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I have been a part of squidoo for nearly 2 months and my momentum is declining. I am losing rank and traffic quickly and I dont know what to do. Not to mention I have not made a single penny after putting in hours of work.
My rant is more of a question, How can I create a STABLE lens? (that also generates money)
Please help, because right now, I feel like I could punch my computer.
Last edited by Number1Athlete (11/02/2008 6:37 am)
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You CAN'T create a stable lens, the system here is designed to prevent that.
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Ok... let's see what you can do...
If Google has found your lenses than it's important to constantly update them so when he crawls to index your page again, it's fresh. So, make sure you haven't left any generic module titles (new...) since it gives impression that your lens is unfinished. Also, don't change title of the lens - it's proven way to loose traffic from Google. But, add subtitles to each module where you don't have one.
If Google hasn't found you... than most of your traffic would come within Squidoo ... Advice would be: Go around, comment, rate, favorite lenses. Lensroll those that are relevant to your topics...
Also, check out contests around Squidoo - it's one of ways to attract some visitors.
And... don't get discouraged! Look at it the other way: 'ONLY month and half past!' Give yourself some time! Go around and learn! Come here and post each lens for critique - people will tell you what to fix!
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A big Squidoo Hello
I don't believe anything really happens overnight, and agree a couple of months isn't a really long time.
Check out other lenses, see what they are doing, read the forums here, lots of great information and tips. But please remember my biggest piece of advice, don’t try and learn everything all at once, you don’t want to become overwhelmed and discouraged. Take your time and learn at your own pace.
If you click on My Squidoo Library Help lens in my Sig Tag below, it’s just one place to help get you started or make your lens even better.
And there is so much helpful information on Squidoo right at your finger tips! You can search through the Squidoo Answer Deck or Squidoo Tips, and many experienced lensmasters right here on the Forums are never too far away, they are not only smart, but a friendly bunch too.
You can focus on the making money topics, but do try and have fun and enjoy your time on Squidoo too.
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One thing I have noticed in your Louis Armstrong lens is that there's no links to other websites. Google likes links to other websites, particularly those you got the info from.
I also see that you joined in September, so your first pay day will be November.
The trick is to make lots of lenses. You put the time in up front and then the fruits of your labours will come in the months ahead. Willow gives good advice but the best way to earn from a lens is not to rely on traffic from other Lensmasters (limited market) but from outside Squidoo (limitless market!)
Hang on in there.
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Lens in some niches seem to do better than others. I guess if you mean a STABLE lens, you're talking about lenses that consistently get traffic. The best way to do that is to get organic search engine traffic. SEO would be important. You've only got 6 lenses right now. I would really encourage to go out on a limb and make some lenses in topics different from your current lenses. Give that a try! Don't give up!
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You can get a stable income, but not often from just a few lenses. Some lenses consistently stay in the top 2000, but they are usually really good lenses that get a lot of traffic AND/OR stay useful and visible to other lensmasters.
FlowerGardener and relache, I believe, both receive a nice amount of monthly income. Take a look at their top lenses and you'll see why.
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Thanks guys for the advice, I feel motivated again
, I guys things dont happen over night, but its just frustrating sometimes seeing your best lens in the top 5000 rank and steadily decrease to a discouraging 70,000
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Just one other tip & I dont know why I did not spot it before - put some of your lenses in your signature on here (through your SquidU profile). That way they are visible every time you post and they are just 1 click away for anyone who wants to visit from here.
Also add your Avatar - its amazing how many people will get to know you faster, especially if you also go visit other lenses and leave comments in Guestbooks.
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If you ever need some motivation, you're welcome to e-mail me and I'll pep you up!!
Hang in there, seriously, I've been here nearly 6 months and I still feel new because I'm learning new things every single day. Coming to the forums here really is what keeps my own motivation up some days. :-)
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Some of my generalized lensbuilding tips:
1. Never repeat any content from anywhere else on the web (sometimes I suspect youtube descriptions of causing repeated content, although I don't know for sure) (you can turn off youtube descriptions under display options, then create your own). If I find an article on the net that I like, I either link to it, or rewrite it entirely start to finish. Google seems particularly harsh about repeated content on the net and may put your lens at the very back of their index.
2. I also suspect that when I repeat tag words i.e.: women's shoes, men's shoes, shoes for fashion, cool shoes... that I'm getting dinged for this repeated tag word - again, just a suspicion on my part.
3. Totally agree with AJ about the links, I almost always include a link from wikipedia about my same subject, and then do other corollary links.
4. For any image that you've put in your lens, have both the image title and the 'alt=' tag with something regarding your niche/lens topic. You'll get many people searching images on google and then finding your lens this way - it's good juice.
5. Make sure that your introductory paragraph first two sentences are power packed with words from your lens topic and have a defining statement - the first two sentences are what people see when they find your lens from a search engine, and then this determines whether or not they'll click through to your lens.
6. To add more income, think outside the box. A lens on beef stew could also include recipe books, aprons, stew pots, crock pots, or even feature prime meats for sale. A lens on shoes could feature those shoe stretching devices, shoe trees, shoe storage boxes, shoe shine, matching handbags, etc.
Hope this information helps you - keep going!!! the rollercoaster ride of the christmas season is comin up!
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Your post immediately caught my attention, as I've felt exactly as you do recently...except I've been here for two years. I've only recently 'found the forum' and have received soooo much help and 'love from the folks here. It's helped me make a couple more lenses...with a few more as WIP. I agree though, it's not going to happen overnight!
So much good information here that will really help!
Thanks for all the good advice!
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Making a lens is only the first step. Lenses need to get traffic, and the only way to get that is to promote them. Whether you use blogs, or squidoo related social media or a mix - traffic is necessary.
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When you say promote a lens what do you mean?
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Join Facebook and click the Facebook button on your lens when you publish a new one. Add it to stumbleupon.com, del.ico.us, digg, mixx, go on to twitter, promote it in your blog if you have one. If you have another website outside of Squidoo, link to your lens from there but do it on relevant text not on words like 'click here'.
I don't know how many millions of websites there are now but you have to work hard to get your lens noticed particularly by Google and other search engines. Don't use 'black hat' techniques to do this either, as that's a good way to get blacklisted, ie don't add it to link farms and other places that Google calls 'bad neighbourhoods'.
Search on Squidoo for lens promotion and I'm sure you'll find lots of good advice and suggestions.
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Hang in there, Number1Athlete! Don't give up hope just yet!
Captain Squid (a.k.a. lensmaster Loyalis) who is one of our most prolific, profitable and transparent (regarding sharing his knowledge of Squidoo for free) lensmasters (among some others) has a blog post this week that you might find inspirational: The Single Biggest Tip . . .
Enjoy your journey to success! Just take it one step at a time.
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Well I'm just starting out but I think I might be headed the same way as Number1Athlete, I just have never participated in the social bookmarking or web 2.0 thing (have done plenty of web forums though), so I'm not sure what is acceptable and what isn't.
I'll make sure to follow the suggestions on this thread as they seem pretty good...
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JasonE wrote:
Captain Squid (a.k.a. lensmaster Loyalis) who is one of our most prolific, profitable and transparent (regarding sharing his knowledge of Squidoo for free) lensmasters (among some others) has a blog post this week that you might find inspirational: The Single Biggest Tip . . .
Recommended reading.
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