The 60 Day Squidoo Challenge and Beyond: A Blog

Hey gang,

If you’re reading this, I’d like to start by thanking you for taking the time to see if you could help me. I’ve got an interesting problem with a lens, and I need some advice from a bigger, more experienced squid.

My lens, Our Deepest Fear – Inspirational Poem by Marianne Williamson, has been in existence for 7 days, and so far it has gotten nearly 70 hits, most of which are coming from search engines. For a newbie, I think that’s pretty cool

The problem is that there are no clickouts! NONE! When you visit the lens, you will see the nature of my problem. Most people searching for the poem/passage are looking for an accurate version of the passage and that’s it. Since Marianne Williamson isn’t selling any paraphernalia on this poem/passage other than her book, I don’t really know what to do on the monetization end above and beyond what I’m doing.

But if this lens gets most of it’s traffic from Google and it has the potential to get consistent visitation, I need to be able to make SOMETHING off of it!

If you know what I can do to monetize this lens without making it sleazy, PLEASE tell me – I’m not getting it yet

Our Deepest Fear – Inspirational Poem by Marianne Williamson

Thanks in advance for your help,

I.C. Jackson

Hey gang,

So far, so good. It has been a wild ride, and this first month (which is still in progress actually) has proven to be my ‘Squid Learning Curve’. There are lots of little things that I didn’t realize I wasn’t doing until I had been building lenses for weeks, you know? I get squid-piphones all of the time, and they are usually little insights that I wish I had gotten from the beginning.

But such is life.

In this first month I have also learned that it is more realistic to create 60 lenses in 60 days than to actually create one a day. Life happens. People sleep. I’m one lens behind as we speak. But, I know that I can catch up on a day like today; I might get to make three. But time is a valuable resource that we do not always have in abundance, so I have learned to give myself a break.

On a high note, the quality of my lenses is improving. I think that they were pretty good before, but the quest to make a supplemental income on Squidoo has pushed me beyond my limits, forced me to educate myself on all aspects of Squidoo, and keeps me in a current state of self-scrutiny. So, I keep improving my lenses. There are also helpful squids out there who have given me great advice, and I implement all that I can.

It’s really making a difference!

So, to anyone who is on The 60 DSC or a similar personal journey with Squidoo, I encourage you to keep learning and observing what the best of the best are doing - you’ll soon be one of them.

To your continued success,

I.C. Jackson

Lenses I Have Created While On The 60 Day Squidoo Challenge

Hey gang,

We all need to be encouraged and uplifted every once in a while. We all need affirmation, too. “Our Deepest Fear” by Marianne Williamsom not only inspires, but it empowers you to stretch beyond your comfort zone into your realm of greatness – and stay there!

I devoted a lens to this passage, and if it helps you, please rate and favorite it

Our Deepest Fear – Inspirational Poem by Marianne Williamson

To your continued success,

I.C. Jackson

Yay! I had a few lenses before I started The 60 Day Squido Challenge, and now I have 20 published lenses!

Whoo hoo!

So, to celebrate, I thought I’d share my accomplishments so far with the SquidTop community

I.C. Jackson’s Lenses to Date

The 60 Day Squidoo Challenge: Make a Supplemental Income On Squidoo In 60 Days Or Less!
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Please visit and rate any lenses that you find interesting or helpful to help me celebrate my success!

To your continued success,

I.C. Jackson

As the primary contender in The 60 Day Squidoo Challenge, I have to be a leader in all aspects of this project – especially when it comes to lens quality. As the challenge goes on and interest grows, people will begin (they actually have started already) to look at my lenses for an example of what one should be doing. I’m no expert (yet), but I am at the head of a pack of ambitious writers and internet marketers who have committed to leveraging Squidoo to the best of their abilities.

Yikes!

Furthermore, I want to be a Giant Squid. Although The 60 Day Squdioo Challenge is about creating income on Squidoo, it’s also about promotion as a Squid for me. I wan to be a Giant Squid at the end of this challenge. It would prove that it’s possible to achieve such a rank with hard, strategic work, even in a short period of time. It would be amazing if I could pull that off – and it would do well for my income goals on Squidoo as well.

So, what do I do to ensure success?

The best thing that I could do is learn to think like a Giant Squid. I try to observe what the masters are doing (as well as what they’re not doing) and duplicate what is duplicatable. However, the squid-tuition that they have concerning what works and what doesn’t isn’t something that can be copied; it has to be applied. The mindset of the Giant Squid can be applied in the lens creation of any Lil’ Squid who is willing to grow and adapt to it.

Or so I have theorized.

So, I am on a quest for the Golden Fleece of Squidoo – the mindset of the Giant Squid.

Honestly, I wasn’t going to do this.

I am a very busy mom, wife, minister, and business owner, and I really did not feel like I had the time to do this. However, I knew that I was leaving money on the table with thie Squidoo thing. I also knew that my marketing efforts would be optimized by integrating Squidoo activity. I was finding Squidoo lenses in the first pages of Google and Yahoo! when conducting searches. I had a couple of Squidoo lenses on Facebook that were well received. Google has a Google PageRank of 7.

However, none of this was doing anything for my pocketbook.

I thought about doing a Squidoo blitz for my own personal benefit, but something inside me told me to make something greater out of it. I blocked that something out. Then, while working online another night, that same “something” told me to do what I had been thinking of doing, and to make it public. Stake my reputation on it. Do it big. It would be tough, but it would be the only thing that would catapault my Squidoo presence into the money-making echilon that I wanted it rise to.

I’m a writer for pete’s sake!

God (yes, God) gave me the inner nod, giving me the confidence to step out on faith and then ask others to take the plunge with me and do the only thing that would motivate us to create enough lenses to earn an income on Squidoo before we retired.

We would have to dive into Squidoo head first, and we would have to take it seriously. No more creating a lens every once in a while. No more waiting for uncommon inspiration. Squidoo has home-business earning potential (and beyond), and in order to make business money, we would have to put in business effort.

And so, The Squidoo 60 Day Challenge was born!

For more information on how it all works, visit http://www.squidoo.com/60_day_challenge

To your continued success,

I.C. Jackson