according to wikipedia, squidoo is a social media tool that allows visitors to create pages called lenses for subjects of interest. lenses are interactive, and can contain flickr photos, google maps, blogs, ebay auctions, youtube videos, and other links. squidoo is in the top 200 most visited sites in the world, and in the top 50 most viewed in the united states. i thought it might be helpful if i offered a tutorial on ways that you can utilize squidoo to aid in your business’ marketing, advertising, publicity, etc. click on for that.

here are my squidoo tips:

1. select a narrow topic to explore.
the more narrow your topic, the more consumers will connect with it. that’s because they are selecting woith confidence. for example, a person might love lasagna but hate spaghetti. “how to bake flawless lasagna” would make for a better lens than would “italian cuisine” or the like. you want quality connects, people who will move from enjoying your specific content to exploring other aspects of your business.

2. tell a story and solve a problem.
when you talk about your topic, be colorful and passionate. make clear connections to why the topic is relevant to your business (without just selling your business). solve a problem that people might have – how to wash your car in ten minutes, how to select a suite, etc.

3. associate keywords.
if you’re not up on keyword selection, then consult with a professional on this. keywords are the words that consumers type into their searches to find various topics, services, products, etc. the most popular keywords are not always what you think they’ll be for a given item you offer. there are free tools available to assist in this process – a google adwords account being a great place to start.

4. add modules.
modules are plugins that make your lens more interactive and enticing for consumers. popular ones includes polls, youtube, amazon and more. don’t get too carried away with these, but definitely take a look at other lenses and how they are handled.

5. tease with a free download.
experiment with offering a free report or other download. it’s always better to give and then ask to receive rather than just ask to receive.

6. drive traffic to your lens.
use your other social media accounts to promote your squidoo lens. provide gateways to squidoo on your website’s home page as well. make squidoo home to certain aspects of your business, rather than just mirroring content in mulitple places. for example, instead of publishing bios of key people in your business, let each of them create a lens (or multiple lens) that highlight their area(s) of expertise.

7. combine lens into clouds.
clouds on squidoo are nothing more than a combination of related lens. size matters, more can be achieved in groups than individually, etc.

i hope this was helpful to your own endeavors on squidoo. remember, don’t get lost on a social media website without a game plan for how to make it work for your business. this said, don’t be so about your business that you forget to make quality connections and listen to and learn about what others have to offer. if you would like me to consult with you on a custom basis per how to launch squidoo for your business, then let’s get started.