Director Tom Gets Passionate
This week lensmaster extraordinaire Angela Harms interviews fellow lensmaster Thomas Clifford. Thomas is an International award-winning documentary filmmaker & storyteller, specializing in creating 'moving visions' for organizations; Fortune 500 to local non-profits.
Angela: Tom, how did you first discover Squidoo?
Tom: I've been a Seth Godin fan for a few years so when I heard that Seth was launching a new site called Squidoo, I signed up immediately! When Squidoo finally came out in beta form, I fell in love with its simplicity and ease of use. I didn't have a web presence so I was excited I could create something quickly. After a few hours, BINGO...I was up and running. I shared that first lens with lots of customers and friends. After receiving such positive feedback, I decided to create more lenses. I was psyched I could create something from scratch in a matter of minutes. Squidoo finally gave me a forum to gather my thoughts in a single place. I found myself creating many lenses on my favorite passions.
Angela: So you've made more lenses since then? What are these passions you speak of?
Tom: To start off, I am a documentary filmmaker specializing in 'moving people with moving visions' for organizations. So my first lens "Corporate Documentaries & Remarkable Storytelling" was designed to give a few tips and tricks, for example, to those in marketing departments who are creating a video for their company perhaps for the first time. I've gotten great feed back on this lens so I don't mess with it too much! My other passion is quantum physics. The movie "What the Bleep Do We Know!?" really turned me upside-down! So "Create Your Day! How the Bleep is it Possible?" was designed to help someone get started down the rabbit hole of quantum physics, how to create their day and be more active in designing the life they want. I then built a lens on Deepak Chopra: The Man & His Teachings. Deepak has had a tremendous impact on my life for more than 12 years. It's a neat lens because it puts together his best ideas, books, etc. in one place. As a long-time rock 'n roller and guitar player, I've also been very interested in sound. Using mantras is a form of sound and a lot of people don't know how to use them. That's why I created "Manifest Your Desires: Using Simple Mantras that Work." I am not even a student of the teacher but I like the approach and simplicity of the teachings. I built other lenses on similar topics like Michael Moore, Spiral Story plus a few rock 'n roller's, too!
Angela: That's a lot of interests! I want to ask if you have a favorite lens, but that might not be fair. Is there one that you think is the most successful? And how do you define that success?
Tom: My most successful lens financially is "Manifest Your Desires: Using Simple Mantras that Work!" I think that's because mantras may seem difficult or esoteric for most people to grasp. But the materials on my lens are easy to grasp, easy to use and more importantly, effective. The teacher, Siva Baba, is known for being Wayne Dyer's spiritual teacher. "Create Your Day! How the Bleep is it Possible?" is successful from a traffic point of view, as well as the "Corporate Documentaries & Remarkable Storytelling" lens. All three generate consistent traffic.
Angela: That's awesome! You know, you make it sound really easy. Was it easy for you, or did you have to learn a lot to become so successful? What would you tell new lensmasters?
Tom: Actually, I couldn't believe how easy it was! The functionality of Squidoo is really easy. We all have passions in life and I think that's what Squidoo provided me...a platform and a context to express my passions in life in a simple, friendly and quick manner. Once you start, it's hard to stop :)
Angela: Thanks a lot for talking with me. And thanks for the reminders to go out and create my day. :)
Tom: No problem. Enjoyed it a lot.
Learn more about Thomas at his Director Tom lens: http://www.squidoo.com/thomasclifford/
Thanks to Angela for the interview!
