Tips on How To Succeed Using ShopSquad

If you've read my first article on ShopSquad, or you've just joined the website, you'll be looking to learn just how to do well on the site. Well, I've been a member for a little while at the time of writing this, but I have so far been able to assemble several helpful hints for you. So take a look and maybe you'll pick some things up that will help you out with this new venture.

I might well add to this list as I go along, so check back for updates in the future.

• Do your research on products or subjects. Subscribe to blogs, podcasts, or websites that specialise in the area; read magazines, newspapers and even catalogues frequently; even googling things online - everybody does that. It helps to have personal experience on your side too, needless to say. This lends to your credibility.
• Put answers in your own words. Don’t copy anything from another source because this might land you in hot water, and it makes it obvious that you’re either lazy or looking to game the system.
• Don’t recommend just any old random product because this would also mean that you have no idea what you’re talking about.
• Don’t overextend yourself. Stick to your areas of expertise. It’s true that there are many categories on ShopSquad but only venture in to these if you’ve done at least some research first.
• Don’t answer questions if you’re clueless about what’s going on. If you think that a question is too complex for you or it’s not an area that you’re well versed in, then stay away from that question.
• Refrain from spamming on ShopSquad and don’t answer questions with short answers – or worse yet, no answers at all and just recommended products.
• Answering questions without putting in product recommendations might seem noble to you, but you will probably earn very little by doing this. Only do this on occasions where the product you’re linking to isn’t from a supported store. You won’t earn commission, but you might still get helpful points, which ads to your overall ranking.
• Try and achieve all the bonus profile points to receive an extra boost in your earnings.
• You can use ShopTags online on sites other than ShopSquad. Try your blog or Facebook or Twitter. Buy you mustn’t cross the line and start spamming repeatedly.
• You can also invite others via Facebook, Twitter, or email to join and get bonus earnings when they sign up on the site (after they’ve managed to sell $50 worth of goods successfully). ShopSquad supports personal invites, and there's also a not so obvious way but easy way to set up your own referral link that you can place anywhere you like. I've demonstrated the correct format at the bottom of this article.
• Personalise your account with a profile picture of sorts (preferably a photo of you) and also fill out your biography, and the categories you specialise in.
• Log in to your account as often as you can, and use all the tools available to you so you don’t miss a chance to make commission on a sale.
• You mustn’t necessarily be discouraged by how many answers there are to a question. Check the answers out. If you feel you have something to add, then do it. You have 2 weeks (14 days) to come up with an answer before the question is closed to replies. So even if you have nothing immediately for some reason, you could always work on an answer to post at some point later on.
• Conversely if you feel that a question has been answered sufficiently or has several answers, then maybe it’s best to leave it.
• It’s not necessarily about who gets there first. It’s about who has the best answer. It just so happens that a lot of people think it is about pole position and won’t bother with a question that has all ready been answered. You might use this to your advantage.
• You can go back and delete or replace your answers to questions. You might use this to your advantage by posting a temporary answer and nabbing the top spot. Then you only have to hope that nobody else posts in the thread. Then you can come back and edit it later to add more when you don’t have the pressure on you. But once again, be careful here: it must be on topic; mustn't be spam and mustn't break any other rules stipulated in the TOS.
• If you get the first answer in and delete it later, then the person who had second place originally will be bumped up to first, and your new answer (if you choose to post one) will be at the bottom. Careful about doing this. Only delete an answer if it’s last in a thread, or the only answer in a thread. Otherwise, if you truly wish to delete it for good, go ahead. If you need to add a correction to your first post, post a reply further down with the corrections. Careful not to be too much of a perfectionist or it could be your downfall!
• On clarifying questions: people tend to keep it simple but unfortunately a tad vague most of the time, not providing much other information. This makes things tougher for you, unless you spend some time clarifying matters. But if you do this, you potentially risk wasting the first answer spot (or any answer spot) and losing it to someone else who’ll take a gamble and go with their gut instinct. Most of the time the asker doesn’t bother getting back to you or clarifying anyway, so it’s a waste of time and effort.
• You can't post 2 posts consecutively (one after the other) in a question thread, and you can only post a total of 2 posts per thread. Make 'em count!
• Take some time to check out the “own it” section where you can tag things you own, want, or would rather pass on. If someone checks out out your profile and your shelves of things you own - if they buy something from there, you get commission. You can also earn discounts from stores if you own items, or you're the first to add a particular product.
• When adding products from a store to use in your recommendations, you can check the box that says “Own it”. This will add the product to your shelf, and to the big pile of products that people can select from too in the "Own it" section. Plus you give the asker the impression that since you own the product, you know what you’re on about.
• The newly updated add products feature, which is always present below the text box you type in when answering questions, allows you to now only copy and paste links from supported stores, but you can also type in a product name and wait for matches from supported store to crop up. It's up to you which is easier or faster.
• Just take some time to read through the terms of service and always be courteous on the website – just like you would do anywhere else online. If someone doesn’t like your behaviour, they can easily report you and you risk a subsequent deletion of your account or another penalty.
• Don’t hesitate to report bad behaviour on the part of advisors. If they tend to copy and paste content from the web such as an online store, or recommend random products, or spam – report them. This will ensure that the people looking to make an honest sale are weeded out from vermin looking to game the system or break the rules.
• Don’t give up! Any new venture online takes work, so don’t just give up after a few days or so. Stick with it for at least a while. Perseverance is one of the key ingredients to success.

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