow more lenses to rank higher on more top 100 lists, but we shall see.  Before the new topic ranking is published, Squidoo will allow a week or two for lensmasters to go through our lenses and find a proper topical home for each one using a bulk topic recategorizer tool.

I love the timing of this release in that it coincides with the natural inclination many of us seem to have this time of year to tidy up and organize our belongings, including our pages on Squidoo.  Begin thinking of how you'd like to group your lenses and watch for further announcements of the new topics.  This is one change I'm really looking forward to.

How about you?  Does re-categorization of your lenses sound like a positive move?  I'd love to read your thoughts in a comment below.

Merry Christmas 2010

It's late in the day, Christmas day 2010.  I hope you had a wonderful holiday with family and friends.  As for me, I'm just happy to be around again this year to celebrate the coming of our Lord.  Life is fragile and I cherish every day.

I talked a little about goals in a previous post and that subject has continued in the front of my mind.  I'm developing a plan to help mentor new lensmasters in the coming year and I'll talk more about that here in a few days.  If you're new on Squidoo or know someone who is, someone who might appreciate a little extra help getting started, be sure and check back soon to see how you or they can get involved.  Better yet, subscribe to our updates using one of the links to the right.

In the meantime, have another slice of pumpkin pie then snuggle in front of the fireplace with your sweetie and enjoy one more holiday movie.  Make the moment last a little bit longer before getting back to business.

I hope Santa brought you everything you asked for!  See you soon back on Squidoo.

Two Thousand Squidoo Goals for 2011

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.

Free Shipping on Custom Ornaments Today

Have you seen the new custom ornaments at Zazzle?  I love 'em!

Good news, but you have to act fast.  Through November 11, 2010, at midnight Pacific time, order an ornament from Zazzle and get free shipping!  Use the code ORNAMENTSHIP at checkout.

I made this simple ornament which is customizable with your lensmaster name and the name of the recipient on the back.  Or, of course, you can design your own.  Click here to get started.

Hurry!

Learn Internet Marketing in Person

So you have an online business. Now what? If you found out the hard way that the "build it and they will come" philosophy doesn't necessarily work online - even on Squidoo - then you might want to invest some time learning internet marketing principles that you can apply to your business. Internet marketing training is probably exactly what you need, and I know someone who can help - in person.

My friend Phaedra Stockstill has scheduled an internet marketing training seminar November 22, 2010, live and in person in Patterson, Louisiana. Phaedra has worked online for over 10 years in e-commerce. From merchant to consultant to social media representative, Phaedra knows what she's doing and she's ready to share her knowledge and experience with you, knowledge to empower you with tools and information to help your business grow.

Learn how to market your business online using current relationship marketing techniques, social media, branding, building trust with your customers and much more.  Though the class isn't designed for Squidoo lensmasters specifically, the marketing principles are still ones you can apply to promote your Squidoo business.   

You'll enjoy Phaedra's dynamic personality, and the small class size will allow for plenty of personal attention.  Sign up today for one of the just ten seats in this seminar for relevant information that you can apply to your business immediately, and watch your business grow in 2011.

Happy 5 Year Anniversary, Squidoo!

Squidoo turns five today.  To celebrate, they're giving away money.

Happy anniversary, Squidoo!  And many, many more!

How to Use Wikipedia to Get Traffic To Squidoo

You've no doubt heard of Wikipedia, the online, collaborative encyclopedia of almost everything. When people want to know more about something or someone new and interesting, they often search "wikipedia" first. Here's how you can use the popularity of Wikipedia to get traffic to your Squidoo lenses.

The first and most obvious is to include information from Wikipedia about the subject of your lens, making sure you attribute that information back to Wikipedia as its source. While that's easily done with Squidoo's Wikipedia module, I often pull pertinent facts from the article and present them in a text module with the attribution in a link at the bottom, like this. If the Wikipedia article is well written, sometimes I'll use the Wikipedia module or use a text module and quote a portion and then link back to the source with a "read the rest of the Wikipedia article" link.

But what if you're writing about a topic that isn't on Wikipedia yet? (If you are, good for you - you may have hit on a nice niche of your own.) In that case, find a related Wikipedia topic to include in your lens. Use either of the above methods to include the information in your lens, but make sure to attribute and link back to Wikipedia. Then, chances are that when someone else wants to learn about your subject and they search the name of the subject plus "wikipedia," they'll find your lens.

What do I mean by a related topic? In my Voca People lens, I used Wikipedia to explain the meaning of the term a cappella. Now, the word "Wikipedia" is associated with "Voca People" and my lens has become the authority site for that singing group. Try the search, or see how I did it here.

The accuracy of information published on Wikipedia is a subject for another place, but if you're comfortable that the facts presented about your topic are, indeed, factual, by all means use this popular location - and search term - to help get traffic to your lenses. If you try it, do leave a comment and let me know how it works for you.

Join the SquidBoo October 2010 Challenge

Quickly!

Between October 4th and October 28th, publish five new lenses on Squidoo using the SquidBoo template and you could become King of SquidBoo!

Halloween is really, really hot this year, so you'd might as well take advantage of the fact to get more visitors to your lenses. Choose a Halloween topic - scary, creepy, or cute - proceed immediately to SquidBoo HQ and start a lens. You have over three weeks to complete five lenses, so take your time and make them great, awesome, noteworthy lenses. That'll pay off later when Squidoo HQ chooses a cauldron of their favorite qualifying lenses to be in the running for one of 13 special, limited edition "King of SquidBoo" trophies. (Not sure how many lenses a cauldron holds, so don't hold back a thing when it comes to quality.)

You'll find all the rules on Megan's SquidBoo October 2010 Challenge lens. Remember to make your lenses using the official SquidBoo HQ front door or they won't qualify.

Remember five new SquidBoo lenses published October 4 to October 28 will earn you an entry into the contest and (I almost forgot) 500 points and a special trophy. Oh, and a hug from Frankenstein. Will you be one of the first-ever SquidBoo Kings? Ready, set, boo! Get started here!

Social Squidoo: More than Just a Fan Club

Lensmaster ideadesigns became my 900th fan on Squidoo the other day and left a comment to let me know.  I was honored and truly appreciated the kind comment. 

Do you join fan clubs on Squidoo?  I hope you do.  And I hope you leave comments on lots of lenses, too.  Sincere comments.  Did you know that now you can leave comments on profile pages?  I love that new feature, great for a general comment to the lensmaster as opposed to a lens-specific comment.  Comments are wonderful tools for building social relationships on Squidoo.

Have you looked at your profile page lately?  If you haven't, take a look at the new design.  It includes your bio and lens list on the left with a comment area below and a "trophy cabinet" on the upper right followed by a few profile stats  - including the number of lenses you've rated and how many you've favorited. Do you look at those numbers on other people's profiles?  I do.  It's a great way to gauge how active that lensmaster is within the Squidoo community.

The importance of the social element of Squidoo is something that some lensmasters overlook.  In fact, the profile page provides a great opportunity to make a good impression, so its contents (specifically the bio) should be well thought out and written in a way that complements and promotes your online brand and reputation. Try to give your readers a glimpse of the real you, the person behind the lenses.  Don't lose out on the opportunity to start a great relationship with each visitor who takes the time to read your profile page.

Relationships are important in social networking, so open up to others, leave a few comments and join a few new fan clubs every day on Squidoo.  The investment in time could be a great investment in the future of your online business, even well beyond Squidoo.

The Secret to Making Sales on Squidoo

It doesn't take high traffic to get sales on Squidoo (or anywhere else online), it takes the right kind of traffic. My best lenses don't get a lot of traffic, but the people who do find them are there because they're looking for something specific.

If my lens has what they're looking for, they will click through. When they click through, they will buy. That's the secret, targeting buyers.  

The narrower the niche, the more likely all of that is going to happen.

If you want to make sales on Squidoo, remember that secret when planning your lenses. 

Monstrous Changes on Squidoo

Squidoo has been taken over by monsters!  Well, not yet, but very soon lensmasters will start seeing adorable little monsters peeping out from the dark corners of the Squidoo site.  Don't worry, they come in peace, bearing gifts.

Kimberly hinted about it this morning, then this evening Megan released official word about the SquidooPlus system, due to begin implementation tomorrow.  So lensmasters won't be caught totally by surprise by the changes if they've paid attention to the banner on their dashboard.  Check out Megan's SquidooPlus lens and then read the SquidMonsters FAQ lens for more information about the new system and where the monsters fit in.

My prediction?  You're going to love these little guys and all the goodies they bring with them.  So get back to Squidoo, do what you usually do, and watch what happens.  Starting sometime tomorrow.

What I Learned From My Purple Star Lenses

Today I completed an exercise of going back through all of my purple star lenses, adding each of them to a new lens, a purple star lensography of sorts. After I was finished, I realized that I had learned something very important about myself and about crafting lenses.

What I learned isn't anything new. In fact, it's something that many of us offer as good advice to new lensmasters on a regular basis. That advice? Make lenses from your heart.

Another way of stating it is to write lenses on topics you're passionate about, things that mean something to you. The reason that is good advice is that the end result is meaningful and, almost always, of a higher quality than when you write about something to which you have no personal connection.

Of my 14 purple star lenses, almost all of them are what I would judge as very good to excellent lenses. There are a couple that, frankly, I'd place in the "good" category; I'm not so sure they quite measure up to "very good." And it turns out that the best of the best are on topics that I felt passionate about or had a strong personal connection to at the time they were written. The just "good" lenses, not so much.

Of course I know that I'm not able to judge my own lenses totally objectively, but after three-plus years on Squidoo I know an excellent lens when I see one, even if it is my own. I know how to recognize a "good" lens, too.

My point, which I'm not sure I'm stating very clearly, is that if quality matters to you, if you want to make a truly great lens, then put the money motive on the back burner and choose a subject that is really, truly close to your heart. If just "good" is good enough (and sometimes it is good enough), then settle for a subject that will meet some other goal or objective, such as increasing your earnings.

As for me, from now on I'm going to weigh more carefully my passions and my motives when I choose a topic for a lens and do my best to make each lens purple star-worthy by injecting into it a little piece of my heart.

September Squidoo Goals

Have you set monthly Squidoo goals yet for September?   If you're not in the habit of setting goals each month, September is the perfect time to start.  With school back in session and the holiday season approaching ever so quickly, motivation for making more lenses and increasing opportunities for income is at its peak.

If you need even more motivation, check out Kimberly's Morning Coffee post for today.  Add your September Squidoo goals to the forum and, at the end of the month if you're able to show that you met them, you could win a prize. 

Make your goals specific and measurable.  Posting them publicly will add the element of accountability that many of us need to help us work a little harder to accomplish what we might otherwise give up on when we hit the inevitable rough spot.

To demonstrate that I practice what I preach, here are my September Squidoo goals:

1. Three new lenses this month, which will make 200 total! Still need to decide on something significant for #200.
2. Update all of my seasonal lenses, which is much easier said than done. I will ashamedly admit that some are horribly out of date.
3. Approach a new charity I learned about this week to let them know about Squidoo and, if they're interested (and of course they will be) do what I can to help them get started.

So, who's next?  Don't forget to post your goals on the SquidU forum, then feel free to share them here as well. 

Now let's get busy!

What's Your Best Tip for a Newbie on Squidoo?

I'm very happy that two of my local friends are now lensmasters on Squidoo.  It's fun to know other "squids" in real life!

Today, both are coming to the house and we're going to be talking about building a business online with an emphasis on how to Squidoo.  (Gotta love "Squidoo" as a verb.)  There are some things that I want to make sure they know as they start out, but I want to know what other lensmasters think is important for a new lensmaster to know.

I'd love if you'd leave a comment here giving your one best piece of advice for a new lensmaster on Squidoo.  I'll make sure to pass your Squidoo tips along to my friends and I'll report back later to let you know how they're doing.

Thanks!