Creative Linking
Crystal King
Senior Product Marketing Manager, iAnywhere
Concord, Massachusetts
Squidoo: How did you decide what to make your lenses about?
Crystal: I wanted to be able to share my extensive knowledge about a few key topics that were near and dear to me: mobile marketing, which is a central part of the work I do with iAnywhere's AvantGo product; and critical and creative thinking, which is what I received my masters degree in, teach -- and am writing a book about. There are other lenses I'm thinking of developing in other areas of interest to me: poetry, food and fine wine, fitness, throwing a great dinner party and perhaps even some of my geekier interests like gaming and sci-fi books.
S: Do you maintain a web site or blog otherwise?
C: I have several, actually. I've had a web site since 1995 and have been blogging since 2000. I expand on many of my lens topics there.
S: What have you done with your lenses that you can't do elsewhere?
C: What I love about Squidoo is that I can show my expertise and point people in the right direction quickly and easily. A link list isn't so random anymore -- it's focused and relevant to the topic at hand. I can promote my blogs, my writing and bring additional visibility to the work that I'm doing. Essentially, it helps me aggregate and display information from all my various online sources -- my blogs, websites, del.icio.us and more. Plus I can make a bit of money for doing something that I am always looking to do anyway -- promote myself, my thinking and the work that I'm doing while at the same time providing value to my readers.
S: Did you consider doing so using your blog or web page to do that?
C: The basic structure of a blog makes it difficult to accomplish what Squidoo can. With my lenses I can quickly show people a wide variety of options about a particular topic. I can link them to additional resources, highlight key things with text modules and help them find related products. When people come to a blog, they are looking for content that is typically more expansive. Squidoo is, to me, the perfect marriage between a search engine and a blog. You get refined information related to a topic with better and tastier meat than you would get from a search engine.
S: Have you taken any cues from other lenses so far?
C: One of the new lenses that I really enjoy is Introduction to Visual Thinking by David Gray of XPLANE. Without Squidoo, I'm not sure I would have ever known about his company. With my interest in thinking critically and creatively, I'm always on the lookout for interesting and innovative ways to share good thinking with the world -- which is what his lens does. Lenses are an excellent way for companies and individuals to promote themselves while at the same time providing valuable information to the public. The lens is interesting and the way he uses Flickr modules is very intriguing to me. It's smart, informative and entertaining at the same time.
I really love the mix of smart companies using lenses to promote their products and individuals sharing information about the things that interest them. I can read about all sorts of things ranging from business topics, handbags, politics or even the best tools to make deep fried turkey. It's great!
S: What advice or ideas would you offer other lensmasters?
C: The best advice I could give would be the same advice that most writers hear over and over. Write what you know -- or about what you want to know. Developing a good lens takes a lot of thought, and the best lenses aren't just link lists. Share your knowledge and your interests through the modules that you put together. When you are passionate about a subject it really shows, and it makes the content you provide much more credible for readers. If you want someone to buy a book but there is nothing to demonstrate why you are the right person to recommend that book, then your credibility drops and, in turn, so do your rankings and your profits.
