Disney Pins!

You could almost feel it, right across the internet, the europhia that surrounds RV as he announced that his lens, Disney Pins, finally make it to the Top 100 by LensRank in Squidoo. Congratulations RV, hope to see more of your lenses up there soon!

Seems that RV has been working real hard over the last few days, asked around for advice from other Squidoo lensmasters, got and followed it and in the end, pays off. I've been doing the same thing for some of my lenses too. Queries and questions are always promptly responded to by other members/lensmasters who are always active in the community. Seems like home really.

Do RV himself has a secret to his success, I believe he has, as he had blurted it out in one of his posts:

"...that a combination of tag phrases, blogging, and listing on other sites seems to have helped. My lens moved from the 300's up in rank each day(2 days ago to the highest ever in the low 200's), and today made it to #71. I know that not just one thing is responsible, but I did want to tell you that I've seen increased traffic over 5 days on the..."

Ha, got you there RV! Visit Lensmater RV's page at the link to read more of his Squidoos.

Squidoo Modules

Do you Squidoo? If you're not, then you're missing out on one of the more exciting and addictive things in life. Since it was first incepted, the Squidoo community has grown steadily to over 70,000 lenses now with a very strong and varied base of Lensmasters.

Lensmasters Squidoo for many different reason, and easy as it seems, a few are equally stumped even at the start of creating a lens. This is where Squidoo-on-Squidoo lenses began to be published not only as an effort to make Squidoo more user-friendly but also to push Squidoo up the Internet ranking as well.

Squidoo Modules
Among these guides, Squidoo Modules is one of the latest, a very easy to follow demonstration on a selection of some of the most used and useful Squidoo Modules. The modules are published in their natural environment (meaning that you will see the module as they are published) complete with their content and, where appropriate, relevant products. Money making module samples, with product sampling, includes the Amazon Standard, Amazon Plexo, Cafepress, Del.icio.us! and eBay modules, to name a few.

Squidoo Modules even touches on what the Introduction, a very important aspect of any lens, is all about:

"Keep it brief but enticing. As this is what visitors will find as a description if they do a search at Squidoo. And it's a good idea to upload a photo with your introduction. It will be far more eye catching then the "mystery squid" default if your lens is added to a Group AND without one you have less of a chance of being added to the front page of Squidoo in their rotating live list of Top Lenses." - Just the way I like it done!

This lens is published by Lensmaster N376 who, as he says it, is a

"Graphic/Web Designer with a few irons in the fire both online and offline. Looking to expand my network and not have all my eggs in one basket. My interests are varied but all of them are creative."

Still foreign to Squidoo? Make a beeline for Lensmaster N376's page, see what and how he has done it and I am sure you'll as excited to Squidoo for yourself. Do it now!

Marti, Marti, Where art thou?

Marti, Marti, Where art thou? is the call I put on Squidoo's Lensmaster's Lounge, actually to entice Marti to submit her two links for my People's Choice: Top 100 Squints page on Squidoo.

It was a quiet two days actually, until Marti came back with a worrying news that her father-in-law has had surgery and is in and out of a coma in a hospital, due to an accident that broke his hips. Our concern is for you and your father-in-law, Marti, hope all is well and he is on his way to full recovery.

Who's Marti?

Marti, a fellow Squidoo Lensmaster, is a newspaper humor columnist and blogs on her daily life at Enter the Laughter and Marti's Mouth.

All the best.

Tutorial: One Star: Yes, I See You

I am delightfully following Margaret Schaut's tutorials on what she sees an a one, two, three, four or five star Squidoo lens, as she parries with each lenmaster's submission to her Squidoo Group, The Mall.

Margaret must be one of the most hardworking soul on Squidoo, whilst creating her own Top 100 lenses, she is never reserved nor selfish with her comments, observations and remarks. Truly one who has gained my respects.

As for the tutorials, here are the links to follow, as she posted it on The Mall on Squidoo blog :

• Tutorial: One Star: Yes, I See You
• Tutorial: Two Stars? What the Heck Does That Me...
• Tutorial: Three Stars- Good Solid Lens
• Tutorial: Four Stars- Rock Star!
• Tutorial: Five Stars- Genius!

Create a shopping lens, submit it to The Mall, as see how you fare!

Healing...

I wish...

I wish when somebody is grumpy, we could all listen with empathy and give them a big hug, and convince them we're trying our best.

I wish we didn't get mad and spit at each other.

I wish I could always show my best self, and give comfort where it's needed, and strength where it's required.

I wish everyone who read this would understand that it's sincere, and not judge me harshly.

Angela, ever way-too-honest.

Angela, in Harold and Maude, Maude said it best.

"Everyone has a right to make an ass out of themselves. You can't let the world judge you too much."

Everyone has their own reasons for getting grumpy about various things. Please don't take it personally, especially when you consider the high global population who could be watching your every move.

You do your best and we all admire and appreciate that. I know we are all sorry if something we say or do hurts your feelings... an unintended consequence to be sure.

It's not that my feelings are hurt, not at all. It's just that I want to be able to heal everything I touch, and I can't.

Yes you can, and you do it all the time.
Believe me.

Well said.

Angela, you get the pony for the day.

Aw, you guys are making me teary.

Angela

As contributed by AngelaHarms, Margaret_Schaut, dinodino, Maurreen, megancasey - Lensmasters at Squidoo.

79th Annual Academy Awards

A surprise shutout for Best Picture and a 10-year-old for Supporting Actress is all the buzz in this year's nominees for the Academy Awards.

Otherwise, it's an open race, with 'Babel,' 'The Departed,' and 'Little Miss Sunshine' among those battling for the Best Picture race. 'Dreamgirls' led all nominees with eight, but was surprisingly shut out of the top category.

Other categories were more predictable, with a slew of first-time nominees including Mark Wahlberg ('The Departed'), Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barraza ('Babel'), and mild surprises Ryan Gosling ('Half Nelson') and 10-year-old Abigail Breslin ('Little Miss Sunshine').

That's the gist of what I quickly set up today, a Squidoo lens on the 79th Annual Academy Awards, more about the DVDs actually, which you order or pre-order from Amazon.com.

Squidoo LensRank Algorithm Tweak

megancasey, the editor-in-chief of Squidoo, put up a post on the Lensmasters Lounge early last night, announcing a small algorithm tweak to Squidoo LensRank system.

A couple of hours later she up another post titled "The time has come," which is extracted in part here:

"It has come to our attention, repeatedly and shockingly, that a handful of our lensmasters have been engaging in unequivocally unacceptable behaviors.

Actions that our Terms of Service, and several members of SquidStaff, have been clear about, have paid attention to, have tried to ameliorate, to no avail.

As of this evening, a handful of lensmasters have had their accounts--and all their corresponding lenses--deleted..."

Squidoo is still a small family, by Internet standards, and endorsing unethical and disreputable activities such that has been brought out into the open surely sticks out like a sore thumb. The time is right, I suppose, for all of us to look back and review what the internet has been to us, what will it be to our future, our children and all.


Now back to the algorithm tweak.

Tweaks has, as always, bring out sometimes a truly emotional outburst from some, while other jumps up in rejoice. It's no different with the Squidoo LensRank algorithm tweak, albeit a small one, did effect lensmaster in different ways.

For me, my comment was:

Wow, incredible!
Way too high for me.
I think I'll have an early Christmas and come back in a week or two to tweak them again.

This is how my lens count was:

LensRank #1 - #100: 2
LensRank #101 - #1000: 32
LensRank #1001 - #8000: 19 (including 6 unpublished)
Below #8000: None

Now, isn't that incredible. I don't think I've reached my true potential yet, and with such high ranking lens, I surely can afford to take that early Christmas.

Today is a bit more to my liking, the count spread looks better:

LensRank #1 - #100: 2
LensRank #101 - #1000: 25
LensRank #1001 - #9000: 27
Below #9001: 3 (the #1001 below includes 10 unpublished lens)

This has given me back the reason to keep on improving.

Squidoo lens: How long is short?

As I continue to work on publishing more commerce lens on Squidoo I began to realize that these lenses are just like what a salesman would carry in the boot of his car, just enough merchandise to excite potential shoppers and no more than necessary to overburden yourself with extra inventory which are more cumbersome rather than useful in the end.

So how long should a Squidoo Commerce lens be? The shorter the better.

Mine is based on a set on numbers: 1, 1, 7, 2, 1.

One Text/Image module
Use this to expand on the title (introduction) or to add in more support information for the product. The sales pitch? Just say your piece and leave it at that. You are not a scammer and by god's sake never try to be one.

One YouTube or Link List module
Add in a form of distraction here or provide resource links if the products are better provided for with more information to strengthen the sales pitch.

Seven Amazon Standard modules
With three products each, self picked with a short description for emphasis. Each module carries a sub-category of the product. 'Let Amazon Pick' does not alway get you the result that you want while Squidoo's drop down list does not carry all Amazon categories.

Two Link List modules
One for additional resource links if not already used in liew of the YouTube module above, and the other links to discussion/forums sites related to the products. Four (4) links each here is sufficient for me.

One RSS module to end the lens
The Street Buzz module with latest news grabs from Google or other news sources. Max 4 links.

Work backward from the bottom of the page and you will find that you now have somewhere around 35 links from your site. Add a few more among the text (including the Introduction and the Text/Image module) and you will probably end up with 50.

Good enough. Mine however comes with plenty of variation in each lens.

Back in the Top 100

Glad to see 2 of my Squidoo lenses are back in the Top 100 by LensRank today. They are:

• Automotive Code Readers / Scanners at #61, and
• Automotive Jump Starters - at #80.

Squidoo LensRank ranking, as you know, is very volatile, it changes everyday and, to me, is very very unpredictable. You just have to keep your eyes peeled on them.

The Squidoo Top 100 Most Profitable is a bit more stable, as it depends on the money making ability of your lenses. Currently:

• Automotive Code Readers / Scanners is at #14 on the list, while
• Automotive Jump Starters is at #17.

Anticipating what readers want from a Squidoo Commerce lens is still a skill to be acquired. One can only try, sometimes with a bit of luck.

See you on Squidoo.

Be An Expert

Lazy Sunday. Sun, hot and bright outside, Me, cool and cozy inside.

Guess it's time for to work on my 'blurb', that's what they call Guestbook comments on Squidoo lenses. For blogs of course, the 'blurb' must be meaningful enough to deliver adequate answers/source/information for readers looking for it.

Be An Expert? It is a Squidoo Series lens.

Squidoo first introduced the Lens lens, for Lensmasters. Later they launched the Group lens, for Groupmasters as a approach to to collectively kettle-potting lenses common to a theme for better exposure and subject cohesiveness.

A Series lens, as what I am working on, is a collection of lens serialized or that sprouts from a common subject/niche lens into others covering more details or specifics of that subject/niche area.

Lenses that are to long, giving you hardly enough space to grab the scroll tab on the side of your browser, is the first no-no for me. Lenses that try to cover as wide a base of information until again, it becomes too confusing to be relative is the next to go. Lenses that are tagged with a plethora of non-related keywords..., the list goes on.

Why not split these information into two or more lenses which can be more sub-subject specific? Why not give your self the chance to expand your basic knowledge into a spectrum of target niche keywords? How do you add continuum to your initial knowledge base?

Be An Expert, never intended to be of 5-star quality, is the holding point that links together a series of lens that incorporates the theme into, some of which are 5-stars on heir own:

• Be A Doctor Who Expert
• Be A Harry Potter Expert
• Be A Yoga Expert
• Be A Timbuk2 Messenger Bag Expert
• Be A Wii, The Nintendo Revolution Expert
• Be An Apple iPhone Expert
• Be An Apple iPod Expert
• Be A CAD/CAM Expert
• Be An Adobe Photoshop Expert

I'm open to interpretation as to what you can do with your Squidoo lens.

Squidoo: Top 100 Squints

Squidoo: Top 100 Squints is my yet unpublished lens vying for the Top 100 People's Pick lens, the link to which I will activate once the lens is published.

Squint, or strabismus, as written in Wikipedia, is when both eyes are not co-ordinated in focusing on the same point... Probably what happens to your eyes when you are trying to go through up to 70,00 plus lens to pick your 100.

I am going fast track here, and wondering whether other Squidoo Lensmaster are warm to the idea. What I did is to post on Lensmaters Lounge requesting the help of willing Lensmasters to post two links each to their lens which I will evaluate, rank and add to my Top100 list. 50 responses means I will have my 100, and both the links on the thread and my Lens will be good SERP (Search Engine Results Page) placement juice as well.

At the moment though, the lens is not so much about the Top 100, it is more about community togetherness.

I believe this is a clean and fun idea to work with, helps bring people (especially Lensmasters) together which in turn will strengthens Squidoo as a true community resource for passion and creativity. Wish me luck.

Announcing the People's Picks!

Inspired by the highly innovative and creative efforts of Margaret Schaut on her Squidoo ensemble, probably especially by her By Invitation Only lens, Squidoo is today launching a new series of Top 100 lists: the People's Picks.

To set the ball rolling, Squidoo is sending out this open invitation to their best lensmasters (that's all of us, of course) to be honorary editors by creating and submitting our own lists of Top 100 lenses, any which way you want to look at it.

You can do this easily by creating a lens linking to your favorite 100 lenses, Themed, Plexo'ed or none of the two. Give the title a good shot, make it something interesting and eye catching and e-mail the lens to peoplespicks@squidoo.com for review and official posting on Squidoo's Top 100 lists page.

It not as easy as it sounds actually. Picking a 100 lens out of 70,000 plus Lens is going to be like picking needles out of a haystack, that is if you can find them. But of course, if you're one the 5% active members who are always up in the Lensmaster's Lounge, or involved in Groups then probably half the work is already done for you.

One idea is to start scouting current Squidoo Top 100's for ideas or direction. These includes the:

• Top 100 Most Emailed
• Top 100 Most Blogged
• Top 100 Most Visited
• Top 100 by LensRank
• Top 100 Most Profitable
• Top 100 by Topic
• Top 100 Groups
  

Waste not, want not, let's get picky now! Or shall I say get squinty eyed and get a good start on Squinting The Squid.

As Squidoo says it, it's the people's turn now to put a popular spin on LensRank.

Automotive Code Readers / Scanners

My Automotive Code Readers / Scanners Lens on Squidoo is sitting at the top of my Lens list now. On Squidoo it is at LensRank #113 today, slightly down from a highest of #106 a week ago.

The Automotive Code Readers / Scanners is one of my Lenses that is showing some monetary returns for me, currently showing a Pending $$ of $13.35 (not much though). The Pending $$ amount is an indication of estimated royalties earned from affiliate partners like Amazon, eBay, CafePress, etc. and is still pending clearance from those affiliates.

The extent of this product promotion Lens, I believe, also results in orders and deliveries for both the Equus 3100 Innova Diagnostic Code Reader with Memory Backup for OBDII (Post-1996) Vehicles and the Equus 3120 Diagnostic Code Scanner with Freeze Frame Data for OBDI and OBDII (Post-1996) Vehicles that have showed up on my Amazon Associate report.

How is this possible? Well, Squidoo only permits up to 5 products listed in their Standard Amazon Module. I normally do my own selection of products to display and place only three (products) per module. When you do this, you effectively disables the 'See more product' link at the bottom of the module which otherwise would appears if you 'Let Amazon choose.'

You then can always go and add your own link to the product page at Amazon.com itself by adding some thing like this to the text section of the module:

'Click here to shops all Code Readers & Scan Tools at Amazon.com'.

This will not only benefit visitors with a glimpse of what's available but also provide them a place to go for the full range of products mentioned in the Lens.

Internet Access on the Blink Again

Well, it has been on and off for a couple of weeks now for people like me living in the Asia Pacific Region, but it seems that thing are getting no better. As reported in the Tuesday, 16 January 2007 edition of iTWire:

"If you’re in Asia and are still experiencing slower than normal speeds following the earthquake that damaged undersea communications cables, a China Daily report tells us that you might need to wait at least 2 weeks before normal service is restored.

The repairs were originally meant to be completed yesterday (15th of January, 2007), but delays have occurred due to difficult conditions both at sea and on the sea floor, as repair crews drag the seabed with old fashioned grappling hooks in an attempt to snag cables that lie 4000 meters below sea level..."

and coupled with that, from WHDH-TV - World News, January 15, 2007, the report of another earthquake;

"An earthquake struck off of Taiwan's east coast Tuesday, the Central Weather Bureau said. No damage or injuries were reported, and no tsunami warning was issued.

The 5.4-magnitude quake was centered about 100 miles southeast of the capital of Taipei, the weather bureau said..."

It was reported that the later does not seem to disrupt any communications problems, but who knows. My Internet access was getting better all the time when it went blink again middle of last night.

So now its back to Google and just plain Blogger (from the the few accessible sites that I can access) for me, no Squidoo until things get better.

Be A Harry Potter Expert

The Final Chapter
It's official! J.K. Rowling's final Book 7 of the Harry Potter series is:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
  Keep updated to the launch of this book and what's happening in the world of books by signing up for Amazon.com Books Delivers, Amazon.com's monthly subscription e-mail newsletters. You'll be kept informed about new releases in your favorite categories, popular pre-orders and bestsellers, exclusive author interviews and podcasts, special sales, and more.

Be A Harry Potter Expert, our latest quick launch Squidoo Lens, is a try at cashing in on the upcoming adrenalin rush that we fell about the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) title. Hopefully we can get a few visitors here, plus a couple of retro buys on all previous titles which are also listed in the lens.

Be A Harry Potter Expert is part of our Be An Expert series Lens on Squidoo which we are currently building. More on that later. Cheers.

By Invitation Only

Yes, it came in the mail yesterday, scares the hell out of me - an invitation to be listed in the By Invitation Only lens at Squidoo. The By Invitation Only is a presentation of various high quality lenses for all to look at, vote on, and add to, to find the best, the brightest and most useful on Squidoo!

My lens: Your Garage - The New You is to be listed in the Best Commerce Lenses on Squidoo section. It is there now, being looked and ranked by members, visitors and aliens alike.

Is the By Invitation Only Lens really about a competition? No, I don't think so. To me it is all about getting your lens more exposed to the outside world, as what this post is all about too. Backlinks are all important to SE's like Google and others, so the more you lens are exposed (linked to) the better are your chances of survival and being found on the Internet. I am happy to be there, but scared at the though of being compared to other Lenses that I have, apprehensive that the others may be deemed of much lower quality and jittery about not getting up to the mark in my future Lenses.

The author of this By Invitation Only Lens? None other than Margaret Schaut, probably one of the most-hardworking person around Squidoo that I know of. Margaret, besides a having a long string of Lenses on her own, is also the Groupmaster/Admin for The Mall and The Garage, both of which I am a member of. Margaret is also an excellent Lensmaster, with two that I enjoyed tremendously, Michelangelo's David and 1963 Corvette Grand Sport, being up there among the 100s in Squidoo.

Change A Name and Earn A Gain

Have you ever wondered if a title like "Hop, Jump & Start" means anything to you? I guess not, neither will "Do You Wash & Wax Your Car?" be exiting enough to get the fingers clicking.

The first title, I think, is a bit too ambiguous to grab the attention of a viewer or to register from him or her a quick cognitive action while the later might just end up being given the "So what?" shrug.

These were two titles of my Lenses on Squidoo, got me hooked on it for a while, until I realize that it is not attracting the real attention that they should be getting. Why not a name change? Doing on on Squidoo is just a simple 1-2-3 process. Edit the Lens, change the title in the Page Title Module and republish.

Well, "Hop, Jump & Start" is earning me some returns now as "Automotive Jump Starters," "Do you Wash & Wax Your Car" is just giving it out as a straight "Wash & Wax Your Car" while "Know Your Winches" is brought closer to the product niche it was supposed to represent, "Automotive Electric Winches."

I quiet like the way the Lenses are getting along now, complementing each other within my Automotive series lenses:

• Automotive Code Readers / Scanners
• Automotive Electric Winches
• Automotive Jump Starters
• Wash & Wax Your Car
• Your Garage - The New You
  

and by the time you read this,

• Automotive Cargo Systems: TracRac

would have been published too.

Cheers, take your weekend for a drive.

Be An Apple iPhone Expert

Is there a clamor for the recently announced iPhones by Apple on the streets by now? No, not yet, but there's surely a rush on the Internet to get iPhones related domains, be it a TLD, a sub-directory or even a sub-folder file as Squidoo does it.

On Squidoo, I got it with the Wii, Be A Wii, The Nintendo Revolution Expert, but sadly misses out on the iPhone, the Lens was already taken. What a pity though, looking at the iPhone Lens on Squidoo today, it was just a start-up page with nothing else to write home about. What an opportunity this would be for the SEO'ers. Wonder if the Lens will up for sale shortly.

Normally, at the slightest whiff of an idea, I will type in the address, say http://www.squidoo.com/ipod-expert/, into the location bar of my browser to see whether there's already a Lens on it. If the address is already taken, the page will show up and you can see what has been done with the idea you are toying about. That's it.

If it is not, you will then be displayed with the 'Claims this lens' banner and the opportunity for you to create the page is there. Trying out different names or name forms and comparing it to what has been done before you really diggs in may help in the end you to restratergize, reorganize or redirect the intent of your lens to a different niche market, target group and so on...

My best bet then is to try a name related to a few other Lens that I am doing, the Be A(n) Expert series. Got it, it's there for the taking, there you go and Be An Apple iPhone Expert is born.

What to do with something that you don't really know much or yet have to learn about? Be creative for one, leave it out on the commons for the community to share a bite each, and see what comes out of it!

The Problem with 'Zap Gremlin'

I call it 'Zap Gremlin' (not at all related to Led Zepplin which I am listening to now). It is a flea, not unlike the hideous bed-bug you keep nurturing within the folds of your bed, a gut-wrenching and stomach-belching creature which goes round biting people at the tips of their creativity, sending them into a state of semi-psychotic trance of self-mutilation, communal reject and downright humiliation.

It occurs rarely, comes out of the fold once in a while, and goes into this destructive frenzy which sets up whole community in arms, and as quickly, slithers back to the comfort of it's hideout after wrecking as much havoc as it can.

Shouldn't we be actively involved in eradicating this menace from our future? Find out how ScammBuster is doing his part here.

New Moneymaking Modules on Squidoo... and

I was up in Lensmaster Lounge (Squidoo Lensmasters forum for those who are not eligable to access) and came across a new post mentioning that Squidoo has added a battery of new MoneyMaking modules today. These includes modules for online products offered by Backcountry.com, Barbecues.com, Beauty.com, Better Homes & Gardens Store, Boaters World, Buy.com, Callaway Golf Pre-Owned & Outlet, Camera World, Candle Bay, Cell Phone Shop, CompUSA, Discovery Channel Store, Dog.com, Football Fanatics, Fossil, Golfsmith, Guitar Trader, HatWorld / Lids, Home Office Solutions, J&R Computer/Music World, Jos. A Bank, KB Toys, Luggage Online, NHL Shop, Office Depot, Overstock.com, PETCO, Panasonic Direct, Paragon Sports, Payless Shoes, Prime Wine, ProSports Memorabilia, Shop at Home TV, ShoppersChoice.com, Shutterfly, Sierra Trading Post, Todofut Soccer, Ultra Diamonds, Vermont Teddy Bear, Wine.com, eBags, Hello Direct, Laptops For Less, Legal Seafood, Magazine City, Sharper Image... among others.

Wow, I see stars! This is truly a big list for the little me to digest, and bigger still is the challenge to create a Lens can really target your visitors to that specific product group as offered by that specific merchant, for example.

Can this be better than using the Basic Amazon Standard module which probably can be tweaked to offer the same products niches as is competitively supplied by these merchants? Do buyers usually buy more than a single item each time they order online? Do you save on shipping charges for group buys? Will customers click on 5 different products from 5 different suppliers because each one is cheapest comparatively? I really have to sit down and work on the mathematics of this, really be thorough with each new Len's targeting and marketing strategy.

jeffryv's also pointed us to his quick demo lens showing some of the new modules in action here.

What do I think of it (the Lens)? I don't know, yet. This has got nothing to do with the Lens, or it's content. For one, I am not thinking straight. I am still helplessly in limbo due to the predicament with the web access. Squidoo is only available intermittently, took me 4 hours to do a normal 15 minutes Lens, and the frustration index is rising higher and higher.

I'm also working on a couple of Lens which decidedly folds up and chunks my data out of the window every time I added and save content to the intro module, the core component of any Squidoo Lens. Now, ain't that frustrating?

Did put in a bug report and am waiting for something good to cheer me up... Still addicted though.

It's Tuesday Again

Aaahh, it's Tuesday and it's time to do an update on my Squidoo Lenses again.

Hopefully this fad (weekly update) will peter out or lose it's shine once I'm back in full on the Internet. As you know the Internet access to the Asia Pacific Region was disrupted when an earthquake off the island of Taiwan damaged our undersea cable links. Currently I'm still far away from having full accessibility, even Squidoo is on only intermittently.

The other reason for me to do this is to add that occasional links boost to my lenses, which otherwise will rot the LensRank as rapidly as it had climbed up.

• Is your HDTV the right size for your room? LensRank #54
• Automotive Code Readers / Scanners LensRank #126
• Your Garage - The New You LensRank #350
• Know Your Winches LensRank #629
• Automotive Jump Starters LensRank #672
• Designer Outlet Store LensRank #751
• The Pritzker Architecture Prize LensRank #827
• Mauviel Copper Cookware LensRank #878
  
• Doors of Ireland LensRank #948
• Hand / Mouth Blown Art Glass Collectibles LensRank #975
• Head-to-Head : Wii PS3 Xbox360 LensRank #983

Eleven (two up from last week) of my Lenses are in the Top1000 this week, and the top is still within the Top100 but has slid down from #25 to #54. On one hand, while Is your HDTV the right size for your room? is still at the top of the heap, it is Automotive Code Readers / Scanners that is giving me the better returns.

In the end it is still a big learning process to me - quality content, good product niche, well timed execution, friends in the right places... and all.

Squidoo Lensmaster Page | What-is-ASM.com | aaNodes.com

The Genius of the Link List Module

The Link List module is one of the first, and and most used of all Squidoo modules. The module displays a list of web sites, offering their name, a description, and a link to the site itself.

I use this module liberally across my Lenses and, with the help of the Squidoo Firefox Extension, things couldn't be better.

Squidoo Firefox Extension
You can access the Squidoo Firefox Extension page easily, go through what is written and make your decision whether you want to install the extension or not. My recommendation is of course you should.

The image above is the cutout of the browser toolbar showing the Squidoo Firefox Extension icons as it was installed on my Firefox, do not look at what the green arrow is pointing to, but rather the icon (the Squid with the plus sign) next to it. That's the button to use if you want to add any website that you are currently browsing into any of your lenses.

The LensMaster Bookmarklet
Click on the button and it will quickly opens up a 'LensMaster Bookmarklet' pop window which has essentially captures the URL, Link Title and Link Description of the site you are browsing. If necessary you can edit the information that are listed here.

You will find, towards the bottom of the page, a drop down box with all your Lenses listed, and the question is, to which Lens do you want to add this link. Choose you Lens and the next option is for you to choose which Link List (in the Lens). If you do not have a current Link List in the Lens, then you are given the option of adding one on the fly, together with option for adding the Title, Subtitle and a Description of that Link List module. Cute.

Finally, there's the 'Continue' button if you want to add other addresses to the list or you can choose the 'Publish' button if you are done. Your newly updated Lens will now be published without having you accessing the Lens itself to add this information manually. Fantablous.

You can almost do it with one hand tied behind your back.

Squidoo Lensmaster Page | What-is-ASM.com | aaNodes.com

How do you Squid?

A Lens at Squidoo.com is your view on a topic that is passionate to you and one with which you want to share with your friends, family, associates or the rest of the world. It is a single web page wuth which you can start your conversation with, point to blogs, list your favorite links, add RSS feeds, display Flickr photos, Google Maps, list eBay auctions, CafePress designs and recommend thousands of shopping products from hundreds of trusted merchants.

Visit Squidoo.com now, Register, Login and Make a Lens. Starting a Lens is a simple 4-step process:

Step 1: So, what's your lens about?
Make this the title of your Lens, don't worry if you got it wrong, or not right, you can always change it later (in Step 3 or while editing the Lens).

Step 2: What do you want to do with your lens?
Pick a button to choose the way you want your Lens fried (the underscored blank indicated in the options below will actually be filled with your page title text):

• I want to get the word out about _______________(easiest option)
  
• I'm gonna sell _____________ stuff and earn $$, for me or for charity (money maker!)
  
• I want to make a list of my favorite things about _____________ (most popular)
  
• I just want to do my own thing.
  

Step 3: Great! Let's give your lens a name.
This is where you pick the URL for your Lens, so think wisely, as the URL cannot be changed.

Next pick a category (from the drop box) that fits the description and content pf your Lens and last, declare your Lens's content rating: Family or Adult.

Step 4: Help people find your lens
"Tag" your lens with up to four keywords to help people find your lens. Think about search words people use on Google to find the information they are looking for. Could that keyword be part of your lens tags?

Finish off by entering the security word given into the box, press "Done" and that completes the page creation setup.

It's Hip-Hip Hooray welcome now, where you can now proceed to create the contents of your Lens. Pick on the 'Edit this lens' button on the upper right corner of the page to proceed.

Squidoo Lensmaster Page | What-is-ASM.com | aaNodes.com

Put your Squid on a pair of jet skis

Once you have your Squidoo Lens published, tie it down on a pair of jet skis, power it up and see how it shoots over snow bounds, tears down ski slopes, leaps across frozen rivers and shoot-it-up with the current top ranking Lens on Squidoo.

Here's a few tips on what you add as jet fuel:

• Print a business card with your Lensmaster address on it - pass it round the at the office, leave a box of it at your local grocery store, accidentally drop a few in the door compartment of the taxi you took to attend the office meeting this morning. That should take care of your local community - they'll soon recognize you as the cheerful-bloke who created the-fun-way-to-shop-Amazon, who pointed me to this T-shirt on Cafepress or who posted this eBay auction info...
• Send a block mail to all your e-mail contacts - your friends, your mom, even your boss, it does not matter who. Don't be shy about showing it off! (And hey, if they decide to join Squidoo to make a lens of their own, you are in line for a $$ bonus!)
• Post it (your lens) to your blog - invite your visitors to visit and leave a comment on your post. Send a note to someone you admire who runs a blog on your topic, and ask them to check out your lens. Flattery do gets you everywhere.
• Hit the forums or attend SquidU to submit a Lens exchange proposal - offer a three-way LensRoll - you add the recipient Lens to your first lens if he LensRoll his lens to your second Lens, and so on...
• Get the lens discovered in more places - link to the lens on your MySpace page, del.icio.us, Reddit, Flickr profile, eBay auctions, CafePress shop. Create your own little traffic network here.
• Join a Group - back in Squidoo link your lens to a Group. Great lenses group up. Find a Group that talks about your topic and do LensRank. Submit your Lens as a request to join, get friendly, get feedback, get found.
• Compete - Stop by the Lens of the Day Group for inspiration from winning lenses. And if your lens is up to snuff, enter it in the contest.

Not forgetting of course, that you should keep your Lens constantly updated.

Squidoo Lensmaster Page | What-is-ASM.com | aaNodes.com

Back Again

Well, it was quiet a wait, almost an eternity in Internet time, for me to be able to get back online again. Things are still quiet topsy turvy now, being able to access Squidoo one day, not on the next hour, back again albeit a bit slower later and so on. I am still having problems accessing all my other sites though.

I did spend those three quiet days building a couple more Squidoo Lenses and this is how there are doing today (all nine that is in the top 1000):

• Is your HDTV the right size for your room? - LensRank #25
  
• Automotive Code Readers / Scanners - LensRank #113
• Hop, Jump & Start - LensRank #230
• Designer Outlet Store - LensRank #333
• Know Your Winches - LensRank #448
• Your Garage - The New You - LensRank #474
• Mauviel Copper Cookware - LensRank #806
• Head-to-Head : Wii PS3 Xbox360 - LensRank #954
• On the Streets of San Francisco - LensRank #980

Is your HDTV the right size for your room? is my highest ranked Lens so far, going up to #21 a couple of days ago, and is down to #25 today.

Squidoo Lensmaster Page | What-is-ASM.com | aaNodes.com