I'm Ready to Be a Squidoo Nonprofit Partner... Now What?
Congratulations! You've signed up for donations.
The next step is... you guessed it, the plan for inviting your supporters to make lenses for you.
But don't fret; we've got plenty of suggestions for a blockbuster Squidoo campaign. And we'll even do most of the heavy lifting.
Your Basic Squidoo Get-the-Word-Out Launch Checklist
Quickie tasks for optimum results
- Make a lens about your organization. Imagine you're talking to someone who knows nothing about your mission. Tell them about your work and how they can help. Throw in RSS feeds to your blog, links to your PSAs on YouTube. But don't get too bogged down in the details of your own lens. Steps 2-4 are far more important, because getting your supporters to build lenses is the way to really spread your message.
- Schedule your first email announcement. Give us a word count, and we'll happily provide the draft copy to get you started. Then we'll help you come up with other relevant, compelling lens callouts throughout the year.
- Choose your website placement. The best conversion results from these two steps combined: a button or listing on your home page to coincide with the launch; and a box for the long term on your "Take Action" or "How to Help" page.
- Figure out what content you want to carry across all the lenses that your supporters will make for you. A public service announcement video? An RSS feed to your blog? A standard module explaining what your mission is? Links to the products you sell? The photo and story of someone who your organization has helped?
- Put together a press release describing your Squidoo efforts. (We're happy to give you quotes, a boilerplate, and anything else you might need.)
- Draft up an editorial calendar that details how often you'll ask your supporters to build lenses, and what kind of lenses you'll ask for.
A Word About Email Announcements...
Email announcements can make or break your Squidoo success, since this is oftentimes the primary mechanism for inviting your supporters to make lenses. Here are some key do's and don'ts.
- Don't bury your Squidoo callout. Yes, you're going to have to fight off other departments to get your Squidoo call to lenses at the top of the newsletter. But if you want to succeed, you need clicks. And clicks don't come when your call to make lenses is 5th on the page.
- Do use friendly, succinct language. Your supporters need to know only a few things: that lens-building is fun, quick, and free, and it supports you no matter what content they choose to write about. They don't need to know exactly how we calculate royalties or read through 2 pages of instructions, for example.
- Do remember that your best results come from a campaign, not a one-off. Sending an email to your supporters is the first and perhaps most important step. Then how about setting a lens goal, and hitting people a week later, and a month later, and throughout the year with seasonal solicitations? Check out some suggestions below.
Racking Up Lenses Throughout the Year
Don't let your Squidoo HQ go cold
We have the stats to show that people who publish one lens are prone to create another. Which is just one more reason to keep things fresh and ask for a new type of content every so often. For best results, we recommend monthly or quarterly outreach. Here are some options to consider...
- Seasonal. New Year's Resolutions, Valentine's Day Wish List, Favorite Summer Tunes, Best Summer Vacation Spots, Thanksgiving Recipes, Holiday Wish List or "Favorite Things"
- Popular Lens Topics on Squidoo. Your Favorite Books, Favorite Movies, 10 Things You'd Need if Stranded on a Deserted Island, Why Your Pet is the Best Ever, Favorite Hometown Haunts, Your How-To Expertise (on anything!)
Our End of the Bargain
Our launch-day promo plan to get Squidoo users making lenses for you
- We'll feature you as a Squidoo lens of the day, inviting Squidoo's 15,000 opt-in subscribers to build a lens in support of your cause.
- We'll also include callouts for you on appropriate Squidoo web pages.
- We'll announce your partnership on our message boards, home to some of Squidoo's most prolific and philanthropy-minded users.
- We're here to help far beyond your launch. If you decide to run monthly contests or quarterly promotions, you won't be on your own. We'll continue to plug your nonprofit and invite Squidoo visitors to support your cause throughout the year.
What is Working Now: A Case Study on the ASPCA
In one week, the ASPCA got 650 Squidoo lenses by asking its supporters to enter a "Make Your Pet Famous" contest. In fact, the promotion worked so well that they've made it a regular event, and they'll be choosing their favorite ASPCA lenses every month for the remainder of 2007.So how did they pull it off?
1. Three emails over the course of a month: one to announce the contest, one reminder on the last day of entry; and one announcement featuring the winning lenses. And emails once a month going forward.
2. Home page website placement for a period of 3 weeks
3. Special contest landing page on aspca.org
4. Blog and message board postings on aspca.org (January 29, 2007)
5. A press release announcing the contest, and regular news alerts showcasing the winners every month afterward
Get Aggressive
Moving beyond the basic promotional mechanisms
This is for those of you who aren't content with the status quo.
We've given you some basic tactics, but you're the experts when it comes to marketing to your constituents. So get creative! What kinds of messages will your supporters respond to?
We've given you some basic tactics, but you're the experts when it comes to marketing to your constituents. So get creative! What kinds of messages will your supporters respond to?
- Enlist a friendly celebrity to make a lens for you. Then promote the heck out of it.
- Reach out to bloggers in your space, and ask them to drive their readers to your headquarters on Squidoo.
- Ask your fundraisers (online or otherwise) to create lenses about the events they're hosting or races they're running. Position Squidoo as a way for them to get more traffic to their event.
- Buy keywords to drive traffic to your Squidoo headquarters page.
- Don't just ask your contributors to make lenses; hit up employees as well.
