Posts filed under 'Hobbies'
It’s ten days into the Squidoo Challenge and as from here on in it’s about more tinkering. The lens I entered into the Challenge Hair Loss Remedies has risen from a lensrank (rating) of about 109,000 at the outset to 486 as of today. It’s also rated 13th in the Health Category of lenses. So I thought it would be an opportune time to post some thoughts and reflections.
Why Use Squidoo?
The most obvious question to start with and perhaps a way of explaining a little about why I like it so much! Let’s just recap on what Squidoo actually is! It’s a community of people who are building web pages, which they call lenses, in a diverse range of subjects. In fact the range of topics is incredibly diverse! The other great thing about Squidoo lens building is that it is easy! You have a series of modules that you can pull together and develop. It’s almost like one of those “drag and drop” type website builders and you have the opportunity to tweak them as you become more adept with using their system.
To quote the people at Squidoo when asked why you should use them:
It’s free.
It’s amazingly easy to set up.
People with lenses get more traffic to their blogs and other sites.
People with lenses earn money.
In fact I use that last one to donate some money to Charity so you even get to feel good using them!
From a Marketer’s perspective this is ideal! It gives you a great opportunity to create a series of lenses around what are termed the “long tail” phrases within the niches in which you operate. You can drive visitors to your other sites in the niches in which you operate and to your blogs and of course to your affiliate links! For those of you who like me use Firefox they have also added a rather nifty Firefox extension!
So let me give you an example of a lens like that so you understand what I mean. I created How To Stop Your Dog Digging yesterday and by the time of the update today it had already risen from about 109,000 to 6,360 and had been viewed by a fair few people. Now that lens was developed from a PLR article I had sat on my computer doing nothing. Imagine if you are one of those who subscribes to a PLR Membership site where you get packs of articles around particular niches each month. A fantastic opportunity there to develop as many lenses as you want!
So what’s the advantage in building lenses? Well as I mentioned a little while ago there are benefits in terms of being part of a growing community, driving traffic to your other sites and making sales. In addition there is an opportunity to create content in a niche that you want to explore but have not yet had the chance to. So let’s think about the lens that I created for The Squidoo Challenge around Hair Loss and Hair Loss Remedies. I have been able to make some affiliate sales from it and I might therefore decide that it is an area that I want to pursue. Or I might think, well I will just keep it ticking over and see how things go. In fact that is probably what I will do in this instance. However, with some others that I am exploring at the moment I will certainly be developing them much further because I am interested in them and they are profitable.
The other thing to mention is that Google really seem to like Squidoo. There is a bit of a glitch going on at the moment because they have added something like 600 characters worth of javascript at the start of each lens – but from the fuss that is being kicked up at their forum Squidu I suspect that will soon be sorted. I am sure someone more technical will be able to explain that one!
Okay Paul, I hear you say, you have got me interested! What do I need to do to make my first lens?
Building Your Lens
The tips that follow are based on what I have discovered from what I have done on the site. I am sure others will be able to add more and as I continue to learn I will be adding more tips. In fact what I have done is started a new lens today at How To Succeed at Squidoo so that those who are interested can follow along over the coming days and weeks.
So you need to start by creating an account at Squidoo and setting your personal preferences. I think it weighs in your favour if you set your income earning to be split with the charities – no hard evidence but just a gut feel about that one.
Then you will want to take the big leap and start creating your first lens. Don’t worry if you get it wrong at first – you can always delete it! What I would suggest is that you find yourself a niche and then look at something like Good Keywords and find some of the lower rated keyword phrases to build your lens around. Notice how each of the lenses that I have quoted in this post has dashes between the words – as I am sure you have picked up from other threads here that seems to be something that Google like. So go with it!
Okay you have created your lens, chosen your category and you have added the first set of keywords as they request, you are half way there! Then a page appears saying “Edit Your Lens.” Don’t panic! I have this vision of Sergeant Jones from Dad’s Army at the moment – which may mean nothing to non-UKer’s! However, really do not panic! Have a play, try adding some modules and even get really adventurous and try deleting some. You can always add them back. In fact I would strongly recommend that you do add and delete some and fill them with content and see how they look. Until you push the big button labelled “Publish” no-one will see your creation.
Once you have started to get a little more familiar with the way it works it’ time to get serious about building your lens. Here’s what I did with my The Squidoo Challenge Lens and what I will be replicating at How To Succeed With Squidoo so that you can follow along.
Day One of Your Lens you should
Add an Introduction – conveniently they have a module called Introduction already there for you. Put a few words about the Lens and what you will be covering. Make sure you use your primary keywords (the name of your lens) in the Introduction and “bold” them. Add an appropriate picture so that your lens is already starting to look different than others and draws the reader in.
Add Some Content. This is done through the Text/Write Module. Content is vital if your lens is to be taken seriously and rated by visitors. It’s something that an increasing number of marketers seem to be forgetting that actually we do need to have content which real people can read when we are trying to get their attention! You can use some basic html in the Text/Write Module so you can have links in there if you wish. You can also “bold” your keyword phrase which again helps.
Add some Interactivity. Web 2.0 sites are about interacting with your visitor and giving them the opportunity to make comments or take a poll. So we have the Guestbook and the Poll Module which you can add. Here’s a good place to talk about adding Affiliate Products. The Links Plexo Module allows you to add your links and give the visitor the opportunity to vote on them. This is the module through which I would ordinarily add some affiliate links.
Now take a break! I am very conscious that this post has become very long! I will add more tips through the lens I have already mentioned over at How To Succeed With Squidoo during the next few weeks. Have a look around that lens and see what you notice I have already done that will hopefully help it move from it’s first day ranking of 110,406
For now take action!
March 25th, 2007
I have found Squidoo to be an excellent source of Traffic and indeed an increasing number of sales. I love the way you can easily create a Lens about any subject under the sun and make money for charities as well as yourself.
If you haven’t checked out Squidoo yet then you are really missing out! Take a look at Squidoo by clicking on that link!
Tiffany Dow is an expert on using Squidoo and her superb ebook Dominating Squidoo is the definitive work on the subject. She even has John Reese recommending her ebook as well as me! Gosh could she ask for more!
Tiff is currently running a Squidoo challenge which I am participating in and really enjoying. You can take a look at my Hair Loss Remedy Lens again by clicking on the link!
March 18th, 2007
It’s amazing to think that just eighteen months ago I was running several MSN Groups which were keeping me very occupied! But you know they were not making me any money at all! Today I have reached the position where I am generating sufficient income from online activity each and every month to be able to give up the day job if I wanted to! It’s a great position to be in and gives me such a sense of freedom!
I have learnt an immense amount in the last twelve months and through Internet Marketing Outlined I will give you access to that learning in a clear and structured way. It’s very true that we all learn from our mistakes as well as our successes. For me the mistakes I have made have been absolutely critical because by learning from them I have been able to achieve so much more.
As a Professional Coach and Trainer I have a wide range of skills that have consistently enabled me to work with others at all levels……to enable them to succeed.
Through Internet Marketing Outlined I will reveal how I have been able to put myself in the position of being able to give up the day job. I will not be revealing the “inside secrets” of some get rich quick scheme. What you will discover are the building blocks of an Internet Business and how you can plan and build your own Internet Business.
My success has been achieved through a passionate desire to empower people through information. This desire to enable people to achieve real change in their lives in both the big and the small ways is what has enabled me to be in the position to be able to give up the day job if I wanted to.
If you are looking to make a regular income online take a look at Internet Marketing Outlined
February 14th, 2007
Let me start by wishing each and everyone of our readers a Very Happy New Year! I hope that 2007 brings you and your loved ones everything you desire and that our world will become a better place in the year ahead.
Those of you who have been keeping up with developments will know that the closing weeks of 2007 presented a fair share of challenges following the crash of one of our main Hosts. However, we have been working hard and all the major sites are now back up and attracting large numbers of visitors again!
One of the things that the collapse of the Hosting enabled us to do, as part of our planning for 2007, was to carry out a complete review of all our online activities. 2006 was a very successful year for us and one in which we explored a whole range of areas and niches.
Plans for 2007
During 2007 we will be focusing on a number of niches in which we believe that we can add real value and will be looking to bring online a number of services that will be useful to you.
We have some great plans for the coming year. We hope that the many hundreds of you who have joined our subscriber lists over the last few weeks and those of you who have been with us for some time will enjoy the ride!
To give you a taste of what we have planned:
Membership Sites
GenMates
The launch of GenMates (The Genealogist’s MySpace) in the middle of 2006 was a phenomenal success with some tremendous publicity across the Genealogy community. We have been talking to our members and have been taking on board their feedback. As a result of that GenMates is evolving! The consensus of opinion has been that whilst they really enjoy the ability to interact with each other and with us they rarely find themselves using the wide range of features available to members. This feedback is broadly in line with what we have been observing over the past few weeks. You can read more about these exciting developments and the evolution of GenMates which will occur on 10th January 2007 by visiting GenMates - Your Genealogy Centre.
Internet Business Creators
One of th most frustrating effects of the Hosting crash was that our plans for the launch of The Niche Marketer’s Coaching/Membership site was delayed. However, I am pleased to be able to advise you that the site will now launch on 1st February 2007.
Those of you who have signed up at Internet Business Creators will already be aware that you will be getting a substantially reduced monthly subscription to a site at which I will share many of the techniques and strategies I use in my Internet Marketing endeavours. In addition the site will provide an opportunity for me to help individuals and for us to explore Group Coaching.
What you will not be aware of is that I intend to impose a strict limit on membership of one hundred people - yes just 100. My intention is to grow a small community of like minded people who can grow and develop together.
Self-Improvement and Coaching Site
As those of you who have been with me a little while will be aware I a passionate about Coaching and Training - indeed it’s something that I spend a lot of my time doing both online and offline.
I have been thinking of launching a site which provides self-improvement advice and Coaching for a little while and in the second half of 2007 we will be launching such a site. I am really excited about the opportunities that will provide and my thinking at the moment is that the site will be limited to no more than 100 people!
More details of that site will become available as the year evolves.
Other Plans
Those of you who are coming here from the various subscriber lists will be aware of the various niches that we are focusing on in the coming year - with one or two more to be added as the year unfolds.
In each of the niches that we will be operating in our guiding principle will be; to provide high quality information in a variety of formats which enable people to make change in their lives in both the small ways and the big ways. We want to ensure that you have access to the latest and most useful information and that is what we will be very focused on.
Other News
Article Directories
Look out for information from us towards the end of the first quarter of 2007 about the launch of a Hobbies Article Directory and also the evolution of Genealogy Articles into an Article Directory! These will be sites at which you will be able to submit your articles for others to read and also use on their own sites.
Choosing Domain Names
Let me share with you some information which seems to be “hot” at the moment!
When I am thinking about a new domain that I want to do something important with I pop over to www.whois.net and have a look in the deleted domains.
Basically I put the main keyword that I am looking at using into the search box and see what comes back. Now sometimes you have to work your way through what appears to be a load of junk names before you find one that sounds like something you might want to use.
When I spot some that I like the sound of I pop over to www.leapfish.com and get a “domain appraisal.” I am not looking for the alleged value of the site (although it’s nice if it comes back with a 3 or 4 figure value) instead what I am looking for is whether the site has existing links within the search engines and also a good archive score.
If I do find some that I want to register I go straight to a domain registrar and get them registered (having done a Google search for any “coupons” for the registrar(s) that I use.) Then once registered, and this seems to be “hot news,” if I don’t have a site to go up straight away I “park” them at Sedo.
I earn a nice little amount each month from those I have parked there - not massive but worthwhile. I must admit I had forgotten to do this with quite a few domains in the last year and have spent a couple of hours over this weekend getting myself sorted with those as well.
Obviously there is much more to the real profiting from the buying and selling of domain names but hopefully that will help one or two people.
So in closing let me again wish you and your loved ones a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year for 2007.
January 1st, 2007
Hope that you have had a good week. Thank you to all those who were kind enough to write and commiserate with me over my ear infection! Things are steadily getting better I think!
It’s been a busy week for us and we have had quite a lot going on with updating some major sites and moving some new projects along.
Dog Owners Special!
My Dog! - which has become a major source of information for those who care for and train dogs has had lots of additional content added and the feedback has been extremely positive. For those of you who are Dog Owners I am able to give you access to a Free Dog Training Report which I think you will find invaluable - I know we have certainly been making use of the information.
Genealogists
As many of you will be aware Genealogy is one of my great passions. In the last week we have been undertaking some significant updating of The Amateur Genealogist which is the site which is featured in most of the Genealogy Magazines on a regular basis. Again we have been receiving very positive feedback and we have also been receiving numerous orders for the heavily discounted Genealogy Guide which you can take a look at by clicking on that link! I think we will leave that offer available for a few more days. You might also want to check out my Genealogy Blog where there are some interesting new articles and if you missed my post about The Genealogy Videos site - well there’s the link for you!
Internet Marketing
You know there are some things that I could find quite depressing about the whole Internet Marketing field! I enjoy what we do in terms of providing high quality information to site visitors and customers. However when you visit some of the leading Internet Marketing forums there are some people who seem to have an absolute obsession with making money at any cost. I guess it’s inevitable that where there is the opportunity to make money some people will do just about anything and promote any old pile of rubbish without a single thought for whether it adds value to anything. There are a number of things going around at the moment which seem to embody that approach!
My focus since we first “discovered” that what we were doing was called Internet Marketing has been on providing high quality information that makes a real difference to people or helps them to make a positive change in their life. That will continue to be my approach come what may and it’s the approach that I will be promoting through my Membership Based Internet Coaching site.
Those of you who have signed up for Internet Business Creators will have the opportunity to join up at a heavily discounted rate ($9.97 per month (paid quarterly) rather than $21.97 per month) and I look forward to welcoming you during December 2006!
In the meantime don’t forget to check out my recently launched series of sites at Internet Marketing Essentials which again embody my customer focused approach.
Christmas is Coming!
As if you needed reminding! But if you are interested in some excellent free then you will want to take a look at The Twelve Day of Christmas.
Of course you will also want to take a look at The Father Christmas Blog! If you are looking for Christmas Gifts that you can send by email well do take a look at PK eBooks Your eBook Store for some great options.
November 26th, 2006
Hope that you have had a good week? It’s been quite a long week for me I must admit with a number of large online and offline projects reaching a critical point which has been keeping me busy. I have also been suffering with a stinking cold which is not my idea of fun! Hopefully I will soon be rid of it!
Lest We Forget
Today of course we remember those who have given their lives in the service of us all. As always our home page at British Genealogy has changed to “Lest We Forget” our Remembrance page. As a genealogist I am always reminded of how many of our families lost young men and women at an early age as a result of War whenever I look at our Family Tree.
Suduko/Sudoku
Whichever way you spell it or indeed pronounce it “Suduko” shows no sign of declining in popularity! Everywhere you look people are completing the puzzles be it on trains or trams, buses or at airports! Or you will find them snapping up the shelf after shelf of magazines!
It’s no wonder then that the offer I have made of selling the Private Label Rights to one of my eBooks “Solving Suduko” has proven to be so popular. If you are interested in getting in on the deal then you need to check out Solving Suduko PLR before the figure of 100 sales is reached!
Health Thoughts
Talking of suffering with a stinking cold you will remember that I mentioned last week that we have been working with various medics to put together a series of health related sites. I am pleased to say that the main domain is now fully operational and you can check it out at Your Health Helper. There really is a mass of useful information in there for you.
Free Search Engines
We have had a massive response to the launch of the three search engines we have launched in collaboration with Google and if you haven’t had chance to look at them well now’s your chance! Your can check our Free Genealogy Search Engine and also The Internet Marketing Search Engine by clicking on the relevant link.
We have also launched our own more general search engine (covering Family, Home, Health and Hobbies amongst many others) and that can be found at duxcoo
One Final thought on sites! We have extended the discounted pricing at The eBook Store until the end of November 2006 in response to requests - so some hobby based eBooks for you to grab there!
Launching 1st December 2006
Those of you who have signed up for Internet Business Creators will be aware of the exciting way the project has developed. This has been in response to the feedback from those who were originally in a series of eBooks about succeeding online. The feedback was that whilst they wanted the inputs from someone (little old me!) who has succeeded online they would prefer them in an interactive way. It was from that feedback that the idea of a Group Coaching Site was born and the official launch is set for 1st December 2006! However, those who are signed up for Internet Business Creators may just get a sneak preview and well as the discounted for life price!
Adsense is Still Alive!
To quote Mark Twain, “The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” There has been much talk in internet marketing of late about the supposed “Death of Adsense” and you know how the jungle drums can start beating! As someone who makes a very reasonable monthly sum from Content based Adsense Sites I can tell you that Adsense is very much alive! Now one of the things that I have been fortunate with is finding a source of excellent Niche sites. You will be interested to hear that 1st December 2006 sees a site opening it’s doors which I think you will love! Watch our for the information which I will make sure you get asap!
Finally talking of Niches…….
What is it about the word “niche” that has everyone wearing out their keyword tools? Find the right niche, and you just might uncover an untapped goldmine. There’s a fallacy in the Internet marketing community that all Internet marketers use Internet marketing as their niche. Not true.
While some do generate profits from information products, membership sites, and AdSense revenue, most successful marketers find niches outside of Internet marketing. A niche is simply a targeted audience within a broader community.
For instance, parents are a broad niche. But parents of multiples are a more targeted niche. You might create an online empire that caters to both sectors of the online community. Your product line could include items directed at issues affecting all moms and dads – such as cutting costs in the household, or you could narrow down your niche to target single mothers of autistic children. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the broader your niche, the more profitable it will be.
That, too, is a false belief plaguing so many newcomers to ‘net marketing (and even a few seasoned veterans). A focused niche can sometimes generate a higher rate of conversion because the competition is decreased and the consumer can’t find products suited just to their needs.
Take the example above – single mothers of autistic children. You could probably find dozens of products on autism, but how many meet the unique needs that a single parent would face in this situation?
Finding your niche is heavily dependent on how the market will react to online marketing. This is where keyword tools come in so handy – they can tell you how many searches where conducted over a period of time.
You have to temper your glee in finding out that your keyword has a lot of searches with the fact that other marketers might have discovered this fact, too. That’s when it’s necessary to drill down your niche. This simply means you magnify your niche until you’re able to see the finer details that could set you apart from the sea of competitors.
When you set out to discover your niche, try to find one that will allow you to build a library of products around it. Brainstorm what other needs a single parent of an autistic child might have and then keep adding to your list until it’s exhausted and time to move forward and find a new target audience.
Niche research should be done in the early stages – before product creation. You don’t want to find a market for your product – you want to create a product for your market.
Have a great week!
November 11th, 2006
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