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Lensmasters won’t buy off your lens.
I’m not sure if some people realize that.
If they were inclined to, they probably would have spent all their money by now on other peoples lenses before they got to yours anyway.
And if they haven’t, well they could just as easily insert a module on one of their own lenses and make the purchase and get the sale.
Now why am I saying this?
Because I want people to realize, understand, BELIEVE me when I say that fellow Lensmasters are not your target audience.
Okay, I have a lot of “How To Squidoo” type of lenses and obviously the people I’m targeting are Squidoo Lensmasters. But I’ll share something with you, even when I do have an Amazon module or two I’m not making any sales*.
So why do I have these lenses? Because I can. Because at the time there were none available. Because there was a gap that needed to be filled.
Because I had no where to send my friends that explained adequately what Squidoo was and how it works and why they should give it a go.
So I wrote Why Squidoo? and I could invite people to read it and understand what I was up to. I wrote I’m A Lensmaster! What Now? to point them in the right direction after they’ve signed up.
As a consequence they’ve come in handy in answering questions of a constant flow of the new and uninitiated.
And yes, they have plenty of stars. Plenty of voters. But that doesn’t make them any more important than any of my other lenses whether they are new or established. Whether they have votes or not.
My other lenses were not published for the intention of enthralling an audience of Squidoo Lensmasters, which will mean they have less stars, if at all, and less guestbook entries, if any (which is why I don’t have guestbooks on most of my lenses).
If you’re asking for stars you’re having a conversation with a very limited audience.
Spread your wings, venture out of Squidu** when it comes to promoting your lenses. I would not rely on the community to be my primary source of traffic.
Once upon a time you may get a spike by enticing people to rate yours and you’ll rate theirs but the traffic is anything but quality.
Think outside the square. Go to where your target market is, whether that is online or offline.
Find them, reach out to them, invite them.
And who knows, you may even make a few sales***.
* I’ve got the Amazon modules on those lenses because it pretties up the page without much effort on my part.
** That’s not to say you can’t get quality feedback from fellow Lensmasters. Just don’t depend on it to provide a regular stream of visitors.
*** Or even a lot.
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5 Comments
Good advice and well said.
You are absolutely on target with this.
I had pondered this very concept, so I was glad to see I wasn’t alone in thinking this. I have enjoyed the community of Squidoo and the interaction, but I also need to earn some money in order to justify the inordinate amount of time I invest in my Squidiction.
Just as relevant today as when first written. I still haven’t figured out why non-competing lensmasters won’t vote for your lens if they like it.
I always figured that having lensmasters vote and comment on your lenses gave it more power for outsiders to find it on Google. But they need to find the crowd outside of Squidoo.