One Best Tip

Someone asked me today for one tip for building a successful lens.

I gave him this one:  Own your topic.

Then I gave him a bonus tip:  Proofread! Then do it again.

Success may be subjective, but objective misspellings and silly errors stand out and can make us look very unprofessional. Owning our topic allows room for forgiveness for some of those silly errors that all of us make from time to time. 

Squidoo Conference Call

A number of lensmasters (20 or so) were invited to participate in a conference call today to ask questions about current events on Squidoo.  Bonnie and Seth hosted and the group had the treat of putting voices with names of more than a dozen lensmasters over the 40-minute call as questions were asked and answered.

Here's a recording of the call so you can listen in.

The questions were great and the answers were candid and complete.  One quote that I took away from the 40-minute session was from Seth as he discussed the value of adding a personal story to a lens: "Value is created when someone is persuaded."  (You'll find that at 35:15 on the recording.)

Thanks to everyone who participated and especially to Seth and Bonnie for taking time out of their day to host the call.  If you weren't there but wish you would have been, 40 minutes spent listening to the recording will be time well spent.

Now Is the Time To Build (Lenses)

I really liked this post that Bonnie wrote for SquidooHQ a couple of days ago.  She makes an important point about the fact that things change.  They do!

And if there's anything in this world we can count on for change, it's all things internet-related.

I've been hanging onto old Squidoo lenses, or maybe I should say lenses with old topics.  I "archive" them, explaining that this page was created during the 2008 election process (for instance) and is here for historical reference.  That, I've come to decide, is so bogus!  There's nothing on most of these old lenses that anyone wants to read or wouldn't find elsewhere if they did want some historical information.  There are other lenses, too, that I just don't care about anymore.  (There, I said it.)  They're baggage, dragging me down when I notice them there on my dashboard whispering, pleading, "Let me go!"

It's time to delete some of those oldies-that-were-formerly-goodies, cut the cord, say "sayonara" and move on.

Yes, it's a bit like "empty nest syndrome" - my lens-kids leaving home makes me sad - but the good news is that I can keep making new lens-babies on current topics that people actually care about.  And "people," in this case, includes me.  No more maintenance, no regrets.  Those babies are going bye-bye!

New, updated, useful, original content.  That's the part of the internet equation that stays the same.  Time to build it!

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Putting Myself On The Line

Is this a perfect Squidoo lens?

What do you think?  Visit the link and chime in.

I can take it.

About Me (You, too.)

Now that the "About Me" and "My Lenses" modules have been retired, here's another way to help your readers learn more about you.

In the custom bio box on the top right of the lens, add a "call to action" at the end of the custom bio you write for each lens.  Simply ask readers to "Click on my picture to learn more about me and see what else I've been writing about."

That's how I'm going to start updating my custom bio boxes.

I like this idea.  Should have thought about it before!

Completing the Circle

I read lots of "newbie" lenses on Squidoo.  A few are really great, some are awful (they just are, what can I say) and others are written by newbies who need a little instruction but show so much promise.  Those are the ones that I really get excited about.

I love writing short comments of encouragement to new lensmasters. When I do, I think back to people who encouraged me in the early days and how much that meant to me.  I want these new newbies to smile when they read my note and turn to their friend or significant other and say, "Hey, someone at Squidoo thinks I'm special!"  If the smile stays on their face for more than a few seconds, then I've done my job. 

Later on, when I encounter some of these same new folks on RocketSquids, it's my turn to smile. I always hope that my note had something to do with fueling their desire to learn more about how to improve and make their lenses better and better.

Two smiles, theirs and mine.  Circle complete. 

SquidPeer Pressure

When I was a young squid with little experience and even less confidence, many of my best lensmaking habits were developed from watching what successful lensmasters did and then adapting their methods on my lenses.  It's a great way to learn, one I recommend often.

Occasionally, though, there would be practices that I didn't feel particularly comfortable with.  More often than not, though, I jumped on those bandwagons anyway.  After all, those people had been around longer and had more lenses and more success than I had at the time, so they must be right, right?  Not necessarily.

Peer pressure is a very powerful motivator for doing the wrong thing, even in a writing community like Squidoo.  The trap, however, lies in doing something simply because everyone seems to be doing it. 

Here's what I learned: Instincts rarely lie.  If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. Just don't.

I'd Still Rather Do Squidoo

I was just looking back at the early posts on my blog and found this one.

Robin, you're still one of my faves!

And I'd still rather "do Squidoo" than do almost anything else, too.

Going on Six

In a couple of weeks I'll celebrate my sixth anniversary here on Squidoo.  Every year I look back and say wow, what a difference a year makes!

I was just looking at one of my old lenses and noticed that it was linked to this post where I was excited about having made over $50 that month from Squidoo.  Wow, what a difference five years make!

Back then I could only dream that a very part-time venture would become a very fun full-time way to earn a living. 

Wow, can't wait 'til next year!

Content Rules

If you write on Squidoo then you're surely aware of the recent conversations revolved around making our lenses personal with just the right ratio of affiliate links to unique content.  Keyword content factors in as well - no one wants to be punished for keyword stuffing, especially when it's unintentional. 

Here's a conversation about Zazzle content on our lenses and how to make our Zazzle-centric lenses acceptable to both Squidoo and to the search engine powers-that-be.  These Zazzle lens tips can be applied to the rest of our sales-oriented lenses and product reviews as well.  And it's not just Squidoo and the search engines, it's our readers that we should be concerned about.  If we don't offer unique, useful, interesting content to them, then we're not doing our job very well. 

No matter how you stand on the great Squidoo debate these days, it's hard to deny that the old maxim of "content is king" still drives e-commerce and, really, online publishing in general.  I think that's the bottom line in all this.  What do you think?

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.

The Quick Brown Fox

Look at the picture I came across today.  Isn't it great?  It reminds me of ninth grade typing class, where I fell in love with typing.  In fact, a few years ago I actually wrote a lens about the history of the typewriter that included a tribute to my typing teacher and a mug with "The quick brown fox" phrase on it.

Does this phrase bring back memories to you, too?  How fast can you type it? Go ahead, give it a try!

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Cool New Plexo Tool on Squidoo

It's called an embeddable plexo, a tool that allows you to grab a plexo from your lens and share it on your blog or website.

Like this one (from this lens):

Add Your Romantic Valentine's Day Decorating Ideas for the Bedroom

Cool?  Yeh, I'd say so!

Read more about it right here then let me know how you might use this fun feature.

Ask and You Shall Receive

Thanks to the lensmasters who are making their intro pictures 250x250 square.

You make my life so much easier!

xoxo

February Greetings & Goal Review Time

Happy February everyone! 

I hope Punxsutawney Phil's forecast holds true for all of us and we have a nice, early Spring.  It's a beautiful day here today, nice and sunny with temps that aren't bad for February.  I don't mind winter when it looks this nice!

I just reviewed the list of goals that I wrote at the end of December.  Some are going well, but I'm behind on others and need to make some adjustments this month as well as do some catching up.  How about you?  Have you reviewed your goals for the month and year?  It's a good time to measure progress and re-focus if necessary.  I'd love to hear how others are doing.

If you have lenses that need some love, feel free to post them on my Facebook page. There's a thread started for helping WIP lenses get out of the basement so add yours anytime then visit someone else's to pay the love forward this month.

Time to update Spring lenses, too, and Squidoo has a pretty green theme for Gift Guide lenses categorized for St. Patrick's Day and Easter.

So, what's new with you this fine February?  Care to share?

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