Squidoo Introducing New Lens Format

A new product review lens format is about to be launched

 

After the new workshop announcement, Squidoo introduces new lens format options. These are short (and probably sweet) pages that can be built about any kind of topic you're interested in. 

These new types of lenses are niche focused ones. These new pages won't require more than 2 modules - but we're free to add up to 5. 

Let's take an example: I recently wrote a tutorial on how to make Halloween animatronics. I could have done this on one of the new lens templates that are going to be launched. It wouldn't have required more than what I have already written on my own site, along with some pictures and a guestbook so as to allow my readers to ask questions or leave a feedback.

Naturally those templates aren't available yet therefore, we can't build any one now.

The first page of this type to be available is going to be the... product reviews template. Hm... weren't commercial lenses not welcome these past months on Squidoo? Seems that they changed their views regarding these pages. Now, there's a twist that makes them probably more welcomed than before. Because they won't carry ads, they won't be eligible for tier payouts and will rely only on the sales they generate - split 50/50 with Squidoo, as usual, I presume.

There's also a special perk coming with the new format: we'll be allowed to add a personalised background to them so as to customize them entirely. Great, isn't it?

However, and while most lensmasters have been praising the great idea, some understood that now, Squidoo invites us to create free content on their platform. Free content that won't earn us a dime unless the pages generate sales. In reality they invite us creating content that would earn us more money on our own blogs and sites. 

Are these new product review lens formats going to be profitable? 

 

Along with this consideration, there are a few more elements to look into !

These new product review lenses are going to be Amazon product based. Problem : Amazon has generally small product stocks. 

What does that mean for those who are going to build the new product review lenses? 

As an example, you create a product review about a highly popular and best selling coffee maker for which the current stock is 15 items. You wrote a stunning review including a coffee recipe, your personal pictures for the product, and all the technical details. One month later, the coffee maker runs out of stock. What are you going to do? 

There are two options :

1. Delete the lens.
2. Running a search to see if this coffee maker is available with another reference.

As a matter of fact, with the disappearance of the product from the Amazon listings, the page has no reason to stay live on Squidoo. You're thus going to throw your hard work away. If you're lucky, you might find a similar product to replace the lost one - if only you didn't build your lens link using the product name and/or type!

What do these new product review lenses imply?

 

• Choosing a broad lens link related to the product, not an exact match,
• The loss of all earnings when the product runs out of stock,
• More work involved since we're going to have to closely monitor our new product review lenses
• Even more work after a product runs out of stock to research the exact same product to feature in order to not have to get rid of the lens,
• Our product review page looking like spam and junk that were a real nightmare for Squidoo - at least for the time we find a similar product or delete the lens,
• More product review lenses to be created in order to keep our level of earnings,
• This also provides Squidoo with MORE free content,
• This offers Squidoo even more free freshly updated content,
• We won't be able to keep making money on auto-pilot (set up a lens and forget -- apart from here and there updates),
• We're going to work even more to generate Squidoo more earnings, however not more money for us,
• Less implication from Squidoo in our monthly payouts since the product review lenses won't be eligible for tier payments (they won't, for now, carry ads).
  

Now there are a few questions that come along with these product review lenses:

• How are these product review lenses going to look to search engines? Another type of online stores doorway? 
• How are they going to consider these pages that are going to appear and then, suddenly, disappear from the Internet? 
• How are they going to rank those pages?
• Are they even going to bother indexing them?
• Still, once deleted and given the number of active lensmasters and people who are seeing them as a great move I bet there are going to be a bunch of such pages created soon, what in case of mass deletion of such pages? For example: Christmas is at the door, with 1,000 of them build about ornaments and deleted by February, aren't search engines going to think that Squidoo's once again doing a mass deletion of low quality content?
• HQ spoke about potentially add ads to them in the future. With short life lenses is it worth even thinking about it?
• With the introduction of such short review product lenses, is Squidoo gradually getting rid of tier payments?
• At the rate traffic is dropping (dramatically dropped given July-August stats), is this business model going to be effective?

One might consider these considerations negative, however it's our hard work that's once again concerned and we must see the pros and cons of creating such pages. If we're sure we're going to make at least 10 sales on high commission products, they're worth the test drive - for example a $10 commission paid 10 times on 10 sales can make $100 look like time greatly spent building just one of these pages. Especially with those $100 split 50/50 between us and Squidoo --> these won't provie us with more than $50 for the job.

But if we build such pages to make a $0.50 commisson 10 times -- $5 -- I don't think it's worth the hassle since we wouldn't get more than $2.50 once the commission split.

Again, one can create 10 of such pages in a day as they don't require a huge lot of work, but then again, what if out of those 10 pages, only one generates sales and, therefore, commissions? Once again split into 2 equal parts?

Still I must be honest and keep an objective mind: there are also certainly benefits coming with these new formatted lenses:

• Quicker load time since they won't carry heavy weighted ads - oh my, what a relief!
• Short and sweet shopping oriented pages that will please the online window shoppers and buyers,
• One will be able to create eye catching pages without wasting time writing personal stories.

There are certainly many additional positive and negative elements to be taken into consideration but at this rate, I'd say that such pages are those that I already build on my own sites when I do a product review. So there's nothing new under the sun these days. 

Moreover, why building such pages on Squidoo and share the benefits when we can build them on our own sites and keep 100% of the earned commission - which helps paying for our host, domain name and hard work all at once?

Your thoughts about these new product review pages - and more formats to come - are welcome :)

Posted by Squidoo lensmaster Prosperity66