Make money with Squidoo: Help tips for new lens creators

Choose a topic that you will use to create your Squidoo lens on. Generally select a topic in an area of interest to yourself as this makes lens creation much easier. You can create your lens on a favorite recipe, a craft tip, a vehicle maintenance tip, a topic you have been wanting to research, news on your favorite charity or hobby, or even information on your family history.

What you decide to create your Squidoo lenses on is completely up to you so long as you stay within Squidoo guidelines. You can read the complete Squidoo policy at: Squidoo Policy Guidelines. Be aware that no pornography, spam, gambling, or illegal activity lenses are allowed here at Squidoo. In other words, "Play nice", and your lenses will be welcome here at Squidoo.

Plagiarized or duplicate material is not allowed on Squidoo lenses. Squidoo asks that you try to keep your material as original as possible.

It is recommended that no more than an absolute maximum of 30% of a lens be of duplicated material. This guideline is to your benefit as the more original your work, then the more likely it will be that your Squidoo lens will receive preferred ranking within the major search engines. This means that you will be more likely to get increased traffic to your lens, which means that the lens will most likely rise higher in Squidoo tier ranking, which means that your Squidoo lens will wind up earning more money for you.

Be aware of Internet copyright and plagiarism law before you write on the Internet. Many people mistakenly believe that they can just copy and paste images or text from other areas of the Internet. Don't you believe it. Copy and paste of other people's work is plagiarism. Know the Internet copyright rules before you write.

Writing on the Internet is very different from writing a paperback novel. On the Internet the search engines are your main source of finding readers for your articles which means that you have to make your Squidoo lenses search engine friendly.

You can make your Squidoo lenses search engine friendly by using keywords which will help the search engines direct interested traffic (readers) to your lenses. Keywords are the words that a person types into a search engine box to try to find the topic that they are interested in and you can find keywords for your Squidoo lens by using the...Google Keyword Tool.

Once you have a selection of keywords for your lens - use them. Don't use the keywords too heavily within your article, or the search engines will presume that you are trying to manipulate their system, but use your keywords often enough to make them an important aspect of your article.

Squidoo has provided a Tag section on the right hand side of your screen where it is recommended that you enter between five and fifteen of your keywords. Don't forget to put your keywords there.

Visit other successful Squidoo lenses and see if you can pick out the keywords for those articles. This little exercise will help you to recognize keywords and help you know how to use keywords successfully within your own articles.

A Squidoo lens is a webpage created by joining together a series of modules. Squidoo makes the process of creating a lens quite simple by providing a wide array of different sales, text, picture, widgets, and social modules for you to select from.

Your workshop tools and widgets are on the right side of your screen and are visible when you are in edit mode. These tools allow you to design your Squidoo lens. Play around with the various Squidoo modules to see which ones work best for your topic. Keep in mind that you can always delete a module if you don't like how it looks on your lens.

Make your article informative by researching your topic, verifying your facts, and citing your sources within your article. Make your article attractive by uploading images, graphs, and maps into your Squidoo lens. (Note that there is a Google Maps module.)

Photographs are very valuable when you work online so keep your camera handy and be prepared to take a lot of photographs to decorate your Squidoo lenses with. There are also a number of Internet sites which provide free or public domain photographs and clip art, but before you use them, be absolutely sure to verify that these images are not under a copyright which bars you from using them.

There is an amazing wealth of information on finding free images at Free Photos and Pictures.

If you are not sure what your Squidoo lens should look like then spend some time visiting the lenses created by your fellow Lensmasters. These visits to the other Squidoo lenses are extremely valuable for newcomers. You can see how the different modules look live as well as the many different setups which the more seasoned Lensmasters use to create their lenses.

Always remember that an informative and attractive Squidoo lens will bring you visitors and keep them from wandering away by holding onto their attention till they get to the end of your article. Have a friend proof read your finished work for spelling and grammar errors. Accept criticism gracefully.

1) Be sure to enter between five and fifteen of your keywords into the TAG section at the right hand side of your screen.

2) Make sure that you have changed all the generic module titles ie: NEW GUESTBOOK, TEXT MODULE, or AMAZON SPOTLIGHT into titles related to your article theme. This will make your Squidoo lens more search engine and people friendly. It is also mandatory if you later wish to become a Giant Squid. The Squid Angels like to see this too, and they have the magical ability to bless your lens, and make it rise in the Squidoo tiers.

3) If you have not already placed your lens into a Squidoo category then do so now. There are quite a few category topics on Squidoo so spend some time becoming familiar with them to insure that your lens is placed into the most appropriate category.

4) In your introduction module is a RELATED LENSES tab. You can use this feature to place 3 of your related lenses to the right hand side of your Squidoo lens. Use this feature to increase the exposure of your lenses.

5) Make sure that your payment settings are set up correctly to either donate your earnings to charity or to pay you in cash. Set up a Paypal account and make sure that Squidoo has the email associated with that account. For the first few payments you should set your payment dollar amount setting at the minimum amount so that you do not lose out on any earnings.

Squidcast your lens after you publish it. Then stop by the Squidforums and pop your link into the "Lens Spotlight" or "Critique Me" forums.

Share your Squidoo lens with your friends, Facebook, Myspace, and blog about it on your blog. Create linkage into and out of your article as this will help the search engines to pick up your article. See: Creating Linkage: 15 places to link your blog.

Don't just leave your Squidoo lenses to drift to the bottom of the pack. Remember to check back on your lenses on a regular basis. While you are there skim through your Amazon modules and make sure that none of the products are expired. Update your Amazon products and your reviews of them. Check if there is more information which you can add to your Squidoo lens at this time. Refresh, and republish your lense on a regular basis. Whenever you update your Squidoo lens ping it at Squidutils.

There are many ways to create linkage and each Squidoo Lensmaster has his or her own system of promotion. You will discover yours as you move further into the Internet marketing field.

The comment section of Squidoo lenses is for receiving feedback on the article and for promoting your lenses. If you drop links in other lensmaster's comment sections this is considered spam and your account can be terminated if you insist in participating in this behavior.

Squidoo does indeed pay out a portion of it's advertising revenue to the Lensmasters who create the webpages (lenses) on the Squidoo site. If your lens ranks within one of the top three Squidoo tiers then you will receive a monetary payment for your lens based on the amount of advertising revenue that Squidoo receives that month.

If your lens does merit a payment then your first Squidoo payment will be paid out after your lens has been live on the Squidoo site for 2 months. So generally you can expect to receive your first payment in the 3rd month of your lens being active on Squidoo.

The payment you receive will depend on how well your lens ranks in tier so it is very important to insure that your lenses rank as high as they possibly can. Currently the three paying Tier levels are:

Tier one: 1-2000
Tier two: 2000 -10,000
Tier three: 10,000 - 85,000

To learn more about Squidoo's tier payment system visit: Squidoo Payment FAQ's

Squidoo does pay you to create top tier level lenses, but don't put all your eggs in one basket, or you will limit your ability to earn. The tier payments are only one way for you to acquire income from the Squidoo program. There are many other ways to acquire an income stream from your Squidoo lens.

1) Take advantage of the earning potential of the Squidoo Amazon and eBay modules. Use these modules to place related products onto your lens. If you are using the Amazon Spotlight module be sure to enter in a personal recommendation for the product you are featuring. This will allow the search engine to view this module as an article rather than just as keyword manipulation.

2. Create a free store at Zazzle or Cafepress. Create products using your photographs, drawings, or sayings and then sell these products on your Squidoo lenses. There are many Online affiliate programs so investigate them and select one or two that are right for you.

3. If you already have your own business then use your Squidoo lenses to help promote your business.

4. Promote your other articles or blogs on your Squidoo lens.

There are many ways to use the power of Squidoo lenses to create an income stream. Drop by the "Shopkeepers Talk" and "Tricks of the Trade" forums at the Squidforums for help in finding your direction in this arena.

Visit the other Squidoo lenses, comment on them, and like their lenses if you think that they are indeed good. Visit the forums and discuss your concerns and accomplishments with the other members of Squidoo.

Getting to know the other members of the Squidoo community is a great way to not only receive visitors, and feedback to your lenses, but it is also a wonderful way to become a member of the Squidoo community, and a great way to learn what is expected from your lenses at Squidoo.

These are your online peers and you can learn much from them. Stop by the Squidforums and say hi. The link to the squidu forum can be found in the upper left hand corner of your screen under the "Help & tips" tab.

When another Lensmaster comments on your Squidoo lens respond with a comment back to them. Try to use a few keywords in your comments. It's just a friendly little thing to do.

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Thank you once again Greek Geek for the use of your amazing Squidoo Graphics. Other images displayed on this article are from my family's personal photo album and Karen's Whimsy: Public Domain Images.

The DMCA copyright act protects the rights of those who post information on the Internet. This act applies to all photos and information provided on this webpage.