by Lorelei Cohen

Created on: July 12, 2009   Last Updated: July 13, 2009

Squidoo.com is a very fun and interesting publishing site. You can refer to it as a writer's community, a place to blog, or a promotional tool, any of those terms would be very accurate in describing Squidoo. www.squidoo.com provides you with a free platform on which to write about whatever it is that you choose to discuss with the rest of the world, and in addition, they also have a complete Online community to help you out with any problems, so you never have to worry about being alone in your endeavors.

Squidoo provides you with a free web page, or template that they refer to as a "lens", then you decide which topic that it is that you would like to discuss on your page. You can create awareness for a favorite charity, design a dedication lens for someone special in your life, express your creative juices in a short story or poetry lens, or simply teach the rest of the world little tricks and tips for learning your favorite hobby. You can teach someone to knit or show them how to change the oil in their car. You can even display your pet rock collection if that is something that you really want to share with the rest of the world. It is completely up to you, with only one very important exception, no X rated topics are allowed to be published at www.squidoo.com . As of July 1, 2009 Squidoo made the decision to remove, and to no longer accept the development of, X rated lenses on their site. (Thanks Squidoo for making the Internet a little safer place to play.)

You have the option of a number of themes, or templates, on which to develop your lens. Once you have decided to create a lens at Squidoo you will also be pleased to discover that they provide an amazing array of modules from which you can select, and choose to use, to personalize your lens. There are modules for images, text, promotion, gadgets, videos, charities, creativity, and a few that are just plain old fun. Squidoo also provides a number of statistical counters that you can turn to when you want to see exactly how well your articles are doing Online. You can see up to date visitor statistics, the number and type of links that are being clicked on, as well as your current earnings.

Yes, the best news is that you actually get paid by Squidoo for doing for receiving free publishing pages. Squidoo shares a percentage of their ad revenue with their lensmasters. Generally the more lenses that you create, and the more active that you are within the Squidoo_community, than the more that you will get paid.Of course like most other sites, you must write well, and rank highly among your peers to achieve success. There is also the option of adding affiliate ads onto your lenses for increased revenue, and as well you have the added bonus of being able to promote your other websites, or businesses within your Squidoo articles. Squidoo's payment system is set up to payout revenues two months after they are earned so don't expect to be a making a substantial income overnight. Like all other ventures on the Internet earning a viable income at Squidoo is a slow and steady process, and the more dedicated you are, then the more likely you are to succeed.

I've been with Squidoo for quite a while now and have seen my earnings steadily increasing with time. Squidoo ranks their lenses on a five star plan, and when it comes to giving Squidoo it's own rating, five out of five stars is what they'll receive from me. They are one of my favorite places on the Internet to work and play. Thanks Squidoo!

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