A Cookie-selling Lesson for Girl Scouts (and the rest of us)

Pssst, Girl Scouts, you want to sell twice as many Girl Scout cookies?  Then you really need to read the sales concept proposed by bestselling author and marketing superstar Seth Godin in this post.

What's his magic formula?  You'll have to read it (it's short) but I'll summarize the secret to the concept in Seth's words: "A question that avoids a 'no', a question that starts a conversation, a question that opens the door to emotion."

You'll benefit from this even if you're not a Girl Scout or a scout leader.  But definitely don't miss it if you are.

Photo attribution

Creating Happy Endings

There's been a lot of debate over the past few months about making personal Squidoo lenses that include storytelling.  Some believe that their readers don't want to be bothered with anything "personal," so they balk at the whole idea, preferring to stick with just the facts, ma'am.

While every lens doesn't have to be about you, it's important that lenses include a story of some kind.  Our objective should be to engage our readers so that they will want to read all the way to the end. 

As usual, Seth Godin says it best about storytelling, in the next to last sentence in this piece (well, in the whole piece).

Do your lenses tell stories?  Are your readers engaged all the way through?  Sounds like creating happy endings is a goal every lensmaster should strive for.

New Lens Formats Option on Squidoo

I've recently learned to believe it, and now the new "Lens Formats" option on Squidoo cements my belief.  Simple really does work best.  At least these days.

It all started with Twitter and learning to say something meaningful in 140 characters.  A challenge for wordy ol' me, but I loved it.  Don't judge me by my old, dictionary-sized Squidoo lenses.  I'm already sold on this new format and it isn't even "live" yet!

Gives new meaning to KISS (Keep it Simple, Squids!).

Love it!

Food for Thought

In case you missed Seth's blog post today, here's a link.

Us vs Us

That so says it all and really has me thinking about the tribes to which I belong.

If there's a member of any tribe, anywhere, online or off, who doesn't get it, then chances are they'll just never get it.

Everyone's an Expert

Everyone's an expert (on something) and Squidoo was created as a platform for any one of those everyones to promote their cause, share their expertise, spread their influence.

If you're not entirely sure what all that means, take about 10 minutes and read Everyone's an Expert (On Something), the e-book by Seth Godin, the book that explains what Squidoo is really all about.

If you're serious about Squidoo, read this little book.  You'll learn about focusing and about why Squidoo isn't a blog.  You'll learn how to deliver what users (web surfers) want and how to get those same users to take action.  You'll re-learn, or maybe actually learn for the first time, how to be a lensmaster. 

Poke the Box for a Buck!

The other day I wrote about Seth Godin's new book, Poke the Box, coming out on March 1st. 

Well, HEADS UP!  The price of the Kindle version of the book is now $1 (that's one dollar - one buck) if you preorder before March 1st when the price goes back up.

If you didn't order your copy yet, do it today before you forget!  If you don't have Kindle, no problem!  Just get one of the free Kindle reading apps here.  I'm sure you have one of the platforms for which they're available, including the one you're reading this on right now.

Go, do it!  Poke The Box.

Will You Poke the Box?

Most of you probably know that Seth Godin is the founder of Squidoo. He also is the author of a dozen bestselling books. His new one, Poke The Box, will be out March 1st.

Last night I saw the book's complete cover for the first time. It's different, but so is Seth.

What I love is the description on the flap of the book cover, starting with, "When is the last time you did something for the first time?"

Well, do you remember when you did?

The description just gets better from there. I would encourage you to read it. Read how Seth defines our position in the world. Maybe it's just me, but I find those words intriguing and very inspiring. In fact, I've read that whole section several times and keep going back to it, wondering about my position in the world and what uniqueness I have yet to contribute.

If you like what you read on the cover, consider ordering the book. You can find it here.  (The Kindle edition is currently the best price and remember, you don't have to have a Kindle to read Kindle books. You can download one of the free reading apps for PC, Mac, or most smart phones and read it in any (or all) of those places. The free reading apps are here.)

And if you do buy the book, come back in early March after you read it and let me know what you've decided to instigate or provoke. There's going to be a lot of that going on, so you'd might as well be part of it!