How to Generate a Spike in Your Squidoo Lens Traffic

Kimberly wrote at SquidooHQ today about Lens Ideas for July.  Good suggestions there to get you thinking outside the box a bit, but more importantly to get you thinking about niche topics/holidays that not everyone is writing about. 

There WILL be people searching for those topics when the day comes.  Know how I know?  Did you ever look at logos that Google displays on their main page?  Frequently they will display special logos drawn to commemorate a holiday or event.  A recent favorite was on June 9th, Les Paul's 96th birthday.  Take a look at the Les Paul logo - and strum the strings!

Now, take a look at this graph that shows the Google search trend for Les Paul:

See that huge spike?  That was June 9, 2011, the day Google displayed their special logo and millions of curious people googled "Les Paul" to find out more about him.

While I won't promise you a Les Paul spike in Squidoo traffic, I will promise you that people will be searching to learn about unique holidays and topics they hear about as they happen.  No reason in the world it shouldn't be your lens that they find when they do their search!

So, what niche holiday or topic are you going to write about in the coming month?  Have you had a lens spike in the past?  Tell us about it in a comment below.

Changing Lives With Squidoo

Squidoo gives you, yes you, the power to touch, change, even save lives.

So you don't miss the enormity of that statement, you really must read "The Power of Squidoo" on the "So You Want to Be a Giant Squid" blog about one lens that most certainly did change a life.

Never doubt the power your words might have when you team them up with Squidoo.

How Serious Are You About Squidoo?

If you're serious about Squidoo, Giant Squid should be a goal. Fifty lenses might sound like a lot, but the reward is well worth the work.

Deadline for Giant Squid applications is at the end of each quarter, so if you're getting close to having 50 good, quality lenses, set March 31st as your goal. If you're just getting warmed up and need more time, the end of June is an achievable target.

If you seriously want to learn ways to reach the goal of 50 good lenses then you should plan to attend the online workshop being held this Thursday afternoon by the Giant Squid organizers. It's an RSVP event, so hurry and check it out, here. Bonnie, Robin, and Patti know what they're talking about and an hour or so spent with them will be well worth your time.

If you can't make it to the workshop, at least make sure that you visit the So You Want to Be a Giant Squid blog on a regular basis for valuable information to help you reach the awesome milestone of becoming a Giant Squid.

New Orange Tab Resources for Squids

Have you noticed the orange tab at the left margin of your lenses? It's new.

If you're a lensmaster, logged in to Squidoo, the tab says "Shortcuts." If you're not logged in, the tab says "About Squidoo."

Log in and click that tab. On the window that appears, check out each of the links. Chances are you'll find a resource that you didn't know about or haven't used. One is a direct link to SquidU, the place to be for Squidoo lensmasters of all levels of experience. If you haven't joined the forum there, why not? Think you don't have enough time? Nobody has enough time, but join anyway and visit occasionally. Introduce yourself then contribute as you can. Ask questions if you have them and give answers to other people's questions if you know them. You'll be glad you did.

Another resource on the tab is "Discover tons of great lensmaster-run blogs and tools." One of the things that makes Squidoo the greatest is contributions by our lensmasters and you'll find many of the best links to those off-Squidoo sites there. In fact, you might have arrived here from there.

There's more, six options in all, and there are different links on the "What's Squidoo?" tab, but I'll let you discover those for yourself. Go! Try it!

This Lensmaster Shares the Love

My Squidoo friend Arthur, aka Pantherart, is another lensmaster who prefers using his blog to showcase other lensmasters rather than himself. Seems there's a lot of that going around on Squidoo.

Arthur asked me for an interview and I was happy to comply. Here's the result.

Why not share your love with another Squidoo lensmaster, or a few. Leave a comment. Rate a lens. Send a note of encouragement to a lensmaster whose work you particularly enjoy. You might make someone's heart beat a little happier.

Thanks to Spirituality

Spirituality, whose real name is Katinka, is one of the many generous lensmasters on Squidoo. I was so happy to receive a request from Katinka for an interview to be featured on her "Thank You Lensmaster - Squidoo Reviews" blog, which she publishes as a way of paying it forward, thanking the lensmasters who have helped us all out.

Today my interview was published; you can read it here. Katinka also supplied me with a badge to display, which you can see with this post as well as on my lensography. Isn't it pretty? I think it's pretty special, too.

It's lensmasters like Katinka who make Squidoo so successful. Without people who give back to the Squidoo community, what an ordinary place Squidoo would be. Thank you, lensmaster Spirituality, for helping make Squidoo so extraordinary.