Why I am watching but not joining RedGage – at least for the moment
RedGage, the newest social networking site has created a buzz of conversations in various places on Squidoo, including the SquidU Forum and various blogs. Fellow Lensmasters, who I have the utmost respect for have already joined. But I am holding back – for several reasons.
Recently I made the decision to focus my networking in specific areas. The danger when you first join Squidoo is that you can get so caught up in all the networking that is available, you can end up with very little time to actually make and publish lenses. As a result I do not rush to join new sites, even when they look very tempting.
RedGage DOES look tempting – the thought of getting paid for your content just seems too good to resist. But for the moment I am resisiting.
Why? Call me cautious but……over the next couple of weeks a good number of Lensmasters are going to be looking for other places to publish their content and they will want somewhere to promote that content. Squidoo is cleaning up and there’s going to be a lot of publishers looking for sites that will accept links to the stuff that Squidoo has (and to my relief, by the way) decided to get rid of.
I have checked RedGage’s Terms and Conditions and, like Squidoo now has, they have a no porn policy. However, as far as I can see, all what I call the TAT (Tacky And Tasteless) could well be promoted at RedGage.
It will only take recommendations from the “Gurus” who advise a lot of Lensmasters, that RedGage is the place to promote their articles, blogs and content, once the new TOS are implemented on Squidoo, and before you know it, it could be full of links to all those lenses that may be disappearing from Squidoo, only to rise from the ashes on other sites.
For some time now I have felt that Squidoo’s, and by association its Lensmasters’, reputation has been tarnished by some of the content that has so far been allowed on the site. I was not the only Lensmaster who heaved a sigh of relief when the new TOS were announced. So in my mind I don’t want to be seen to be aligned with this content on another site, when I am happy to see it leave Squidoo.
To be absolutely fair, I have had a look at RedGage and have not found any links that particularly alarm me at the moment, but it is early days yet and I am watching to see what happens before the Squidoo Lockdown in a couple of weeks. Granted, I could be completely wrong here and RedGage could turn out to be all that its promoters think it will be, but I don’t feel in any hurry to join at the moment.
The other reason I am hesitating is that if someone Spams my email (as RedGage did) then it does get me pretty hacked off, as it does a lot of other Lensmasters I know. The site may be great but I cannot believe that anyone who really knows what they are doing and who is mindful of their reputation, would actually cold call people via their email.
So, just watching and waiting….
© AJ2008 – if you see this article reproduced in its entirety on any other site, with which I am not connected, then it is likely to be stolen content
9 Comments »
Alex Crabtree said :
June 27, 2009 at 2:45 pm
What puzzles me is the wording of the letters. Tis mail was supposedly geared to look as if the sender actually reviewed lenses, yet it was painfully obvious that they didn’t. The real puzzle is the fact that legendary Squids are endorsing this site even AFTER the mailings.
I have an account at RedGage, but I have never logged in. I’m trying to have an epiphany about future search engine algorithms (which is more likely to be another dumba**ed brain toot). I have to believe that general linking sites such as RedGage and tagfoot are going to go the way of reciprocal linking. The weight in the algorithm is going to be as light as a feather compared to the tonnage given to FaceBook groups, NING, and the like.
aj2008 said :
June 27, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Alex – I have a theory that, like other Spammers, the RedGage people just trawled lenses featured on the Squidoo Home Page and/or the Top 100 in each category.
They had an email message set up, that they just copied and pasted into every email that they sent via the Lensmasters “Contact Me” Button on their Bio.
I do not believe for one second that they actually read any of our lenses. They just identified Lensmasters with quality lenses via the Squidoo Home Page and then hit them.
The only “upside” of this, is that once they had sent the email, they will have landed on our top ranked lens, so it will have registered as a visit, which would have had a positive effect on Lensrank!
Twitted by aj1996 said :
June 27, 2009 at 9:53 pm
[...] This post was Twitted by aj1996 [...]
Paula Atwell said :
June 27, 2009 at 11:24 pm
I was really annoyed by the way Redgage contacted me. I received several emails from them that were obviously form letters, and spam. That does not bode well for me.
Alex, I am not sure what you mean by the general linking sites like tagfoot and Redgage.
First of all tagfoot and Redgage are completely different types of sites. Tagfoot is more like Delicious and Digg than Redgage. But what do you mean by what you said because Digg and Delicious are at the top of each Squidoo page? They are more for backlinks and Google rating than the Squidoo algorithm directly.
On the other hand, AJ, I think that spreading yourself too thin is definitely an issue. You should use more time on your lenses than you do on networking, and when you do network, choose a few valuable sites. I tend to bookmark items to 2 or 3 sites at a time, and then when I get tired of those, switch to a different couple. I will admit that I do have many accounts around the web, and it can’t hurt to put your lensmaster page or your best lens as your website to have other people visit it. But you just can’t do it all. You seem more like a human being and less like a machine if you don’t. And Google will probably like you better that way anyway. If your keyword research is solid, and you have a topic that people want to learn about, then they will find your page.
AJ said :
June 28, 2009 at 6:28 am
This is developing into a great conversation! Thank you!
Paula, you are so right about networking and spreading ourselves too thin. When I first joined Squidoo, I tried lots of sites, but have narrowed it down to the ones that work for me AND where I like the community. Tagfoot is a definite yes for me because they work very hard to keep the site “clean”; Facebook is something that I have not really got into, as I can see how time consuming that can get, am not into all the groups that are developing and I gave up on StumbleUpon months ago as I could never really work it out.
It is important to have a schedule that you keep to, in order to make the best use of your time and finally I am starting to evolve one……However, my problems in evolving that schedule have in the part been caused by my health problems as I notice that as my condition improves so are my organisational abilities returning, not just in Squidoo but in my family life as well.
Although being a Gemini, I AM a compulsive communicator so networking does come perhaps a bit too easy to me
(luvmyludwig) Crystal Touchton said :
June 28, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I have an account with RedGage, have linked to two of my lenses, but am holding off on more for the moment. After the spam incident, I am very cautious and like you would like to focus on my other networking ventures before adding another. I tagfooted RedGage when I was first told about it because it sounded really good, but that was pre-spam. I didn’t think that it would come close to comparing with tagfoot (because of the great community), but I thoughte been good for lens promotion and backlinks. After the Giant Squid deadline is past, I plan on implementing more of a schedule and sorting out what I want to be on that schedule. Tagfoot and twitter are in, that’s for sure! Great post, and a thoughtful way to approach the subject.
poddys said :
June 28, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Good thinking AJ, and I agree with you.
Having built a new site you need to get the word out, so in a way I can see why the creators did what they did to contact lensmasters, but there are I am sure better ways to go about this.
I am holding off adding my links right now, but it’s likely that I will end up adding my lenses as time goes by.
Right now my Squidoo traffic is at a deep low, and my lensranking has plummeted too. I have no idea why, except that Angel Blessings have likely now worn off, and lenses that were in the top 2,000, even top 1,000 are now struggling to stay in the top 10,000! I have 1 lens in the top 500, the next one is below 4,000, and only 2 more in the top 10,000! A month ago I had 5 or 6 in the top 2,000 plus another 5 in the top 10,000. As rank drops, so does visibility. I am sure my payout for June will be $15 at best, almost the lowest ever.
Hopefully things will pick up after the summer… for us all…
Paula Atwell said :
June 28, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Redgage should have joined Squidoo, then posted the information to the forum, or approached one lensmaster and had them introduce it to the forum. Just like tagfoot was introduced.
Poddy’s it is for situations like this that the Angels forum is all about. Submit some of your lenses there and we will check them out. My suggestion to you is to look at the keywords in your lenses and see if you can find better ones to add to your lenses. Maybe the keywords have evolved or changed since you wrote them. Or new ones have emerged.
poddys said :
June 28, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Thanks very much Paula, that is a great idea.
I know the Angels are very busy, but I forget that you can always post there and seek advice.
I know I need to do something with my lenses to get more traffic and sales, without making them tacky at the same time though.
A few angels have freely offered advice on my lenses which is really nice too.
Appreciate the help my friend.
Tony
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