Squidblog

A few months ago, eBay changed providers and the system behind the ‘new user’ referral bounty they had been paying us. You know, the bonus that affiliates get for sending eBay new, active users. The thing was, we didn’t know, and our reporting didn’t tell us.

Then one of our top lensmasters graciously brought the change to our attention. She had been referring dozens of new eBay users a month thanks to her Squidoo lenses, and therefore getting quite a nice bonus. Then suddenly her bonuses went waaay down.

But there’s good news: eBay let us know today that they’re looking into it. I don’t know any more than that yet, and I don’t know if they will make the fix retroactive for us (or even if they will fix it at all). But at least they’re checking it out.

Just thought I’d keep you guys posted. Stay tuned.

Hint: do a Google search on Sarah Palin. The lens ranks 11 or so.

Politics are hot.

Here are some ideas for your next lenses.

* Unanswered questions for Sarah Palin
* Top videos about John McCain
* Six reasons to go vote in November
* Hey Monkeybrain debate on the drilling question
* Stupid commentator videos
* Obama’s best speeches (your favorites, handpicked and commented on)
* A virtual tour of the conventions

You get the idea. We’ll be featuring our favorite political lenses soon, so go get started.

The secret is to let the readers participate. Duels. Polls. Plexos. Guestbooks turned Q&A.

Last week the Giant Squid Organizers and I ran a Speed Dating session for Giant Squids. (It’s more like speed lensing).

No, we’re not going Match.com on you.

But the format of speed dating is fascinating, fast-paced, and gives everyone a shot at the spotlight (and feedback). So we invited Giants to show up with one lens, just one, that they had questions about. We went rapidfire through each lens, and everyone weighed in with helpful advice and comments, ranging from marketing and promo tips, to editorial thoughts and a little cheerleading.

I was interested to see that (unsurprisingly) the biggest question tended to be: How do I get more traffic to my lens? The Giant Squids are second to none when it comes to creating remarkable editorial content, no doubt. But there’s always more to learn about how to promote your lenses, how to get the word out (and how to get your readers to help) and sometimes, how not to worry about traffic. Every lens poses a different marketing challenge, every lensmaster has a different goal to achieve. So if you’ve already realized that “If you build it, they will come” isn’t the best marketing strategy, then you’re ahead of the pack.

And hey, if words like “marketing” and “promotion” sound way too serious or self-serving or uncomfortable, just think of it like this: There are loads of things you can do to share your lens with people who deserve to see it. Sharing content as good as yours is a generous thing. Done right, people will appreciate it, and pass it on.

Anyway, here’s the Speed Dating transcript. I highly recommend scanning it and reading the feedback on the lenses we discussed.

We’ll do another Speed Dating round for Giants soon… stay tuned!

P.S. Not a Giant yet? This is for you. The next application deadline is coming up fast.