December 17, 2005

SQUIDOO! - Because Everyone's An Expert On Something!

There's something totally new that's just come out of Beta... and it's definitely very cool!

It's called SQUIDOO... and basically you can set up what they call a "lens" on a particular subject, area, etc. And this so-called lens can point to a "Lensmaster's" blog or website, or BOTH! ...Uh, can you see the potential here?!?

Anyway, Lensmasters will be paid a share of the ad revenue generated, as every lens carries Google Adsense.

And from what I gather, Squidoo is owned by Seth Godin, a well-known author and Internet Marketer. So I think this one's going places for sure.

In my overall opinion, SQUIDOO is actually one of the coolest things to come along since blogs themselves! And if you're uncertain at all about how setting up a lens could impact your monthly income, then all you have to do is take a look at one of my own lenses...

TheLensMaster.com

-As you can see, these lenses give me yet another FREE way to advertise my businesses! And not only am I able to list my websites and blogs on each lens... I can also have my RSS feed posted and updated right to my Squidoo lens. Cool.

So go ahead and set up your own lens. Just go to squidoo.com...you can set one up totally free.

Additional information:

-WHAT'S A LENS?

A lens is a person's (lensmaster's) view on a particular topic he/she cares about. More specifically, a lens is a single web page that is filled with information and links that point to other web pages, updated RSS feeds, or relevant advertising.

WHY SHOULD I BUILD A LENS?

There are a few reasons why you might want to build your own lens:

• Share your knowledge: When you know a good deal about something, it feels good to share it. Plus it's good to help other people discover what you may have found out the hard way.

Increase your profile: A popular lens will give credibility to the Lensmaster and reinforce your role as an expert. It can also make you the go-to person for those looking for help or information in your area of expertise/experience.

Increase your traffic: You can point your lens to your blog and to your website. In addition, lenses have huge credibility with search engines, so a lens should increase your website traffic, even for people who don't visit your lens.

• Lenses are free to make. Squidoo says they will never charge a fee.

DOES SQUIDOO MAKE A PROFIT?

According to their FAQ's section...

Yes, Squidoo is an old-fashioned corporation, with real employees
and investors. We're not legally organized as a co-op, not in the sense that
we've got granola all over the floor or that we are owned and controlled by
volunteers.

Instead, we've structured the organization so that we're in a
partnership with our lensmasters. It's a co-op in the sense that the more you
give, the more you get. All lensmasters with traffic get a pro-rated share in
the income that we get from the Google AdSense ads that run on every page, for
example. In addition, a rotating slate of lensmasters is invited to participate
in the panel that chooses the charities that get the money from our charity
pool.

We divide up the money we receive in a very public way. First, we
pay our bills. That's direct out of pocket expenses like rent and servers and
salary and benefits expenses (our CEO doesn't take a salary, and neither does
our board of directors).

Then, with no other deductions, we pay 5% of our post-expense
revenue directly to the charity pool, 50% directly to our lensmasters and retain
the rest to pay off investors and employees. Don't quit your day job yet, but
you should know that as we all grow, our goal as a co-op is to pay as much money
as we can to our lensmasters and to charity.

Coming Soon To SQUIDOO: Earn a royalty for you, your organization, or your favorite charity.

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