Squidoo Alert: Seth Godin Interviewed on the 'Squidoo Slap'

July 24, 2007; 03:43 AM
SearchingDot.com had the opportunity to interview Seth Godin on the recent changes on the inside of Squidoo and his reaction to the 'Google Drop' - which have together been branded in the Internet Marketing community as the "Squidoo Slap."

The full 5-page interview, including Seth's comments on the "Google Drop" and "Squidoo Has Been Blocked By Netscape" is completely free (no opt-in required) at SearchingDot Web 2.0

In fact, many Internet Marketers (IM) are taking Squidoo's recent policy changes "personally" (not publishing lenses with less then 3 modules, removal of Iframes, etc). The IM community feels that "they" helped build Squidoo to where it is today, by contributing so many lenses in such a broad range of niche markets.

SearchingDot.com was curious so we asked Seth Godin, "How do you respond to this and what relationship do you want Squidoo to have with marketers of information products and pure affiliate marketers?"

As Seth Godin shared, "Marketing has become a consensual process. In other words, you can't yell at people (on TV, on the radio, on the web) and hope that you can earn enough to yell more. As a result, the most successful marketers are the ones who have a product that people are eager to use and talk about (think iPhone). This is great news for people who have useful information to sell, because human beings are drawn to insight and knowledge and things that help them succeed. I couldn't be more certain of this: if you've got something great, this is the best time ever to be in marketing. And that includes using Squidoo to help people understand your message."

Squidoo's Original Mission Still Intact

In addition, Seth Godin reaffirmed that, "Squidoo's promise from the start has been simple: we give anyone an easy-to-use platform where you can help people understand your little part of the world. A page where you can include links and content and pointers and a bit of community to help people figure out what's going on. That hasn't changed and won't change. Along the way, Google and other sites rewarded these pages with plenty of search engine traffic. No surprise. If we can help search engines find meaning for those that are searching, it's all good. I'm afraid a few people got obsessed with the search traffic part of the deal. Squidoo is not some sort of magic search engine amplifier.

We still get a huge amount of search traffic, and my expectation is that it will increase, but if that was the only reason you were on Squidoo, if you were focused on a free ride without giving anything to the reader, then it wasn't a great match for anyone."

The full 5-page interview, including Seth's comments on the "Google Drop" and "Squidoo Has Been Blocked By Netscape" is completely free (no opt-in required) at Interview With Seth Godin On The Squidoo Slap (http://www.searchingdot.com/2007/07/17/interview-with-seth-godin-on-the-squidoo-slap/)

About SearchingDot.com:
SearchingDot.com is a new blog focused on Web 2.0 Marketing. In addition to interviewing industry experts, SearchingDot publishes video case studies and reviews. Everyone from newbies to advanced, stealth marketers trust SearchingDot.com for inside information on how to profit online in today's web 2.0 world. http://www.SearchingDot.com