I'm definitely not productive these days. I don't Squidoo any more, just log into my account and check my rankings for Valentine's Day lenses; which are terrible and depressive in comparison to previous years visits. From getting up to 37,800 visitors in February in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 (Jan 2013: 13,050 - Feb 2013: 37,705) my top lens got only 1,650 visits this January. Still it is nicely ranked given the poor traffic numbers and the absence of sales.
This doesn't give me any hope for Squidoo's future. And this doesn't give me the will to work on my existing lenses, let alone creating new ones.
However these terrible numbers have also an impact on my productivity as a whole. I just don't find any kind of pleasure in writing articles, building pages, looking for products to feature any more. Though I enjoyed revamping my sites and I start considering a potential sale for the future if my mind doesn't change.
The new wave of locks on Squidoo I heard of is probably responsible for such a lack of interest in anything Internet marketing related.
Strangely most of these lense that are currently locked are TOP TIER lenses... Which means that they are ranked between 1 and 2,000. Why are these lenses locked after having been top money makers and traffic drivers for years? Most of those locked were also content lenses, like a lens about education - which seems to have become a "mundane" topic :(
There is a new trend regarding those locking waves: people don't post on their blogs, they don't talk about them in public, they rather keep their deep thoughts for private groups, forums, messaging, etc. Does lack of publicity mean lack of interest? I do think so.
Some still post about these locked lenses in the official forums but the cheerleader teams are there, they provide suggestions to unlock them as if the OP didn't clearly state that they deleted the lenses already. The lack of objective reaction is so disappointing that many don't even waste their time posting about that matter.
As for me, I made a decision on going to new pastures as well. This means that I won't be Squidooing for the weeks/months to come. By June or July after closely monitoring the traffic stats, I will make my decision on the future of my account. Unless HQ makes the decision for me by locking all of them.
Given the poor traffic numbers I don't feel the need nor the will (or courage?) to update my lenses. Still I don't want to be seen as a junk producer, so I will switch featured products in case they run out of stock.
Because I reapplied for Gianthood I know that I must create 5 lenses in the year. If I don't see any improvement in terms of traffic, I will resign my status. Honesty, integrity... And will put my account at the risk of being locked as a whole just like it happened to many others who resigned their Giant status.
To say the truth I don't feel like being a lensmaster any more. I don't feel being part of the great community Squidoo once was. I'm not alone, though. That is what makes me confident that I'm not nuts or depressed... It's just Squidoo that turned into something I'm not attracted with.
You know I was once invited to join the Rocket Moms. And I never thought about myself as a Rocket Mom, nor would I have been comfortable in such a "selected" group... So I declined the invite. The feelings I have now are the exact same as those I had when I received that invitation. I'm oustide of the ring, I watch them running and rushing from one side to another, I'm not one of them. And I'm glad although I miss those fun years working all together for the success of just a site.
I also never applied for the contributor clubs because of the new treatment lensmasters get from HQ. Why would I join one of these groups? The risk of seeing the new produced lenses locked is too high. What will happen once their filters will decide that even a Blogger backlink is a bad neighborhood? No thank you.
In addition, I don't plan on working for free... Whatever doesn't make ends meet is nowadays for me a big NO-NO.
Earlier this week, I left all Squidoo groups I was a member of on Facebook. All but two. One that was the new Fresh Wonders headquarters and the other one, that is a supportive group I'm really fond of.
I'll keep my membership at Fresh Wonders headquarters because we used to be a fantastic group, a group that brought a lot to each others, we were extremely supportive, we taught fresh Squids how to swim in the deep blue sea and how to make the most out of their Squid-endeavours. I met a lot of great people on there. I still value their friendship even though I don't follow the same route as many of them. Sadly the new headquarters are now deserted. We can only hear the sound of silence. These times have become history.
Squidoo's forums... well there are some very disagreeable people in these forums, the kind of people that if you don't agree with, will become highly aggressive and I really don't want to fight with them as I don't have any energy for that. It would result into too much time wasted... Moreover, I was banned from the official forums and never asked for my access to be reinstated.
I wouldn't bet my head on that but I do think that Squidoo is in the process to become history as well. Things might change by the end of the year but I don't think they're on the right track for a brighter future. Search engines never asked for all the changes they implemented. And the majority of these new rules and changes is just kicking them off of search engines. They also make lensmasters run away from the site and bring their talents else where.
Although the huge number of lenses produced these days with these clubs, traffic numbers didn't change a bit. And that is not a good sign... Time will tell... As for me I'm now going to watch a movie and then go to sleep, hoping for a more productive mood for tomorrow.
Still, in a few days, I'll receive my new trophy: 7 years on Squidoo... Now that is history ;)
Posted by Holly Day
This doesn't give me any hope for Squidoo's future. And this doesn't give me the will to work on my existing lenses, let alone creating new ones.
However these terrible numbers have also an impact on my productivity as a whole. I just don't find any kind of pleasure in writing articles, building pages, looking for products to feature any more. Though I enjoyed revamping my sites and I start considering a potential sale for the future if my mind doesn't change.
The new wave of locks on Squidoo I heard of is probably responsible for such a lack of interest in anything Internet marketing related.
Strangely most of these lense that are currently locked are TOP TIER lenses... Which means that they are ranked between 1 and 2,000. Why are these lenses locked after having been top money makers and traffic drivers for years? Most of those locked were also content lenses, like a lens about education - which seems to have become a "mundane" topic :(
There is a new trend regarding those locking waves: people don't post on their blogs, they don't talk about them in public, they rather keep their deep thoughts for private groups, forums, messaging, etc. Does lack of publicity mean lack of interest? I do think so.
Some still post about these locked lenses in the official forums but the cheerleader teams are there, they provide suggestions to unlock them as if the OP didn't clearly state that they deleted the lenses already. The lack of objective reaction is so disappointing that many don't even waste their time posting about that matter.
As for me, I made a decision on going to new pastures as well. This means that I won't be Squidooing for the weeks/months to come. By June or July after closely monitoring the traffic stats, I will make my decision on the future of my account. Unless HQ makes the decision for me by locking all of them.
Given the poor traffic numbers I don't feel the need nor the will (or courage?) to update my lenses. Still I don't want to be seen as a junk producer, so I will switch featured products in case they run out of stock.
Because I reapplied for Gianthood I know that I must create 5 lenses in the year. If I don't see any improvement in terms of traffic, I will resign my status. Honesty, integrity... And will put my account at the risk of being locked as a whole just like it happened to many others who resigned their Giant status.
To say the truth I don't feel like being a lensmaster any more. I don't feel being part of the great community Squidoo once was. I'm not alone, though. That is what makes me confident that I'm not nuts or depressed... It's just Squidoo that turned into something I'm not attracted with.
You know I was once invited to join the Rocket Moms. And I never thought about myself as a Rocket Mom, nor would I have been comfortable in such a "selected" group... So I declined the invite. The feelings I have now are the exact same as those I had when I received that invitation. I'm oustide of the ring, I watch them running and rushing from one side to another, I'm not one of them. And I'm glad although I miss those fun years working all together for the success of just a site.
I also never applied for the contributor clubs because of the new treatment lensmasters get from HQ. Why would I join one of these groups? The risk of seeing the new produced lenses locked is too high. What will happen once their filters will decide that even a Blogger backlink is a bad neighborhood? No thank you.
In addition, I don't plan on working for free... Whatever doesn't make ends meet is nowadays for me a big NO-NO.
Earlier this week, I left all Squidoo groups I was a member of on Facebook. All but two. One that was the new Fresh Wonders headquarters and the other one, that is a supportive group I'm really fond of.
I'll keep my membership at Fresh Wonders headquarters because we used to be a fantastic group, a group that brought a lot to each others, we were extremely supportive, we taught fresh Squids how to swim in the deep blue sea and how to make the most out of their Squid-endeavours. I met a lot of great people on there. I still value their friendship even though I don't follow the same route as many of them. Sadly the new headquarters are now deserted. We can only hear the sound of silence. These times have become history.
Squidoo's forums... well there are some very disagreeable people in these forums, the kind of people that if you don't agree with, will become highly aggressive and I really don't want to fight with them as I don't have any energy for that. It would result into too much time wasted... Moreover, I was banned from the official forums and never asked for my access to be reinstated.
I wouldn't bet my head on that but I do think that Squidoo is in the process to become history as well. Things might change by the end of the year but I don't think they're on the right track for a brighter future. Search engines never asked for all the changes they implemented. And the majority of these new rules and changes is just kicking them off of search engines. They also make lensmasters run away from the site and bring their talents else where.
Although the huge number of lenses produced these days with these clubs, traffic numbers didn't change a bit. And that is not a good sign... Time will tell... As for me I'm now going to watch a movie and then go to sleep, hoping for a more productive mood for tomorrow.
Still, in a few days, I'll receive my new trophy: 7 years on Squidoo... Now that is history ;)
Posted by Holly Day
Don't let what has happened to some of us rock your boat. It IS difficult to remain productive when you see things like the lockings happening to people you know and respect. Instead of kicking you down use it to get you more focused and determined to get beyond Squidoo and into a place where you will have more freedom, independence and security should something happen to YOUR account. I have definitely been discouraged by losing my biggest earners, but there are so many other options when it comes to making an online income. Squidoo was fantastic while it lasted but its days truly are numbered as an income-generating site. It may survive in some other way but for those of us looking to make money it is no longer viable.
ReplyDeleteChin up! Hope by the time you see this you have managed to get a good night's rest and are ready to face another day of working towards something better! {{{hugs}}}
Ah well, thank you Dee for the encouragements, I greatly appreciate them! However, when personal troubles encounter professional ones, it's not easy to deal with them. But I keep your comment in mind and hope I'll get better soon on my way.
DeleteI hope you get your zest back soon with a new site. I can understand not wanting to put further work into lenses with the uncertainty there now.
ReplyDeleteMy recommendation is to not resign your giant status. They won't press us for the 5 new lenses until Dec. 2014. That's a long way off.