An interesting discussion has emerged in the SquidU forum about Squidoo strategy. Essentially the question is whether people would rather focus all of their time on Squidoo or spread their writing and earnings around to several sites. I thought that I would offer my opinion on this topic from two points of view, to help you in your thinking on this topic. And as you read through the answers in the forum thread linked above, you will see that folks are all over the map on this one.
For those lensmasters who are in their first year on Squidoo, I would suggest focusing on Squidoo only. Make Squidoo your main writing platform. Develop an understanding of how to use Squidoo to the best advantage, find your spot in the community, learn from more advanced lensmasters, build a minimum of 50 lenses. This will keep your concentration on Squidoo and developing a writing niche, and the powerful tools for writing online.
For those lensmasters who are in their second year or further along the Squidoo journey, you need to branch out. The reason for branching out is to reduce the risk of relying on one source for all of your online income. It is similar to diversifying your portfolio in the stock market, or making several different investments that will grow for your future. By adding other income sources, you make your income more reliable and stable. In addition to adding stability, branching out to other platforms will teach you new skills that you can bring back to your Squidoo account that make your lenses even better.
Writing online is about as risky as any type of sales job. There are lots of factors that affect business growth from the weather, season of year, politics, sports, and more. And companies go in and out of business on a daily basis. Do I suspect that Squidoo will go out of business any time soon? Absolutely not. Squidoo has all the characteristics of a stable company. They pay on time, they add employees, and they continue to grow. However, you can think about spreading your writing out as an insurance policy. You have insurance on your other valuables; why not on your income from writing online?
About lakeerieartists
Hey Paula,
I totally agree with you on your stance for putting your eggs into multiple baskets. Too many people start spreading their eggs before they’ve built up enough income in one basket to warrant diversifying. Make a goal for one site, once you hit it, then do the same on another.
With that said, I’m obviously a little biased since I work at InfoBarrel, but if any of your guests are at the point in their writing career where they feel its time to diversify, we cordially invite you to come over and give our platform a shot. We have writers reporting income’s as high as $2000+ a month.
I hope you have a great week, and if you have any questions, I would be more than happy to oblige; just fire me an email.
Hi Ryan, thanks for commenting on Squidlog. I have to admit that I do not know too much about InfoBarrel. I think I have one article on your platform.
Good point. Some of us have come to Squidoo after selling from our own websites. The advantages to this from my perspective are 1. Squidoo is a great tool and I can get things up fast. 2. It’s free, so no need to chase and pay for domain names. 3. It’s fun to be part of a community instead of working alone.
It is also a good place to use to send traffic to your own website.
If I’m judging by income alone, I may be at Squidoo for another five years building that nest.