How Are You Squidooing?

I took a short break from posting here because I have been using a great publishing platform that you probably already know about: Squidoo.

So far it has been a lot more social than simply writing in this blog!

If you haven't used Squidoo before, I suggest you check it out.

(This is a referral program. If you sign up as my referral and a lens of yours earns its first $15, I get an extra $5. You get a referral link, too. And when your friend's lens earns its first $15, you'll get the $5 from Squidoo.)

Rather than blogging about one topic on a single site and having several blogs to take care of, Squidoo lets you blog about many topics and then places them along other topics of interest. They provide you with "modules" which are the building blocks of your "lens" (which is your page focused on one niche topic). Modules make it really easy to monetize. They have Amazon, CafePress, Zazzle, and eBay modules. I'm sure there are some I am forgetting. Anyway, these sales modules make it very easy to hand-pick your favorite items to market online.

Be aware Squidoo has a low tolerance for spam, MLM, and other "junky" lenses. You should go take a look at the criteria for a quality lens before you begin writing for their site. That info is easy to find, by the way. SquidooHQ, other groups and helpful individuals make it easy to get the help you need to create something unique. Make your content valuable and the site and its members will value you in return.

I've been busy making lenses with this site for nearly a month now. I have yet to see any sort of payout, but it is possible to make money with this site. They pay through PayPal and there are a few ways for you to earn: Commissions from your sales modules is one way you can make some money. That's basically good old-fashioned affiliate marketing. Advertising goes into an Ad Pool where the site's highest ranking lenses receive some pay. I recently started to use the site to direct some traffic to my Bandcamp page, where I have some of my own songs for sale. So, get creative. Squidoo is only a tool. What you do with it is ultimately up to you.