AJ2008 a Lensography

My Squidoo journey started in July 2008, but to understand what set me on that pathway, I need to wind the clock back to the beginning of that year.

Towards the end of 2007, the value of houses in the UK started to drop. As far as my own home was concerned it was not a problem. My husband and I are very much in the minority of home owners in the UK in that our mortgage is only about 35% of the value of our house and we have no plans to move. However, I ran a family business with my brother doing property renovations and at the time we had two houses that we owned, that were being renovated and then we would sell them on.

Abandoned Farmhouse Undergoes a Renovation
Sartore, Joel
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So we were in the position of having to watch the values of the properties plummet while they were finished and put up for sale. By the time we managed to sell the houses in the Spring of 2008, our business was finished and we were in debt because the fall in property values meant we made a loss.

However, I also had a good job and although the contract was a short term one and due to finish in August 2008, they were already talking about a permanent position for me. It was part time, paid very well and best of all I could work from home. With two school age children it was important to me - and them!

Although we were in debt, we knew that given time we could clear it and the bank was being very understanding. No pressure to repay anything immediately, so we knew we would be OK.

Then my life took another turn for the worse.

I started to feel strange. My co-ordination was not good, I was getting so tired that I had to stop playing tennis. I was getting dizzy, I could not think of the words I wanted to say sometimes and at times my speech was slurred. I could no longer walk in a straight line, I would bump into people and as for steering a trolley in the supermarket . . . .I was less confident driving and started to clip the kerb occasionally.

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I put it all down to stress. The business problems, I was producing a musical at the time, juggling work and family . . . . All the normal excuses as to why I was not quite right. I took leave from my job because I was getting headaches and I was confident that once the show was over (towards the end of April), the pressure would be off and I would be fine.

Looking back I do not know how I kept going. Not only was I Producer of the show, but I also had a part in it as well. But we did it and I looked forward to a few days winding down time before I went back to work.

I got worse, to such an extent that I started to worry that I'd had a stroke. But the biggest concern was that I had to stop working altogether. Financially we were really in a bad way.

I went back to my Doctor and was referred for specialist assessment for hearing loss and the other problems. I was reassured that the MRI scan on my brain was precautionary "just to make sure" and when the results came back clear, I was referred to a Neurologist.

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By this time, this "internet Pandora" was checking out her symptoms for herself, so that by the time I went to the Neurology Hospital in London, in June, I had a good idea what was wrong and after three hours of exhausting tests, I was told I had Otosclerosis. On the one hand I was so relieved, but on the other hand I was facing more hearing loss. However, there was some good news as well, the disease was only in my right ear - I just have to hope that the left ear stays healthy. You can find out more in my lens about Otosclerosis.

It was around the time of my diagnosis that I stopped driving and had to face up to the fact that I was no longer capable of going very far on my own. Walking around busy shopping centres alone was impossible as I could become very disorientated and that affected my confidence in lots of different ways.

So what to do? All I could see was things stopping. No musical next year - each one takes a year to put together, once we decide what show to do. Nearly nine months of "pre-production", then just under four months of rehearsals. No tennis. No driving. No job. No spending money. No holidays. We could just about cover our day to day living expenses and the mortgage. Then I pulled myself together and persuaded myself that the glass was half full, not half empty.

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I am a great believer in fate sometimes nudging you onto a path you have not considered. I have always wanted to write, so I started researching how to write articles and features on the internet. I filtered my searches to include working from home. Which is how I eventually found Squidoo. I don't remember how I got there, but I will be perfectly honest, it must have been an article that promoted "work from home" because by this time our financial situation was worsening by the day. The first lens I ever landed on was Janet21's lens Are you a stay at home Mom or Dad? and it made a huge impact on me.

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Those that dare to venture experience the greatest rewards

I must have spent a good few days navigating the Sea of Squid before I took the plunge and signed up. Which is when I had that conversation with LH that I told you about in the intro. I knew I would not be able to go out to work for months. I also knew that I would have to take it easy - housework was almost impossible due to the dizzy spells I would get, so there was no need to feel guilty about indulging my passion for writing!

However, the most important thing I learned while I was reading all these lenses was that Squidoo is NOT a get rich quick scheme. The financial benefits would depend on so many things, it would take time to build up any income and it was essential to spend time building up a reputation on Squidoo.

So, I dived in . . . . and I signed up. I hesitated about making that first lens and carried on researching, reading lenses, learning as much as I could. My Mum always said I was a sponge, constantly absorbing new things and when I was child she could not keep up with me.

So what to write about? I made the decision, my first lens would be about my daughter, Sparky. Not her real name, but a nickname that sums up her personality. The lens would be therapy for me and hopefully help other people as I published our experiences when our lovely Sparky was bullied. Three years of hell, when we learned so much about the British education system and how some schools fail their pupils so badly.

But then I got distracted . . . .

One of our local schools was having an "Eco Fair". It was the school that Sparky would be transferring to in September. Both my Lovely Hubby (LH) and I do as much as we can to "reduce, reuse and recycle". We do it because due to my husband's job I sometimes think we know too much about how man is devastating his natural habitat. But that is another story!

I was insistent that we went to the Eco Fair. The weather was lousy - typical English Summer weather: damp and windy and cold! The girls did not want to go but I was adamant, almost driven - looking back it's as though I had a strange premonition that I HAD to go. There was someone who was going to be doing a talk at the Eco Fair and I wanted to see her. Her name - Janey Lee Grace. Janey has been making a name for herself in the UK as an expert in "natural living". She also features on BBC Radio 2 three afternoons a week on the Steve Wright Show. I was curious, I wanted to see if she was anything like she sounded on the radio.

Do All The Good You Can Art Print
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We listened to Janey's talk, which was great. The girls were so interested that they wandered off elsewhere - ah well! Plenty of opportunity to convert them to natural living another time. I bought a couple of books, that Janey signed and that was that. But I was buzzing so much that I decided that my first lens would be about Janey, not bullying. So I put the Bullying lens on hold and put together a lens that was easier and quicker to make.

If I am honest, not making the Bullying lens first is a huge regret. It was and still is a hugely important lens and I wish it had been my first.

All stats are up to
02 August 2009

(will be updated monthly)

Reasons for writing the lens:
I was inspired by Janey
I would like to save the planet

The lens was OK and I got a lovely comment in my Guestbook from Everything Mouse, which gave me the confidence to believe that with a bit of effort, I could master the basics of this lenscrafting business and I was on my way.

Highest ranking: 2985

Reasons for writing the lens:
Personal experience, dealing with the school as my child was bullied
Wanting to help other families
Therapy for me

It took a lot out of me to make this lens as it meant re-living the hell we went through for three years, when Sparky was bullied. But I was determined to see it through and to date it is my most successful lens.

Highest ranking: 17
Days in Top 100: 160
Reached Number 1 in Topic: Parenting & Kids
Awarded Purple Star: 02 July 2009

Reason for writing the lens:
I would like to save the planet

I was sticking to one of my niches, but learning all the time. Janey recommends Soapnuts in her books so not only did I decide to give them a try, but I thought they would make a good topic for a lens.

Highest ranking: 3283

Reason for writing the lens:
I thought it may be a topical subject that would catch on

The first lens I wrote directly after reading a newspaper article. The lens could probably have done with being published when the film Sex and the City was first released, but the book was published quite some time after. The lens did OK but really picked up in the run up to Christmas and Valentine's Day and continues to do relatively well.

Highest ranking: 1536

Reasons for writing the lens:
Personal experience
I want to raise awareness about APD

Another lens about one of my daughters - Lizzie. This was the first lens that made me really think about my strategies for promoting lenses outside of Squidoo. I was beginning to realise that while visits from other Lensmasters are fantastic and give you such a boost both personally and to the lensrank, you need to promote elsewhere. There's only so many Lensmasters and only so many times they will visit, no matter how many times you update your lens. In the long term it is external traffic that will help maintain lensrank.

This lens certainly caught on, both inside and outside of Squidoo. It was made Lens of the Day on the 10th September and it was such a fantastic feeling. I was so excited and also quite moved, because the topic is such a personal one. It was also exciting to see the increase in Lensrank. It went from 1903 to 204 in 24 hours - one of the biggest jumps I'd had in my two months on Squidoo. However, the traffic was not as high as some LOTDs get, but that's OK, it happens sometimes.

I was to get an even bigger surprise, when I opened my mail inbox, on 23 September. I saw a message congratulating me on getting LOTD again! Whaaaaat?

At first I thought it must be for Bullying at Primary School, which was doing very well and had got some great feedback, but no it was APD again! This time the increase in traffic was so great that it made it into the Top 100 for 11 days, peaking at 58.

However, the most important thing is that the lens raises awareness about a condition that is suspected to affect 1 in 10 children, but the majority are undiagnosed.

Highest ever ranking: 58
Days in Top 100: 11
Awarded Purple Star: 13 August 2009

Lens of the Day - TWICE!

Reason for writing the lens:
Every Lensmaster should have a Lensography!

This is the first of my Squidoo Lensographies. To start with I grabbed the URL and then could not think how I would go about making this lens. It sat in my Work In Progress list for weeks. But once I got going on it I found it easier than I thought and it did very well. The lens is regularly updated but I do wonder if it will get too big soon!

Highest ever ranking: 296
Reached Number 1 in Topic: About Me

I formed this group because I wanted to gather together well written lenses about the more difficult aspects of parenting.

As the mother of four children I have certainly had my share of trials and tribulations with all my children but nothing prepared me for the two very different battles we had as we fought to stop the Bullying that Sparky was suffering and also to get the diagnoses for the two different problems that Lizzie had with Auditory Processing Disorder and Dyslexia.

All Lenses and Lensmasters are featured on the Group HQ Page.

Number of lenses in Group: 72
Number of members: 51

Reason for writing the lens:
Personal experience
Raising awareness about a relatively rare disease that can change your life

This lens is all about the condition I suffer - well actually it is a disease, but I like "condition" better. The lens also has a "mini blog" on it, where I am updating my progress or lack of, as the case may be! I have not promoted it much outside of Squidoo but it is a lens that is also getting external traffic thanks to being found by Google. So I guess my keywords must be working quite well!

Highest ever ranking: 1364

Reason for writing the lens:
Inspired by Lensmaster Spirituality, I wanted to give back to the people who had supported and helped me as I climbed that very steep learning curve of Lensmastering.

This lens has no hope of making any money from affiliate sales, but making money was not my motivation. I just wanted to say thank you and I have done that by featuring as many lenses and lensmasters I could think of who'd had such a positive influence on me in my first six weeks on Squidoo.

Highest ever ranking: 2259

Reasons for writing the lens:
It complements Bullying at Primary School
Trying to help understanding of a difficult issue

Because of our experience with Sparky being bullied, I had done a lot of research and had looked at the reasons why children bully. My conclusion was that the majority of children who bully do so because they are bullied in their own home - either by their parents or siblings.

The lens makes disturbing reading and has not done as well as my other Bullying lens - possibly because I have not promoted it as much on Parenting forums. Something I need to look at.

Highest ranking: 3835

Reasons for writing the lens:
I knew it would be topical for the time of year
I love Panto (I have appeared in a few!)

I was learning to think ahead. If you want to publish something topical, it could be several weeks before Google starts finding you. I knew that Panto and Pantomime would be popular searches, particularly in the UK, in the run up to the "Panto season" around Christmas and New Year. When I first published traffic was steady, with most of the visits coming from Squidoo. Then Google and other traffic increased.

I thought it would drop off in the New Year but it did not. I believe that the traffic is coming from people searching for Panto scripts. As a show producer myself I know how far in advance of the actual performance you have to start planning.

Highest ranking: 735

Reasons for writing the lens:
Pure speculation!

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was not doing very well, to the extent that it was widely believed his own party were planning a "coup" to oust him. David Miliband was suspected of being the front runner to replace him as Leader of the Labour Party, which would automatically give him the job of British Prime Minister.

This lens was poised to have it's keyword as one of the most searched phrases on the internet IF the coup happened. It did not. Ah well . . . . However, if Gordon Brown IS replaced by Miliband then the lens could really take off.

Highest ranking: 8314

Reasons for writing the lens:
I feel very strongly about how people behave on Squidoo and the SquidU Forum
I wanted to write something that would be humourous but also convey a serious message at the same time

My very first Top 100 lens!!

As a regular participant on the SquidU Forum and visitor to other Lensmaster's lenses I was observing a lot of newcomers to Squidoo losing friends before they had even made them. This lens was my way of trying to stop them making mistakes and to help them build up a good reputation on Squidoo. It made the Top 100 in four days but will never be a money earner because the topic is exclusive to Squidoo and it is almost impossible to find anything relevant to encourage people to click out on. As a result, although it gets regular traffic it is ranked lower than some of my lenses that have less visits but more clickouts.

However, the lens has achieved some of what I set out to do - I have messages from people thanking me for making them think about how they promote themselves and their lenses on Squidoo. Job done!

Highest ranking: 23
Number of days in Top 100: 13

An email landed in my in box. I got the surprise of my life. It was from the subject of my very first lens: Janey Lee Grace.

Janey said: Love your lens on me ! As someone who can't even get it together to make my blog look half decent I'm most impressed. Have we met ?

I responded: Yes, we have met and I found you so inspiring that I wrote my very first ever lens on Squidoo about you . . . .

The reason why I am writing on Squidoo is that I have a very bad problem with my right ear, called Otosclerosis and cannot work at the moment due to problems with balance and co-ordination. Have always wanted to write and as I am pretty good at research I thought I would give Squidoo a go. It doesn't pay the bills, but hey I am loving it as writing is saving my sanity.

Janey responded, telling me that perhaps I could do some writing for her website: Imperfectly Natural.com . Oh my word!

We spoke on the phone. We met up - Janey lives not far from me - and to cut a long story short, I worked for four months doing freelance feature writing and editing the site. There is even a link to my Janey lens on the Home page and considering that the site gets upwards of 300,000 hits a month, what a backlink!

Reason for writing the lens:
I wanted to do a lens about the spirit and my family's traditions of Christmas

Right from the start I knew I was only going to write one or two lenses about Christmas. I wanted them to be different to a lot of lenses that were being published and steer away from anything that focussed on Christmas gift buying. Any affiliate modules in the lens had to be truly relevant and fit in with what I was trying to do.

I thought about it for awhile and it was during a weekend staying with my parents that I got the idea to weave in some family stories. So I "interviewed" my Mum and Dad about what Christmas was like for them. I suspect talking about it was hard for my Mother as she had a very difficult childhood and was brought up in abject poverty. But both my parents were willing collaborators and they have their own modules in the lens.

It was when I was looking for photos for the lens that I searched Flickr and amazing - there was a photo taken of the street that my mother lived in as a child and the photographer gave me permission to use the photo.

I loved making this lens and now I realise that I have actually pulled together a lovely slice of family history. I updated the lens by adding what three of my children have to say about our Christmases. Some of what they say is very touching and maybe one of these days I will persuade my eldest daughter and my husband to contribute too.

Highest ranking: 527
Reached Number 1 in topic "About Me"

Reasons for writing the lens:
Another topical lens
It will undoubtedly become even more topical in the future

This lens was published a month before Prince Charles' 60 birthday and as suspected, traffic from Google increased the nearer we got to the actual day. There is so much to write about him and it will be easy to add more to it. Whether you love or loathe him, he is an amazing person.

When I came to grab the URL, I actually used "king_charles", in anticipation that at some time in the future this will be another massive search phrase on the internet. At first I thought the lens would reduce in popularity and almost go into hibernation until he eventually becomes King. However, Charles' very public persona means that he is always in the news and the lens has remained popular.

Highest ranking: 176

Reasons for writing the lens:
Because I just wanted to!

Autumn was topical but also very popular as a lens subject. New lenses on Autumn and Fall were proliferating faster than the leaves falling on the lawn. So again I tried to be different. My garden was looking fabulous. Some of the flowers were still in bloom, the skies were blue and the sun was shining on most days. The leaves were turning gorgeous shades, so I got my camera out and for the first time took some photos with a view to using them on a lens.

We also encourage wildlife and birds in the garden, but we could never quite get close enough to the woodmice who raid the food in the rabbit hutches and runs! Then we discovered that a pair of squirrels had commandeered the magpie's nest in the apple tree, so there was certainly plenty of things to write about.

However, this lens is currently in hibernation and will start waking up methinks at the end of the Summer!

Highest ranking: 206

Reasons for writing the lens:
I wanted to convey a specific message

Again, I wanted to be ever so different with this Christmas lens. I wanted to convey a specific message and be creative at the same time. This lens was swirling around in my head for a few days and I was constantly scribbling ideas down in my "lens ideas list". I knew I wanted the Twelve Days of Christmas, it was just a question of what green and ethical gift recommendations to make.

The lens was well received when it was first published, but Google traffic was slow. Then on 01 December 2008 I got another email: "Congratulations on Lens of the Day". I remember thinking that this person had taken a long time to get around to looking at my LOTD, considering it was awarded in September.

Then I opened another email from my Squidfriend Debnet, who said "You did it again girl!", which made me really sit up and take notice. I logged onto my dashboard and there it was in the bottom left hand corner. Kimberly Dawn Wells was "guesting" and selecting some LOTDs and mine was the first she picked. Oh WOW!

The ranking rocketed and the Lens made Number 1 in the "Green" topic.

Highest ranking: 152
Achieved Number 1 in Topic: Green


01 December 2008

Reason for writing the lens:
Topical
I couldn't sleep!

Earlier that week I was kicking myself. We were coming up to a National event that was bound to have thousands of searches and I had not thought to do a lens about it. So I grabbed the URL, but was not sure that I would have time to make it. I was working on Twelve Days of a Green & Ethical Christmas and I do not like working on more than one lens at a time. I had to get that Christmas lens published and I had to resist the temptation to do another instead.

I published the Christmas lens on the Thursday and thought that it was too late to do one on Remembrance Day, which was only 3 days away. However, the following morning I was wide awake at 4am, so I got up and did the lens.

I already knew that I wanted it to be a tribute. I researched the background, founds some relevant poetry, discovered some beautiful videos on YouTube, took a break to get the girls up and ready for school and by 11am I hit the publish button. It came out of WIP a couple of hours later with a ranking of 2633, thanks to some promotion in the Forum and some Angel Blessings.

Highest ranking: 132

Reasons for publishing:
I wanted to share something
It would be quite a quick lens to make

I guess at times people are surprised at my ability to solve Computer related problems. What? A girlie computer geek? Actually, this happened because I was a single parent for some years and got used to doing everything around the house, including decorating, tiling and changing a tyre. So when computers came along I got self sufficient in PC maintenance as well.

I was checking out a lens that was giving tips and advice about PC maintenance, where the Lensmaster was saying that people could get free help to sort out their PC but when you read through the lens you have to click through to his website to get it. When I clicked through I realised that to get the free help you had to click on again to a site where the free software was offered. This was software I was already using and it just irritated me that he was using it purely as a hook to get people to clickthrough to his site.

It was only when I landed on another lens by the same Lensmaster, where I thought he was being Spammy and again trying to get people to click through without offering much on the lens, that I thought: "Right!". So I published this lens. I just give people the info and the link through to the download. No catch, just straightforward help.

However, this lens has taught me that clickthroughs are more important than traffic. It receives far less traffic than Squid Etiquette but gets far more clickthroughs and is, therefore, ranked higher.

Highest ranking: 1030

Reason for publishing:
As The Queen is Prince Charles' mother, there is an obvious connection - but I failed to spot it at first! Doh!

I was kicking myself again. Publishing lenses that can be linked are one way to increase traffic. But silly moi was being rather dozy around October/November time.

The Queen would be in the spotlight - she was the mother of the oldest Heir to a Throne in the world and he was due to have a landmark birthday. How could I be so dopey! Not only is it her son's birthday in November, but it is also Remembrance Day, when the eyes of the world are on her.

The lens did OK and it is one that can be easily updated because despite her advancing years our Queen is a very active monarch. Any big news story about The Queen triggers off increased traffic and it is a lens that I should make significant updates to more regularly.

And of course, "Queen Elizabeth" may be one of the most searched for phrases on the net, when nature inevitably takes its course . . . .

Highest ranking: 2317

Reasons for publishing:
I've been there
We love wildlife and nature
I had seen some photos which got me thinking about making the lens

St Tiggywinkle's is the largest wildlife hospital in the world and only approx 45 minutes drive from where I live. I have taken injured birds over there on a couple of occasions and in keeping with wanting to publish lenses about the environment, this fitted in nicely.

Les Stocker (who founded St Tigg's) has some lovely posters made from his photos on AllPosters.com, so I decided to build the lens around them. It is the first lens I made where the content was built around the illustrations that I knew would be freely available.

Highest ranking: 829

Reasons for publishing:
I got some work thanks to Squidoo!

It's all on the lens!

Highest ranking: 489

Reasons for publishing:
It would be topical in a few weeks time
I wanted to include some very personal anecdotes
I wanted to use some beautiful photos taken by my daughter Ana-Belle (her Flickr name)

I was thinking ahead again. I realised Valentines' Day was only six weeks away. So I needed to publish a lens soon or not bother as in my experience it was taking my lenses approximately three weeks to be found by Google. Once again I wanted to do something a bit different and introduced buying ethical and Fair Trade gifts.

Highest ranking: 658

Reasons for publishing:
This lens was a personal challenge I set myself

Dieting is a huge topic on the Internet AND on Squidoo. It is also a topic that is used to promote a huge number of affiliate products. I decided to set myself a challenge by publishing this lens. I wanted to prove that it was possible to publish a quality lens on the topic of weight loss that was brought into being to share a personal story and NOT one that was purely to make sales by promoting a weight loss product of which the Lensmaster had no personal experience.

I blogged about what I was intending to do with the Lens and Spirituality contacted me and asked if I would mind if she publicly pulled it apart on her Blog on Squidtop. Katinka is an SEO expert who freely shares her knowledge and tips and I readily agreed. I was nervous as I am a complete amateur as far as SEO is concerned but I knew that although the process may be painful, I would learn some great stuff.

Katinka was gentle with me. She was complimentary about some aspects of the lens but critical in others. I learned so much and although it was tough going at first, I put most of her advice into practise and the Lens is doing very well AND it is getting Google traffic.

All the lessons I have learned from Katinka, not only from her blog but also her lenses, which I now put into practice whenever I publish a new lens.

Highest ranking: 28
No of days in Top 100: 55

Reasons for publishing:
I wanted to help promote the campaign

I found out about this campaign through my work with Imperfectly Natural. It was my first TWTTRSTRM lens and topical for the time.

Highest ranking: 2669

Reason for publishing: I was trying to build a list of the best E-Books that have been published about Squidoo.

I think this Lens suffers through lack of promotion but also due to resistance about Squidoo E-Books. A lot of people are of the view that why should we pay for information that is freely available in lenses and so will not make recommendations.

I have added a plexo for linking to free Squidoo e-books, but that has not helped to make the Lens more popular either.

Update: September 2009
The lens is not doing at all well. People are not adding links to the plexos. I do some keyword research to see how I can change things around - I decide on a complete re-vamp of the lens. See next module as for the first time, I change the title of a lens!!!

Highest ranking in the old format:
3173

September 2009:

This lens did OK but ever one to experiment, I decided on a complete revamp.

I did some research. I checked out various keywords and phrases. I checked out "One Week Marjketing".

I added a new TWTTRSTRM modula and a duel module.

I decided to start a debate...

Highest ranking in the new format:
14,663

This Group was formed at the suggestion of my SquidFriend Spirituality as a place to gather together the top Weight Loss and Dieting lenses on Squidoo.

All Lenses and Lensmasters are featured and I must admit I decline far more lenses than I accept.

The criteria for joining are very strict and I do not accept any lenses that have been published for the sole purpose of selling a product that the lensmaster has not personally used.

Highest ranking: 35212
Number of lenses: 24
Number of members: 19

Reasons for publishing:
Made with Mother's Day in mind (in the UK it is always the third Sunday in March and in the US it is in May).

I wanted to publish a lens that would not just get traffic over Mother's Day but all year round as well. Only time will tell if I achieve that objective. However, the URL and the keywords were thoroughly researched and I think the decisions I made as a result are having a very positive effect on traffic.

Highest ranking: 106

Reasons for publishing:
I learned a "work around" and thought I would share

As part of my work as Editor of Imperfectly Natural, I was asked to move a Blog from Wordpress to Blogger. As they are rival platforms, I guessed that Wordpress would not make it easy for me to make the switch and I was right.

Wordpress blogs are not compatible with Blogger and the export facility did not work. However, after some research I found a site that acts as a "halfway house" and converts the Wordpress files into files that can be read by Blogger.

So having found out some valuable info, I decided to make a lens and pass that info on. This lens is the first I published with step by step instructions, accompanied by screen shots and it did not take a huge amount of time to put together.

Highest ranking: 1749

Reasons for publishing:
I have always been interested in Astrology and I started to wonder which Star Sign dominated Squidoo and Twitter.

I published this TWTTRSTRM to satisfy my curiosity and added a Poll to the lens. The lens has done extremely well and consistently gets traffic.

Currently the most predominant group is Air Signs and it is actually my own Star Sign that is in the lead! What is my star sign? Visit my other Lensography to find out!!

Highest ranking: 302
Top TWTTRSTRM 100: Highest ranking 2

Reasons for publishing:
An investment for the future - 2010 to be precise.

The Chronicles of Narnia was one of my favourite series of books when I was a child. The film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is due for release in 2010 and my family and I loved the first two films in the series.

This lens was an opportunity to not only write about what I love, but also the chance to publish a lens that will be topical in the future. The lens features all seven books in the series and the films will be added as they are released.

Highest ranking: 2155

Reasons for publishing:
I love this book!

This lens is one that I feel shows the lighter side of AJ. Many of my lenses are written from the heart. I include very personal stories but I feel that this lens really sums up the "essence of AJ". I am very irreverent but sometimes life can be just a bit too serious.

In this lens I really go further with my sense of humour than I have ever gone before on a lens and not only is it about one of my favourite books, this has to be one of my most favourite lenses.

The lens also broke new barriers for me as I managed to persuade Sparky and Lizzie to do some original cartoons, that have received a lot of complimentary feedback.

Highest ranking: 403

In England we have a joke. You wait for an eternity for a bus to come along. Nothing happens and then three come along at once.

April 01 is April Fools' Day - I should write a lens! On 01 April 2009 I received an email asking me if I would like to apply for the post of SquidAngel. Whaaaat? Well I took all of two seconds to think, well yes, of course I would like to apply.

Then I got an email from Chef Keem asking me if I would like to become an Author on SquidLog. Whaaaat? Well, of course I would like to become an author on the best Squidoo-related website there is!!

Then I got an email asking me if I would like to become a RocketMom. (I had replied to a post on the SquidBlog asking people who were Mums who were writing on Squidoo to let HQ know.) Whaaat? Yes, of course I would like to take part in a new programme on Squidoo that would give me the opportunity to work in a small network and get to know a whole load of Lensmasters who I had not "met" on Squidoo before!

Reason for making the lens:Every SquidAngel needs an "angel" lens!

I am honoured and humble to have been invited to apply to be a Squidoo Angel. I don't know what more I can say. This lens summarises how I feel about the honour but also gives lenscrafting tips on how to publish what, in my honest opinion, makes a "bless-worthy" lens.

Highest ranking: 13
Days in Top 100: 20

Reasons for Publishing: Task 1 of RocketMoms

We had to publish an "About Me" lens for our first RocketMoms task. If I'd had the choice I would NOT have picked this topic! I felt Squidoo had enough lenses "About Me"! There was my Lensography, there was Christmas at AJ's, there was Squidoo Angels and although they were not categorised in "About Me" there were several other lenses that were very personal.

However, I got on with it and I published "10 things I want to do". I really enjoyed it and tried to come up with a list of goals where some would cost lots of money and some would be cheap to achieve.

Highest ranking: 283

Reason for publishing:
Father's Day

My companion lens to I Love You Mum. Published because I wanted a topical lens for Father's Day but also because my Dad is my hero. In the intro I say that this lens is a tribute to my Dad and Dads like him and I mean it!

Highest ranking: 157

Reasons for Publishing:
Task 2 on RocketMoms - make a niche lens

My business background includes teaching Business Planning to the self employed. (Yes, of course I realise that knowing all about the theory does not guarantee that your own business will not fail!) So for months I had been planning a series of lenses aimed at Work at Home Moms/Mums and Dads and this RocketMoms task gave me the impetus to make a start on it.

I started a Time Management Lens and then it dawned on me that the first few modules were actually focussing on Procrastination, as one of the biggest barriers to effective Time Management. It was one of those wonderful moments of realisation that I actually had TWO lenses in the making and for someone needing to make another 16 lenses in order to go for Giant in two months time, that was a great moment!

Highest ranking: 1753

Reasons for Publishing:
RocketMoms Task and second in WAHMS (and Dads) niche

The second lens in my WAHMs niche.

Highest ranking: 2382

Reasons for Publishing:
One of those moments when something happens and you think I should make a lens about that!

Make a lens about a sick goldfish? Various factors came together for the first time. I was continuing to use the advice Katinka gave me earlier in the year. I had also recently bought PotPie Girl's One Week Marketing and apart from the fact that I was not going to recommend an affiliate product on this Lens I did use some of her suggestions. I started getting Google traffic within a few days and the traffic and comments from other lensmasters have been much appreciated too.

The topic was sufficiently narrow to make me think that I had a chance of getting good traffic from outside Squidoo, but I had to think how I could make the topic interesting. I was very pleased with the result and actually wrote an article about it on SquidLog called Thinking outside the box and the tank!

Highest ranking: 189

Reasons for Publishing:
RocketMoms Task 3 was make a recipe lens

I was pleased when the Task was first announced as I already had the photos. Earlier in the year I was cooking a traditional roast beef dinner and I thought: "I'll make a lens"!

So as I cooked I had my digital camera on hand and took the photos for the lens. Then I saw that another Lensmaster (NanLT) had published a lens on the very same topic so I decided to hold back on mine. However, when Bonnie set the recipe lens as a RocketMoms Task, once again I saw an opportunity to make a simple lens with a very narrow niche and the lens is currently climbing in the rankings.

I also received a meesage from RMS on 27 May to say it was being featured on her Cabaret Squidoo blog - an honour indeed!

Highest ranking: 845

Reason for making the lens:
It was a very special birthday for a very special Lensmaster!

One of those lenses that happens very quickly! Squidster sent an email out to the SquidLog Team reminding everyone that it was The Chef's birthday in two days time and asking for help pulling some surprises together. The results were a brilliant Newspaper, specially dedicated to The Chef's 60th Birthday and this lens.

This lens has a slightly different style to anything I had done before.

Highest Ranking: 92
Days in Top 100: 1

Reason for Publishing:
RocketMoms Task 4 was make a travel lens

I don't know why I chose this trip, apart from the fact that I had some spectacular photos. The problem was the trip was taken in 1997, before I had a digital camera. This meant scanning in the photos and doing some editing.

The lens would have been quicker to make if I had featured a more recent trip but at least I learned some new Photoshop skills!

Highest ranking: 452

Reason for publishing:
Optional RocketMoms Task to make a Top 10 lens

I had already made the 10 Things I want to do lens for RocketMoms Task 1 so publishing a different lens on a similar topic was a challenge. I took my time coming up with an idea but when I flicked through my "lens ideas" notebook, I spotted the heading "MASH".

M*A*S*H is one of my all-time favourite TV programmes and coincidentally the day I was prevaricating on what topic to tackle, my hubby flicked on the TV and there was the very final episode of MASH! I also have the most amazing book about every episode that was ever made and there's some great quotes in it and they are also easily found on the net. The problem was how to choose 10? So I cheated . . . .

For this lens I also used a completely different sort of layout and font to anything I had done before.

Highest ranking: 2813

Reasons for Publishing:
RocketMoms optional Task: make a lens with a Charity Donation Module on it.

I had bagged the URL for this lens almost as soon as I knew I was going to join RocketMoms but had not done anything with it. Five weeks into the course I realised that I had not made a note of which Lenses I had published using the RocketMoms template and it was as I was annotating my Lens list that I thought: Why not make a Lensography?

Then I also realised that although the RocketMoms were posting their lenses as they made them in the discussion forum on our Ning, there were so many that I was losing track. As I pulled the Lensography together, I decided to split it up into weekly tasks and add a Plexo for each Task for other RocketMoms to add their lenses as they made them.

My Lensography also gives info about how the RocketMoms Group works as well as who runs it and who designed the excellent template.

Highest ranking: 115

Oh come on! RocketMoms is the equivalent of a "girls night out" and if the boys want their own night out I am not going to complain.

I have always thought that RocketMoms was a testing platform for smaller networking groups on Squidoo. There is a danger that effective networking will become very difficult as the number of Lensmasters increases. The answer to this is to network in smaller focus groups that are formed according to interests and personal circumstances. And if a group wants to get together based on gender, then that is fine by me.

Reason for publishing:
RocketMoms Task 5: make a "holiday" or commemorative lens.

Another Lens that took some thought. I had already published lenses about Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day and Christmas but I wanted to do something that was different. Something British that maybe does not happen anywhere else in the world.

Then I remembered that in June The Queen's Official Birthday is celebrated at the Trooping of the Colour. It is one of the most spectacular of Military Ceremonies and I guessed that there would be good videos on YouTube plus great photos on AllPosters.

The topic gave me the opportunity to publish something very colourful and also topical, that would hopefully get a lot of traffic from Google as the event is searched for.

Highest ranking: 180
Awarded Purple Star: 22 October 2009

My birthday!

And what a lovely surprise. My dear SquidFriends Chef Keem and Squidster devoted a whole article on Squidlog to my Birthday!

There was even a bouqet of red roses and a video!!

Reason for Publishing:
RocketMoms Task 6 to make a Lensography

Blast! I had just published a Lensography as the optional Charity Lens. I already had my main Lensography "Always Juggling", but ever one to rise to the challenge I thought OK, let's go for it.

If I am honest, this lens has been under construction as a Word Document since December 2008, when having published 20 lenses I started making notes about each lens, including the date published and the reasons for publishing. I had also noted each lens' highest ranking and days in the Top 100 for those that made it, as well as which lenses got to Number 1 in Topic.

My original plan was to publish this Lens as Number 50 and also commemorate my first Anniversary on Squidoo (10 July 2009) but needs must, so I brought the publication date forward.

Highest ranking: 260

Reason for Publishing: Trying out the new TWTTRLST Template

I'll be honest here. I am not sure about TWTTRLSTs! However, I will always try something out, even if I am not convinced and in this case it took awhile for me to get my head around the concept. Since I made this lens I have seen some very good TWTTRLSTs so I may try some more eventually.

Why Stephen Fry? Earlier in 2009, he was the third most followed user on Twitter! And hey, I like him!

Highest ranking: 4177

Reason for Publishing: We garden for wildlife and we also care about the environment

This lens was prompted by a magazine article I read a few months before I published the lens. It was one of those moments when I thought: "Ah ha, that would make a great topic for a lens". It was also one of those tear the page out of the mag moments and file it. Well, actually I don't file, I just chcuck it on the top of a pile other magazine and newspaper articles I keep. My hubby has got used to finding missing pages in the paper!

The lens has a lot of photos, some of my own plants. I was really pleased to discover that we already have seven of the recommended plants in the garden!

Highest ranking: 177

Awarded Purple Star: 09 July 2009

Reason for Publishing: I have always been interested in Astrology and I wanted to make a sseries of lenses in a new niche

My Astrology series has been months in the planning. As a result I have rather a large number of lenses in WIP.

The series has taken a lot of research as I wanted to make sure that the lenses would be very different to any that have been published before. I also ended up agonising about whether to go ahead as another Lensmaster has also started publishing on the same topic.

However, following encouragement from other Lensmasters, I decided to go ahead. The series will have at least 25 lenses in it, as I have tried to break the subject down into various topics.

Highest ranking: 2479

Reason for Publishing:Well Taurus comes after Aries.......

It took awhile to decide on a standard layout for these lenses as I had made the decsion that the style and layout would be exactly the same, even to the extent that the pictures used would be from the same series of posters on AllPosters or the same set of graphics for each module.

Boy, am I looking forward to becoming a Giant Squid so I can set up templates! I lost the will to live while I was sorting out the layout for these lenses!

Highest ranking: 6497

Reason for Publishing: Focussing on a specific topic

Once I had started the research for the series, splitting out the "love" aspect of Astrology meant that I could double the number of lenses AND focus on a specific topic within the niche.

Highest ranking: 6101

Reason for Publishing: errrr... the second in the series!

All the time I was working on this lens, I was still not sure what to do for Lens number 50!

Highest ranking: 1791

Reason for Publishing: I wanted to do a Squidoo-related lens

Originally I planned that My Squidoo Story would be my 50th lens. However, while I was working on the first set of tasks for RocketMoms, we were asked to do a Lensography, so I took the decsion to bring this lens forward.

I am glad I did, because I actually think the topic of this lens is better placed to be published at such an important milestone in my Squidoo Life. I enjoyed pulling the lens together and it was a lens that had a lot more in it than I originally planned - that happens to me a lot!

Highest ranking: 59
Days in Top 100: 8

Reason for Publishing: I went to see Hairspray in London as a birthday treat!

I love Musical Theatre and I have produced, directed and performed in Amateur Shows. I loved the film Hairspray and I was absoutely thrilled when my hubby told me he was taking me to see the London Show.

Of course once I knew I was going, I was also planning a lens. But the problem with Lenses about Shows is that once the curtain rises you are not allowed to take photos. In one way that is a good thing because at least it means you can concentrate on the performance rather than what makes a good shot.

There's some great pictures in the Show Programme but of course they are copyright. So I checked out the official website and found the same photos plus more. I e-mailed the website owners and asked if I could use some of their photos and they said YES!

So, this lens is a great example of how it is possible to use official pics - all you have to do is ask!

Highest ranking: 3375

Reason for Publishing: Just one of those flashes you get every once in a while!

Recently I have found it harder to keep track of what is on all my lenses and I realised that if anyone asked me how many Plexos I have and on which lenses, then I would be very hard pushed to answer.

I both love and hate Plexos!

I hate them because they can attract Spam, but I love them because it's a way of giving other lensmasters a hand. They can leave links to their lenses and of course it helps your own traffic too.

It was while I was thinking I needed a way of keeping track of my plexos, that I thought why not make a Plexography. A lens full of all my Plexos. It would also make it easier for Lensmasters looking for Plexos to add their own Lenses to - a one stop Plexo shop!

Highest ranking: 3593

Reason for Publishing: I am a Coach/Mentor on the JJJ's GIant Squid and Giant 100 Challenge Team

Highest ranking: 4097

Reason for Publishing: Sharing our own personal experience of keeping pet rabbits.

We have kept pet rabbits for many years and have learnt a lot. However, it was a sad incident in June that made me realise that we have some knowledge that not every carring rabbit owner is aware of.

However, Squidoo HQ has been encouraging Lensmaster to narrow their niche, so I decided to make a series of lenses, which focussed on one specific aspect of keeping rabbits.

Highest ranking: 8067

Reason for Publishing: One of a series of lenses on keeping pet rabbits, that focusses on a specific aspect of caring for your bunnies.

It's amazing how little some people know about exactly what foods are best (and worst) for a rabbit!

Highest ranking: 6833

Reason for Publishing: One of a series of lenses on keeping pet rabbits, that focusses on a specific aspect of caring for your bunnies.

This series of lenses came about when we went through the trauma of losing a pet rabbit to what I have since discovered is a common problem among rabbits.

Highest ranking: 1784

Reason for Publishing: One of a series of lenses on keeping pet rabbits, that focusses on a specific aspect of caring for your bunnies.

This lens discusses the importance of hutch size AND making sure your bunny gets enough exercise.

Highest ranking: 2913

Reason for Publishing: How to train your puppy is a review of the book my family uses to train puppies.

As a Squidoo Angel I get to see a huge number of lenses published in the Animals and Nature Category. I also see a lot of lenses about dog training, that recommend an e-book to buy. It is patently obvious that a lot of the people recommending the e-books have not actually used it and to be honest I wonder if they actually own a dog.

This lens recommends a very good dog training book, that is available from Amazon. It may be more expensive than the e-books being recommended but it is written by a well respected dog training expert and yes, I know it works!

Highest ranking: 14318

Reason for Publishing: Part of the Internship application process

I enjoyed putting this lens together as it made me stop and think about quite a few things. It also made me realise that much of my professional life over the latter years has been spent teaching and Project Managing.

Much of my personal life involves doing the same things - but it was not until I put this lens together that I made the connection!

I have opted out of the Adlinks - I did not think it looked right, while the application was being considered!

Highest ranking: 168

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Well I took a leap and I applied for the Internship and OMG (that's Oh My Gosh!), I was one of five people to be successful out of 100 applicants.

I am still flying through the air and I do not know where I will land, but boy I have a feeling I am going to enjoy it!

Reason for Publishing: My SquidFriend Squidster, told me that she had recently done an internet search on the term "Always juggling" and that a lot of the results were about me.

Ever curious I went to see for myself. . . .

However, I also noticed some results about the art of juggling. I just thought it would be great if I could dominate the search results with the art of juggling as well as pages I have published about my lenses and blogs.

We shall see!

Highest ranking: 3562

Reason for Publishing: OK, so Halloween is a-coming!

What to do to be different?

I like to think that most of my "holiday" lenses are a bit different.....so what to do to make my Halloween lens a bit different?

I knew I needed to "narrow the niche" and I did. I did a lot of keyword research, not just on Halloween but different aspects of Halloween!

I am VERY proud of this lens!!

Highest ranking: 170
Purple Star awarded: 05 October 2009

Reason for Publishing: For some time I have been aware that I am developing a green theme to a lot of my lenses. I had a look to see how many environmentally friendly lenses I actually had and was surprised to find it was enough to publish an eco-friendly lensography.

This was also inspired in part by my new Crabby's Beach Blog: AJ is Going Green on Squidoo.

Highest ranking: 5360

Reason for publishing:
I LOVE Musical Theatre and I love The Phantom of the Opera, which I saw in London's West End many years ago.

I had heard a few snippets of news that Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber was planning a sequel and when the announcement was made in October 2009 that the new show, Love Never Dies, would be premiered in London in March 2010, then I knew I just HAD to make a lens about it!

The lens includes info about The Phantom of the Opera and will be updated as more info is released about the new show.

Highest ranking: 7930

Reason for Publishing: Terry Wogan is a British Institution! It was announced in September 2009 that he would be leaving his early morning BBC Radio Show in December. This despite having a listening audience of up to 7 million!

I made this lens because I like Terry Wogan and November is the time of year when thoughts in the UK turn towards fund raising for a weel known Children's Charity - Children in Need.

This lens is the first in a series about what happens in the UK every November and usially ends up with millions and millions of pounds raised for charity by celebrities and the general public. Terry Wogan always presents the televsion programme that is broadcast on the third Friday in November.

Highest ranking: 14,704

Reason for Publishing: All you need is love is about the record that has been released to raise money for BBC Children in Need 2009.

Originally released by The Beatles, this reworked version by Bandaged Together was released on 09 November 2009.

The lens is part of a series of lenses and the second to be published. The first was Terry Wogan.

Highest ranking: 16,938

Reason for Publishing: Love is all you need is a Lensography.

I was labelling all my lenses to try and keep track of them, when I realised Ihad eight lenses about love.

So I thought it was time I made a Love Lensography!

The lens pic is an original photo taken by one of my daughters.

Highest ranking: 44,244

Not a huge amount, but each month the payout increases and if I can publish more lenses, then I will start to see better returns.

However what I can say is that my Squidoo earnings to date will go a long way to paying for Christmas 2009!

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I have learned to be realistic about my expectations. When I first read an article about Squidoo, I thought that there would be the potential to replace the earnings I lost when I became ill. However, I quickly realised that to make money on Squidoo, it does not happen overnight and that you have to invest time to accumulate dividends. I have certainly invested a lot of time and as a result I have learned so much.

I knew nothing about blogging and social networking to increase traffic

I knew nothing about HTML or CSS code

I knew nothing about affiliate marketing

However, thanks to so many "how to" lenses and visiting the SquidU forum, I have learned so much. I still have a lot to learn but I have had a tremendous time.

If you make a mistake on a Lens the fantastic thing is that you can amend it and improve it whenever you want. I look on every lens as a work in progress, that you can return to whenever you like.

If you make a mistake on the SquidU Forum, it is less easy to put right. I have made two:

1) When I first published Squid Etiquette, I started leaving a link to the lens as I said hello to new Lensmasters. I thought it was a Lens that would help them and yes, I wanted to promote it. I had also seen other Lensmasters do the same. Two Lensmasters (The Fluffanutta and Janet21) let me know, ever so politely, that they thought this was practically spamming and that the best place to leave the link was in my signature. I am really grateful to them for pointing that out to me.

I am also grateful for the fact that you can go back and edit your posts in the Forum, which is what I did and I deleted the references to the link I had left in the body of the messages.

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2) My second mistake was when I was a bit too specific about comments I made about traffic exchanges, and it was bordering on "finger pointing". I apologised and am very careful not to post messages if I am riled about something. I made a module about it in Squid Etiquette!

Lensmasters who ask for help, visits to their lenses or critiques, when they do not rate or favourite any lenses themselves

People who post on the Forum who have not read the guidelines or the stickies at the top of each thread

Lensmasters who find every excuse possible to post a link to the same lens in several threads on the forum

As above and when they don't get a response, they bump the topic

Lensmasters who Spam Guestbooks and Plexos

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"Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success."
Henry Ford

It got me some work!

I have made contact with some great people from all over the world

I have learned so much about how to write on the internet

Squidoo is the best community on the internet

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If Seth opens a UK office, I will be first in line for a job

I want to become a Giant Squid (Wooot! Achieved July 2009)

I would like to meet some of my Lensmaster friends face to face

I would like to get a lens into the Top 10

I would love to attend a Squidoo convention

Have been awarded Lens of the Day - three times

Have had three lenses in the Top 100 at the same time

Have had four lenses ranking Number 1 in their topic

Have had three lenses in the Top 5 of their topic so they appeared on the Home Page at the same time

Be a Squidoo Angel - appointed April 2009

Be reappointed as a SquidAngel October 2009

Have been awarded a Purple Star AND make Giant Squid on the same day!

Have been awarded FOUR more purple stars

Have been awarded a Squidoo Internship

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"It is hard to fail,
but it is worse never to have tried to succeed"
Theodore Roosevelt

Squidoo saved my sanity at a time when I could have sunk into deep depression. What is it they say? When one door closes, another one opens? Every cloud has a silver lining?

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While I was having tests I was told by my Doctor that I had to take it easy. What? Two children living at home, two older children living away from home, but also having problems of their own. A failed business. A house to run . . . . Birthdays and Christmas to make "magically" happen!

In the end I had no choice but to take it easy and so I could indulge in my love of writing without having to feel guilty. I gave myself until the end of 2008 to see if Squidoo would work for me.

Squidoo HAS worked for me, but not in the way I originally envisaged. I continue to work out how to make money on Squidoo and we are still in debt. I am still not well, I have very bad days and sometimes I wonder if I will ever fully recover. But the future certainly looks a lot brighter now than it did a year ago.

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