Squidoo Step by Step Guidebook

Is "Earn more money on Squidoo" on your list of new year resolutions? If so, boy are you in luck.

A group of generous professional Squidoo lensmasters has teamed up to produce an ebook, the Squidoo Step by Step Guidebook, to give you all the information you need to know to help make Squidoo lenses and to make them in such a way that you will get traffic and you will make more money on Squidoo.

Whether you need a checklist to learn to build your very first Squidoo lens or if you're looking for keyword and lens promotion tips for your existing lenses, this amazingly concise little book fits the bill. Honestly, I am impressed and I don't impress easily.

Find out where to download this f-r-ee ebook and learn about the associated Ning group that supports it on the Squidoo Step by Step lens. Here's to Squid-prosperity to all in the coming year!

Cancer Warrior and More

Pardon my being sidetracked lately, but a lot is going on in my personal life. I'll pick up here as my mind and body allow. Thanks to every single person who is supporting me in my new role as Cancer Warrior. I couldn't do it without you.

In the meantime, there's so much going on at Squidoo! I hope you've subscribed to the SquidBlog and Lens of the Day blog and are keeping up, especially, with Squidoo's Thanksgiving Cookoff for Charity. Great lenses are being created and lots of money is being donated to deserving charities. It's an exciting time of the year. Enjoy!

Hot Dog! What a Lens!

Did you see today's Lens of the Day? It's Hotdog Halloween Costumes for the Whole Family by lensmaster luvmyludwig (Crystal). I think it's a brilliant sales lens, very well done with great content and keyword placement. Notice the black boxes dividing the sections and how Crystal included the best keywords shoppers are using to to find hotdog costumes for every member of the family. I checked "hotdog halloween costume" and the lens is on page 1 of Google!

I also like what Crystal included with the hot dog costumes. The ketchup and mustard costumes, the hot dog candy, a couple of videos, and a short link list plus just a few other things that fit her topic well but with the most important items at the top. I've seen so many lenses recently with a great main topic but that veer off into some other items that just don't fit. This lens is such a great example of what to include and what to leave off.

That's what I think. What do you think?

Learn Squidoo in a Week

This is the "Try-It Week" for RocketMoms that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago; today is the last day.

On the RocketMoms forum, Bonnie (bdkz) presented a written lesson a day, along with supportive lenses. (Like me, Bonnie doesn't like to reinvent the wheel.) Today she published a lens that includes the five lessons with their associated homework lenses. The only thing you don't get on the lens is the great group discussions that followed on the forum.

Here's the Try RocketMoms lens. It's an outstanding teaching/learning tool. Whether you're a Squidoo newbie or you've been around for awhile, I would like to encourage you to browse the lens and then go back and visit, study, and apply the homework lenses. I guarantee you will learn some things you didn't know, well worth setting aside part of five days to really learn Squidoo.

What You See is What You Get

A couple of important items to share.

The new Squidoo WYSIWYG editor is here. You'll find it in the intro module of your lenses. Very cool. Try it and see if you like it.

I hope you're following Gil on Twitter. Good way to help keep up with news, changes, and resolution of problems. Better yet, download the SquidUtils toolbar, which follows Gil automatically. It's the only way to see at a glance when there's Squidoo news and when lensrank has been updated. The toolbar also provides quick links to your lenses and access to tools you didn't even know you needed, helping you to become a more efficient lensmaster. Once you've used the SquidUtils toolbar, you'll never want to be without it.

That's all for now. Carry on.

The Journal of the Traveling Squid Goes Hollywood

I wrote before about the JaguarJulie-led project, The Journal of the Traveling Squid and the two journals and Giant Squid t-shirts that are circling the globe, fueled by lensmasters and creativity, propelled by goodwill. The U.S. journal has now reached Hollywood!

Lensmaster Kim Giancaterino took the journal on a fabulous tour, fully documented with great pictures and commentary in her new, purple star-awarded lens, The Journal of the Traveling Squid Goes Hollywood. From Grauman's Chinese Theater to the famous Hollywood sign, the giant t-shirt has been there; the proof is in the pictures.

When it comes time to auction off the Traveling Squid package for charity, surely the fact that Cary Grant's hand prints touched the t-shirt will add to its value, don't you think?

Hooray for Hollywood!

What's Blogging Among Squidoo Friends?

Collaborative or co-op blogs, those with multiple contributors, are becoming quite popular in the Squidoo community and for good reason. We're all busy, so having multiple authors to help keep a blog updated on a regular basis is a good thing.

Top-Rated Gifts for Christmas is one such collaborative blog, a new undertaking designed for the upcoming holiday shopping season. Each post features a well-reviewed item that would make a wonderful gift, and each links back to a lens featuring that same item. Our hope as lensmasters and bloggers is that the links on the blog will garner traffic to our lenses and, of course, lead to holiday sales.

Are you part of a collaborative blog? Let us know by leaving a comment with your blog link and any tips or advice about what you do to make your group's blog succeed. If you're not part of a group blog, why not gather a few of your trusted lensmaster friends and get one started? When you do, we'd love if you'd report back and let us know.

A collaborative blog just might be a good addition to your business plan. After all, a community that blogs together makes money together. Or at least we hope it works out that way!

Congratulations New Giants and Thank You, Carol!

Today is new Giant Squid day on Squidoo once again. Congratulations to all the new Giants and Giant 100's! I remember very well when it was my turn, so I know exactly how excited you are!

I am honored and humbled to be the subject of a tribute lens by my friend, new Giant Squid lensmaster strayspay. Carol, you've given me more kudos than I deserve. Thank you so much!

Think You Might Want to Be a RocketMom?

You might have heard of RocketMoms, the invitation-only group of the smartest moms on Squidoo. The small-group mentoring atmosphere of RocketMoms has surpassed even the wildest expectations and the first three sessions of RocketMoms have produced hundreds of quality Squidoo lenses.

If you've thought that maybe you'd like to participate, but you weren't sure, here's some good news. RocketMoms will have a Try-It Week October 19-23, which will be an intensive teaching and lensmaking week for those who want to see exactly how the group works. If you like what you see, you'll be welcome to stick around for the next session of RocketMoms, a special six-week holiday lensbuilding session that promises to be superific and fantastical! (Feel free to substitute your favorite made-up super-adjectives.)

You'll need an invitation to participate in the Try-It Week. If you're interested, leave a comment here on this post with your name and email address and I'll see to it that you get the information you need. Comments are moderated and will not be published so your email will be safe and secure, I promise.

Remember, Try-It Week starts October 19 so you'll need to let me know right away. I hope to hear from you today. It's going to be a blast!

New Giant Squid Challege Supports Baby Squids

'Way back when I was working to become a member of the second-ever class of giant Squids, the only support we had was an occasional "You can do it!" on the SquidU forum. We supported each other, of course, but there were no small groups and no organization. Wow, has time changed things!

Now, with the help of the Giant Squid Organizers and an ever-growing team of Giant Squid Challenge Group Leaders, baby Squids have so much support! There's a Ning group, countless challenges and competitions, and group chats. Now you can also subscribe to Giant Squid Tips on Twitter to get daily quick tips and assignments that will help you swim your way to Giant Squiddom in no time!

The new Giant Squid Challenge will be starting soon. Learn all about it on this lens and don't be shy about getting involved no matter how many, or how few, lenses you have. I promise, you'll be glad you did.

Have Your Morning Coffee With Squidoo

To paraphrase a song, making your way on Squidoo today takes everything you've got. Well, maybe not everything, but it's important to take a few minutes on a regular basis to keep updated with what's happening with Squidoo and in the Squidoo community.

The place to visit if you want everyone on Squidoo to know your name is the SquidU.com forum, and the place to start is Kimberly's Morning Coffee. It's the newest section of the forum from which Squidoo's Community & Charity Organizer SquidooKimberly (aka Kimberly Dawn Wells) plans to update the community on a daily-ish basis with the latest goings-on. The best part is that, unlike with the Squidoo blog, you can join in on the conversation and interact there with Kimberly and other members of the community.

If you have specific requests for lens reviews or you want to introduce yourself or if you need help with a problem you're having with a module, or anything else of a specific nature, make sure to post in the proper area on SquidU, but make it a habit to join Kimberly sometime during the day to share her morning coffee.

Bring your own croissant.

Cheers!

Awesome eBay Module Sale

It isn't mine, but a visitor to one lucky lensmaster's lens clicked through an eBay module link, signed up as a buyer on eBay, bid and bought . . .

Should I tell you or make you look? I think I'll make you look. It's worth the visit to the forum.

Here.

My Trip to the Circus

I had a great time on AuctionWally and Phaedra's Selling Circus podcast last nght!

Here's some of what AuctionWally had to say about the visit:

"Do you Squidoo? Well if you do, or you want to, or want to find out what exactly Squidoo is and why all the buzz, then this episode is one you’ll need to listen to, because we were lucky enough to interview Susan the Giant Squid!

"Susan share her expertise on the Squidoo blogging platform and was a fantastic wealth of knowledge on the subject. Thanks Susan!"

Read more here.

Or listen to the episode right here:


Thank you, Walt and Phaedra, for your hospitality!

Giant Squid Joins the Circus

Contrary to popular rumor, giant squid Susan52 is not being auctioned off tonight by Auction Wally. But she will be talking about Squidoo and answering questions from Wally and his co-host, Phaedra, during The Selling Circus podcast at TalkShoe Radio.

She also promises not to talk about herself in the third person, if you promise to tune in. That's tonight, Monday, September 14th, 8:00 eastern, 7:00 central, 6:00 mountain, and 5:00 Pacific.

If you like what you hear or want to learn more, join Susan52 as she teaches about Squidoo in a live, one-hour class coming up Thursday night, September 24th. Reserve your seat today to Learn Squidoo from the Giant Squid.

What Makes a Great Lens?

The question comes up often: What makes a great Squidoo lens?

Today it came up again in the SquidU forum, asked by lensmaster TheMedievalNun. She received some great responses. Here's mine:

Reading the lenses that Robin (rms) suggested is a great place to start. I would also suggest visiting and rating lots of lenses; it doesn't take long to recognize bad lenses, good lenses, and really good lenses. Then do what the really good lensmasters do!

As for what I think is a "great" lens, I like to see original content and interesting, useful information that is laid out in a way that flows and makes sense. I don't like extra modules that have nothing to do with the topic, and I don't like an over-the-top amount of graphics (though I know that "over the top" is in the eye of the beholder). And, of course, default module headers are a definite no-no.

I agree totally with what Paul (pkmcr) said above. It's always encouraging when people ask and genuinely want to know what they might need to do to improve their lenses. It's so easy to get stuck in a lensmaking rut, digging yourself into a hole of mediocrity. Interesting that so often it's the people who ask for help that are already making high-quality lenses. By glancing at a few of your lenses, Nun, I'd say you fall into that latter category. Congratulations!