Amazon is a Cool Platform - Cool Modules

Amazon is a Cool Platform - And Makes for Some Cool Modules. One of the coolest Squidoo modules for generating a little sale or two; i.e., royalties, is the Amazon module. A module is a building block that you add to your lens when you create it. I've loved the Amazon module when there was ONLY one of these. As of the writing of this blog, there are now 6 different Amazon modules to select from.

• Amazon -- In this standard module, you can only feature up to 5 products per Amazon module. If you want to feature more products, you will need to add more of these modules.
• Amazon Recommendations -- You can select a category and enter the link or Amazon ASIN and feature up to 5 products in this plexo style module.
• Amazon Spotlight -- Perhaps my favorite Amazon module in which you select one item to promote that makes sense for your lens!
• Amazon MP3 -- I like this module because your visitor can listen to music selections during their visit to your lens and debut music prior to purchasing -- how cool.
• Amazon Search -- I love this Amazon module and will include it to allow my visitors the ability to search Amazon for the products related to my lens topic. You can present search results as 3, 6, or 9 results. Your reader can also use their own search terms to find items on Amazon.
• Amazon Voting (Plexo) -- Feature items from Amazon that your readers can vote up, or vote down if allowed, to show popularity of products. You may want to monitor the links that your readers add to this module!

I'm still studying the effectiveness of these various Amazon modules to identify the better performing module of those offered. Some of the interesting Amazon sales resulting from the use of these modules include the product widgets.

P.S. I was writing this blog post JUST as the payout of royalties on Squidoo was occurring for the month of January 2009. Now that is topical indeed!

New module for Squidoo lensmasters - Donations

Hey Squidoo lenmasters? Have you checked out the latest module that is available to you for making your lenses more charity-friendly? It's the donations module. You can easily select in the drop-down menu from a host of wonderful charities. If you have a couple of 'pet' charities, add a second or third donations module to your lens(es).

As many of you know, I have been working with First Coast No More Homeless Pets (FCNMHP) for about one-year. I first began working with them to get all the feral cats in our neighborhood spayed and neutered which was quite a job trying to just trap the 16 or so cats. When I took over the management of the feral cat colony, I had no idea what an active role I would be assuming in #1 managing the cats and #2 getting the word out to other lensmasters and Squidoo readers about FCNMHP.

FCNMHP was featured in June 2008 as the Squidoo charity of the month. In July 2008, I was able to raise a lump sum of $500.00 for FCNMHP from a winning lens in the Superhero Project honoring my grandmother Julia Nagy, My Superhero. Along with that amount, I raised other monies through several of my other lenses along with other lensmasters who earmarked their lenses to support FCNMHP.

Now if this is not your 'pet' charity, there are dozens more from which you can select. Do you know that each month, Squidoo donates well over a thousand dollars to charities? Yes, that is really amazing. So, what are you waiting for? Add that donations module to your lens today.

Huh? What's that? You are NOT a Squidoo lensmaster. Well, hey ... join today. Ah, too late!!!!

Expanding Your Lens Publishing Power

Hot off the presses of Squidu Review, it's Expanding Your Lens Publishing Power :: A Squidoo How-To From a Mega Giant Squid!

Hello Lensmasters! The question is often asked on the forum, “How long is too long for a lens?” The answer varies, depending on the topic of the lens, the target audience, the types of modules, etc. However, if you are thinking about breaking your lens into smaller parts, or creating new ones to showcase new information, additional lenses can boost your linking power and give you new opportunities to get found online.

This week, Giant Squid Jaguar Julie teaches us how to expand your lens repertoire by creating new lenses from old ones.

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Making New Lenses Out of Old Lenses

As Squidoo fanatics, many of us have loooooong lenses that we developed on our favorite topics. Is this the best way to go? There’s nothing wrong with a few long lenses, but many smaller lenses to compliment them can be very powerful as well.

When your readers notice that you have several lenses on one topic, they’ll be more interested in seeing what you have to say. “The more you have to say about one topic, the more people will think you know about it.” says Kimberly Dawn Wells. And, not only that, but “more lenses equals more links equals more opportunity to be found.”

You can take what Kimberly says “to the bank” as your Squidoo royalties will increase with more focused lenses too! How does that work? Read on to find out.

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P.S. Be sure to check out the Squidoo lens inspired by THE article I wrote for SquidU Review, Expanding Your Lens Publishing Power :: A Squidoo How-To From a Mega Giant Squid.

Oh, I didn't become a Mega Giant Squid overnight! It took me two years to arrive at this distinction; however, it really meant about 6-8 months of part-time dedicated work at writing Squidoo lenses. I initially joined on March 21, 2006 after receiving an engraved invitation from BzzAgent. I created about three dozen lenses and then took a 'break' from Squidoo for about 1-1/4 years. Then, in the Summer of 2007, Squidoo challenged me to become a Giant Squid by creating 100 lenses! Despite the fact that the number of lenses needed to become a Giant Squid was scaled back to 50, I exceeded the 100-mark by the deadline; working through a hard drive crash!

So ... what I am saying is that YOU too can become a Giant Squid and maybe even a Mega Giant Squid! How? You simply MUST read my lens, Expanding Your Lens Publishing Power :: A Squidoo How-To From a Mega Giant Squid.

How to Make Money on Squidoo

How to Make Money on Squidoo?  Do tell, do tell ... Tongues have been a-wagging when it was announced that a Squidoo lensmaster had earned $1,000 in a one-month period from just one Squidoo lens!

Megan Casey reported in the Squidoo blog ... "Yes, once you’ve got a suite of worthwhile lenses up, they’ll just keep earning you royalties, little by little, month by month.Yes, working through the dip pays off."

Take it from Megan ...

• No, it didn’t happen overnight.
• No, you can’t get there by shortcutting or cheating or spamming.
• No, piling on the affiliate links willynilly isn’t the solution.

There has been plenty of buzz recently on The Lensmaster Lounge at SquidU.

BTW, this cool graphic is compliments of a fellow Squidoo lensmaster, Janusz Biela who designs cool graphics for use by Squidoo lensmasters for FREE! Soon he'll probably be charging for his services!
P.S. Keep an eye out for future blog posts to give you more info and tips about how you can make money on Squidoo. I'll tell you what has been working for me and give you more insight into the magic behind the income!