Valentine's Day Tip for Squidoo Lensmasters

It's Valentine's Day.  Why not change up your lens theme and even your lens intro photo to match the occasion ... like I did here on this lens.

Squidoo has themes (lens backgrounds) for most major occasions and seasons. St. Patrick's Day and Easter are coming up, so keep this tip in mind for those special days, too.

BONUS Quick Tip:  Love your friends and family?  Of course you do!  So why not send them a special Valentine's Day greeting that includes an invitation to join Squidoo.  You'll find three to choose from on this page. And if you haven't joined Squidoo yet, here's a greeting from me, with love.

How do you celebrate Valentine's Day on Squidoo?  Let me know in a comment below!

We'll Miss You, Shirley

I love having spikes in lens visits, but it's sad when it happens because someone died.  I have a couple of lenses about Shirley Temple, and last night she passed away, surrounded by loved ones at her home in California.  If I hadn't seen the headline early this morning, I would have figured it out by the sudden interest in her life, based on lens traffic.  I hope people found out what they wanted to know about her.  I'm proud that I could contribute a little something to honor her memory.

Shirley Temple Black always has been one of my favorite famous people, a true lady, and I'll miss just knowing that she's still around.  I'm happy for her family that she lived to be 85 (she would have been 86 in April) and I hope that her passing was easy.

In my book, Shirley Temple Black was an American hero.  Rest in peace, Shirley.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Author Interviews on Squidoo

So much new going on with Squidoo in recent weeks.  Besides the Contributors program that I've been talking about, there's an even newer Squidoo Authors series that is really just heating up.

If you're an author in need of an interview, check out the link for details and contact information.

Everything Kindle on Squidoo

Have I mentioned that I'm the new "Everything Kindle" Contributor on Squidoo? I recently talked about the new Contributor program here on the blog, but at that time I hadn't volunteered for an assignment. Well, now it's official.

Slowly but surely, I'm coming up with opportunities to promote lenses with a Kindle-related theme.  I'm also reaching out to Kindle lovers and readers who aren't on Squidoo yet by creating lensmaking challenges like this one which solicits reviews of nonfiction Kindle books.  Current lensmasters are encouraged to participate, too, so check it out if you're a reader.

I'll be offering more challenges as time goes by.  For those who respond with a new lens, I'll be pinning those to my new Everything Kindle Pinterest board, tweeting them on my Twitter account, and promoting them in several other places.

This is a new program, but many of our Contributors are quickly building great networks for promoting lenses and lensmasters who write in the same niche.  It's a win-win-win situation, benefiting the Contributor, lensmasters who want to take advantage of opportunities to have their work promoted, and the population of Squidoo as a whole.

If you're a Giant Squid and would like to apply for a Contributor position, keep your eyes open for an announcement coming up soon.

Don't Let Your Written Voice Fade Away

As I was reading this article by Tom Maybrier about Using the Power of Voice to Improve Your Writing, it occurred to me that Squidoo writers have quite an advantage over print authors when it comes to revising our work. 

As writing styles change, as our personal style changes, as our audience (constantly) changes, we can go back anytime and revise or even totally rewrite an old lens to fit all those new things.  Had we published the same content in a book, it would eventually become totally outdated and just dry up and fade away. 

Do you have lenses that you're allowing to dry up and fade away?  I have a few.  What a shame to let that happen.

Time to do some revising. I don't want my written voice to fade away.  Do you?

Photo from DieselDemon via a Creative Commons license