I've really enjoyed making politics and politician lenses on Squidoo. There's the Who is Hillary Clinton? lens, which bounces in and out of the top 100 on Squidoo and has stayed in the top five or so of its category for some time now. Then there are the other SquidWho candidate lenses, the ones about Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee, which have gone the way of those two candidates (down, down, down in rank).
Hopefully the Democratic and Republican National Convention lenses will pick up a bit more as the conventions get closer, and The First Gentleman lens should gain popularity if Hillary really does win the nomination. The George Bush Bloopers lens is still fun for a rainy day.
This week I decided to branch out and try a couple of SquidLit lenses and one book I chose to feature is called Anything for a Vote which, of course, ties nicely into the political theme. I really like the SquidLit format and anticipate many more lenses there.
Yes, politics and Squidoo make a very nice mix, at least this election year. Guess I might need to have to find another theme come November, but I'm going to enjoy this one while it lasts.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Got a minute? Visit the Lensmaster Lounge
The Lensmaster Lounge is the name of the user's forum on Squidoo. Have you visited lately? If not, you're missing out on so much of what Squidoo has to offer.
Besides getting answers to your urgent questions about Squidoo and finding someone to critique or "bless" your lens, you also have the opportunity to meet Squidoo lensmasters, newbies and oldies as well, and visit their lenses. Know what? There are some awesome lenses out there and many of them (maybe most of them) belong to lensmasters you've never run across before.
With over a cool half-million lenses now, you know there have to be a whole bunch of lensmasters. It's easy enough to meet them without even participating in the forum; simply browse the posts on the forum and click on the various lensmaster id's to see their profile pages, then start checking out their lenses.
Better yet, offer a critique for someone who requests it or answer a question if you can help someone who has one. Be honest when you critique, but be kind and offer productive suggestions. Leave a good impression about yourself because someone else who is new will probably decide to meet you, too - or not, depending on the attitude that you project in your forum posts. It's really easy to make friends on the forum, but it's also easy to leave a bad taste in someone's mouth if you don't choose your words wisely.
When you post, subscribe to the thread so you'll receive notification of responses and can follow up when necessary. This morning I posted a comment and there was a response from a lensmaster I had never met. I clicked through to see her lenses and, wow, what great lenses she has! (Check out CherylK's lenses here.)
So, next time you need a break from creating your own awesome lenses on Squidoo, take a few minutes and drop in at the lounge, now being served by the best lensmasters Squidoo has to offer.
(What? You haven't signed up with Squidoo yet? Don't waste another minute. Get started here.)
Besides getting answers to your urgent questions about Squidoo and finding someone to critique or "bless" your lens, you also have the opportunity to meet Squidoo lensmasters, newbies and oldies as well, and visit their lenses. Know what? There are some awesome lenses out there and many of them (maybe most of them) belong to lensmasters you've never run across before.
With over a cool half-million lenses now, you know there have to be a whole bunch of lensmasters. It's easy enough to meet them without even participating in the forum; simply browse the posts on the forum and click on the various lensmaster id's to see their profile pages, then start checking out their lenses.
Better yet, offer a critique for someone who requests it or answer a question if you can help someone who has one. Be honest when you critique, but be kind and offer productive suggestions. Leave a good impression about yourself because someone else who is new will probably decide to meet you, too - or not, depending on the attitude that you project in your forum posts. It's really easy to make friends on the forum, but it's also easy to leave a bad taste in someone's mouth if you don't choose your words wisely.
When you post, subscribe to the thread so you'll receive notification of responses and can follow up when necessary. This morning I posted a comment and there was a response from a lensmaster I had never met. I clicked through to see her lenses and, wow, what great lenses she has! (Check out CherylK's lenses here.)
So, next time you need a break from creating your own awesome lenses on Squidoo, take a few minutes and drop in at the lounge, now being served by the best lensmasters Squidoo has to offer.
(What? You haven't signed up with Squidoo yet? Don't waste another minute. Get started here.)
Saturday, April 19, 2008
3 Reasons to Update Your Squidoo Lenses Now
More changes with the templates at Squidoo.com this past week. Have you noticed? To properly take advantage of those changes, you need to update your lenses with these three things in mind.
1. First, there's a new, optional, built-in table of contents at the top of every lens. When you update your intro module now, you'll notice that it has been renamed the Introduction, Contents, & Discover Tool. Those three components are accessible by tabs that you'll see in the edit mode. The Introduction tab is for the text that appears in that module; no changes here. The second tab is for a built-in table of contents. Squidoo has that set to opt out, but if you opt in you'll activate an expandable section on your lens that appears immediately below the contents of your intro module. The first half dozen or so of your modules show up, along with a "more . ." link which will expand the module in order to show the titles of all the modules on your lens. Have some modules that you don't want to include here? Just un-check the box next to those module names. This new table of contents appears on a very attractive blue background. The advantage? If you have more than five modules on your lens, it's shorter than a regular table of contents module, so it takes up less room. It also gives your visitor the option of navigating your lens via the module links or they can skip the table of contents altogether and just browse on through. If you like how this module looks, you might choose to opt in and use it instead of the separate table of contents module. It's up to you.
2. Second reason to update your lenses now is the Discover Tool, on the third tab in that first module of your lens. That one is set to opt in, so if you haven't visited your lenses lately, you'll be in for a surprise when you see it there. Bad news is that it gives your visitors the opportunity to pass up your lens and go directly to a lens of Squidoo's choice (based on your tags) that's listed there. Good news is that you can add up to three lenses of your own to include there, so if you have related lenses you might want to list them and continue to opt in to this feature. More good news is that you can opt out if you prefer, but that choice comes with some bad news. If you opt out of the Discovery Tool on any particular lens, that lens will not be included as a choice on anyone else's lens, so while you'll avoid outgoing links you'll be eliminating an opportunity for incoming traffic from someone else's lens. What to do? You'll have to weigh this option carefully. If you have multiple related lenses, certainly opt in to this option and include three of those related lenses so they'll show up as links in the "Explore related pages" section that shows up, again on a pretty blue background, just below your introduction module and Squidoo's table of contents module (if you have chosen to opt in to that). If you have a lens that sells a product and you don't want to chance that someone will link on out to another lens that sells that same product, then by all means opt out. Watch your traffic and see what happens and make changes as those statistics warrant.
3. A third reason to update now is the change in the placement of your lensmaster picture and bio on the lens. Instead of appearing in the top right of the lens, it now appears front and center below the lens title and just above the introduction module. It is much more prominent and hard to overlook. So if you haven't updated your lensmaster biography, you'd certainly better do it now. I found, too, that this change gave me great incentive to write short, individual biographies for many of my lenses rather than using my default bio on every lens. If your default bio is very specific to a particular category or target reader, then consider rewriting a different bio for a lens that doesn't fall into that particular category. Or, instead, rewrite your default bio to be more generic.
Change can be hard to take, but in the long run it's a good thing for anything online. It is in the best interest of The Powers That Be at Squidoo for every lensmaster to succeed, and the site is managed accordingly. Stay on top of these changes as Squidoo continues to refine and improve the site. Time spent in updating your lenses is never time wasted, so use the incentives of these changes to go update a lens or two right away, then work your way through the rest. Watch your stats and adjust your changes and personal strategy accordingly and, most importantly, continue to have fun while you Squidoo!
1. First, there's a new, optional, built-in table of contents at the top of every lens. When you update your intro module now, you'll notice that it has been renamed the Introduction, Contents, & Discover Tool. Those three components are accessible by tabs that you'll see in the edit mode. The Introduction tab is for the text that appears in that module; no changes here. The second tab is for a built-in table of contents. Squidoo has that set to opt out, but if you opt in you'll activate an expandable section on your lens that appears immediately below the contents of your intro module. The first half dozen or so of your modules show up, along with a "more . ." link which will expand the module in order to show the titles of all the modules on your lens. Have some modules that you don't want to include here? Just un-check the box next to those module names. This new table of contents appears on a very attractive blue background. The advantage? If you have more than five modules on your lens, it's shorter than a regular table of contents module, so it takes up less room. It also gives your visitor the option of navigating your lens via the module links or they can skip the table of contents altogether and just browse on through. If you like how this module looks, you might choose to opt in and use it instead of the separate table of contents module. It's up to you.
2. Second reason to update your lenses now is the Discover Tool, on the third tab in that first module of your lens. That one is set to opt in, so if you haven't visited your lenses lately, you'll be in for a surprise when you see it there. Bad news is that it gives your visitors the opportunity to pass up your lens and go directly to a lens of Squidoo's choice (based on your tags) that's listed there. Good news is that you can add up to three lenses of your own to include there, so if you have related lenses you might want to list them and continue to opt in to this feature. More good news is that you can opt out if you prefer, but that choice comes with some bad news. If you opt out of the Discovery Tool on any particular lens, that lens will not be included as a choice on anyone else's lens, so while you'll avoid outgoing links you'll be eliminating an opportunity for incoming traffic from someone else's lens. What to do? You'll have to weigh this option carefully. If you have multiple related lenses, certainly opt in to this option and include three of those related lenses so they'll show up as links in the "Explore related pages" section that shows up, again on a pretty blue background, just below your introduction module and Squidoo's table of contents module (if you have chosen to opt in to that). If you have a lens that sells a product and you don't want to chance that someone will link on out to another lens that sells that same product, then by all means opt out. Watch your traffic and see what happens and make changes as those statistics warrant.
3. A third reason to update now is the change in the placement of your lensmaster picture and bio on the lens. Instead of appearing in the top right of the lens, it now appears front and center below the lens title and just above the introduction module. It is much more prominent and hard to overlook. So if you haven't updated your lensmaster biography, you'd certainly better do it now. I found, too, that this change gave me great incentive to write short, individual biographies for many of my lenses rather than using my default bio on every lens. If your default bio is very specific to a particular category or target reader, then consider rewriting a different bio for a lens that doesn't fall into that particular category. Or, instead, rewrite your default bio to be more generic.
Change can be hard to take, but in the long run it's a good thing for anything online. It is in the best interest of The Powers That Be at Squidoo for every lensmaster to succeed, and the site is managed accordingly. Stay on top of these changes as Squidoo continues to refine and improve the site. Time spent in updating your lenses is never time wasted, so use the incentives of these changes to go update a lens or two right away, then work your way through the rest. Watch your stats and adjust your changes and personal strategy accordingly and, most importantly, continue to have fun while you Squidoo!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Ready for Bonus Lesson Number Seven?
Have you completed lessons one through six on my How to Become a Squidoo Somebody in 6 Easy Lessons lens? You have? Congratulations! You're now Somebody on Squidoo, and you're ready for lesson number seven.
I didn't write lesson seven. It's actually a lens written by lensmaster and Giant Squid bdkz, called 50 Ways to Use Squidcasting. It's one of my very favorite lenses for two reasons. One, it's very cleverly written. Each of the 50 examples comes with a link and the links mostly go to other lenses. (Great idea!)
The second reason I love the lens is that not all of the 50 links go to bdkz's lenses. In many cases, the links go to other people's lenses. Why would a lensmaster do that? Well, because that's in keeping with the true spirit of Squidoo and the rule that's part of my lesson number four, the one that goes like this:
It just doesn't get any better than that.
P.S. You can 'cast a lens from your dashboard or directly from the lens itself; you'll find the link in your toolbox at the top right of each lens.
I didn't write lesson seven. It's actually a lens written by lensmaster and Giant Squid bdkz, called 50 Ways to Use Squidcasting. It's one of my very favorite lenses for two reasons. One, it's very cleverly written. Each of the 50 examples comes with a link and the links mostly go to other lenses. (Great idea!)
The second reason I love the lens is that not all of the 50 links go to bdkz's lenses. In many cases, the links go to other people's lenses. Why would a lensmaster do that? Well, because that's in keeping with the true spirit of Squidoo and the rule that's part of my lesson number four, the one that goes like this:
Any time you post a comment anywhere on Squidoo have a "what can I offer" attitude rather than a "what can I get out of this" attitude.So, if you've completed lessons one through six and you're now a Squidoo Somebody, go ahead and read and study the lens that I'm adopting as bonus lesson number seven, 50 Ways to Use Squidcasting, and while you're learning all about the hows, whys, and wherefores of 'casting a lens, pay attention to the "give a little, get a lot" spirit of Squidoo in action.
It just doesn't get any better than that.
P.S. You can 'cast a lens from your dashboard or directly from the lens itself; you'll find the link in your toolbox at the top right of each lens.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
I Make Money on Squidoo (You can, too.)
I received a nice Paypal deposit this week (over 50 dollars) from Squidoo for my monthly earnings. That’s not a lot of money compared to some lensmasters’ income, but it’s a lot more compared to many others’, and actually a bit more than I expected this month.
Over and above the earnings directly from Squidoo, I also received some pretty decent income this month from affiliate sales as a result of my own affiliate links on my lenses.
You won't get rich overnight on Squidoo, but if you stick with it, make lots of quality lenses with good content, and network with and learn from other lensmasters by becoming part of the community there, you will make money on Squidoo. Don’t give up! If I can do it, you can, too.
Over and above the earnings directly from Squidoo, I also received some pretty decent income this month from affiliate sales as a result of my own affiliate links on my lenses.
You won't get rich overnight on Squidoo, but if you stick with it, make lots of quality lenses with good content, and network with and learn from other lensmasters by becoming part of the community there, you will make money on Squidoo. Don’t give up! If I can do it, you can, too.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The Secret to Success on Squidoo Is . . .
. . the same as the secret to success anywhere else in life, to give without regard to what you might get back.
I've never heard the principle described better than Michael Martine describes it in his blog post, The Secret to Success on Twitter is the Same as Blogging. (Thanks to Sonia Simone for her tweet about Michael's blog post.)
You don't have to be on Twitter to apply this principle to Squidoo. Just get involved in the SquidU forum, leave sincere comments on lots of lenses, join fan clubs, squidcast when you update a lens, respond to other lensmasters' squidcasts, and make squid-friends along the way. Oh, and make a whole lot of really good lenses.
If you want to follow me on Twitter, you'll find me here. You know where to find me on Squidoo.
I've never heard the principle described better than Michael Martine describes it in his blog post, The Secret to Success on Twitter is the Same as Blogging. (Thanks to Sonia Simone for her tweet about Michael's blog post.)
You don't have to be on Twitter to apply this principle to Squidoo. Just get involved in the SquidU forum, leave sincere comments on lots of lenses, join fan clubs, squidcast when you update a lens, respond to other lensmasters' squidcasts, and make squid-friends along the way. Oh, and make a whole lot of really good lenses.
If you want to follow me on Twitter, you'll find me here. You know where to find me on Squidoo.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Okay, I'm a groupie. So, sue me.
Seth Godin just left a comment on my lens! Woah! That is so cool!
Do you know Seth? He's the head squid, founder of Squidoo. He's a very hands-on kind of guy and makes lots of lenses of his own when he isn't busy writing bestselling books
, and I know he visits lenses and leaves comments because I see them from time to time. But this comment was on MY lens. And it was a very, very nice comment.
Woah! That is so cool! (Oh, I said that already.) Seth, you just made my day. Thank you!
Do you know Seth? He's the head squid, founder of Squidoo. He's a very hands-on kind of guy and makes lots of lenses of his own when he isn't busy writing bestselling books
, and I know he visits lenses and leaves comments because I see them from time to time. But this comment was on MY lens. And it was a very, very nice comment. Woah! That is so cool! (Oh, I said that already.) Seth, you just made my day. Thank you!
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