SUBJECT: Lesson #3 - Pre–Squidoo Information You Need (the rules...)

Before you start your account I felt it was critical that you
should have a heads-up on the recent policy changes on Squidoo.
Squidoo lives, eats, breathes and sleeps at policies! You need
to thoroughly read them because NOT understanding exactly what
Squidoo wants is most of the reason why people get banned or
have their lenses frozen. 

Next I want to prepare you by explaining a series of rules that
you should always follow when using Squidoo. Unlike some
platforms where on occasion you can bend the rules, the most
effective use of Squidoo comes when you actually follow the
rules. Have a look at these:


Rule #1: Take The Fake Stuff Out

Don’t be a fake on Squidoo, period. The community wants to deal
with real people and nothing else. There is a committee made up
of long time Squidoo users who basically run the show and set
the standards, and they have become very good at discovering
fake, phony, fraud accounts and are constantly banning and un
publishing lenses related to these kinds of deceptive promotions.


Rule #2: X -Rated Content 

Squidoo has had problems with X Rated content in the past. Many
of the Giant Squids and top lensmasters have insisted that, to
prevent these issues from reoccurring, this content will now be
permanently removed, as soon as it is discovered. Some of the
pages on Squidoo may seem to indicate you can have x rated
materials, but no longer. 

If you are considering placing content like that on your lenses,
then know that deletion of your account is the end result. 



Rule #3: Spam Is A Big No-No

Spam is annoying to everyone. Squidoo forums are full of
watchdogs and they take a ban first attitude and even rejoice
when they get someone’s lens locked or unpublished.



Rule #4: Plagiarism & Copyright Infringement

Squidoo will not tolerate plagiarism and this is made very clear
in their TOS. In addition copyright infringement is a big deal
as well. It is certain that your lenses will be unpublished if
there are any questions concerning any of this, at least locked
until it can be proven that you are not in violation.



Rule #5: Pushy Affiliate Sales

This is the one area that gets marketers in the most trouble.
There've been a recent rash of reports, ebooks and WSO’s
promoting all kinds of tactics to use on Squidoo; from multiple
linked lenses, keyword stuffing, mini site builds using lenses
and just about any other variation you can imagine. While some
people have gotten away with this, many others are being banned
or lens locked simply for following this advice. 

Some affiliate programs are simply not allowed on Squidoo. Of
course this does not mean that you will be unable to make money;
it's just that you will have to be highly creative in the way
that you go about promoting anything that could be considered an
affiliate program. 

Squidoo's main interest is in unique high-quality content that
is different than the traditional dribble that you see
everywhere else.



Rule #6: Overly Promotional Lenses

Squidoo have recently looked into lenses that have very little
or no quality material on them and concluded that people are
using their lenses in an inappropriate manner. Linking lenses
together to push the sales along is something they have become
aware of. While Squidoo encourages a maximum of six lenses that
you can interlink together using the discovery tool, linking all
of your lenses together and pointing to one specific product or
service is becoming problematic.

They are calling these overly promoted lenses and if they see
this, you will more than likely have your lenses locked for
review.

Squidoo's main concern is that there should not be dozens,
possibly hundreds of lenses pointing to one domain. 

This goes against their desire to see unique content on each
specific lens; and that each lens develops its own unique topic,
even though they can be inter-related with other lenses.

Recently, there have been WSO’s and guides about lens building,
too. They suggest a “mini-site” model with lots of links,
targeting low density keywords and then link products and
services where you can get a commission. 

We believe this type of marketing will become ineffective over
time with the new Squidoo TOS updates limiting cross-linking to
a maximum of nine lenses to one domain. While you will still be
able to promote your products and services, Squidoo wants this
limited.

You could end up having to explain to the review department why
they should unlock your lenses if you continue to use multiple
lenses pointed back to the same URL’s. Squidoo are categorizing
their lenses in two ways now; Whitelisted or Blacklisted. 

There will soon be no in between. What makes all of this
difficult is that Squidoo seems to be randomly enforcing this;
based on our interviews with Giant Squids (Squidoo’s elite
contributors) this is because the enforcement is being done
gradually and they are making examples of the lenses they
uncover based on a pre agreed on set of stipulations that will
grow over time.



Rule #7: Duplicated, Aggressive Or Poor Content

Squidoo has recently been banning lenses that are opinion based,
like page where politicians, professionals or anyone else in the
spotlight is then “badmouthed”. Even if these individuals
deserve this, and what is being reported is 100% accurate, this
is not the kind of content that Squidoo will tolerate. 

Attack lenses, political hack, rumors, gossip, all of this has
seen the frozen lens and unpublished tool that Squidoo wields. 

If you are going to start lenses then write something that
people want to read about AND is informative and avoids the
above. A few lines of dribble and useless information is a sure
way to get a negative response. Squidoo believes that very poor
/ attack content is simply wasting your reader’s time. 



Rule #8: Written Content Should Be The Core

I've actually read guides, ebooks and WSO’s that have said to
limit your written content on Squidoo and just stuff your lenses
with lots of affiliate modules. 

This is the exact opposite advice that Giant Squids give.

You should always lead with a hot topic with flowing articles
that answers a problem, illustrates something interesting or
teaches and informs. Squidoo encourage everyone to keep working
their lenses until the content, modules, products and interest
is there for people to get excited about and that your lenses
have a balance. 

A lot of these rules are common sense, yet many people still try
to post a few lines of rehashed content and excessive product
links all over their lenses. 

I provided this information to ensure that your head is on
correctly before you jump into producing dozens of lenses only
to have them unpublished in a few days weeks or months down the
road. 

I am going to show you how to master Squidoo and how to earn
money doing so. Like anything in life you must play by the rules
and learn to master the game with these fundamentals. 


To Your Success,
YOUR NAME
YOUR LINK