HOW TO MAKE A SQUIDOFFER THAT ROCKS
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7 secrets, an overview, and some sample SquidOffers.
7 SECRETS TO CREATING GREAT SQUIDOFFERS
1. Write killer copy. This is really important to a great Offer. None of this "Limited Time Only, Free, Instant Money, Sell Me Your Firstborn" snakeoil salesman stuff. What you're offering might be legit and good, but if people think it's a late night infomercial they're guaranteed to shudder.
2. Be transparent and honest. Deliver what your ad says you'll deliver. Don't say "free" if it's not. Don't mislead.
3. Create funky and attractive and cooler-than-your-average-bear thumbnail images. Design for 50 x 50. Icons on white backgrounds look really slick.
4. Pick the right category for your Offer.
So that it appeals to the right people! (Spamming an Offer into irrelevant categories could get your advertiser account banned!)
4.5 Make sure you're never on this list! Read up on what might get your Offer declined.)
5. Promote your Offer to your friends, clients or colleagues. Link to the Offers list from on your blog or site. Getting people to vote for your Offer is fair and square. Get your Offer into the top 5 of your category and you win BIG. So, if you're running an Offer in videogames, send this page around to your friends and get 'em voting! http://www.squidoo.com/browse/offers/videogames
6. You'll decide what #6 is for us!
7. Don't be afraid to experiment. This isn't a cost-per-click, ROI, guaranteed traffic sort of thing. If you win, you win big. If you lose, no one will laugh at you for trying something new.
2. Be transparent and honest. Deliver what your ad says you'll deliver. Don't say "free" if it's not. Don't mislead.
3. Create funky and attractive and cooler-than-your-average-bear thumbnail images. Design for 50 x 50. Icons on white backgrounds look really slick.
4. Pick the right category for your Offer.
So that it appeals to the right people! (Spamming an Offer into irrelevant categories could get your advertiser account banned!)
4.5 Make sure you're never on this list! Read up on what might get your Offer declined.)
5. Promote your Offer to your friends, clients or colleagues. Link to the Offers list from on your blog or site. Getting people to vote for your Offer is fair and square. Get your Offer into the top 5 of your category and you win BIG. So, if you're running an Offer in videogames, send this page around to your friends and get 'em voting! http://www.squidoo.com/browse/offers/videogames
6. You'll decide what #6 is for us!
7. Don't be afraid to experiment. This isn't a cost-per-click, ROI, guaranteed traffic sort of thing. If you win, you win big. If you lose, no one will laugh at you for trying something new.
(WAIT, TELL ME AGAIN: WHAT ARE SQUIDOFFERS?)
in a nutshell...
SquidOffers is the new user-generated, community-voted, turbocharged offers system. It's a whole new way of connecting marketers with smart people online.
SquidOffers is:
* wide open
* community-voted
* incredibly cost effective
* and it gives the power to our users.
Marketers (and organizations and bloggers and authors and you) buy an offer. They put it in a category. Then, Squidoo lensmasters and surfers vote the offers up, like Plexo or Reddit or Digg, except every single listing is a real offer promoting real stuff. So, the best offers rise to the top and get the most traffic.
And you don't pay extra for the traffic. It's 25 cents for 90 minutes. Or $25 a week. Or $100 a month. Squidoo is getting millions and millions of new visitors every month. Traditional advertisers have offered big bucks to sponsor our pages. But we'd rather have you do it. For NOT a lot of money. When marketers compete to share valuable offers with our users and our millions of visitors, everyone wins.
BETA: We're just getting going! Register now and try out an Offer or two. First come, first served. One promise: the rates are going to go up!
SquidOffers is:
* wide open
* community-voted
* incredibly cost effective
* and it gives the power to our users.
Marketers (and organizations and bloggers and authors and you) buy an offer. They put it in a category. Then, Squidoo lensmasters and surfers vote the offers up, like Plexo or Reddit or Digg, except every single listing is a real offer promoting real stuff. So, the best offers rise to the top and get the most traffic.
And you don't pay extra for the traffic. It's 25 cents for 90 minutes. Or $25 a week. Or $100 a month. Squidoo is getting millions and millions of new visitors every month. Traditional advertisers have offered big bucks to sponsor our pages. But we'd rather have you do it. For NOT a lot of money. When marketers compete to share valuable offers with our users and our millions of visitors, everyone wins.
BETA: We're just getting going! Register now and try out an Offer or two. First come, first served. One promise: the rates are going to go up!
1. IF YOU'RE A BLOGGER...
try running an Offer like this:
EXAMPLE: HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLDGuy's blog is jammed with ideas on how to do better... online and off!
[Try running a SquidOffer that points back to your blog. Upload a thumbnail of your logo or yourself, write some witty text about why someone should read your blog, and you're off to the races! With so many blogs out there, attention is at a premium. People landing on lenses might just be looking for YOU.]
2. IF YOU'RE AN AUTHOR...
check out this example!
EXAMPLE: WIKINOMICSWhat happens when mass collaboration changes everything? Read the hot new book from Don Tapscott.
[Get ONE click away from an Amazon sale. If you're an author with a new book or ebook, try posting a SquidOffer promoting it! Worst case scenario: you're out $100 for 4 weeks. Best case: Your offer (which is great, because YOU designed it) gets shown on thousands of lenses and to 100,000s of eyeballs. Buying a full page ad in the New York Times doesn't guarantee sales either, and it's a heckuva lot more expensive to try.]
3. IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE MINDS AND SPREAD IDEAS....
maybe try something like this:
EXAMPLE: IS HILLARY THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT?Get the facts here. Then decide for yourself.
[$100 is a small gamble when we're talking the chance to spread ideas and influence an important conversation. *Nonprofits, submit your SquidOffers to us for free! Just email: charity at squidoo.com]
4. IF YOU'RE A LENSMASTER
yes, you could run a SquidOffer, too!
EXAMPLE: EVER WISH YOU WERE A KID AGAIN?Mr. McGroovy can tell you how. Just build a cardboard castle in your backyard.
[If you're a lensmaster looking to experiment, try buying a SquidOffer pointing to your lens in a certain category. Some of our lenses get 50,000 visits a week. What if you earned your way onto one of those?]
5. IF YOU'RE A SMART MARKETER WITH A SITE OR SERVICE OR PRODUCT
see below!
EXAMPLE: PHOTOJOJO IS PHOTOGRAPHY + AWESOMENESSWe find the coolest photography projects, DIY ideas, and gear, and bring them to you twice a week. Find out why Make, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, Flickr, and 37Signals all love Photojojo!
[Web 2.0 makes marketing inexpensive and easy and powerful. There's no ROI on word of mouth.]
6. TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!
dream up more ways to make SquidOffers work for you
* If you're a nonprofit looking to get the word out (drop a line at charity at squidoo.com)...* If you're a book publicist trying to work the "blog tours"...
* If you're an eBay seller, run an Offer promoting your shop or bestselling items...
* If you're a friend looking for a clever way to wish someone happy birthday, buy an Offer, write some funny copy, and point to that person's blog or MySpace page...
* If you're a business marketing a product...
* If you're a CafePress storekeeper with a new design to share...
* If you're looking for a job...
and whatever else you dream up!
P.S. HERE'S A HANDY SQUIDOFFERS TOOLBOX
If you're looking for more info
- Create Your Own Offer!!
- w00t.
- SquidOffers Terms of Service
- Read up on the rules.
- SquidOffers FAQ
- Questions? We got answers.
- This is what an Offers Topic page looks like
- When your SquidOffer is approved, it will go live on a page just like this, in whatever category you selected. If you get your Offer voted into the top 5 in your category, it goes live on every participating lens! The secret to your success? Promote this page to your friends, clients, colleagues. On a blog, lens, site. It's okay to campaign for votes, as long as you do it authentically and transparently.
- Join the conversation on SquidU
- Thoughts and discussions about Squidoffers, here.
by MeganCasey
Megan is a founding member and the Editor in Chief of Squidoo. (Hi, you're looking at Squidoo right now).
Before starting Squidoo, Megan spent 6 year... (more)
Before starting Squidoo, Megan spent 6 year... (more)
