SquidU

Happy Friday lensmasters!

In Wisconsin the leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter and colder, and Halloween will be here before we know it. It’s a great time to bundle up with a hot cup of cider and work on lenses. And to bring all those lenses together, we recommend groups.Groups have been around for nearly two years, and since Squidoo has grown in leaps and bounds, never have there been so many informative lenses on any given topic of interest. So if you’re interested in bringing all those together, start a group. Your Citizen Squid Groups Mentor Barkely tells you how:

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Why Create A Squidoo Group?
By by Barkely (Linette)

Why should you create a Squidoo group? Here are the top five ways creating a Squidoo group can benefit you.

1. Keep an eye on the competition.
If you start a group in your niche area, you can check out what others are saying about your subject. You will be able to interact with others in your niche, get to know them, and learn more about your subject matter and how to market it.

2. Make your lenses stronger in your topic and promote your lenses.
Putting together a great group page with several lenses on the same topic can help draw in traffic. The traffic to the group page will turn into additional traffic to your lenses.

3. Build a community around your topic.
Gather a group of people promoting the same topic. Get to know other lensmasters who are interested in the same thing you are.

4. Build credibility as the expert in your niche.
Being a group master helps make you the master of your group’s topic, and helps build your credibility as the “expert.”

5. Creates a quality link back to your lenses.
Google likes Squidoo groups and gives them a high page rank. I have 3 groups with a page rank of 4. There are many group pages with a page rank of 5 or 6. When it’s your group, you can feature the lenses of your choice for quality back links to your lenses.

For more information on Squidoo groups check out the Squidoo Groups Mentor Lens by your very own Groups Mentor, Barkely!
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If you have more questions about groups, ask at her lens above.  If you have some awesome information to share that you’ve learned, post it at our SquidU Forum.

Until next time, keep Squidooing!
~Kimberly
Your Community Organizer

You serious, Clark?  Yes, Eddie, you too can do big things with Squidoo.  In fact, I used the brand spanking new Prediction module to determine that this fall we’ll be adding a megasquid of new Giants to our roster.

(Here, take it for a spin.)

Don’t believe me?  Learn what our own Giant Squid RMS has to say about it.

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Are You Serious?
by Robin Svedi (rms)

Recently at Squidu, VBright105 asked, “At what point would you say someone is serious about Squidoo?” and “Do they have to be a Giant Squid before you consider them serious?”

In my opinion, any lensmaster who creates even one really great lens should be taken seriously and I know that Squidoo HQ truly appreciates each and every one of them, but those lensmasters who have invested the time and expended the energy necessary to make 50 fabulous lenses are recognized and rewarded with Giant Squid status.

Therefore, yes, every Giant Squid lensmaster is considered serious by Squidoo, but we also know that every Giant Squid started out the same way you did by making their first, second, and twentieth lenses.

Fifty lenses may seem like a lot but the extensive list of Squidoo co-brands makes it an easy task to accomplish once you get going.

We believe that every conscientious lensmaster is a Giant Squid in the making and the program is open to everyone.  So if you are truly serious about Squidoo why not reach for that gold star and become a Giant?

The Giant Squid lensmaster program accepts new applications on a quarterly basis with the next round ending on September 30th.  If you need help, have any questions, or are just curious about the Giant perks you’ll receive please visit my Giant Squid Mentor lens today.  I’m here to help all serious lensmasters achieve their Squidoo.com goals, even if you’re just getting started.
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Whoo!  We are feeling the Squidoo love now.  Speaking of love, how about some contest results?

Last week I asked how many times “more” was printed in the SquidU Review.  Over 80 people took the bait and about 2/3rds got it right!  “More” is in the newsletter 16 times.  Can you find them?  Congratulations to our winner…drumroll…azac!  Check out our winning lensmaster (and possible future Giant Squid?) at his lensmaster biography.

Three more bonus tidbits of info for you today:
1. Have you seen the donations module?
2. Are you a sports fan?
3. Stop by the forum to say hi and see what cool new things you can learn.  Or share.

Make it a great week!
~Kimberly
Your Community Organizer

Wow! Squidoo is such an exciting place to be right now. Thousands of new lenses are being built every week and the forum is full of new faces (er, usernames?) Lensmasters are using blogs to promote their new creations, running special projects to generate interest, and bringing in their friends and family to share in the Squidoo experience. I’m more pumped now than ever! (And you’ve seen how I get after a few cups of coffee…)

If this wasn’t cool enough, the SquidStaff and special lensmaster teams are working every day to bring you more, more, more! Here are three ways we’re giving you more this week:

More Categories!

You asked, we answered. There are now 10 brand spanking new categories to fill up with new and existing lenses:

* Books
* About me (for resume lenses, SquidWho lenses about you, signpost lenses, lensographies, whatever)
* Humor (for any funny ha-has, novelty lenses, joke lenses, etc)
* Home & Garden
* Religion & Spirituality
* Work at Home (this could be a really interesting category, if done right)
* Green Living
* Pop Culture & Celebs (because Paris Hilton told Megan she was sick of being categorized in “Entertainment”)
* Squidoo How To (for all your Answer Deck lenses, SquidTips, that kind of thing)
* Duels (just a fun experiment. You can swap your MonkeyBrain lenses over, or any poll or opinion lenses you have).

How much fun will YOU have filling these up?

More info off Squidoo!

SquidU isn’t the only place to talk about Squidoo. Between MySpace, Facebook, Lensroll.com, and others, lensmasters are taking their lenses off Squidoo to put them in front of more eyes. Now you can even get help in these places, from one of our Social Network Team members.

EclecticWAHM, SusanVillasLewis, and Rock_The_Ice are three socially attuned lensmasters keeping an eye on your favorite social networks and forums. Look for them on these websites:

- Facebook
- MySpace
- 30DayChallenge
- Warrior Forum
- Twitter
- BlogCatalog
- Sitepoint
- TalkWhatever
- YoungEntrepreneur
- WAHM.com
- StumbleUpon
- and more!

If there’s another network that you think is really important, ask one of these team members to check it out.

More stuff to wear!

SquidSwag is back in gear, no pun intended.
http://www.cafepress.com/squidswag

Get shirts and housewares for yourself, set up a matching office, and don’t forget shirts and creepers for the Future Lensmaster in your family! Keep an eye out for more stuff to be added every week.

Everyone loves to get a little more out of life. What more can you do with your lenses this week?

Until next time, happy lensmaking!
~Kimberly
Your Community Organizer

Bonus - how many times is the word “more” in this newsletter? Send your answer to kimberly@squidoo.com with the subject “give me more.” You could win something cool.

This contest has ended. Find out who won!

In the US, we celebrated Labor Day this past Monday.  It’s a 126-year-old holiday to celebrate a day off for working citizens.

While some people may have taken a break, our Citizens, Citizen Squids that is, are always working hard to help our loyal lensmasters. Who are they and what are they doing?

Damon (boredofeducation) is your Module Mentor. How does the Table of Contents module work? How can I add links to a paragraph? Damon is your man for these answers: http://www.squidoo.com/modulementor

Margaret Schaut is your First Lens Mentor. Are you still pondering all the options on your first lens? Margaret’s famous First Lens lens will get you moving in the right direction. http://www.squidoo.com/first_lens

jeffwend has the promo know-how, and he’s sharing it with you at his Lens Promotion Mentor lens: http://www.squidoo.com/Lens-Promotion

Barkely has more than just fabulous cookie recipes.  She’s your Groups Mentor on Squidoo.  From jazzing up your headquarters to transferring a group, get the info here: http://www.squidoo.com/groupsmentor

RMS, Robin, has a giant task on her hands, as she’s the Giant Squids Mentor. If you’ve heard about the Giant Squids and want to know how to become one, check out http://www.squidoo.com/giantsquidmentor

You’ll see these folks on the forums and answering questions on their lenses. Stop by their lenses, say hi, and feel free to challenge them!