Squidoo for Small Business

Say you have something to sell.
Why Squidoo?

Squidoo lenses get excellent search ranking in Google results ... it is a GREAT way to get your product exposure!

It's free. I mean, that's got to be good for something.

It's not only free, it's fairly simple. I wouldn't say "easy" only because there are people out there who prove the idea that "anyone can do it" wrong every day... but if you can post on a message board or send an email, you've got the potential to be a great Squidoo lensmaster.

What do you Squidoo next?

Personally, I know people who sell Breyer model horses, used horse tack and show clothing, handmade jewelry (for horses and humans) made from beads and/or horsehair, and merch on CafePress. There is a Squidoo lens out there waiting for each of them -- that can help them sell MORE items, faster -- than ONLY using an eBay auction, a CafePress free basic shop, or an internet classified such as Craigslist.

(More later ... the sun is out for the first time in a million years, and my horse needs to be brushed!)

Who am I? | What do I do? | Create your first lens!

Money is waiting for you.

So, what you really want to know is ...
how is it that I make money doing this?

Here is my second best advice:
Get yourself checked into Commission Junction.

They like to send me money for posting little bits of code on my pages.

Here is a screen cap of my exact Commission Junction earnings, from my first check to present:


Now, these check amounts aren't huge. But, I really wasn't doing much of any promotion.

That decent October 2007 check is probably related to the fact that I was asking everyone I could think of to go and look at our wedding photos on some digital photo printing sites I was affiliated with ... and then got $13 or so for each person who ordered prints.

20 FREE PRINTS at Snapfish

20 FREE PRINTS at Clark Color

Now that I'm promoting the heck out of myself and my pages, I do expect the check amounts to skyrocket.

I am also using domain registration as a major tool for promotion. For instance, I want horse people to go to http://www.squidoo.com/groups/allhorses and join Squidoo from that page for two reasons:

1. I will get credit for referring them to Squidoo ($5 if they make $15), and


2. Their first lens will automatically be included in the Squidoo group "All Horses"

But, I don't want to put that l-o-n-g Web address on flyers, business cards and other things I might use to entice people to join. Who's going to type all that in?

I don't even want to post it on horse-related Web sites where I am a regular ... it just doesn't have the professional appeal that www.AllHorses.us gives my project.

So I visit a domain name registrar such as GoDaddy or Dotster, and buy the URL I want. I then simply forward that domain to the page I want to appear, and I'm in business.

Then, I visit VistaPrint and have FREE business cards printed up with my new short URL to hand out at the next horse expo I attend. :)

Who am I? | What do I do? | Create your first lens!