Archive for June, 2007
Ahhhh, the auctiony fresh scent of eBay. For years, eBay has been the online marketplace of choice for cleaning out the attic and buying great memorabilia from your past. Now, Squidoo is making it even more fun to shop and more profitable to sell. If you’re an eBay seller (or just about any kind of seller), you’ll want to pay special attention to this issue. We have the hottest tips for generating interest and making sales with the ease and convenience (it’s free!) of Squidoo’s lensmaking system. Go ahead. Make a lens and get found.
In this issue:
1. The eBay Book
2. Five Tips for eBay Lenses that Rock
3. Q&A for the eBay Module
4. Make Money with eBay AND Squidoo
5. How Freaknoodles got her Pajamas On
6. Have your Customers Spread the Word
Read on to find out how Squidoo is ramping up the eBay experience for all.
~Kimberly Dawn Wells
SquidU Review Newsletter Editor
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1. The eBay Book
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What are you selling? Are people finding your store? Wouldn’t you like to get more traffic, more buyers, more happy customers… for free?
Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it. That’s what eBay sellers have been wondering all week at the eBay Live conference in Boston.
Then they tried it out. And started getting found.
How does it work? Click below to get Megan’s free ebook “FREE TRAFFIC: Revealing the Secrets of the New eBay Elite.” She got together with a bunch of powersellers and eBay experts to give you an easy guide for how to use lenses to tell your story and sell more stuff.
If you like it, do your friends a favor and send it to them!
http://www.squidoo.com/pages/freetrafficebook.pdf
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2. Five Tips for eBay Lenses that Rock
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Squidoo and eBay are sharing the love by making it easy for auctioneers and shopkeepers to design targeted lenses that attract the right shoppers and turn them into buyers. To get the most out of your lensmaking experience, start your lenses right with five of Squidoo’s most powerful promotional tips.
Choose your niche.
Power seller? Store owner? A separate lens for each category of your products will facilitate create keyword rich, focused lenses that search engines love and shoppers crave. Focus on one thing at a time, then link them all together for even more exposure and impulse browsing.
Bring out your virtual sales person.
Browsers already at the eBay website are one step closer to placing a bid than those at your lens; in fact, some of your lens visitors may have ended up there completely by chance. To capture their attention, educate them, and get that extra click-through, you’ll need to bring out your virtual sales person. Don’t just direct them to “click here.” Sell your product. Play up the benefits, show them how it makes their lives better, and put the image in their head of how great they will feel when they receive it in the mail and put it to use. You may think you’re just selling a product, but your customers are buying an experience.
Give the eBay module some love.
When Squidoo said there was no coding required, they meant it! You don’t even need to know affiliate codes to link to your goodies. Feature one special product with the attention it deserves or showcase up to five at a time. Add several combinations of eBay and other modules to give your lens visual interest and your visitors purchasing options.
Learn from eBay.
The eBay affiliates section has a list of recommended actions for getting the most out of your external promotional methods. Not only are they eBay friendly, they’re solid tips for all-around productive Internet marketing.
- Create unique content
- Use relevant keywords
- Refresh content regularly
These are three big ones that Squidoo helps facilitate. Modules keep copy short and sweet, with no stress on your part for long-winded descriptions. You can set up and maintain your lenses in just minutes per day so there’s no excuse to let them get shaggy. The built in keyword function guarantees you’ll never be tagless.
Share and share alike.
We’re a team-playing bunch and we have so many ways to share. On site, check out our groups and lensrolling features, which spread the word between lenses. To target more users, you’re only click from any lens to email it, subscribe to it, print it, digg it, or make it del.icio.us.
Still unsure? In the true spirit of Web 2.0, Squidoo facilitates its own network of lensmaking professions who are ready to help you succeed. Just visit www.Squidu.com/forum to learn more.
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3. Q&A for the eBay Module
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You’ve got questions? We’ve got answers.
Q: I’ve seen lenses that use the eBay module as an afterthought, and lenses that seem to be one big list of eBay auctions. Which is the right way to use the eBay Module?
A: Both!
Using the eBay module on informative lenses is a great way to encourage impulse buying or help readers learn more. Using a lens entirely of eBay modules can be an effective way to help shoppers find what they are looking for and offer selected options. In order to be effective, all lenses need to be organized and focused, no matter what your goal.
Q: How can I design an effective lens to sell things on eBay, such as just fedora hats, just mousepads, or just Lite Brites?
A: Realize that your goal should not be to offer every link under the sun. If that were the case, a shopper could just as well go to eBay themselves. In order to be successful, your lens should somehow limit what you present. There are three ways to do this:
a. Reduce your lens to offering just one color, style, size, or model number. Focus on JUST fedora hats, instead of all types of hats.
b. Categorize by color, style, size, or model number. Create a module for sunset photo mousepads, a module for really big mousepads, and a module for mousepads with calculators attached.
c. Create a module for each accessory. Multiple modules can direct shoppers to the original Lite Brite, bags of extra pegs, pattern sheets, travel Lite Brites, and Lite Brite t-shirts.
Also remember, “quality over quantity.” Select what you think is the best.
Q: How can I use eBay modules and still make it look like I’m not just trying to sell something?
A: The title of your module can say a lot. If your readers keep seeing, “Buy Calculators on eBay,” they will learn to tune it out as a sales pitch. However, “Calculators to Match Every Office Decor” can appeal to their sense of style, interest, and impulse.
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4. Make Money with eBay AND Squidoo
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As an eBay auctioneer or shopkeeper, you’re probably used to spending money to promote your shop. But did you know that Squidoo lenses are not only free, they help you MAKE money? That’s right! Any time a customer uses your lens to buy a product on eBay, you receive a commission for yourself or your favorite charity. There’s nothing like an extra treat for referring a customer to your own store.
Better yet, if a customer visits your eBay lens but buys something from a store that ISN’T yours, you STILL get a commission! That’s right, go ahead and feel free to swap links with your competitors.
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5. Powerseller Success Stories
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http://www.squidu.com/profiles/freaknoodles-on-ebay
eBayer and Lensmaster Colleen “Freaknoodles” uses Squidoo to build on her brand. “On my Nick & Nora lens, I have links to my store and detailed descriptions of all the pajama patterns I carry, but I also have a poll to vote for your favorite pattern, a guestbook for readers to leave comments, and a YouTube video of the “dancing baby” scene from Ally McBeal, where Ally is wearing Nick & Nora pajamas. The high Google search rankings you can get with a Squidoo lens bring in the traffic, but I think it’s the versatility and variety of the modules that make those searchers hang around longer, which of course makes them more likely to click through to my store and buy something.”
Read more here:
http://www.squidu.com/profiles/freaknoodles-on-ebay
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BONUS ALERT!!!!!! Have Your Customers Spread the Word (For free)
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Do you have a loyal base of customers who absolutely love your products? Why not have them help you create extra exposure for your shop? One or two or ten lenses for your eBay auctions is a great start. What if your customers and friends and family made their own lenses to promote THEIR favorite items from your store? They would get a little extra cash for their referrals, and you would get 20 or 30 or 50 times the exposure. It’s a win-win situation!
The SquidU Forums are hopping, and lensmasters (that’s you guys) are on a serious roll! The Squidoo community is currently boasting nearly 160,000 lenses, with more than 1,000 new lenses getting created every day. And 5 million+ visits a month. And 4 lenses getting seen every second. Wow.
Thanks also to everyone who commented on last week’s newsletter, “Getting Found.” It’s great to see lensmasters making consistent efforts to promote their lenses and share their knowledge with the world.
So, what’s on the agenda for this week?
1. Follow Up on Tagging
2. Some Stats Updates
3. Straight from the Lensmasters’ Lenses
4. Squidoo Hearts eBay - a Sneak Peek!
Oh, and hey, if you have an idea for a future newsletter topic, or would like to write an article, visit http://www.squidoo.com/squidureview to send me a message. I’d love your input and help!
~Kimberly Dawn Wells
Editor of the SquidU Review
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1. Follow Up on Tagging
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In response to last week’s newsletter on tagging, dozens of lensmasters have broken out the keyword suggestion tools and taken a fresh look at their tags. Remember, tags help people find your lens. So they’re worth paying attention to! Follow the conversations happening here:
Tagging Tricks Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/tricks
Tag Phrases: http://squidu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3523
Tagging for Google Ranking: http://squidu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2965
Additionally, try these sites for keyword suggestions:
Google Keyword Suggestions: http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/keyword-suggestions-google/
Keyword Selector Tool: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
Keyword Suggestion Tool: http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/
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2. Some Stats Updates
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The most commonly accepted way to determine the success of a properly promoted webpage is to track statistics. Through the magic of your dashboard, Squidoo does this automatically for each and every one of your lenses. And, at long last, the SquidStaffers are telling me that some elements of Stats 2.0 will be ready next week! This will include some great new traffic stats, like the ability to tell where your visitors actually come from for each lens, what keywords got them there, and more. SquidCentral is also working on some better revenue stats, so you can tell what is selling on your lenses.
In the meantime, please note that visitor stats on your dashboard went “live”! That means you’ll no longer wait for stats to ‘roll over’ to find out how many visitors you’ve had in the last seven days. Additionally, your star ranking continues to be live so you can always see where you stand.
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3. Straight from the Lensmasters’ Lenses
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Some of the best ideas for how to use a product or service come directly from the people using it. Duh. Over the past year, dozens of great lenses have popped up that describe tried and true tricks for using Squidoo to make money, get more traffic to your lenses, and position yourself as an expert. These lensmasters are just a few who have willingly published their ideas for how to create a better Squidoo user experience and become a successful lensmaster.
GreekGeek’s Squid Tips - http://www.squidoo.com/squidtips
Chou Doufu’s Best SquidU Tips - http://www.squidoo.com/Best-SquidU-Tips/
ArtiSanctus’s Best Squidoo Tips - http://www.squidoo.com/bestsquidootips/
N376 AKA Glen’s All About Squidoo - http://www.squidoo.com/allaboutsquidoo/
RonPass’s Squidoo Marketing Strategies - http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies/
Do you have your own tips? Using Squidoo effectively is a hot topic among lensmasters. A lens with your own special brew of suggestions could be just the ticket to getting extra props.
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4. Squidoo Hearts eBay - a Sneak Peek!
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We love eBay yes we do, we love eBay, how about you? Did you know that Squidoo lenses are a fabulous way to drive traffic to your eBay stores and auctions? Hundreds of savvy auctioneers are already doing this, and next week’s newsletter will show you more on how to create auction friendly lenses, drive traffic to your shops, and get found by shoppers on a mission.
It’s all in celebration of eBay Live. Seth and Megan will both be there! If you are too, be sure to stop by the eBay booth and say hello (and get a hot Squidoo tshirt, to boot), not to mention the chance to enter yourself in a drawing for $10,000 worth of free SquidOffers!
Read more here: http://www.squidoo.com/blog/?p=137
Playing hide-and-seek with your kids is fun. Playing hide-and-seek with your lenses is not! “If you build it, they will come” doesn’t apply to everything, especially things on the web. With billions of websites out there, it takes more to stand out from the crowd. Squidoo already has the credibilty, the traffic, and a gangbusters community to give you a head start, but the rest is up to you.
What can you do to get found?
1. Get Tagged
2. Connect with Communities
3. Make your (Book) Mark!
4. A Quick Quirks Update
5. Look, JaZilla!
Besides getting found when people come looking for you and your specific topic, you also want to get found when people are simply windowshopping. No room for wallflowers here; this is a place to show ‘em what you’ve got!
Kimberly Dawn Wells
SquidU Review Editor
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1. Get Tagged
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Through Squidoo and SquidU, lensmasters within our community find each other easily. But what about the rest of the universe? Ah, for that we thank, among many things, the power of tags.
Remember when you went to summer camp, and your mom wrote your name on your shirt tags in marker, so you wouldn’t get your tees mixed up with someone else’s? Well, that’s basically what an online tag does. It’s your chance to identify you and your topic, so people know where you are. On Squidoo, tags are the keywords you use to describe your lens, and are picked up by search engines to match a curious browser with the right results.
Not sure how to tag your lens? First make a list of words you think are relevant to your lens. If your lens is about green cars with wings and great gas mileages, such keywords might include “green,” “green car,” “cars with wings,” and “gas mileage.” Then highlight or star each word or phrase you actually have in the text on your lens. These tags are good to go. You’ve used them in the main body of your lens, and they are most definitely relevant.
Have leftovers? Get creative. Use the title of your lens as a tag. Your name. Don’t forget that everyone searches for information in their own special way. Some people might look for “green cars” or “cars that are green.” They might look for “organizing tips” or “organizing help.” Try tags that accommodate quirky phrases and popular misspellings.
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2. Connect with Communities
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Nowadays, nearly everyone is on at least one of the social networking sites: LinkedIn, MySpace, Ryze, Facebook, Orkut, community forums, etc. But are you using these sites to their full potential?
When you’re part of a community, you can tell the active members. They’re easy to spot. You know what they do, what they stand for, where to learn more about whatever they’re interested in, and they’re always ready to tell you more. Are you ready to become that kind of person?
* Use your profile
Don’t let your profile sit blank and boring. Jazz it up. Links, images, and descriptions as appropriate will all clue your visitors in to what you’re up to.
* Post blogs, bulletins, memos, etc.
Use the tools you’re given. Post short announcements, updates, stories, or how happy you are to have made an extra $20 from your Xbox lens. These get noticed.
* Use a signature file
In your email, and in forums, AND in comments, use a short, unobtrusive signature. Even just your name hyperlinked to your “about me” lens can be ultra effective.
* Start discussions
Chat about your main lens topics, or about lensmaking in general. It’s sure to create a buzz.
* Help others
Those who help others are regarded as the most successful of us all, and everyone wants to be associated with successful people. By offering assistance to your community, you’ll put yourself in a great position for positive PR.
Use every opportunity you have to connect with new groups of people. The impact can be greater than you might ever imagine.
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3. Make your (Book) Mark!
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StumbleUpon and Reddit and Furl, oh my! And del.icio.us and Digg…what do all these have in common? They’re bookmarking and news-marking sites that can boost your traffic.
Sites like these work when users submit their favorite website links to a public profile. Other curious members peek around, click on links, and are introduced to sites they otherwise never would have found, and this could include your lens!
Many of the sites work based on a tagging system. This allows users to search for sites they are interested in, such as “recipes,” “football,” or “baby clothes.” You can use the same tagging techniques taught above for most of these sites.
Every day, hundreds of thousands of people are looking all over these sites for something new, something hot, something hip. Your lens might be just what they are looking for!
Give them a try!
http://www.stumbleupon.com
http://del.icio.us
http://www.reddit.com
http://www.furl.com
http://www.digg.com
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4. A Quick Quirks Update
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Gil, the only (is that possible!) programmer at Squidoo, has been busy, busy, busy updating services and making sure your lenses are well oiled. Learn more about what he and the rest of the SquidTeam have been up to at the SquidU Forums:
Dashboard and Guestbook Upgrades: http://squidu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3947
RSS and eBay Module Bug Fixes: http://squidu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3940
Star ratings and Group Bug Fixes: http://squidu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3699
And stay tuned for a whole new look and feel to your lensmaster dashboard! Hooray!!
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5. Look, JaZilla!
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JaZilla is here, with proven methods for creating monster traffic.
