Highly Focused with Oniyagi
The popular and always charming Oniyagi shares tips with Guest Editor Glen. Read on to learn how he generates traffic, focuses on very specific keywords, and gives credit where credit is due.Glen: How did you discover Squidoo?
Oniyagi: My (ex)wife and I were part of Robert Allen’s Enlightened Wealth Institute. During one of our internet marketing classes, our instructor mentioned Squidoo and Seth Godin. I went out and bought a few of Seth’s books, then checked out Squidoo.
Glen: What is the process you choose to decide on a keyphrase(s) for a lens?
Oniyagi: To be honest, I try to keep all keywords and phrases relevant to the topic of the lens. For some of my lenses, I use the keyphrase as more of a headline. I tend to change the intro to some of my lenses quite a lot, so using the keyphrase as a headline is important to me.
Glen: What are you doing to generate traffic to your lenses?
Oniyagi: I have links to my lenses up everywhere! I keep my “Who am I” lens link in my email signature, I use it as a blogger profile on my blogs, and I have it on my business cards. I have lens specific links in my signatures on different forums. I have links on MySpace, Facebook, and just about every other site I go to.
Glen: How often are you updating your lenses?
Oniyagi: I try to do lens maintenance twice a week. There are a few lenses that I’ve not updated in a long time, but finding “new” information on Kolchak the Nightstalker is kind of a moot point.
Glen: Do you start with an idea and then figure out how to monetize it, or start with a product and then figure out how to promote it?
Oniyagi: I start with a few hundred ideas… then weed those down after I research them a LOT. Then, I hit Amazon and eBay and see what kind of products I can find to back all of that up with. Then I head out for pictures (remember to ask permission and include credits folks). Finally, it is time to throw in the elbow grease and get to lens building.
Glen: Do you focus on a specific, narrowly-defined keyword or phrase, or do you get traffic from a variety of different phrases and keywords?
Oniyagi: All of my keyword are VERY specific. This might be my downfall, but when I search for something and then have to wade through useless crap that might just include the keyword I was searching for in passing, I get angry. So, I don’t do that to other people. I want them to search for a keyword, hit my lens, and be blown away that there is either useful information, or that I have pointed them to the best possible source for what they are looking for.
Glen: What mistakes have you corrected as you’ve built up your Squidoo expertise?
Oniyagi: The biggest mistake I have corrected is my use of images. I cannot stress this enough. If you use an image, get permission. It is as simple as buying it from a graphics site, or emailing the owner. There are even free graphics sites out there for you to use, just make sure to give credit where credit is due. This is a great pearl of wisdom that I am about to give you, so listen up. If you give credit (after you have permission) to the artist or creator of an image in the form of a link, he/she will most likely put a link up to your lens too. Then BAM! You got yourself a reciprocal link and you just made a friend.
Glen: What is it about Squidoo – be it a person, feature, reason – that has caused you to stick around?
Oniyagi: I stick around because Squidoo lets me be open in my creativity and allows me to pursue my passions.
Glen: What is your own favorite lens and why?
Oniyagi: Oh, my favorite lens isn’t even my most popular. Kolchak: The Night Stalker is my favorite, just because my Dad and me get together for some quality time.
Glen: How did you get your username?
Oniyagi: My username is also my nickname. It comes from a shortened version of my middle name O’Neal (Oni) and Japanese translation for goat (yagi). Yes, “Oni” is also a Japanese demon or devil as well. Anyway, my family has always called me Oni (that is until my Japanese aunt told them that it meant devil) and I have had a goatee since I could grow hair on my face. So, I just put the two together when I need a screen name for AOL. That was back in 1995. Oniyagi is my squidoo name, my gamer tag, and my forum name on countless forums now.
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Learn more about Oniyagi's highly comprehensive lenses on his lensmaster page.
