Everyone Is An Expert

Hi...

I know I've been 'missing in action' for a couple of days. Lots going on personally... I have never known so many people with major health issue as I know this winter! Here's lots of love, light and energy going out to any and all who can use the boost!

Today's post will be brief. I just want to share a wonderful resource with you.

It's a 32 page PDF written by Seth Godin, the creator of Squidoo (and so much more)

Everyone Is An Expert

Seth's intro reads as follows:

This book is for anyone who wants more online traffic, more revenue, more followers, more attention, more interest, more donations or more influence.

The paradox, of course, is that the best way to get all these things is by delivering less.

This is a book about focus and meaning. Feel free to share it.

Give it a read... it goes a long way toward explaining Squidoo!

Have an amazing... and healthy, weekend!

--Mary K

¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* Light

EXPECT MIRACLES!

What the heck is Plexo?

I was looking around SquidU ~ you know the university of Squidoo :). I found this great article on Plexo I thought I'd share with you. I think people misunderstand or DON'T understand Plexo. If you would like to learn more about how to Squidoo, don't forget the amazing resource of SquidU

What is Plexo, really?

What the heck is Plexo? You've seen it on lenses, you've noticed "Plexo" modules hanging out in your Add Modules function. Well…. according to Seth, “Plexo is social bookmarking meets Digg meets the long tail.”

A Plexo module is an interactive voting module that allows you to do things with your lens, and for your readers, that the regular modules don’t. For example, with a regular module, you can make your very own Top 10 list of great movies or music, or the ugliest cat pictures, or whatever. That's great. Those are your recommendations. BUT, others can’t tell you what THEY think.

By offering favorite movies in a Plexo module, registered Squidoo users can vote on your picks, and even add their own if you decide to let them. Why would you want to use Plexo on your lens?

1. People LOVE lists. They love to take polls and surveys too. This gives them the opportunity to make their opinions matter. Focusing on your readers is just plain smart.

2. If you vote in an especially interesting poll, chances are you'll come back later to see who's winning. No? Sure you would. A-ha! Repeat traffic to your lens. Plexo introduces a new watercooler effect to Squidoo.

3. If you let people "grab" your Plexo, they can take that list and stick in on their blog or site, or even clone it onto their lens. This points more people your way, multiplies the votes on your lens, and positions you as the expert running the poll.

Hint: If you just want to list your own stuff, favorite links, best videos, etc, keep using the standard modules. Plexo is for recommendations that you want to leave open to popular opinion.

Why not add a Plexo Module to one of your lenses today?!

Until tomorrow,

Jackie Lee :)

Money Making Modules at Squidoo

When I first started at Squidoo there were 2 money making modules; Amazon and Cafe Press. It appears my crazy little head still thinks this is true. HA HA HA NOT!!!

I just went looking through the modules to find something to blog about today and holy shmoly !! I just went to the A-Z directory in the "add modules" area and started looking. By the time I got to M there were already 25 money making modules listed.

I just had no frickin' idea!!! Where have I been? I know where I've been. Stuck in the affiliate marketing world, doing things the hard way. This is a great lesson, don't overlook what your platform offers you easily and effortlessly.

Before Christmas I started a "Gifts for Everyone" lens, but got sidetracked because I wasn't getting into the affiliate programs I wanted. Well hells bells, do you know how much money I probably lost over the holiday season? I could have done a great lens with just the money making modules offered by Squidoo.

Go in there and check it out, whether you've got a niche all picked out or are still struggling for ideas, go check it out. You will probably find a way to monetize your niche (buy.com) or you will find a fun and exciting niche you never thought of (legal seafood, wine, shop at home tv?) They all sound pretty fun to me.

It never ceases to amaze me how much they keep adding to Squidoo. It really is an amazing platform. So easy to use, easy to rank in google and now (duh) even easier to make money.

IF you are stuck in analysis paralysis JUST GO DO IT!!! Look through the modules and the first thing that excites you just start DOING IT!!

It's not something you can mess up, and you can always go back and add and edit. But you have to get started!!!

Go out there and find something new to Squidoo today. :)

Jackie Lee :)

How to Get Your Squidoo Lens on Page 1 of Google

Of course the most important thing to get your Squidoo lens on page 1 of google is good content and developing a quality lens. With that said there are some things you can do once your lens is developed that can help you too.

Once your lens is finished the first time ( you will be going back to add stuff as you go) go to the groups in your category and add your lens to 4 or 5 groups that match your topic.

Then go to the top 100 groups. Add your lens to 4 or 5 of those groups. There are plenty of groups that will accept any/all lenses so join those.

This serves a couple of purposes. It will help with your lens rank, which will drive more traffic to your lens. More people will see your lens via the group. (Yes, people really look through groups to find information).

And lastly, it will give you some good backlinks which we all know google LOVES. I was reading Search Engine Myths Exposed last night and found out links are one of THE most important things when it comes to ranking high in google. More important than page rank and fresh content. Joining the top 100 groups will definitely help you get your squidoo lens on page 1 of google, some of the most popular groups have a page rank of at least 7!!

My next suggestion is to make sure you ping your lenses each and every time you update. (unless you update three or four times a day) Ping no more than once a day, or you may get dinged for ping spam. If you are unfamiliar with pinging it is basically telling the directories you've made changes to your lens. You can ping both rss and blog directories. I use Feedshark, but Pingoat and Pingomatic are also popular pinging sites.

Bookmark your lenses. There are millions of social bookmarking sites. The more links your lens has the higher you will be ranked in google. You can use services like social marker, and only wire to automate the process.

Do a quick search on Squidoo looking for other lenses related to your topic. Go check if they have a guestbook, if they do leave a nice comment. This will give you a backlink and can drive traffic when people look at the other lens.

These hints should help you get your Squidoo Lens on page 1 of google. Just remember the more links the better. Just don't do them all at once. Getting 0 to 8 backlinks a day is optimum for a new site. If you have a lot of lenses or websites and want to automate your linking pick up the Search Engine Myths Exposed report. There's a special offer at the end for a great linking service.

That's it for today! Get out and get linking!!!

Jackie Lee :)

more Effective Promoting ON your Lens

Being able to effectively promote what you want to share on your lens goes hand-in-in with creating an attractive, remarkable lens.

And of course, if people are remarking about YOUR lens then more eyeballs are going to land on YOUR lens and if you're touching people through your lens you WILL see more click thru's to YOUR remarkable products and services. ;-)

So I just have to share a bit more about how you can build the best lens ever. Find out what the people who know and love Squidoo lenses look for when looking for a great lens.

Sound difficult?

Not at all... you simply go search out a 'Squid Angel' or two... or three... or more! Not only do they have a lot to teach us... if you are very good, and/or very lucky... you might just even end up with a 'blessing'! ;-)

I'll save you a bit of time and share what I discovered from a couple of those marvelous Angel's. I hope that serves you and I still encourage you to seek out more!

Oh... what is a Squid Angel you ask?

How do you get a blessing? Well, you can go to The Angels Forum or to The Squid Angel Group and post a request. They look at a lot of lenses every day so you might find an angel has been by anyway! You'll find what the Angels look for in a lens there as well. *hint, hint...goldmine here*

Gods Grace Notes says:

Squidoo has created the basic structure, allowing us to decide which "modules" we want to use in our lens, then fill it with our personalized content...

The pages are uniform...things like the orange header, each frame contains basic information and the tools you need to create and edit your content...

Like a tool box....everyone gets the same tools; you just have to decide how many of them you choose to master!

A Squid Angel's "job" is to evaluate lenses based on how effectively the creator has used the tools at their disposal...

• Did you create an informative, engaging lens about your topic...

• Did you give the who, what, where, when and why's?

• Did you provide contact information?

• Is your lens interactive? (for instance; email, guestbook)
  

• Does your lens make people want to know more about you, support your cause; or click out to your resources and make purchases?

• Did your audience find your work compelling enough to coax them to your website?

Those are the criteria that determine a great lens!

*******************************

Flaming Lacer says:

If you want a blessing check out my top ten list of do's and don'ts - it will give you an idea of what we look for.

1 - Proper titles given to the modules - default titles are just plain lazy in my opinion. If you don't care enough about a subject to give the modules a proper introduction, then leave it alone!

2 - Lensmaster Bio - I do like to see something in here, even if it is a general bio for all your lenses, it gives me a feel for the person and how/why they are dealing with the subject. I prefer to see an image (not necessarily a photo) because it makes the lens look more cared for. A specific bio for that lens gets extra points as it is indicative of the Lensmasters interest in the topic.

3 - The Introduction should be just that - short, sharp and to the point. I don't like to see all / most of the lens content in here and I particularly don't like to see it all in bold. It is hard on the eyes and aesthetically unpleasant.

4 - A good variety of modules which are suitable to the subject. Interactivity via Polls, Plexos, You Tube etc is always a plus - where it is appropriate. Sometimes I feel modules have been put there just because the Lensmaster thinks it's a must have and it doesn't add to the lens.

5 - Appropriate images - they help break up large blocks of text and make the lens more attractive visually but again, only if appropriate.

6 - Good grammar, punctuation, spelling are an absolute must - no need for a reason here!

7 - A good flow to the lens, a logical progression of information and content. Monetised modules should be appropriately placed so that they follow the natural rhythm of the lens.

8 - Length of lens - I don't have an issue with long lenses (I have a tendency that way myself!) but I don't like encyclopedic lenses. If you have that much content - split it! Viewers lose interest after a while.

9 - Visually attractive - spending a little time to make sure your modules are properly formatted and look good is always worth it, viewers prefer it and will spend time browsing a lens that is pleasing and easy on the eye. Technical wizardry is not necessary - it doesn't win or lose 'points' and should only be used if it adds to the lens.

10 - Most important with all the bells and whistles you can muster is CONTENT. Good content is the most important thing of all. I try never to judge the subject - that is not the role of an Angel in my view. If I read a lens and feel at the end of it I have knowledge that I did not have before, or that my knowledge has been enhanced (even just by being presented well) then it is a good lens. If I have been entertained as well, so much the better.

Okay... I hope that gives you another idea about what steps you can take to tweak and hone your lens... and perhaps you'll be inspired to search for even more 'how-to' information over at Squidoo and come back and share with us. There are only so many hours in the day, ya know? The more we put our heads (and eyeballs) together the more we ALL gain!

Thanks, I appreciate you even more than Squidoo...
and I LOVE Squidoo!!!! ;-)

--Mary K

¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* Light

EXPECT MIRACLES!

Promoting Affiliate Products on Your Squidoo Lens

No matter what you are talking about you can bet there is a related product you can sell on your lens. Now I'm not encouraging you to just run out and find products to throw on your lens, but I do want you to understand there are sooooo many more resources to find products to sell on your lens than clickbank.

Clickbank rocks for information products~ like ebooks.

However, what if you have a lens about cooking? Wouldn't it be great to offer some great kitchen tools, bowls, a mixer or whatever you need from the kitchen that's related to your lens?

Didn't think you could do that? Well you most certainly can. I was pretty surprised to find out almost every store you can think of, including Wal*mart and Target have affiliate programs. That gives you the complete inventory of their online store to share with your readers.

I was working on setting up the How to Clean Cloth Diapers lens and I wanted to promote Charlie's Soap which is a great way to clean cloth diapers. I went to the Charlie's Soap website, but saw no affiliate program. I then did a quick google search like this Charlie's Soap + affiliate program. I found there is a kitchen warehouse that does have an affiliate program that also sells Charlie's Soap.

This kitchen warehouse runs their affiliate program through Commission Junction, where I already have a membership, so I just went in and applied. It does take a couple days to get approved for most programs, so it pays to think ahead a little bit.

There are tons of affiliate program directories. You can find them by doing a quick google search for "affiliate program directories".

Some of the ones I belong to are

Linkshare
Commission Junction
Associate Programs

and there are tons and tons more, but you will find Linkshare and Commission Junction have the biggest names around and you will most likely be able to find anything you need to promote on your lens.

Keep your eyes open and when you are talking about something in your lens think if it might do your readers well to be able to purchase it. If it will, you can probably find a way to make it happen.

The other cool thing about promoting affiliate products in your lens ~ you don't have to share the profits with Squidoo. :)

Promoting ON your Squidoo Lens

Okay... so I got a bit sidetracked on my way to this blog...but now I'm ready to talk about promoting ON your Squidoo lens and then... promoting your LENS itself! (They are very different things, ya know.)

And MAN! I've been learning a ton! I figured I'd just move forward with the learning rather than come by and post that I was over-whelmedandcrankybecauseIjusthadtoomuchtolearn!!! So look at it like this, I saved you! ;-)

See, that's one of the wonders of this 30 Day Marketing Experiment blog... WE go through the 'over-whelm and cranky' so you don't have to! Ha!

Onto today's topic...

Remember, we are talking about MARKETING, so we want to monetize our Squidoo lens in the most effective way possible. It's one thing to build a lens and another to build a lens designed to bring you a powerful and growing stream of income.

So we want to think about how well we are PROMOTING products and services on our lens. I'm going to assume that by now you've explored some of the modules over at Squidoo and I encourage you to explore on a regular basis; there are new modules added frequently!

Here are some pointers to keep in mind as you build your lens -

Use Royalty-earning modules
Don't just use one of them, use more than one in different ways. You can spice up the display and functionality of your lenses if you offer slightly different Amazon, Ebay, and SuperStore modules. For instance, you may spotlight a specific book from Amazon in one module and then provide a selection of DVD's on topic on a different Amazon module.

Consider hand picking items instead of letting the modules choose for you
In some cases, letting the affiliate service choose the items works well. And sometimes, there's more leverage in personally holding up specific, particular items. Don't just show me 10 random books on kayaking, show me the 10 best books you personally recommend.

Sometimes less is more
How much are you personally recommending? Consider whether there's more promise in the One Book You Need to Read, the Three Magazines You Need to Subscribe to, the Two Tools You Need to Own than in a long, long list of anything and everything. Give people less to choose from. Make some real, personal recommendations.

Explain why someone should buy something
Don't just hold up an item, hold forth on why you're holding it up. Consider adding a description that explains why you recommend a tool or resource, how you use it, why it works, and why someone should drop their dime. This will give people more information about a given product, and it will further communicate your expertise and advice.

IMPORTANT: alternate content modules with commerce modules
Are you dropping all your royalty earners to the bottom of your lens? Or clumping them all together anywhere? If you pair content -- information about a given aspect of a topic -- with tools people can use to learn more about that aspect -- it might work better. And, it might not make people scroll so far down before they see a tool they can use. Consider going back and forth between content and commerce modules.

Linking Like Lenses
While it's important to be sure you're sharing the best and most useful resources and tools, it's also important to think about the length of your lenses. You don't need to hold back on sharing your knowledge. Just consider making multiple lenses that approach the topic from a variety of angles. You can then lensroll each of your lenses to connect the pages together, making it easier for whoever finds one lens, to find the related lenses at the same time. You'll be surprised at how much more visibility your products have spread out over 2+ lenses instead of one long one!

I'm likely to come up with more... and that's it for now!
Keep building...and most importantly, HAVE FUN!

--Mary K

¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* Light

EXPECT MIRACLES!

Choosing Tags for Your Squidoo Lens

There is often a lot of confusion when it comes to creating tags or keywords for your lens or any website for that matter.

It can be difficult when choosing tags for your squidoo lens. It may be hard to think of more than a few related keywords. It can also be difficult to find keywords where it's possible for your to rank well.

We've talked about how important keywords are so today I thought I'd shoot you a little gift to make your keyword research a little easier. Happy New Year!

Here's an easy keyword research tool, it's free and there's a nice video explaining the install and how to use it. Have fun!

Jackie Lee :)