Your New Year with Squidoo!
Happy New Year!
w00t! It’s 2009! Already!
Some of our lensmasters are brand new, ready to take on the world, and working hard on creating their first lenses. Some are rocketing towards Giant Squid status, soaking up every bit of information they can. A few have been with us since the beginning, and will be working on their 150th, 300th, or 500th lenses this year. Incredible.
As we know, time does not an expert make. Not every fifty-year-old is a college professor or rocket scientist or the president. Not every three year Squidoo-veteran is a Giant or an Angel or a Citizen, or earns enough to pay their mortgage. But the opportunity exists for everyone to get there.
So what DOES turn an average internet user into a top-earning lensmaster?
Passion
Planning
Commitment
Passion is the internal force that moves a person to take action. It’s what keeps graduate students up way too late and why athletes train in the rain. It’s what sparks idea after idea in a lensmaster and makes their copy exciting and contagious. It’s the subconscious alarm clock that drives you to check your dashboard every few hours.
Passion can’t be forced. You have it or you don’t. The key is to find your reason to be passionate or topic to be passionate about. This is different for every lensmaster. Some love the thrill of seeing their visitor count jump. Many are here for the support of a special charity. And just about everyone gets a high from seeing their payday royalties. But most lensmasters are passionate about Squidoo because of the freedom they have to express themselves and the topics they love.
It’s easy to see if you have passion for Squidoo. If you’re still reading, chances are you do. If you have passion, the rest can be learned.
Planning is knowing what you need to do to get to where you want to be, and when it needs to be done by. Planning helps truck drivers deliver their goods to the right locations and on time, and it helps lensmasters create the right lenses at the right time. Poor planning can cause your 4th of July lenses to be started on the 5th. Solid planning helps you outline your back-to-school lenses in May.
Planning is easy to do. It takes just a few minutes a day to decide what you want to capitalize on and when your deadline should be for finishing it. If you use a calendar system, it’s even easier. Pick the dates and events that are most important to you, and set the due date for creating lenses a few months in advance.
Commitment is manifested a few different ways. Committed lensmasters keep making lenses after a critique is less than stellar. Committed lensmasters work through slow traffic and poor sales, and don’t give up when Google boots their listing from the first to thirteenth page. They understand that time and consistency and being a team player are the keys to building a reputation on Squidoo.
A lensmaster without passion is just a lens factory. A lensmaster without planning misses out on holiday sales and traffic. A lensmaster without commitment has a lot of WIPs. A lensmaster with all three is destined for great things.
2009 is upon us! What will Squidoo be for you this year? Will it be a great place to dish about your latest hobbies? Will it be your secret weapon for blowing your business competition out of the water? Will it be your saving grace for connecting with other lensmasters who face similar challenges? Will it be the place you earned record breaking donations for your favorite charity?
Share your goals with us on the forum!
At Squidoo, we’re passionate about the ideas our lensmasters have for using lenses. We’re planning great new tools and contests to help you succeed, and we’re committed to Squidoo being the best place to build free web pages. We’re excited you’ll be joining us.
Happy New Year, from the SquidStaff!
