It's practically impossible to get any share of advertising revenue during the first month of a lens life, because of how the average is calculated over a partial month. Even if a lens makes it to #1 for 29 days, it won't earn a penny if it wasn't published on day 1.* Therefore, you don't want to be using up all of your promotion techniques (ratings, angels, stumbles, etc) in that first month as any benefits will fade before the end of the first full month that lens has.

As GreekGeek says, the best time to create a lens is as soon as you create it. In the long run, over the life of a lens, it really doesn't matter if you get paid for the first month or not. A truly great lens will perform continuously...

Make them when you can be bothered!

If you're not bothered - don't!

how much time have you got? If I had all the time in the world at my disposal, I wouldn't spend it making lenses. I may however make a lens if there was a subject which I was passionate about, that I knew was thoroughly researched, well presented, and know, in my heart of hearts that I did the best job I could, and say to hell with anyone who thinks otherwise!

I wouldn't time the lens to coincide with a payout.

Payout? If you're here for the money then you need time, devotion and conviction. You also need to promote the lens which involves even more time. Unless it's a one-hit wonder then you will need to make scores of top-notch ones to make a few bob.

I believe there are some lensmasters in the top echelons who make several hundred dollars a month, but presumably they either have a midas touch or they are rigorous, expert and devoted workaholics, who more than likely are smart enough not to place all their eggs in the same basket, and have other web-based revenue.

I don't know what the average pay out is, but once you get over the initial two month lead in, it will be regular whatever you create.

I didn't come here to make money, I was drawn to a thriving community of which the ethos has since become clouded by the desire of many to attain unreasonable and unatainable financial returns. The forums are saturated with the concept. This is why many who held to the principle do not venture here very often.

It's horses for courses old bean, and if I expected a return on my investment on the time it took to create a lens, I would not make one at all.

Squidoo can be all things to all men. For some it is the holy grail, for others it is tantamount to gold prospectors panning laboriously for a few nuggets.

For some it is a cash cow. For some it is a life blood of income in a time of recession. For some it is merely the joy of being!  Squidoo can be many things to many people. Use it wisely and it will reward you.

The definition of "reward" is entirely your own.

I always start writing my lenses at 5:54am with a hot cup of coffee and a nice bowl of oatmeal.  The temperature should be around 4 Celsius and partially cloudy.  The humidity is obviously irrelevant. 

Everyone said what I wanted to say so I went for giggles.

I write my lenses, including links and code for fonts, boxes, colors, etc. in a simple word processing program like wordpad.  I also have all the photos resized and grouped in a folder for that lens.  I put them into modules after the daily lensrank update because I hate to  have any in WIP because the lensrank is so low.  Usually, by the time of the next lens rank update, my lens has been published and publicized on facebook &/or Twitter, lensrolled, and proofed by other people.  That way you start out further up the ladder and most of the work is done offline so that the lens design is well planned.