Social Media Regrouping

"Don't put all you eggs in one basket." Sure that you have heard this phrase many times over and over again. It is true that when you are working with social media, you should always have a backup plan. There are many social media groups online that you can join. Some promise money for your hard writing work, while others may be for recognition. The recognition part would be your way of advertising yourself and your businesses. Many people join social media groups as a combination to become recognized as a writer, make money from the website/social network or lead people to their own sites and shops. Joining more then one social writing group is important. This means to not to put all your eggs in one basket, so to speak.

So when should you start to regroup?

A person needs to regroup when there are too many baskets and not enough eggs. This means spreading yourself out too thin that you are not able to keep up with refreshing, adding new content and interacting with other members of that site. These writing websites are constantly changing. What was good one year may not be so good this year. It could be a time to reevaluate the social media site that you are on. Is it working for you?

 If it is not then it is time for a change.

 Personally for myself, I have spent time expanding to many writing sites. I have not been able to keep up and their changes. So now it is time to regroup. Here are a few that I am on. As for Bubblews, wait until August because they are having growing pains with many errors. In July they promise many changes and hopefully fixes. But they are not saying when in July.

  Join Squidoo here
  Join Hubpages here
  Join Bubblews here

Wacky Writing Collection 1-19-2014 on Bubblews

Recently I read that it is fine to have a copy of your Bubblews posts to your personal blog posts. This comes straight from the BubblewsHelpDesk page. This is an answer that was actually replied back to a Bubbler (member). I wrote eight questions there with no answer. I also send an email to bubblews.helpdesk@gmail.com with the same questions and no answer. We are told that if we have questions to contact BubblewsHelpDesk instead of listening to rumors of what the rules are. I am assuming that there just isn't enough time and eventually my questions will be answered. I did mention in the email that I would make a Bubble (post) about the answer to the questions.

This post is somewhat of a copy of Wacky Writing Collection 1-19-2014 shown on Bubblews. It is a collection of writing for the week prior to that date. The reason that it is placed here is because of one of the rumors that Bubblers are not allowed to have too many internal links to posts. Though not where does it state that in the rules.

But I would like to make sure that I get paid, so until the rumors become fact, those links will be placed here. If you are not familiar with Bubblews it is a combination blog and article social network where you can write about nearly anything and get paid for views, comments and likes on your post. Presently for me, it is paying better then any social network. Free to join, so give it a try. Join the Bubblews community and start making money by clicking on here.

Here is my breakdown according to their categories of posts of seven days to January 12-18, 2014. The links below will take you to each post.

Personal, Journal and Random

Sunday is Coming to an End

What I Did Over the Weekend

Bringing Home the Bacon No More

Ramblings of Sandyspider 1-16-2014

End of the Evening Where is my Sleeping Chair?

My Masterpiece Oil Painting

Food

Smothered Burritos at a Mexican Restaurant

Art

Do You Know About Bubblews and Zazzle Day?

Science and Journal (Weather)

Calm before the Snowstorm

Snow Covered Hump Day

Business and Random (Social Networking)

Snow Falling on My Bubblews and Squidoo Day

What are the Traits of a Big Online Earner for Social Earning Sites?

After the Squidoo Lens Update I Murdered my Blog

Tech (Education)

Advantages of an Online Degree

Disadvantages of an Online College Degree

Trending (Many are doing this or watching this)

Is Swagbucks Right For Me?

Why the Popular Trend of Vomit Scenes in Film?

News

Are Pilots Relying Too Much On Autopilot?

Photo is Halloween Monster Friends Pillow by Sandyspider on Zazzle Why the monster? Bubblews is addictive and if you don't get of it, then you turn into a monster.

Own Part of This New Network, Zurker

The last thing that I want to do is sign up for another social network. But this one caught my eye because it's a new concept, new company, and by joining YOU own a share of the company. ITS FREE! It started Beta testing in Dec so its not open to public yet, you have to be invited, so I'm sending you the Invite link. I noticed a lot of Squidooers and Zazzlers on there already. Here is the invite link Visit Zurker by clicking here.

And here is some info they sent me when I joined. What is Zurker? Zurker is a third-generation social app released into private alpha testing in December, 2011. It's special because it's owned by its members. This unusual DNA will help Zurker develop the best social app available, which in turn will propel Zurker to becoming the dominant social network in the coming decade (and beyond). Who owns Zurker? Users like you and me. Here's a list. Why hasn't anyone done something like Zurker before? The idea of a cooperative isn't that new. However, it probably hasn't been implemented on the net yet because entrepreneurs who found startups tend to want to retain as much equity as possible. There probably will be a lot more sites run on the "community equity" principle after Zurker shows that it is a powerful and fast way to build a valuable enterprise. Is the goal of Zurker to unseat Facebook? Not specifically, but social networks do work better if they are bigger.

If, in ten years from now, Zurker isn't the biggest and bestest social network in this end of the galaxy, it will probably have failed. What is the difference between Zurker and Facebook? There are a number of differences, but the key difference is that Facebook is owned by a select few investors, whereas Zurker is owned by a large number of members. This means that decisions about how to develop the site are driven with the users' best interests in mind, rather than business development decisions. Is Zurker open source? Not yet. Bear in mind, we just entered alpha testing in December, 2011, and at this stage the risk and security issues outweigh the benefits of releasing the source code. But open source is definitely the direction we want to move in. Running an open source project is actually quite complicated - there is a huge amount of coordination involved.

What's the point of Zurker since we already have Facebook and Google+? Zurker is fundamentally better than FB. FB and G+ are driven by corporations with their corporate goals. Zurker is owned by its members. Its product is designed to do just one thing, work well for the members, and corporate revenue is passed on to the members. How can Zurker succeed with Facebook dominant globally? Facebook is dominant right now, but it started off as a small start-up nobody had ever heard of. Facebook had a clever strategy for growing quickly, and replaced the dominant social networks of the time (MySpace and Friendster). Zurker is starting off as a small startup nobody has ever heard, but we have a clever strategy for growing quickly and developing an awesome product until we replace the dominant social network of our time. Owning Zurker How can I own a part of Zurker United States? Sign up, refer your friends, or buy vShares. (United States residents only.)

What are vShares? vShares are stakes of ownership in the corporation which will be incorporated to own and operate Zurker, once enough vShares have been allocated. Here's our page about vShares. Why should I invest in Zurker? It may turn out to be quite the shrewd business decision. Venture Capital investors are some of the wealthiest people in the world. Most people never have the chance to invest in start-ups, and wouldn't know how. Here at Zurker we have a product you can use, and if you like it, you can easily invest a modest sum. In addition, note that Zurker relies on small investments from many users for funding. So please do invest even if it's just a few bucks.

Could Zurker be a scam? Just about every new start-up is potentially a scam. A bunch of entrepreneurs with varying degrees of technical ability somehow secure funding from Venture Capital firms. Many start-ups burn through the funding, spending money on things like fast cars, without ever turning a profit. The Venture Capital firms are OK with that because the few that do succeed, bring phenomenal return on investment. At Zurker we practice Open-Book Accounting so at least you know we're not buying Maybachs.

Does a vShare in Zurker United States mean I own part of Zurker Australia etc. as well? No, each Zurker is owned by its members only. Where will Zurker be incorporated? Ideally each Zurker will be incorporated in the country it is associated with, the exception being Zurker Worldwide which may be incorporated in the US or off-shore. In some cases, specifically India, government red tape may mean that it will make more sense to incorporate off-shore. There are numerous complex legal and financial considerations which will drive decisions such as this, and when the time comes we hope to have the expertise available, within the Ideas secion of Zurker, or in the form of counsel and consultants, to make an informed decision.

Can I sell my vShares? A vShare is an agreement between the co-founding developers and yourself that you will own a stake in the venture to be established. An agreement between two parties can't be sold so our understanding is that it would be odd, and potentially illegal, to allow the trading of vShares. However, Zurker is a democratic, member-led platform. If the demand is there, we'll look into it further and possibly enable vShare transfers. Using Zurker Why can't I have more than one account? Because we are currently giving out complimentary vShares to new members and those are limited to one per person.

Why is Zurker for the United States only? This is a good question, and the answer is complicated. Zurker is currently available in the following countries. Each Zurker accepts only members of that country. United States United Kingdom India Philippines New Zealand Canada Australia Residents of all other jurisdictions become members of Zurker Worldwide. Zurker Worldwide For several reasons, the developers have decided to release Zurker on a country by country basis. Each country's Zurker is an independent entity owned by residents of that country. Having users from other countries own shares in other countries would be excessively challenging for technical, administrative, operational, and financial reasons. Note that you CAN connect and interact normally with members on other versions of Zurker. A member of Zurker UK can subscribe to a member of Zurker India, for example. I am a resident of the United States but I am traveling.

Can't I sign up? Focus on enjoying your trip, and sign up when you get home. And don't forget to take lots of photos you can upload to Zurker later.

Why doesn't Zurker have this feature? That feature? And the other feature? Zurker was developed by a small (but dedicated) development team with limited funding. Don't expect it to be the most awesome platform just yet. As of December, 2011, Zurker is a starting point. Buy a few vShares, and your investment will go towards more features and all manner of good stuff you'll like.

Should I "connect" or "subscribe"? Connects are two-way connections, so a connect must be approved by the person you are connecting with. In most cases, a connect is great because you find out what they are doing, and they can keep up with what you are doing. Anyway, I took a chance and bought some shares which are $1 a share right now. You can receive shares by referrals too.

I am hoping that it will turn into something big, since it is on the ground floor. BTW, it is free to join. Send sandyspider a note after you join.

 Some of my sites:
Sandyspider Gifts
ebooktreesaver
Sandyspider Website Directory
Giftsyoubuy
Sandyspider on Squidoo
Sandyspider on Hubpages

Two Years on HubPages

Two Years on HubPages: "Two years ago, I joined HubPages from a person I knew on Squidoo and he is more popular here on HubPages. You know him as bgamall.

Being on HubPages has been a rollercoaster for me. Chugging along the rail to reach the top, getting closer and closer to the first peak (can you feel the excitement)"...

Please leave your comment and answer the poll on the article above.

Will My Traffic Be Lost to the Ever Evolving Squidoo

My 3-year anniversary is coming up on Squidoo, I joined on July 4, 2008. This is an easy date to remember, since Americans celebrate Independence Day on that particular day in July.

Squidoo has evolved more than any social network that I know.

When I first joined, Squidoo had groups. It took me about a year to discover this. I joined every group that I could, hopping to bring more traffic to my lenses (articles). I even listed these groups on my lenses for backlinking. Those groups have dissolved since then.

Moving modules on Squidoo was a little difficult to do. A vast improvement has been made since that time.

Many other changes that I liked and didn't like. One of the latest, which we have now been given a little more time to fix is the page breaks. I believe firmly in the KILL system. Keep It Long and Lengthy. I found these page breaks very helpful to some of my lenses.

I have fixed a number of my lenses on the page break thing. This one took me more than week to finish and I wanted to publish my new lenses all at the same time.

Why?

Because they all tied into one another with my Internet Addiction lens, which I broke down to 5 additional lenses. Theses are the lenses plus the new and improved Internet Addiction lens. Please, please visit and add to the plexos.

Are You an Internet Addict?
Blogging and RSS Addiction
Addiction of Facebook and Other Social Networking
Websites and Internet Addiction
Shopping Online Addiction
YouTube Addiction

Now I am wondering if all this work is worth it. Hardly anyone so far has been to these new lenses. The Squidteam has made it harder yet to get traffic. Custom bios, fan club and Squidcast were taken away a few days ago.

What is a Squidooer to do?




Note: At the moment this lens still has page breaks on it. I still don't know what to do with it. Sandyspider on Squidoo.

Smells Like HubPages

I published this article on Qondio on March 16, 2011. After fixing 24 of my hubs in order for them to not be deleted by the editors according to the new rules for articles. The warning was that there were to many Amazon products on these hubs. The new rule is one Amazon or eBay product per 50 words. As in the brag as much as you want with your Zazzle products on Squidoo, the Amazon and eBay products seemed unlimited on HubPages. Well this is not the case any more! These are all fixed (took all day), except one which is a recipe hub and will be a new recipe lens on Squidoo soon. You can leave a comment and rate this on Qondio Here!

Bellow is the article I published.

Smells Like HubPages

By Sandy Mertens

New rules on Hubpages have made me love Squidoo even more!
Having never really understood HubPages and their point system, I have asked for help with some of the masters there. I followed their advice with getting more involved with the forums, groups, contest, commenting voting up hubs, keywords, adding more content, staying active on HubPages and promoting as much as I can. My score remains in the low 80s.

For a very short time, my hubscore was in the low 90s. If your score is not 100 or near that, no one will find you from the main page.

I can't help but feel that HubPages is a good old boys club, if you are not in it, too bad for you.

I know people with a few hubs and a high score on their main page. These people are not as active on HubPages either.

Scoring does not mean you don't have well written content. I have seen many hubs from popular hubbers with near perfect scores that were short and substandard. Yet the score on their hub was high. Now I am not trying to take apart any particular hubber. There are many talented writers there. However, the scoring does not add up. I have been following one hubber who happens to be a doctor. She writes about all different medical problems in terms a layperson can understand. Her hubs are always well written and informative. At the time that I am writing this, her score is 1. That is right! A single digest number score. Maybe she hasn't participated as much as I have or added as many pretty pictures in her hub. But does she deserve a 1 in her main profile page?

New rules added to HubPages will make it harder to enjoy this social network site.

1. All duplicate content hubs will be eliminated from their site. Fair enough, I believe in originality and not duplicate content. Out of my 80 hubs, one is label duplicate. It is a recipe hub. The article links the editors sent me where not even close to my recipe. There were similarities, but all recipes will have this. I love this recipe and I am sure the people on Squidoo will too!

2. There is now a limit to how many Amazon and eBay products that one can have listed in your hubs. These also reflex on the word content verses products in your hub. Nothing wrong with that unless your article is about those products and Squidoo recently enforced a limit to Amazon and eBay products as well. But Squidoo is more flexible if your main purpose is to have a product lens. In fact, selling Amazon products is encouraged.

I have many gift hubs that now have this warning. If I don't fix it by March 25, 2011, these hubs of mine may not be in existence.

Not a new change but something you should know, HubPages only allowed two links to an outside site, unless you were able to RSS it. While Squidoo, it is nine. If you are a Zazzler it is hard to promote your shop on HubPages. On Squidoo the link limit does not apply to Zazzle products. You can promote and brag away.

It looks like a lot of overhauling on HubPages or moving my hubs to friendlier places.

Here are some Kindle and paperback books on Hubpages, Squidoo and social networking.

Make a Lens a Day

Not keeping up with this blog, at the end of 30 days I had made 12 lenses. Making 30 a day was a little hard to do. Though lensmaster vallain made the 30 in that time frame. I congratulate her.

I have added a plexo to when I do follow any of the assignments afterwards. You can even vote which lenses you liked the best. Visit the lens Make a Lens a Day and Not Go Insane To see what lenses I have made. I even added a few Zazzle products that were used within these lenses. Below are a few shown.

Arch Rock, Mackinac Island by Sandyspider
Browse other Arch rock mackinac island Postcards

RocketMom Session 3 Graduate

Oct. 12, 2009 is the RocketMoms graduation day for Session 3. Unfortunately I missed out on Session 1, but was lucky enough to be invited for Session 2. RocketMoms is a social network club from Squidoo. This club has the smartest, brightest and most creative women. I am proud to be part of it.

Rocketmoms is an invite-only club. To qualify you have to be a mother, step-mother or grandma and a Squidoo lensmaster.

Each session contains several weeks of intense lessons. They have us grow into better writers, lensmasters and learn how to make money online.

When I agreed to continue on with Session 3, I decided to be a part-timer. But since I don't really do anything part-time, I finished all 8 of the assignments. Working with the RocketMoms has helped me achieve my Giant 100 Club statics.

Session 4 will begin Oct. 26, 2009 on how to make money on our Holiday lenses. I can't wait.