Image via Wikipedia

If you don’t know, Squidoo is a  web site that lets you make mini web pages (called lenses) for free.  You can write about nearly any topic (no get rich quick schemes or porn), but cheesecake, getting followers on twitter, and wordpress v blogger are all fair game.  You don’t even need any coding skills.

Use it as a launch pad

Here’s what you do.  Let’s say you’re a graphic designer.  Make several lenses about design basics, selecting colors, and avoiding common design mistakes.  Include a bio about yourself.  Content quality is important.  Be helpful, rather than promotional and establish yourself as an expert on design.

Include some links to your site (not too many, there’s a limit). Offer a free e-book or other incentive (such as additional information) to visit the link.

Socialize and make friends

Sharing and participating in the community is vital.  Get to know other lensmasters.  Ask questions in the forum if you need help.  Rate and favorite other relevant lenses.  Leave comments.   Tell your own followers, friends about your lenses.

Make some sales

Lenses can get lots of traffic.  You can use some of that traffic to sell books or products from Amazon and other partners.  The revenue from sales is split in many different ways.  Some goes to Squidoo (hey, those squids need to eat lots of fish), some to charity, some to Amazon, and some to lensmasters (the people who make the lenses).

Or, if you’ve got your own book or e-course, you can use some of your links to sell it, or send traffic to a landing page or paypal.

Either way,  you’ve raised your profile, established your expertise, and boosted traffic.  Not bad for free.

Image by Tom Riddle via Flickr

The motto “In God We Trust” is on all U.S. currency. It’s fairly common to see signs (especially in New York) that add “all others pay cash.”

Why?

Because of a lack of trust. Cash can be faked, but it’s hard to do. Store owners trust cash more than checks or credit cards.

Why is trust important?

Last week, responding to my post (Why People Buy) Josh asked,

Would you say that a peer to peer recommendation via a social network helps frame a purchase in a more logical manner?

I believe that there is now a stark difference between those smart copywriters who know just what to say and those friends we have in our personal networks who make a genuine recommendation to help us.

The problem with social networks is that brands are in effect trying to become that trusted friend immediately. They think that because you’ve given them permission to broadcast on your Facebook feed, they are in!

Trust leads to more sales

Recommendations are great if they come from someone you trust. The most effective recommendations are from people you actually know (a real-world friend), or an online friend, or a well-respected authority in the field (Darren Rowse on blogging or Chris Brogan on social media).

Big brands often use celebrities for this reason, hoping that the “glow” from the star will extend to their razors or shampoo or cars.

But do you really know Tiger Woods? Apparently, we didn’t.

If your readers/fans/subscribers trust you, and trust the recommendations you make, yes, they will buy. Not only because of smart copywriting (though that certainly helps, says the smart copywriter), but because of trust and because of a relationship. If you skip the hard work of building the relationship (and lose the trust) you won’t get the sale.

Before you start friending or becoming a fan, stop and think are you starting a conversation, or  making a big social media marketing mistake?

Share your thoughts

Do you trust brands on social networks?  Would you “friend” Tide or Charmin?  What about a less-familiar brand?

Image via Wikipedia

Paul Durban has done it again.  He took Chris Brogan’s 50 power twitter tips and made this great video. Don’t worry, Chris’s stuff is shareable under a creative commons license. No copyrights were harmed in the making of this video.

Enjoy!

50 power twitter tips video

Icon thanks to iconseeker

Today is cool tools day (a rundown of cool software, plugins, and other other stuff that makes life easier for freelancers and creatives.

Zemanta

First up today is a tool I’m just trying out. It’s called Zemanta. It looks at your blog post and finds relevant links, images, and tags (automagically). You can set preferences, and the images are tagged with the appropriate usage license. You can specify (to a point) which feeds it looks at to get related content, and also add twitter or facebook feeds. I got the tool image by typing tools into the search box (without leaving Wordpress), and then clicking on it. Pretty cool, but I had a heck of a time getting it aligned properly. A bug?

The wayback machine

If you’re a Rocky and Bullwinkle fan, you’ll remember the time machine from the Mr. Peabody and Sherman cartoons. This wayback machine. is an internet archive that preserves web sites, photos, audio, animation and more.  You can search for old versions of your own website or download free books, movies, and free recordings

Scribd

Scribd: Tons of forms, eb00ks, and documents  Learn more about business, baking, get office forms, templates, and lots more.  Many are free, some are paid.

Free web icons

Dryicons: Free blog or website icons: social sharing, flowers, e-commerce, sports, and holidays.  Lots of different styles, from “grungy” to “ink drawing” to “sleek.”