March 11, 2013

Much Ado About Squidoo: WABC, Day 11

Welcome to Day 11 of the Winter Author Blog Challenge (WABC). Or, what I like to call a crash course in all things social media.

Today's prompt...

ROCKETSQUID_rocketeer2Do you have a Squidoo lens? Founded by Seth Godin, Squidoo is a popular free site that enables users to create single webpages (known as lenses) about their interests and recommendations. Users can even earn money for charity or themselves.

The credibility-building potential rivals Quora, but unlike question-answering sites, Squidoo users are free to create content of their choosing. The SEO rankings are quite high – but it remains incumbent upon the site’s users to double-check the veracity of information provided. Challenge questions: What are the benefits to using sites like Quora and Squidoo for building credibility? What can they offer that your website or blog doesn’t already do? How could this help you sell more books?

Have I been living in some kind of word-induced alter reality? How could I not know about this site?

When I saw the prompt, I went in search of information. I googled: Reasons to Join Squidoo. An unbelievable number of articles came up. Intrigued, I clicked on a few.

One I found particularly interesting, 3 Reasons for Joining Squidoo. The 3 reasons: Life is Never Boring, Earn Money Through Writing, and Helpful/Friendly Community. Pop over to the article for more details, but what is there NOT to like about those three things.

From what I could gather, it's also an effective way to reach people for your books and blog. There's so much more exploring I'd like to do, but I must admit... I'm intrigued.

Do you Squidoo? Any pointers?

4 comments:

Ashley said...

It's one thing I started, but never got into - like the three reasons though!!!!

Stephsco said...

I actually have a bookmarked Squidoo page about green smoothies (smoothies you make with spinach or other green leafies added in) and I didn't realize the site was user-generated content. Learn something new every day!

Jo Michaels said...

Pointer: Be original. :) Seriously. If they think your content is copy/pasted, they lock your lens. It then takes 30-60 days to either have it unlocked or they delete it. Hoops you have to jump through are ridiculous. WRITE ON!

Tia Bach said...

Ashley -- I always start off excited about the newest social media, and then well... *yawn* ;-)

Stephanie -- I need some green smoothies in my life, but I'd like them to taste like chocolate. Have you found one like that? *winks*

Jo -- Oh, I didn't know being original (read: dork) helped. I might have to create a lens! ;-)

Thanks for coming by and commenting. It's always appreciated!