£20 on Squidoo in 1 week from my First Lens

Thanks for the Tag tips...

Congrats on your first lens.

Now you just need to rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.

I wouldn't be spending too much time pursuing this business model. I knew you would get encouraged if you saw some success from the first lens, but here are some of the flaws with this model.

The website domain - squidoo.com can be devalued by Google whenever they see fit. They did it with the article directories, so it can happen with this site too. Google will know that this site is used by SEOs and Marketers, and we know they don't like to do us any favours. Squidoo have been actively removing the {thin|spun} lenses in an attempt to claim back the site, but SEOs and Marketers will evolve too and just adhere to the new guidelines. They won't go away, they will merely adapt which leads me to my next point..

There is a huge amount of Marketers and SEOs on there. I read something claiming that it could be 25% + of the total traffic on the site. That seems a lot, but considering the majority of lenses are promoting Amazon products, entirely believable. This traffic isn't in a buying mode, you might get a few of them buying products and reading lenses sure, but they know the game when they see all the Amazon links. The traffic isn't as good as organic search engine traffic where every visitor could be hot. If the domain is devalued, then ranking lenses won't be as easy either. Building an IM business on this platform is high risk for me.

Speaking of Amazon, I know that Squidoo receives the top commission (8.5%) because of the amount of products they shift. If you agree to use their modules, Squidoo splits that commission with you 50/50. Therefore, the most commission you can earn is 4.25% using their modules. That means there is no scalability which is key to growing any business. You are able to use your own Amazon links in your lenses, but to increase that commission you would need to be shifting a number of products, which means you would need to have a large number of lenses (high risk) or a combination of your own sites and lenses. If it were the latter, then you may as well not bother with Squidoo and put all of your effort into your own sites.

My final point is the fact that you are putting a huge amount of time and effort into something that has no resale value. Squidoo has stopped people transferring lenses for now, not that they have any real value. I'm sure its against their TOS to sell full accounts, so what you are building is worthless. However, website sales will continue apace, and places like Flippa snap up Amazon sites if they are proven to be making money.

I'm sorry if this comes across as a condescending post, I certainly mean no harm. I'm just trying to offer some balance. I have tried this business model myself to test it out. I only use Squidoo for 2.0 buffer sites and to drive some traffic, not as a money making method. Because its so easy to put up a Wordpress site, then add a theme and the same content, it's a no-brainer for me. The positives from owning your own web properties far outweigh those from building a business on someone else's domain. This site can disappear at any point, we have just seen it with Posterous who is closing down in April. There will be 15+ million blogs disappearing. Squidoo has its place no doubt, but only for stay at home moms and people wanting to earn commissions from their hobbies and interests. If you were building an solid Internet business, you would consider all the permutations and dismiss this as a business model.

Hi Christian,

I have not looked in to Erica's Squid Pro Quo yet but may do so in the future. As for The power of Squidazon - I only have positive things to say about it and I am not joking when I say that it paid for itself within 1 week.

The main thing I gained from Erica's guide was how to construct a good Lens layout and how you can gain maximum exposure from you work.

You have hit the nail on the head when you talk about "willing to learn" and "put in the work". No matter how good this product is, you will not make a penny without applying yourself.

If you do not want to spend any money just yet, spend some time looking at the top lenses on Squidoo (overall and topic specific); forget about the likes and tweets initially and just make notes on how the author has constructed their Lens, how many modules, word count, writing style, use of imagery, use of polls, how much effort has gone in to it and most importantly, how you could make it better.

Always think reader value. I think a good sign is if at the end of your lens you are wondering if you should have created a dedicated niche site for your chosen subject instead. It shows that you are happy with the level and depth of content.

Good luck and if you have any other questions, just let me know...I am by no means an expert but am definitely willing to help those prepared to put the effort in

Thanks for the advice...I think it is important to look at things subjectively and I will bear your comments in mind.

Much appreciated