How to Market Your First Article on Squidoo – Go Out and Meet the Squidoo Community

You’ve written your first Squidoo article and published a lens.   

It's now time to introduce yourself to the community, and to make your work known! 

Meet the Neighbors

It can be lonely out there in the Internet world.  So let’s go find some friends.  The best way to do this is to read Squidoo articles produced by other Squidoo writers and get to know our new community.

How Do You Find Folks You’ll Like 

But how do you find friends?  Come along, I'll show you.

Let’s say you wrote an article called Cocker Spaniels are My Favorite Dogs.  Go to the search bar, search for other Squidoo lenses that are about dogs, and read them.

As you read other people’s work, participate in polls and quizzes.  Leave nice comments where you can.  Go to the very bottom of the page and “like” the article or “lens”. 

When you do these things, Squidoo lets the writer know you’ve come by and participated in their article.  They get points when you participate.  You get points when you participate.  It’s a win/win opportunity for everyone concerned.

Many writers will begin their day reviewing their logs to see who came by to read their work, and many will return the favor and come by to read your articles.   

You can’t ask others to do this, but many, many writers will be kind enough to help a stranger by reading, commenting on, participating while reading, and liking the articles they come across.

These are the people you cultivate because they’re kind and helpful and generous folks.   Mimic their behavior and you too will be readily received as a good soul.

Read the Work of People who are Actively Engaged on the Site

Always choose to read the work of people who are currently active on Squidoo. 

When you’ve finished reading and have “liked” the article, go back up to the comment section.  Has anyone commented this week?  Click on that lensmaster’s name and visit their work.  Pick an article and get involved in their work. 

You can like up to 20 articles each day*.  This is a new restriction just put into effect.  

While you can read more than 20 articles, try and find 20 articles by different writers to “like”.   If each of these writers comes to your page and reads your single article, that would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?

One last mention on choosing articles to “like”.   

Since you’re limited in the number of lenses you can “like”, try to choose articles that do not have large numbers of “likes” already.   

By this I mean, if the writer is a long time member of Squidoo and has large numbers of likes, they don’t always participate in reviewing others' works.  They don’t need to.  They already have plenty of traffic.   

If you only can "like" 20 articles, you have to make each one count.  So use your "like" on writers who participate with others.  Make each "like" count.

One way to see if the writer participates on others’ pages is to go to their profile.  Have writers left messages thanking the author for coming by their articles?  If so, you know the writer is active.

Don’t waste your time on inactive writers.  While they’re work may be interesting, you need to get eyes to your work, so stay focused and choose from community members who are currently interacting right now, this week.

That’s not to say you can’t learn from reading other Squidoo writers that are less active.  You can, and you should.  But keep your “likes” to those you hope will return the gesture and come to your page and read your work as well.

*Note:  Before this Squidoo change, I would have never told you to withhold "likes".  I would have told you to "like" everything you enjoy.  Why not?  Share the bounty and tell the writer you enjoyed the lens.  But now that Squidoo is rationing "likes", you will need to ration them yourself and use them to your best advantage.  Law of the jungle, I'm afraid!

Profile Pages

Profile Pages are a great way to find writers to read.  Check the comment section on the Profile Page.  Visit recent commenters for additional reading.  You can easily see who’s busy in the community from visiting others Profile Pages.

Be Nice

There are over 3 million writers on Squidoo, representing countries from all over the world.   This offers writers the opportunity to enjoy interesting friendships and learn new things.  So develop these friendships. 

Be nice!  Keep your words warm and uplifting.  Share common interests. 

Don’t point out mistakes or problems publicly in the comment section of an article. If you see something that needs the author’s attention, send the writer a private email.  They’ll appreciate your help when handled this way.

 Keep a Lensmaster Journal

One of the most valuable things you can do for yourself is to keep a journal of the lensmasters you visit.  It doesn’t have to be lengthy, but you’ll at least need their Squidoo pen name and date.

By keeping a journal, you can remember to follow those writers you’d like to emulate and which writers are wonderful about participating on your lenses. 

And when you write your second, third and fourth articles, you’ll know who to go back and visit and who might just come back and read your work too.

Sounds Like a Lot of Work!

Don’t let the amount of work scare you.  It’ll be fun.  Put aside some time a little time each day and you’ll get a lot done. 

Go Forward and Meet other Writers on Squidoo

Now go forth and read!   

You’ll learn a good deal, earn points for yourself, and have a lot of fun!