Perhaps the word ‘exposed’ is a little harsh, but basically I have been lucky enough to get an interview with Squidoo’s very own Fluffanutta.  For anyone who has been using Squidoo for any length of time, I should imagine that you would have come across him at some point, either in the Squidoo forums or one of his lenses - oh, and there is always SquidUtils that the Fluffanutta runs.

When I contacted him and asked him to do the interview he was really keen to go ahead and was totally honest in his answers.  I think we could all do with seeing some more people like him over at Squidoo.  Not only does he give us access to some amazing tools over at SquidUtils, he gives it to us free and replies on donations to maintain the site.

It’s rare to see anyone give so freely and with such honesty and integrity.  Once you see just how much help this guy gives out, you will soon find yourself getting lost in the mass of lenses that he has created - every last one of them is top notch and jam packed full of helpful information.

Here’s the interview ….

Q.  Can you tell us what you class yourself as (internet marketer, designed, programmer, affiliate marketer etc) and what does it mean you do?

A.  I am a programmer - I’ve been doing it for 20 years, and it is also my career. I enjoy building little programs and scripts to solve problems, or to provide new functionality. I also do a bit of web designing on the side.

Q.  How long did it take you to design and build squidutils?

A.  SquidUtils was built up gradually over time; when it started, it didn’t even have it’s own domain, but I had already put together the Lensmaster feeds and Amazon Link generator. After a while, it was clear that it needed it’s own site, and SquidUtils grew from there. It is constantly being tweaked and
improved, and occasionally I add new features to it as well.

Q.  How long have you been using Squidoo?

A.  I joined in September, 2006. I have around 50 lenses now (I have sold quite a few).

Q.  How much money are you making directly through Squidoo?

A.  I’m getting a steady $200+ every month from Squidoo, which is topped up a little by other affiliate programs, mainly Amazon and ClickBank.

Q.  How long did it take you before you started to make money on Squidoo?

A.  A few months. I think I started to get payments near the beginning of 2007, and they were doubling every month. By the middle of 2007, the payments were perhaps approaching $100, and the release of the Harry Potter book helped (I had a lens on it).

Q.  Which function on Squidutils is your favorite?

A.  Hmm… good question. I think my favourite function is the one that hasn’t been officially released yet, so my next favourite would have to be the Amazon Link generator - I’m pleased how well it turned out.

Q.  Would you recommend people to use Squidoo as a marketing tool?

A.  Yes? I have to confess, I’m not really into the whole marketing thing, but I have had some successes using lenses as landing pages.

Q.  How would you best describe Squidoo to someone who doesn’t know about it?

A.  It is a information site, where ‘experts’ can write about what they know, and others can come find the answers to their questions. It also provides a way to sell products and earn revenue. I think it is an ideal platform for beginners who are new to affiliate marketing.

Q.  Squidutils is free do you have any plans to change this?

A.  It is free, though there is a Donation button for any Lensmasters who wish to support it. I have considered extending it to have extra cool features for subscribers, but I haven’t come up with any yet. We will have to see…

Q.  What are you working on at the moment with Squidutils?

A.  I am most excited by a tool I am working on which will automatically check your lens for common mistakes. Things like missing photos, poor Primary tags, short descriptions and no backlinks. It is still in Beta version, and I’ll probably be asking for more testers soon. There are more things that need to be added to it before it can be released officially.

Q.  What difference is there with your amazon tool and the amazon module on Squidoo?

A.  I created this tool after the support for IFrames was removed from Squidoo. I wanted to continue using the Product Links from Amazon on my lenses, and this tool is the result of that.

There are two main differences: firstly, it looks different and it can be inserted into a Text module with the text wrapping around it. Secondly, you can use your own Amazon Associate ID, and potentially make more money. The pros and cons of this are discussed on this lens [http://www.squidoo.com/amazon-links].

I think that everyone reading this will agree that the fluffanutta has a lot to offer us as lensmasters and I would like to thank him for taking the time to do this interview with us. 

Once you go and look at some of the tools that SquidUtils offers, I think you will all be bookmarking it for future use.  Remember to let others know about it!  Over the next few weeks I’ll be going into more detail on each of the functions that it offers and how they will benefit you.

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