It Pays to Squidoo!

I started creating lenses (pages) for Squidoo in March of 2007, not real sure what I was doing or how long I would be on the site. I like the idea of having my online content all over the web so it seemed to make sense to add it to Squidoo.

Now, after being on the site for 6 months it is clear to me that Squidoo is exactly how I would envision a successful online content site. I have content on Hubpages, Associated Content, my blogs and online newsletters but none have been as successful as my content on Squidoo.

Sure, my main blog gets lots of activity, with nearly 200 unique visitors a day but the revenue being generated through Google's adWords and Yahoo sponsored ads is minimal. I need to get the activity up to a 1,000 visitors a day before the numbers start to improve. In contrast, my monthly payout from Squidoo for July (paid in Sept.) was more than all of my other online content combined and even more amazing, it was 100% more than the previous month's payout from Squidoo.

Squidoo is both fun and profitable. The actual dollar amounts are small but the trend is fantastic as my payouts have grown exponentially from the $1.57 I earned my first month.

Squidoo is like Wikipedia on steroids. Just compare the Wikipedia profile on one of my favorite TV shows "Scrubs" with the best "Scrubs" profile on Squidoo.

Squidoo management isn't resting on their laurels either. They just recently launched SquidWho, a Who's Who on the net that has really taken off (read my take on SquidWho here).

You are not going to get rich building lenses on Squidoo but you can certainly earn some extra cash as you enjoy the process of building content on the Internet. In fact, I liked SquidWho's format so much I replaced my blogger profile with a SquidWho profile. Squidoo also is one of the top referrers to my blogs.

I think Squidoo and SquidWho are worth a look.

Is SquidWho For You?

The site with a funny name just added a new wrinkle. Seth Godin recently announced it on his blog so I thought I would do him a solid and also mention it here.

Squidoo just announced a new Internet tool called SquidWho a virtual "Who's Who" on the Internet that doesn't limit who can be included like Wikipedia does. Have you ever wanted to see your name in bits and bytes? Do you want to recognize a special person in your life, maybe a teacher, pastor, friend or family member? Now you can with SquidWho. Here's what Seth had to say:

Are you notable enough? I think so.

It occurs to me that the web is redefining what notable means, and so are we. Famous used to mean Gene Kelly and Mae West, or Sandy Weil and Bill Gates. But with the long tail, notable means: you're the #1 player on your tennis team; you're the top of your marketing department; you're a blogger lots of people read and talk about -- you're the best and most" notable" in your niche, however small. That's the kind of famous that SquidWho is about...

This being the web and not the real world, we decided to take matters into our own hands and launch SquidWho. The people-powered open who's who online. If you think someone is notable enough to warrant a bio, then they are. Your call, not ours, not some invisible editor's.

If you don't like the bio you see on someone, build a better one. It's free. Royalties go to charity. Best one wins. (Here's a good one).

The obvious ones (Bono, Mother Theresa and Jaco) are already taken, but that's okay. Build a better one. Not to mention the room for six billion more.

So, take a moment to check it out. It's fun and stress free but watch out it can be addicting. I've already created several:

• Monty Python - The funniest comedy group of all-time! Don't Argue With Me!
  
• Nolan Ryan - My favorite ballplayer growing up.
  
• Will Smith - My favorite actor, always makes good choices for roles (except Wild, Wild West)
  
• Jessica Alba -Okay, before you start calling me a "dirty old man" this was a test to see how a popular name would do on Squidoo (BTW over 250 unique visitors so far) and I certainly enjoy finding pictures to post.

I know you are all very busy in your everyday life but take a few moments to check it out and create a SquidWho lens about your favorite person or group. Even fictional characters are acceptable.

Okay, one mention about eBay (I've got to stop doing that). If you are a memorabilia seller, why not create SquidWho lens on several of your hottest selling people and drive them to your eBay listings. Check out my lenses to see what I did, each of them links to eBay memorabilia listings as well as Amazon listings.