One good thing is to ask yourself -- when you're on the web... how often do YOU buy something?
When? Where? Why?

Try to put yourself in a visitor's shoes. First, why would you visit a page like yours, if it weren't yours?
Second, would you stay and read it? Really? Why or why not? What makes you stay on a page?
Third, what makes you click on a link? Really? What kinds of links do you click on, and what do you skip?

As you get more experienced, you'll start to have stats you can track to see what people click on, what they don't. But at first, be your own guinea pig.

And yeah, as Ramkitten says, there's all kinds of help on Squidoo telling people what kinds of lenses make good lenses. If you go to the SquidU Answer Deck, official place for Squidoo help, or the SquidLog, you'll get a lot of great tutorials on how to improve your lenses, get traffic, and make content that's more likely to attract clicks and customers.

Also, you can check what lenses are getting featured as Lens of the Day or the Top Lenses, and think about what it is about those lenses that you like.

You can't take people's content -- it's against the terms of service, and copied content from a successful lens will get spotted pretty quick! But if you can really take a hard look at those lenses... maybe even write down, "What are three things this lens did that I like?" you will start to learn techniques that you can use to show off your own, original content... which is the one thing YOU have that no one else does.

Note that Squidoo payouts start two months after a lens is first built. That's to allow for the 45 day return policy on Amazon and other affiliates. So you're not going to see money yet anyway,though you should see money in the "Royalties" column if anyone buys anything from your Amazon module.

Last edited by Greekgeek (04/23/2009 8:30 pm)

There's an ebook you can buy which shows you how to earn on Squidoo http://www.squidoo.com/earnusingsquidoo

Try to get people who are interesting in your lens. You don't want to be attracting the wrong people because they just won't be interested.

For example if you have a PS2 lens you would want people who like PS2 to come to your lens so try advertising on gaming forums.

There's more info on getting traffic in my signature below

jamiew23 wrote:

There's an ebook you can buy which shows you how to earn on Squidoo http://www.squidoo.com/earnusingsquidoo

You're selling an ebook about squidoo? And you've been a member  since January 13 this year?

Whose is it?
oh never mind ...  it's not important

Moving this to Critique Me so you can get more helpful ideas!

I would add more content to your lenses and make the products relevant to your subject. I looked at Charlotte's web - for one be careful your intro is not in your own words and the products do not go with the topic.

It takes time - I would suggest looking at some of the other money making lenses on squidoo for ideas. Check out some of mine. Good luck and keep working at it - it will come, but it does not happen over night.

likeapenguin wrote:

I would suggest dividing your content so that it is more visually pleasing for your viewers. This will make it easier to read and ensure that people stay on your pages longer.

Hey where did you read that?
I agree with likeapenguin, traffic doesn't translate directly into sales.
You must engage people with your lens and make stick around for a while in order
to have sales conversion.

Btw, go check likeapenguin's lenses, they're iuch great examples of what a lens should look like.

As others have mentioned, 80 overall views with no sales is not at all unusual. You may need hundreds, if not thousands,  to get any sales.

In the case of your lenses, though, the products in your Amazon, eBay, etc. modules are not related to the topics of your lenses. It will be very unusual to see any sales with this approach. It looks like you started off with a lens template that includes all sorts of lens templates for selling products.. You seem to feel you're obligated to put something in them whether or not they are related to your topic. You don't have to do that. Just delete any module that doesn't add to the topic of your lens. An eBay module populated with cell phones on a lens about a classic children's story is not going to result in much in the way of sales action even if the lens gets very popular. If there's nothing on eBay related to your lens topic, delete the module. Use the Amazon module to promote related items. By promoting unrelated Amazon items, you're wasting an opportunity to sell something to people who are interested in your topic. Netflix and Orbitz modules don't fit the topics you've chosen, so they're just wasting space and a viewer's time.

In your lens about Charlotte's Web there should be a link to the book on Amazon, but I don't see one. Squidoo has an Amazon Spotlight module that would be perfect for the lens if you aim to direct people to Amazon. Squidoo makes a commission from book sales, and half that commission is shared with you, the referring lensmaster.

Your lens titles certainly need improvement. "All Time Favorite Book" might get the occasional viewer, but it could be any book on any subject in the world. A title like "Charlotte's Web - A Classic Children's Story" is much more to the point. Lens titles like "Gardening" and "Perennial" are also pretty general and unlikely to spark much interest.

You do not need to spend money on an ebook to learn how to make effective lenses on Squidoo. You can find answers in The Answer Deck, by keeping an eye on the forums here at SquidU and by searching for lenses on topics you like to see how other lensmasters have put together high-ranking lenses on those topics. When you use the Squidoo search, you'll see the lensrank of lenses that come up. You'll also find many helpful lenses in the Squidoo Tips category.

Last edited by MobyD (04/26/2009 9:19 am)

Well said, Karla! Nice post.

If I were relying on money earned from my lenses, I'd be up a creek without a paddle, that's for sure.  So far, most everything I've earned has gone to charity which is just fine with me...some day I'd like a few bucks but for now I'm just hoping people find my information useful.  I try to create lenses with good information.  Plus, I  really enjoy the friendships I've made through Squidoo.

I'm approaching 1000 page views (from all my lenses) and yet to make my first penny. But I'm really enjoying the process of creating the lenses. Somehow, it takes the stress away from my life And I'm sure that if I continue to follow my heart and be passionate about my work, people will like it, and sales will happen.

Last edited by Brain_Washer (04/26/2009 2:23 am)

I hate to sound like an echo, but content is king. Really short lenses along with NOW BUY THIS, probably wouldn't attract my attention. Maybe not even my clicks if I didn't see something that caught my fancy immediately.  Add more content. Spread the content out so that the reader won't say, "Oh, the rest is just trying to get me to buy something." Update. Participate. Be patient.
Art Haule
http://www.squidoo.com/violajokes
http://www.squidoo.com/fiddlesticks
http://www.squidoo.com/mercurydime
http://www.squidoo.com/kennedyhalfdollar
http://www.squidoo.com/newlincolnpenny