I am still relatively new to working online and earning money with Squidoo, however I have learned a lot in the months I have been at this. It is difficult to trim down what I have learned into 10 bullet points, and I think it will be useful. So in this post I am going to share the 10 MOST IMPORTANT things I have learned about earning with Squidoo.
1) - It takes time to see any financial returns from Squidoo -
Seriously, it takes a REALLY long time to start earning money with Squidoo. If you are brand new and wondering how long it will take, however long you have in your head, it will probably take MUCH longer! I actually joined Squidoo in November last year, and I only really 'got serious' about earning with Squidoo in January of this year (2013). So far I have actually only received £1.27 from Squidoo, on the last payday (March) and a further £20 from affiliate sales of a product that I have been quite lucky with.
If you are not familiar with Squidoo and how it works then this may sound like madness to you. However it's important to grasp that earning money with Squidoo is a long term thing. IT IS NOT A GET RICH QUICK SCHEME! I am not a patient person so this was one of the hardest things about it, that I had to accept. However having done my homework I was prepared for this and I KNEW it would take time to build momentum. And I have faith that it WILL build momentum, and there is great potential here to earn good money, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it. I have wasted too much time in the past doing things which DIDN'T work to waste anymore time. I have seen plenty of evidence that this (working on Squidoo and other free online platforms) can and does work, plus it suits me to the ground as I wanted to scale down my life and do something that fits around my other commitments, and something that I could do from home, so this is perfect.
If you want to see some evidence of a case where earning money online with Squidoo and other platforms HAS worked
GO HERE and read Skefflings blog. In this post she shares how she brought in over $18,000 dollars in the month of December last year, having been at this game for about 18 months. Take a look at the graph half way down the page and notice how she earned practically NOTHING for the first 6 months!
Also remember that there is a 2 month timelag with Squidoo payments. That means you will certainly not see ANY returns for the first two months. This allows time for Squidoo to process all the Amazon commission payments and allow for returns, and also to process the ad revenue payments. This means I will get paid for my sales and lensrank for February in April. It can certainly feel frustrating while you are waiting to see a return, so be prepared for this if you want to work on Squidoo.
2) - It helps to follow an action plan -
I can't emphasise this enough. When I first started with Squidoo in November last year, I didn't realise this. I had this fuzzy idea that I would just create a few lenses (lenses are Squidoo's name for articles) and the money would come pouring in. I couldn't have been more wrong. I think the number 1 mistake that people make with this game is that they expect to earn money quickly, they want instant gratification. The second mistake is that they lack direction. They don't follow a plan.
It's like a jungle out there and if you don't have a solid plan of action you are really going to feel a little lost. You may spend loads of time reading and trying different things. There is nothing wrong with this, however I would also encourage you to TAKE ACTION. You need to start creating SOMETHING, after all, you don't get paid online for reading (unless you are a proof reader), you earn money by 'creating' content and by affiliate marketing or article writing.
I would still have been flailing about in the dark now if I hadn't found a plan to follow that works. In fact I probably would have given up, as so many internet marketers do, saying that this doesn't work, had I not been lucky enough to find the plan to follow that has worked for me.
Luckily the plan I found is proven and real.
WARNING - Please don't get sucked in by these get rich quick schemes that the internet is full of. If it seems to good to be true it probably is. My experience of these type of shcmes (you know the ones that promise you can make a million by the end of the week) is that once you have paid them your money you won't see hyde nor hair of them again, and surprise surprise, you won't earn a million by the end of the week either!
The plan I follow doesn't make any such claims. What it does do is teach you the basics of internet marketing, and how to start actually earning some cash. There is a heavy focus on Squidoo, and how to use this platform, and it brings in much more to add once you have got the hang of Squidoo.
The plan I am talking about is One Week Marketing by Potpiegirl. You can get a FREE TRIAL of One Week Marketing by clicking on the blue link just above or the red box below. Even if you never buy the full training, the free e-mails are worth their weight in gold.
As I mentioned before there are lots of ways to make money online. I chose Squidoo because it is FREE! So no outlay! Woohoo, happy days. I also use InfoBarrel. I have also earned a few hundred pounds on ODesk.
However this is a different kettle of fish as you get paid an hourly rate for online work, or you can get paid per article if it is an article writing job. This is a great way to earn extra money while you build up your online business, however my aim is to set up passive income, instead of working for an hourly rate, so that is why my Odesk work is more of a sideline for me.
If you want more in depth info about how I earn money working online from home go HERE.
To claim your free trial of One Week Marketing click the red box below.
3) - You need to learn the basics about keywords -
When you are writing your lenses on Squidoo you will have a MUCH easier time making sales if you do your keyword research. This side of things is quite in depth as it is not as easy as just choosing the words you think people will search for when they are looking for the product or service that you are promoting. The internet is a BIG place, and YOU NEED TO CHOOSE KEYWORDS THAT HAVE LOW COMPETITION. And not just low competition, but also are easy to beat out in the SERPS. If you have no idea what I am talking about then you do need to do a little homework, and don't be put off. I strongly recommend One Week Marketing (see above) to help you. I am STILL learning about keywords and I think I have quite a good method in place now. Sometimes it is still hard to get ranked and again it takes time. Watch this space as I learn more. I will be sharing the keyword tools I use in a future post.
4) - You need to learn a little about SEO -
Again, don't let this put you off, and it will REALLY help you if you can get a basic understanding of SEO (search engine optimisation) and how it works. This is also covered in One Week Marketing, although you can also learn a lot just by reading around the net. BE CAREFUL though, make sure the info you read is bang up to date because SEO changes all the time. What worked last year, or even last month DOES NOT work today, especially in light of some of the recent google updates, in fact it can actually cause harm! So make sure the info you take in is good, from a reliable source and up to date.
5) - Do your keyword research before you start a lens - unless you are just doing it for fun or going for lensrank -
Remember that your keywords are how people will find you from search engines, so you need to get these right and be clear what they are BEFORE you begin writing and creating your content. Unless you are going for lensrank, although I would not recommend doing this if your primary goal is earning money, you can read about why below. Lensrank is another way you can earn money on Squidoo. The first way is by making sales. So you sell products, both from Amazon, and any other affiliate programs, and you get a commission on your sales. Squidoo make this really easy for newbies by providing an Amazon module that you can include in your lenses. This is a good way to start. Squidoo also pay you a share of their ad revenue (generated when people click on google ads). Your share of the payment depends on your lensrank.
6) - Lensrank is not easy to achieve -
There are three lensrank tiers, and to get a significant payment from lensrank on Squidoo you need to have your lens in the first tier (lenses under 1000 in rank). Bearing in mind squidoo has over a million Lensmasters (people who create lenses), this is no easy task. And even if you do get a lens into tier one, there is no guarantee it will stay there. The payment for a tier one lens varies depending on the ad revenue generated by Squidoo that month, and recently it has been around $40 for the month. A tier 2 lens will pay around $8 - $10 and this is for lenses with a lensrank between 1000 and 10,000. Tier 3 is lenses that fall between 10,000 and 80,000 and will get around $1 for the month. If your lens is above 80,000 it falls outside of the tiers and you will NOT receive a payment for lensrank (although you still get your sales commission). It is not uncommon to have your lenses fall outside of the three tiers, especially for newbies, and that is why I would not recommend focusing on lensrank to begin with.
I have had 2 lenses which MAY qualify for a tier 2 payment this month, and some of my others are in tier 3. I have not yet ever had a lens in tier 1 (hopefully will do soon! :-)). Your lensrank for each lens is worked out by taking the average rank over the month for that lens particular lens.
7) - If you want to earn decent money focus on getting sales instead of chasing lensrank -
I think it is best to treat lensrank payments like a bonus. Focus instead on making your lenses full of good quality content and making them search engine
friendly. This is more likely to get you sales, which will earn you
better money. Once you get going and get used to how Squidoo works you can look for some other good affiliate programs to join, so that you can promote other things and products that you like the look of. Just check Squidoo's
TOS before you join an affiliate program, as there are some products and affliliate programs that Squidoo don't like or don't allow on their site. In time as you earn status as a Lensmaster, your lensrank
will naturally improve, and you may get to enjoy some ad revenue
payments too.
8) - Make sure you have good content -
If
you have been online recently you will have heard people talking about creating good content, and it IS important. Google have recently released some updates to fight spam and low quality. Some people in the world of internet marketing are very money hungry, and have set up websites and web pages that are low quality and just geared up for sales. You might call them spammy. Google, and Squidoo, do not like this, neither do real people, so write content that adds value. Yes you want to sell, so that you can make money, but selling is not your job here. Your job is to give added value. It's to give people information that they will find useful and didn't already have about that product, or to help them solve a problem. If you would like to learn more about what good content is
READ THIS ARTICLE.
9) - Be prepared for a long haul -
Yep, I said it at the beginning, and I will say it again, making money online through internet marketing and article writing takes TIME. However if you can get your head around this you set yourself up for an enjoyable future because every time you create something that makes you money online, that thing is going to be out there working for you, even when you turn your attention elsewhere. That is the principle of passive income. That is what people are referring to when they talk about making money while you sleep. Obviously there are no guarantees - something could happen to your content or one of the sites you write on. Heck perhaps the whole internet could explode! Lol. And in all liklihood, if you create lots of good quality articles, lenses and content, it will be out there working for you, making money for a good while to come (hopefully for ever!). So if you stick it out, and do the work I believe you will reap the benefits.
10) - Have fun and enjoy it!
I mentioned that I am doing this because I am down-scaling my life. I didn't want to be part of the rat race anymore. You can read my full story
HERE. Some of my other motivations, apart from earning money, are to be able to work from home, so that I get to spend more time with my fiance and the dog, and also to do something where I work to my own schedule, and I am my own boss. Finally I wanted something that I enjoy, and it just so happens that i enjoy writing and creating online content that I hope will be useful and inspiring to people. So I recommend you find a way of working online that YOU enjoy. Squidoo can be lots of fun!
To join Squidoo
CLICK HERE.
