Joint Ventures on Squidoo

They say birds of a feather flock together, but what about Squidoo lensmasters? Since RocketMom's inception and success, many other groups have been created where lensmasters are sharing ideas, projects, and even lensmaking challenges. From Squidoo specialty groups to community blogging forums to weekly podcasts, small groups of like-minded lensmasters are popping up everywhere!

Have you collaborated with other lensmasters for a project on or off of Squidoo? Read on this lens about our small group of six and the "mini empire" we've been building, vote in our poll, then leave a comment (here or there) describing your successes (or failures) in joint ventures with others from Squidoo. I'd love to read your input!

What the Lens of the Day is Lacking

If you're a Squidoo lensmaster, you're probably familiar with the Lens of the Day (LOTD) award. Each weekday (or so) an outstanding lens is chosen to receive the LOTD honor. The lens is featured on the official Squidoo Lens of the Day blog as well as on the left sidebar of each lensmaster's dashboard.

So, what is the Lens of the Day program lacking? For one thing, nominations! Did you know that lenses chosen for the honor are nominated by lensmasters? In fact, it's okay to nominate your own lens although, in the spirit of Squidoo, supporting other lensmasters by nominating their great lenses is looked upon very favorably (and doing so makes you feel good, too). So why does Kimberly sometimes have a difficult time finding lenses deserving of the honor? Two reasons. First, she receives only a few nominations a day. And second, many of the nominated lenses are rejected for either important ommissions or commissions of a serious Squidoo no-no.

You might be surprised to learn what many lensmasters leave off of an otherwise excellent lens. No, it isn't a guesbook. That's not required, although it's certainly missed when it isn't on a lens. Want to guess again? Never mind, I'll tell you. It's a lensmaster picture (or avatar) and bio. Quite surprising, eh? It was to me. As explained in my Squidoo Somebody lens, it's easy to upload an avatar and write a default biography that will appear on all of your Squidoo lenses. Surprising how many lensmasters apparently don't bother. Going one step further by customizing the bio to complement the lens's topic may carry a bit of weight in the selection process, too.

To learn more about what constitutes a LOTD-worthy lens, read and heed Megan's lens, The Secret Life of Lens of the Day. Upload your avatar and bio, create lenses with useful, unique, and updated content, delete unusued lens modules, rename default module titles, write from the heart, and you may be the next proud lensmaster to receive a Lens of the Day honor. While you're at it, don't hesitate to nominate great lenses that meet LOTD criteria. Go ahead. Make someone's day.

Chatting With Squidoo

Did you know that Squidoo only has six full-time employees? Considering the size and scope of the Squidoo.com site, that's pretty amazing, don't you think? What's more, most of the six post on the SquidU forum on at least a semi-regular basis, so it's clear to anyone who's been around Squidoo for even a short time that the head squids really care about the lensmasters who keep the community growing and want to know what's on our minds.

One of the ways the Squidoo staff keeps us "in the loop" is by hosting occasional live online chats. In fact, two chats are scheduled for this week, on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, each with a different topic. If either of the topics interests you at all and you can fit it into your day, I'd encourage you to sign up to participate. Look for more information on Squidoo's official chat schedule lens. Not only will the chats be informative, participating gives you an opportunity to actively participate in a small forum and get to know other leaders on Squidoo. Besides, chats are fun!

By the way, one way I learned about this week's chats was by reading today's post on the Squidoo blog, another important vehicle Squidoo uses to keep in touch. If you haven't, I'd suggest you visit and subscribe to the Squidoo blog right now. Don't risk missing important news and announcements (such as the fact that there will be a bit of down time on the site tomorrow). Use the subscribe button at the top of the blog page.

Gratitude and squidhugs to Steve and Squidgraphics for the fabulous artwork.

Ads on Squidoo Lenses: Who Gets the Money?

A friend asked me this question today regarding her new lens, which is on a personal topic: "Does Squidoo make money when you do not monetize a lens? If so, I would rather set it to charity ..."

I thought someone else might have a similar question about ads on Squidoo lenses, so I decided to share my answer here:

"Short answer is yes, Squidoo makes money on the ads. You share in that income based on lensrank. But if you set the lens to 100% for a charity, any lensrank money you might earn from that lens will go to the charity. That sounds like what you would want to do.

"Longer answer, if you want to, you can opt out of certain ads on your lens. You'll find that option in the lens settings area on the lens workshop. You can opt out of everything but the google ads. Just opt out for that lens only, not for all your lenses. That will keep the number of ads on the lens to a minimum but will also reduce the money that might go to the charity you've chosen, so there's a trade-off."

Hope that helps!