You win!
What a week for lensmasters! In the past few days, you won a big award for best online community, crossed the 100,000 lens milestone, got paid the biggest total amount of royalties yet… not to mention the thousands of dollars donated to the ASPCA and Polly Klaas Foundation! Wow.
In the middle of all this excitement, I’ve been busy testing out new lensmaking ideas, and I see from the forums and browsing around that many of you have too. I’d love to hear about them! So, if you have a unique idea or project you’d like to share, send it in via the SquidU Review lens. Next week you may find yourself reading here about…yourself! (Scroll to the very bottom for details).
And now: here’s your weekly dose of tips and announcements:
1. SXSW calls YOU extraordinary and exceptional!
2. SquidOffers open to the public
3. Get out and socialize
4. Fun stat of the week: Vote for Lens of the Year
5. Lensmaster Interview
Keep up the great work and let’s see those creative ideas for lenses.
~Kimberly Dawn Wells, Editor of the SquidU Review
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1. SXSW Winner
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What happens when you cross informative lenses with an interactive forum, helpful lensmasters, and charitable donations? Why, a SXSW award, of course!
SXSW is the South by Southwest web awards where Squidoo was recently honored in the community category for “sites and wikis that have quickly developed an EXTRAORDINARILY ACTIVE multi-user community and an EXCEPTIONAL following of users who assist with content development.” That’s us all right! Over the last 18 months our users have taken a passionate hold on all that Squidoo has to offer, and every day we’re seeing new and unique uses for Squidoo lenses and Groups. Our forum traffic has also exploded with dedicated lensmasters offering advice and sharing new tips and tricks for building traffic and revenue. Way to go.
Read more about the SXSW award winners here: http://www.squidoo.com/blog/?p=127.
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2. SquidOffers are Live
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Over the last few weeks we’ve tested the waters with SquidOffers, the “advertisements” that you vote on based on what you like and want to see. Now, if you’re the curious marketing sort, you’re invited to create your very own SquidOffer!
All Squidoo is selling is a gangbusters opportunity at very low risk. What you make of it is entirely up to you, the awesomeness of your Offer, and the opinions of millions of people who stop by Squidoo every month. You can promote your Squidoo lenses, other websites, shops, or affiliate links.
Find out what makes a good Offer great: http://www.squidoo.com/squidoffersthatrock, and make sure you know how not to get your Offer declined! http://ww.squidoo.com/declinereasons.
Right now SquidOffers are only $25 per week, and their only promise is that the price will go up. Slots are filling up fast! To get started, stop by http://www.squidoo.com/squidoffers/start.
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3. Get Out and Socialize
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Pop quiz: How is using Squidoo different from taking the SATs?
Answer: We actually encourage you to socialize and help each other. By all means, get caught looking at your friend’s paper!
Squidoo’s success is largely built on the ability and extent to which our lensmasters socialize. We’re loving how lensmasters are always coming up with creative new ways to use Squidoo socially.
What community features are available to users?
1. Peer ratings
You get to rate the lenses you visit, with one star being “ick” and five stars being “awesome.” Don’t forget to do this when you visit lenses, along with…
2. Guestbook entries
Wherever guestbooks are found, leave your mark. Say hi, give a suggestion or example, or even just thank them for what they shared. If you want to ramble on a bit more than 300 characters or share a secret with the lensmaster, you can always…
3. Contact the lensmaster
This sends an email to the lensmaster via a form, so lensmasters, there’s no need to fret about spreading your email address online. If you don’t have your contact button activated, learn how to do that here: http://www.squidoo.com/squidoo-preferences/.
4. Hit the forums
At the SquidU Forums we have the tentacle on groups, charity, making money, getting traffic, and all around creating great lenses. If you haven’t joined in the discussion, visit us and say hi. We love to see what our lensmasters are up to. http://www.squidu.com/forum
5. Plexo
The Plexo modules AND our latest and great SquidOffers are more user-rated ways to tell us what you want to see. What do you think is hot? What is not so hot? When you see these, feel free to vote them up and down as you see fit. Your vote counts!
So, join the discussion and share in the wealth of knowledge that fellow lensmasters have to offer. The knowledge is yours for the taking, so go do something great with it!
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4. Fun Stats of the Week
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Did you know?
Squidoo just hit 100,000 lenses (yippee), and to celebrate they’ve collected all the previous Lens of the Day winners and are asking YOU to decide: which should be lens of the year?! Go vote: http://www.squidoo.com/thelensoftheyear.
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5. Lensmaster Profile
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This week, Curtis Hart, known and loved as Oniyagi, interviews Shane McElveen, a self-proclaimed graphic design monkey, illustrator, and wannabe novelist. Learn more about Shane’s art and love for Squidoo here: http://www.squidu.com/Profiles/getting-graphic-with-shane-mcelveen.
