Do You Squidoo?

In the last few weeks I've been exploring a new - and free - service called Squidoo. I say new, but it's actually been around since March 2006. I've only just discovered it myself!

Squidoo makes it easy for anyone to set up a single page website on any topic they wish. These one-page sites are referred to as lenses. Lenses can be about anything, including people and places, hobbies and sports, jobs and activities, and so on. As single page sites, lenses aren't intended to hold huge amounts of content; more emphasis is placed on recommending and then pointing to content on the web.

Users who create lenses are called 'lensmasters'. Lensmasters build up their lenses from a range of modules provided by Squidoo. There is a biography module, an introduction module, a 'Write' module for text, a poll module for incorporating opinion polls, a guestbook module, a links module, and so on. You simply choose the modules you want, fill in the necessary content, and click to publish.

There are two aspects of Squidoo that make it of particular interest to writers. First, no technical expertise is needed to build your lens. You don't need to know any HTML (although if you know a little, it will help you add some extra bells and whistles). You simply build up your lens by adding modules and arranging them as required.

The other attraction of Squidoo is that it gives writers the opportunity to earn from their expertise. All lenses have Google AdSense ads on their pages, and lensmasters get a share of the income generated from this. Of course, that's similar to Suite101, which I discussed here recently.

In addition, however, it is possible to incorporate a range of other money-making modules into your lenses. For example, the Amazon.com module will display books and other products relevant to your chosen topic. If anyone buys a book from Amazon via your link, the commission is split between you and Squidoo. There are also money-making modules for eBay, CafePress and other online stores.

I'm a beginner at Squidoo (and not particularly technical), but in a very short time I was able to build my first two lenses. Greece Travel Tips is a lens containing tips for anyone planning on going to Greece for the first time. This was done mainly for fun, to see how easy (or otherwise) it would be. My other lens is called How to Write a Book, and as you might guess is promoting my course Write Any Book in Under 28 Days. I'd estimate that each lens took me no more than two hours to create.

Based on my experience so far, I'd definitely recommend Squidoo as worthy of your attention if you're looking for ways to make money writing for the web. If you decide to give it a go, click on this referral link to get started and you will receive an extra $5 bonus from Squidoo once you have earned your first $15 (and so will I!).

If you'd like more info about Squidoo, there are a couple of guides I'd recommend. First of all, those of you who took my recommendation and joined The Marketing Pond can download a free guide called 'How to Use Squidoo' from the Products section. A more comprehensive guide called SquidooBlueprint is available for just $9.97 (around 5 UK pounds) from this website. SquidooBlueprint goes into much more detail about making money from Squidoo, and I recommend buying it if you hope to earn an income from the site. You can even sell the guide yourself once you've bought it and get 100% commission on every sale.

See you on Squidoo!