About the Experiment
I hear so much about Squidoo and have for quite some time. I've actually tried to use it in the past but never quite "got it," so I'd always move on in frustration. Finally, after visiting this site too many times to count and wishing for the same success as the other lensmasters, I decided to conduct a little experiment. Here goes.
(the end of the experiment is August 12, 2008)
Ask a question.
Can Squidoo REALLY increase my "online traffic, revenue, followers, attention, interest, donations, and influence," as they say in the free eBook here?
My thoughts...
One important thing to note here is that I am NOT an expert at Squidoo. I just built my first REAL lens today (July 14, 2008), so I definitely consider myself a newbie at all this. I don't have any connections here with the "movers and shakers," the Giant Squids, or Seth Godin (other than reading his books), nor do I have any influence within any of the groups here (I'm not even a member of any yet, although I'm sure I will be soon, since that's probably a good way to promote a lens). In a nutshell, I want to prove that someone brand new to this (who is likely intimidated by the "Lensmasters," as I am at this point) can achieve the same level of success.
I should also mention that I have tried to create a lens or two in the past (really just played with them). I didn't take the time to create what I'd consider to be a good lens.
Do background research.
Here's what I've discovered about Squidoo so far.
Squidoo Success Stories
Please add your success story to the list below.
I'd love to hear how Squidoo has helped you, your business, or your organization. Please post your success story below. I've added a few from my "research" findings.
#1 Lens on Squidoo
According to Janet21, who has the #1 ranked Squido more...0 points
A Pro Blogger
Darren Rowse of Problogger wrote this on his blog more...0 points
Another Blogger Says...
Edwin Boiten posted, "The money earned in a y more...0 points
A Lensmaster Says...
Frankster (a Squidoo Lensmaster) says, "I've more...0 points
Construct a hypothesis.
If I use Squidoo, then I will increase my "online traffic, revenue, followers, attention, interest, donations, and influence," incrementally over time, as they say in the free eBook here.
How to Participate on Squidoo
What are your suggestions?
Okay, I've built a lens. Now what? I'm sure there are ways to increase traffic and participation on my lens, but how? Please post your thoughts here (or rate those already posted).
Test with an experiment.
Here's where we put it to the test. Show us what ya got, Squidoo.
Getting Started
Things to Know About Building a Lens
- I should be "familiar with the idea of blogs (or even have one), AdWords, RSS, and other Web 2.0 goodies." CHECK!
- I should be an "expert at something." CHECK!
- I should follow the recommended steps: "(1) Focus, (2) Make it clear, (3) Build your lenses, (4) Link to the blogosphere, and (5) Repeat." STILL WORKING ON THIS ONE!
To make sure I'm doing everything I can do to make the most of my lenses, I'm reading as much advice as possible on the subject, starting at SquidU.
Note: I'm not going to go into how to build a lens here, except that I will post any tricks I learn that I haven't personally found posted elsewhere, especially those I think contributed to the success of this experiment and to (hopefully) proving my hypothesis true.
Analyze the results and draw a conclusion.
Is our hypothesis true or false?
Steps Taken
- 07/14/08: Created lens, "Blog Rx"
- 07/14/08: Posted link to Blog Rx in posts in two Ryze networks
- 07/15/08: Created lens, The Squidoo Experiment
- 07/15/08: Posted link to The Squidoo Experiment in posts in two Ryze networks
- 07/15/08: Created two more lenses, Website Rx and My Advisory Board, which is part of a network I created yesterday on Ryze by the same name
- 07/16/08: Created lens, Don't Break the Chain
- 07/17/08: Added The Squidoo Experiment to "Anyone Can Join" group at Squidoo
- 07/17/08: Added Blog Rx to "The ULTIMATE Marketing Group" at Squidoo
- 07/17/08: Added My Advisory Board to "The Entrepreneur Station" group at Squidoo
- 07/17/08: Added My Advisory Board to "I Work from Home" group at Squidoo
- 07/17/08: Added Don't Break the Chain to "Self-Help" group at Squidoo
- 07/17/08: Added Website Rx to "Information | The How To of the Internet" group at Squidoo
- 07/17/08: Based on a recommendation from a fellow Ryze member, made changes, added modules, and updated all five lenses
- 07/17/08: Based on a recommendation from a fellow Ryze member, watched for additional keywords I could add (from within sidebar of lenses) and updated where available
Current Lenses
Lens Stats
For Blog Rx
The numbers mean...
Overall rank - Category rank - Visits (total) - Clickouts (total)
- 07/14/08: #430,000 - #30,000 - 0 - 0
- 07/15/08: #13,345 - #1318 - 9 - 2
- 07/16/08: #7,421 - #743 - 12 - 3
- 07/17/08: #6,133 - #625 - 13 - 3
- 07/18/08: #7,121 - #708 - 13 - 3
Lens Stats
For Website Rx
The numbers mean...
Overall rank - Category rank - Visits (total) - Clickouts (total)
- 07/16/08: #96,066 - #9462 - 0 - 0
- 07/17/08: #70,940 - #6977 - 0 - 0
- 07/18/08: #80,320 - #7952 - 1 - 0
Lens Stats
For The Squidoo Experiment
The numbers mean...
Overall rank - Category rank - Visits (total) - Clickouts (total)
- 07/16/08: #29,019 - #802 - 7 - 1
- 07/17/08: #21,437 - #574 - 8 - 1
- 07/18/08: #21,299 - #560 - 9 - 1
Lens Stats
For My Advisory Board
The numbers mean...
Overall rank - Category rank - Visits (total) - Clickouts (total)
- 07/17/08: #42,167 - #2991 - 5 - 0
- 07/18/08: #44,139 - #3159 - 5 - 0
Lens Stats
For Don't Break the Chain
The numbers mean...
Overall rank - Category rank - Visits (total) - Clickouts (total)
- 07/17/08: #105,406 - #10406 - 1 - 0
- 07/18/08: #73,577 - #7238 - 1 - 0
Website Stats
The numbers mean...
Website visitors (total) from Squidoo
- 07/15/08: 3
- 07/16/08: 3
- 07/17/08: 3
- 07/18/08: 3
Conference Call?
Share the Results
I was thinking it might be helpful to have a conference call at the end of the experiment to talk about the results. It could be (if the results turn out well) a great way to learn more about social networking, improving web traffic, and search engine optimization. I'll share more details about what I did to get the results. Let me know if this is something that would interest you.
Report our results.
Drum roll, please...
Still Collecting & Analyzing Data
Share your experience.
Be sure to sign the guestbook and tell us about your experience with Squidoo.
