S is for Squidoo

Unusual Angles

Now, in case you are wondering what on earth a squidoo is, I shall tell you! Squidoo is a website for anyone who wants to write an article or multiple articles but doesn't necessarily want to start a whole blog. It's a publishing platform with a vibrant community and a great side effect of this is the ability to earn a bit of pocket money too.

The beauty of Squidoo is how simple it is to build a single page, called a lens, to write about almost anything you want to. There are some subjects to avoid such as anything illegal (d'uh!), medical, diet or health products, adult content and copyright fraught areas too but for most ordinary people, these won't be attractive topics anyway!

I've enjoyed making lenses over at Squidoo, mainly for my photography topics (10 Tips for Great Flower Photos or How to Shoot The Moon) that don't really fit here or over on Auction House Addict (my WoW gold making blog) but there are a few 'written to order' lenses too.

Craft or home making lenses do really well over there and if you enjoy browsing Pinterest you may have seen some of the great recipe lenses already. My How to Make an Ice Bowl lens did really well last summer and I'm hoping it will bounce back up the ranks again for this summer!  

Connecting my love of travel with photography and writing has proven to be a successful topic for me too - I have won some on-site awards for a few of my travel lenses, including my favorite Places to Visit in Thailand! I just pulled together some of my Thai holiday photos and threw some words in as it was a weekly topic challenge with a deadline but it turned out so well.

Topiary Elephants in Thailand

Squidoo run a club called Rocket Squids which I highly recommend for beginners. It's designed around a weekly challenge topic for a lens with hints and tips to make the best lenses you can. There's a separate area of the forum with more experienced Squids designated as helpers, to answer any questions you may have.

The site has been through some drastic changes and tough times over the last year or two and with my measly 29 lenses, I have seen a drop in my earnings but I also decided to back off a bit and to let the dust settle. Another great thing about Squidoo is the residual income - now I'm not saying you don't have to work at it, you most definitely do need to work if you want to make cash but the work you do now will probably still be paying you a bit next year.

If you do your maths and work it for a year or two, how much could still be dribbling in to your paypal account in 3 years time? The potential is definitely there for those willing to learn and work it. Personally I've been a bit distracted for the last two years so I haven't made the most of it.

Squidoo also has an agreement with Amazon so if you are one of the unlucky Americans who can't become an Amazon affiliate because of the State you live in, Squidoo might be a partial answer for you. Each lens is allowed up to 20 related Amazon products although that is overkill for most lenses. You sadly don't get the full Amazon commission (Squidoo has to make some profit!) but the more you sell via your lens, the higher ranking you get on the site and therefore the higher payout from the text ads system.

Would I recommend Squidoo solely as a way to make money? Honestly? Not really, it's about so much more than that but if it clicks with you and you enjoy writing  and the community aspect, the potential for extra cash is most definitely there! It's not a get-rich-quick scheme and it will take time and effort but from some of the earnings articles I've seen from other lensmasters, it could have quite a nice effect on your paypal balance!

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Check out some of my Squidoo lenses!

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K is for Kenya

Kenyan Landscape

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to visit Kenya for a 7 night safari tour. We visited multiple game parks over the 7 days, often travelling across unmade roads and jiggling around in the van like jumping beans on a loudspeaker! It was definitely an experience although perhaps one that isn't for everyone!

For me though, watching the landscape, towns and tiny villages as we passed, gave me a better sense of the people and country than if I had flown from park to park. We had regular rest stops, often at dingy, dirty tourist trap Souvenir Shops but the locals are not silly! The bathroom facilities in these places are sparkling clean and smelled of bleach & pot pourri - all for the rich tourists passing through.

Lion Cub

The downside of these wonderful bathroom facilities was their placement - often at the rear of the souvenir shop and as a salesperson greeted you the moment you stepped inside, I always felt like I had to buy something.

The hardest part was haggling over price when all you really want to do is get to the bathroom! I hate haggling at the best of times so by about the 3rd day, we'd devised a cunning plan - one of us would keep them talking whilst the other would dash to the bathroom then we'd swap!

I'm one of those people who likes to talk to anyone though - I had no idea of the palpitations I was causing our driver as I stood, chatting to maybe 4 or 5 sales guys - all of them over 6 foot tall usually.

A family friend summed it up later when we told the story - 'She's not happy for the day until she's spoken to a stranger!' When I think about that, I realise that yes, I do stop & chat with almost anyone I come into contact with! I guess I'm one of those annoying people at the grocery store checkout who always has a few words to say to the cashier, slowing her down and driving you crazy in the line behind me!

Old Bull Elephant

Anyway, back to my Kenya safari - the best bit was the animals of course! As much as I love people, animals are also very high up in my list of loves and having just bought a new super duper camera especially for the trip, I went to town on taking photos at every opportunity. I filled all my memory cards and had to buy extras while I was there - that was an expensive lesson to learn! Always buy them at home where the prices are reasonable & take way more than you expect to use!

I came home with over 2000 photos but as many were taken whilst moving, that included many useless shots. I did end up with over 1500 decent pictures though, some of which I submitted to my microstock portfolios and a few in my Zazzle shop. The lion cub above is probably my favorite of the whole bunch though - he was only about 15 feet away from us and with a zoom lens, I managed to get this portrait of him.

If you'd like to read more or see more of my Kenyan images, I wrote an article over at Squidoo about my wonderful Kenyan Safari. I've also written a few other articles over there if you're curious!

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Check out some of my Squidoo lenses!

Horde Gift Guide | Alliance Gift Guide