It All Starts with the Basics

I received an email from a subscriber today. He wanted to know if I had a “newer list”  for Squidoo because he felt this list was pointless to be on as  he was being sent to posts that were from 2009, and with all the changes at Squidoo and Google he couldn’t believe they would be at all relevant.

This was a little disturbing to me, because I strive to provide good information that works if you work it. I went back through my list emails and have to say I don’t really agree.

What I provide links to in the email series you get when you subscribe (and get the Squidoo Christmas Cash Blueprint) are basics. The basics don’t really change. It doesn’t matter how many things change at Squidoo, or how many times Google changes their algorythm… the basics will stay the same.

In fact, the basics for making Squidoo work, are pretty much the basics for any strategy you plan to use to make money online.

You need to figure out what people want (not necessarily what they need). You have to figure out how they are asking for what it is they want. You then have to give it to them.

What this means in internet marketing terms is this: You find a product, find a keyword people are using to find that product, then you create great content that leads people to the product, and then build links to the content to get it ranking on Google.

That is it.

So, is that what I did in 2009? YEP.

Is that what I do today? YEP.

The basics don’t change. The only thing that changes are some of the tactics and tools you can use to implement the basics.

So many people online are continually searching for the latest and greatest thing, the one thing that’s better than the last thing. The thing that is going to be IT for them.

Let me tell you right now… there is no such thing.

There are the basics. The basics done over and over and over again. Internet marketing… especially on a free platform is all about the basics. You can spiffy up the basics a bit, but when it comes down to it, there’s only 3 little things.

1. what people need

2. how they’re looking for it

3. them being able to find YOUR solution to what they need.

Don’t make it any more complicated than that… at least in the beginning. There will be gurus and others who will tell you you have to do this, and that and of course that other thing or you will fail. This is a lie. It is not true. The basics will get you started. They will create an income for you (if you do the work) and they will allow you a little breathing room to grow.

So, don’t knock the basics. They’re what your business is built on.

Squidoo Christmas Cash Video Series
Step by step video tutorials walking you through the entire process of creating a Squidoo Christmas Cash lens
Get your Squidoo Video Tutorials NOW!

Squidoo Changes and What They Mean to You

If you’ve stopped by Squidoo in the last day or so you’ve probably seen monsters all around. Yes, Squidoo has monsters, and trophies and all kinds of new, interactive, fun things.

Let’s talk about what this means for YOU, as a person building following the  Christmas Cash Squidoo plan.

Nothing.

Really, they are some fun changes ~ they’re are designed to help keep people motivated, and interacting and it doesn’t really change much of anything for you.

You still need to focus on these things:

1. Finding great product focused keywords.

2. Building quality lenses.

3. Promoting those lenses by building backlinks.

Do not be distracted by all the new bells and whistles Squidoo is rolling out. If you start getting caught up in getting trophies and badges you’re going to end up not focusing on the three things that you need to be doing.

Squidoo is only in the first phase of this roll out. I’ll continue to watch the changes as they come out and if something that is going to be beneficial to the Squidoo Christmas Cash plan rolls out I’ll let you know.

Just remember that many people use Squidoo and for many different things. I think the  changes they are making are fantastic for the community as a whole ~ but your Squidoo plan is not necessarily Squidoo’s plan. Just keep focused on what you need to do and you’ll be fine.

Time to Take Action!

It’s almost the end of July, which means the holiday season is fast approaching.  For me that means it’s time to get myself in gear and start building lenses if I want to cash in on the holiday shopping frenzy.

If you’ve downloaded the Christmas Cash Blueprint you’ve got a perfect outline to help you create profitable lenses. If you haven’t downloaded it ~ why not?! Grab the blueprint now! If it seems overwhelming here’s a couple tools that may help.

1. Squidoo Christmas Cash Checklist. This is a checklist that will help you keep track of each step you’ve completed for your lens. I particularly like it because instead of a bunch of pages in a book, the whole process is right there on one or two pages ~ where I can check things off as I go. (I LOVE to check things off as I go!)

2. If you learn better visually you might want to check out the Squidoo Christmas Cash Video Series. It will walk you through every step of the process on video. The videos are short, so you can take action on that step right after watching it. I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback that it’s really cleared up some confusion for people being able to see the process in action. (I run through creating an entire lens from start to finish in the videos)

Ok ~ those things will help you if you need them, but I thought I’d walk you through what my week looks like when I’m doing lenses regularly.

My Lens Building Week

My week kind of starts over the weekend.

Fri – Sun: Keyword research

At some point over the weekend I do some research and figure out what product and keyword I’m going use for my lens that week.

Monday: Build the lens ~ As outlined in the Blueprint

Tuesday: Build links at free ad blogs (RSS feeds too if it’s your first go around)

Wednesday: Add links to blogger blogs and do a few commentluv comments for links

Thursday: Add blog posts to my own blogs (hosted myself) do a few commentluv comments for links

That’s usually enough to get my lens indexed and ranking. I know that my lenses will bounce around some so I just go on to the next lens next week.

In a week or two I’ll check back in on it and if it’s not ranking I’ll do a few more commentluv links ~ (this is a fun activity for me so it’s no big deal for me to do over the weekend) I suggest you find something that builds links that you find fun as well ~ that way when you need additional links you can do them and it’s not like work at all!

So there you have it ~ what I do during a lens building week. You’ll see I don’t do EZA articles ~ yeah, probably should, but just can’t force myself to do them ~ so I don’t.  I don’t do a big mass article send out ~ I could, and probably should ~ but this process generally works for the level of competition I choose for my keywords.

**There’s no reason to make it more complicated or difficult than it needs to be**

Keep it simple, do one thing at a time, and over time you’ll get faster at it, and it will seem easier, and then if you want you can do 2 or 3 lenses in a week ~ following the same schedule or one that works for you.

It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is ~  you can still get started today! If you want or need some support,  help or even to talk to someone who knows what Squidoo is  there are a lot of Squidoo people taking action in the KISS Club!