How To Earn a Few Extra Dollars On Squidoo

Want a quick way to earn a little more money from Squidoo? Improve your lensrank. Lenses which rank above 2,000 will usually earn over $10 per month. Lenses with rank above 10,000 will usually earn +/- $2.

There are many factors which determine lensrank, including sales, clickouts, ratings, etc. Most of these are difficult to influence. But the factor that seems to have the most impact on lensrank is also the one that is easiest to control: Lens Freshness.

Lenses with high traffic and lenses which are recently updated have the best chances of having a higher lensrank. I have over 100 lenses and it is difficult to keep them all up to date. So, I focus on keeping my lenses with the best traffic up to date. The easiest way to do this is:

Go to your dashboard

Click on "My Lenses"

On the column “Visits” click the arrow until all of the lenses are listed starting from the lenses with the highest traffic to the lowest.

Now look at the category “Edited”. Your top ten lenses should all be updated within the past 2-3 months.

If they are not, take a few minutes to refresh. Add a new module, such as a poll or a debate; make sure that your Amazon lenses are featuring the products you want them to feature. See if there is a good Youtube video to add to your lens.

Once you have updated, go back in 1-2 days and you will most likely see that your lens has improved in lens rank.

Keeping your lenses with the highest traffic up to date is your best chances of getting some of your lens ranked in the top tiers and the easiest way to earn a few extra dollars every month.

How To Celebrate Your Squidoo Anniversary

I was contacted by Lensmaster, MyChildCreatesowner reminding me that I had a Squidoo birthday coming up. He has created a lens, Your Squidoo Birthday, Lets Celebrate. What a great idea.

Today, March 12, is my 2nd anniversary as a Squidoo Lensmaster. I'm proud of many of my lenses but my top lens, Are You Polar Bear Aware? was my 1st and still my favorite. It has won top awards for the last 2 years, ranked #1 overall and has been consistently in the top 100 for going on 2 years.

Some of my other lenses could use a little TLC. So, I'm going to use this birthday as a reminder to re-evaluate my lenses and step up my quality. I'll be looking at each and every lens and asking myself:

1. What are the real keepers?
2. Should any be revamped, modified, streamlined? (I'll also make sure that my Lensographies -- I have 2 -- reflect all of my efforts on Squidoo and off Squidoo.)
3. Should any be sold, traded or given away?

I'll also check to see if the lens is bear or cat related; if so, link it to Polar Bear News or Cat Care, Breeds and Resources Blog.

I want to really focus my efforts this coming year making every lens so good that when people visit one, they say, "Whoa. I love this. What other lenses does she have?"

To me, the goal for a great lens is to get people to come back, tell others about it, donate to my charity or purchase something that supports my charity or my family (could be both).

How are you celebrating your Squidoo Anniversary?

Do you build lenses in series?

Hello Valley of the Giants readers! Thanks for coming by the blog today to read what we have to say! My name is ThomasC, I wanted to talk to you today about making a whole series of lenses based on one general topic. Every since I found Squidoo, I have built series of lenses. I have covered Martial Arts Masters, Recipes, Rock Bands from past and present, Song Lyrics and Music Videos, Hot rods and Muscle Cars, and my latest Playmates of the Year and Playboy Models!

Building lenses in series has lots of benefits. I always use "Featured Lens" modules to link back and forth to my other lenses in the series, plus I use anchor text links in my text. If someone is interested in the Playmate of the Year for 2006, they may also be interested in the Playmate of the Year for 2005!
Plus, there is always wiki modules, flickr modules, google blog modules, youtube videos, and tons more of the modules that can used on all your lenses in the series, making the lenses pretty quick to build!

A lensmaster once showed me this lens about Snakes of Louisiana, and she asked me what she could do to make it better. I suggested she make more lenses about the specific types of snakes in Louisiana. Thats exactly what she did!
Kingsnakes of Louisiana
Cottonmouth Moccasin Snake

So go ahead, make that lens a series! Several lenses is better than just one!
I have a blog going with some more Squidoo tips if you want to read!

Becoming a vegetarian: tips for your health

People become vegetarians for all kinds of reasons. Some are allergic to fish or meat. Others only consider the environmental issues. For most the treatment of animals in modern farming methods plays at least some part. My personal reasons have a lot to do with most of those (not the allergy), but also with another less well known factor: being a vegetarian is supposed to be good for spiritual development. The consumption of meat (especially blood) is said to make a person more aggressive. So if you want to become more peaceful it makes sense to stop eating meat.

Vegetarians don't eat fish either. If you do eat fish, please don't call yourself a vegetarian. Call yourself a pescatarian or something.

While a vegetarian diet has the public image of being unhealthy, it is certainly healthier than say a 'McDonalds' diet. On the other hand, there are some things to look out for. I've collected them on my lens: vegetarian health tips.

But all that aside: did you know there are vegetarian foods that just plain make you happy :)

Sources For Successful Squidoo Sales Sites

I enjoy making sales lenses. I sometimes even get passionate about them. It is fun to create a lens that people will enjoy and find value from. And of course it is fun to see sales develop. This lets me know that my lens was valuable for someone.

What kind of products do I like to build sales lenses around?

* Controversial products. I love it when I get a remark like "I did not even know something like that exisited" or " I can not believe that someone would actually use something like that". Where there is controversy, there is interest. People will discuss it and some may buy it.

* Widely used products. The more people that use a product, the more likely a visitor to your lens will buy it. But to be successful a lens has to have somethng unique to offer. For example an attractive price or an interesting use for the product.

* Trendy Products. There are some products that are very successful for those in the know, but are not known to the majority of the market. If you can build a lens which explains why it is successful, those who visit the lens may also get excited about it.

Where do I get my ideas for sales lenses? From a variety of sources:
Amazon Best Sellers gives me ideas about what people shop for. This is where I got my idea to build lenses about Ugg Shoes and some Ugg look alikes. I noticed in Amazon best sellers that Uggs and similar products are amongst Amazon's best selling shoes, eventhough I had been reading that so many people seemed to hate them. It was a perfect product idea!

I look at Oprah's Website to see what she has selected as her favorite things. Usually products that Oprah selects are successful and will sell. This is where I got the idea to create a lens about Clarisonic Skincare Brush.

I look at Buzzfeed to find interesting and controversial products. This is where I got the idea to create a lens about Multifunctional Slippers. The tech section will give you ideas for electronic products, style for fashion products, food for gourmet products, etc.

I wonder if others have found good sources for ideas for successful sales lenses?

Photo by Jen

The Today Contraceptive Sponge Is Back!

Do you remember the classic Seinfeld episode where Elaine interviewed her boyfriend to see if he was "sponge worthy"?



Elaine had heard that the Today Contraceptive Sponge was being withdrawn from the market, so she bought all she could find and jealously protected her stash. Well, Elaine, good news!

The Today Sponge is back!

Why do Elaine and other women prefer the Today Sponge:
The Sponge has a triple mode of action:

* Blocks the cervix, preventing semen from passing
* Contains spermicide which kills sperm
* Absorbs the semen.

But one of the best features is that, since the sponge is effective for 24 hours, it can be inserted well ahead of sex so there is no need to interupt activities. And unlike many other forms of contraception there is no need to reapply if there is repeat sex.

What caused Elaine to hoard her Sponges?

The sponge has had an unpredictable history. The sponge was withdrawn from the market, because the manufacturing plant had complaints from the FDA. Then the sponge came back and after a few months the manufacturer filed for bankruptcy and the sponge again disappeared. Hopefully, the Today Sponge is here to stay.

Who should consider the Sponge?
* Women who smoke. Due to increased blood clot risks, many smokers should not take the pill.
* Women who have problems with the pill's side effects (weight gain, nausea, etc).
*Women who have infrequent sex and do not want to be constantly exposed to hormones.
*Couples who are seeking a convenient, 24 hour effective which does not get in the way of the passion.

But since only male and female condoms decrease the transmission of STDs, the sponge should only be used in monogamous relationships where STDs are not a concern.

Burn Out

At the beginning of this month, I hit burn out. Instead of working on my blog, my Squidoo, or anything else worthwhile, I played computer games and re-connected with my Wii. This burn out, which I figured would last about two days, lasted two weeks. At first, I felt guilty for not plugging away at something that may end up being profitable, and therefore doing my duty as a mom and bringing in a bit of extra income. Yeah, that guilt didn't last too long. I would sit at the computer looking at the "make a new lens" link, and draw a complete blank. I would look at my lenses, and hit edit on one that needed a bit more tweaking, and just stare at the screen with no passion for it what-so-ever. I knew if I didn't take a much needed "vacation", then I may risk loosing interest in my lenses altogether, and this burn out would last for months. If you feel that burn out creeping up, take a vacation, do something fun, but completely useless. Refresh, regroup, relax, and reconnect with things that make you laugh. Now that my burn out is over, I have a new found vigor and passion for my lenses, and I'm happily getting back in the game!