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

Changing a blog name

Find Me At T-Shirt by Sandyspider
See other Social networking T-Shirts at zazzle

I am everywhere online. This t-shirt says it all. Today I changed the name of this blog and URL to make more of what is added to this blog. I was first intended to compliment and link back to my Squidoo account. But a lot has changed since then. My writing expands with many sites online. Though for nearly a year now, my writing has been mainly on a network media site called Bubblews – (this is my Sandyspider account). To join, here is my referral link. On Bubblews, it is all about the pennies. There is a penny for views, a penny for Likes and a penny for comments on the posts. Three cents per signed on person visiting your post in possible. It may not sound like much, but those pennies turn into dollars. Once you get to $50 you can redeem for payment in your PayPal account. Bubblews is going through major growing pains right now, with errors of the website being offline. But it is still worth being part of this site. Of the many social networks that I write on, Bubblews is paying me more money then any of these. Now the reason that I finally changed the name of this blog site is because I do write for many social media networks. Therefore posting something about Bubblews would not make much sense to see Squidoo in the name.

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.

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.

Squidoo Clean up Month and New Lenses

March is clean up week on Squidoo. The Squid Team is encouraging everyone to go through their older, lower ranked lenses and clean them up to what they have learned on how to write better lenses.

Plus, just like another social network that I know of, the Squid Team will be on the look out a little more so for spam take and substandard lenses. I believe my lenses are safe. But I have to admit that out of my 250 plus lenses, more than half of these can be fixed up or broken up into smaller lenses. I tend to overdo and overkill, not knowing when to stop. This even applies to my latest lenses. Well, some dogs are hard to train!

I have cleaned up several lenses, but these below had major overhauls and probably took more time to clean up then it was to write the first time around. In addition, the last two are new lenses, which I also cleaned up. You will see some long lenses here. I am not good at using the KISS System.

All comments, bookmarking, sharing and giving thumbs up are welcome on these lenses. One of my goals this year is to get a LOTD. Only you can make this happen. (Note: If you are not a Squidoo member, you can still comment and give a thumbs up.)

Gifts for All Occasions
The print on demand shop, Zazzle has been an addiction for me since 2009. Living in the snow belt of Wisconsin where the weather can be harsh, can warp the mind! That is why my designs look a little twisted. I started my Zazzle site when we were having a record-breaking snowfall for the winter of 2008-2009. I envisioned this snowflake with a wicked face. It is how I felt about the weather. Read more and find some great custom gifts on Sandyspider Gifts Zazzle Showcase

What is Internet Addiction Disorder?
Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is excessive computer use that interferes with daily life. It becomes a compulsive behavior that completely dominates the addict's life. Internet addicts make the Internet a priority more important than family, relationships, health and work. Just like gambling, excessive gaming, a growing sexual addiction or compulsive shopping. Read more, take the addiction test and add your links to this page on
Are You an Internet Addict?

Chocolate Gift Ideas
This is a collection of my Chocoholics Unite! product line on Zazzle and Sandy Mertens on Amazon. Additonal chocolate on Zazzle is found in Chocolate with Sandyspider. Anyone who appreciates the taste of this luxurious treat, will enjoy seeing these creamy, rich, mouth watering products. But be careful! The major side effect of viewing this Zazzle shop is weight gain. Share some love and give the gift of chocolate found in this article Chocoholics Unite Gallery of Gifts

These are the two newer lenses but have already been cleaned up since first published.

Bi-Winning, Rock Star and Tiger Blood Apparel
The online print on demand world of Zazzle and CafePress has gone wild with Charlie Sheen inspired quotes. Amazon and other shopping sites have gotten in on the bandwagon. He was fired from "Two and a Half Men". It is sad to say goodbye to this show that first aired in 2002. Nevertheless, no one can take Sheen's place. See some wild Charlie Sheen t-shirts from his own quotes and some of mine on Inspired Charlie Sheen T-Shirts

For the Love of Green
Green is a nice tranquil color, but reference to green does not always mean the color green. When we think of green, we see money, emeralds, living green, hippies, using recyclable bags, St Patrick's Day, green beer, green animals and feeling at peace. See all the green products on
Green Gifts and Articles

If you are a Squidoo Member,these and any of my other lenses can be nominated by you for a Purple Star and LOTD. If you are not a member you are still welcome to add you comment in the guestbook and give it a like up. Squidoo is free, fun and a wonderful place to write. If interested you can
Join Here!

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.

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.

Squdoo Badges and What They Mean

My badges so far:

In July 2009 I became a Giant Squid. Along with being a Giant Squid and beyond comes the stars. Squidoo lens Squidbadges explains this badge and stars as follows:

"Giant" badge: Giant Squids are distinguished by their exceptional skill for making top-notch lenses, and lots of them. Whenever you land on a Giant Squid's lens, you know the person behind it is passionate about the topic and is hard at work making the lens worthy of your time and attention. Giant Squids have 50 or more really great lenses, and they get quite a few perks for all their hard work. This is just one. Learn more about what it takes to be a Giant.

Gold stars: This shows that a particular page is a certified gold star lens, which means it's the best of its kind on Squidoo (or shows some serious potential for getting there.) When your lens gets a gold star, it also automatically gets a little LensRank boost. Not bad. For now, only Giant Squids can get gold stars on their lenses. But turn that frown upside down: All lensmasters are welcome to join the Giant Squid challenge and earn their way in!

Purple stars: They're heeeere. Bow down to the purple star. Only a few purple stars are given out each week, to exceptional NEW lenses created by Giant Squids. Read all the goods and news about purple stars.

To my surprise...my recipe lens Garden Fresh Tomato Recipes earned a purple star.

I wonder if my first recipe lens Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup would of taken a purple star if I had been a Giant Squid at the time that it was published. It is a recipe that I have had created from my head and finally written it down. We also created a video on how to make the soup. I think it is worth a LOTD.

The last three badges are as follows:

December 2008, I won 3rd place in the "Home for the Holidays Contest" with Christmas Tree History and More.

June 2009, I wrote my 50th lens with My Dog Turned 50.

June 5, 2009, I took on the Rocket Mom challenge. Eight week course to work among the smartest women on the web, working together to make Squidoo lenses.