Can I Really Be an Angel?
How strange to become an Angel. My friends and family will laugh when I tell them as I'm sure they'll agree I'm a very unlikely candidate for Angel status - definitely an Angel in disguise.
As I'm a volunteer, I can't complain that the role isn't for me so I will do my best to live up to the image of Angels. I won't have favorites but will endeavor to assess lenses impartially. You'll know if I give your lens a blessing it is truly blessworthy. Want to know what I think makes a lens worth a blessing? Just read on. You'll see what I think makes a dingworthy lens too.
An Angel's Blessing Gave Me Confidence
It was the encouragement I needed
I joined Squidoo in 2006 but I had many commitments elsewhere online and in the real world so the lenses I made then were mediocre at best. When I retired early at the beginning of 2008, I came back to Squidoo but this time I had more time and took it seriously. I deleted those mediocre lens and started again with a clean slate.
I enjoyed building better lenses but had little confidence in them simply because I'd seen so many really great lenses made by other people. This began to change with my very first Angel's blessing by Kim Giancaterino. I was ecstatic when I received it. After that, I never looked back and became another Squidoo addict. I wanted to make my lenses as good as I could. More of my lenses have received blessings and, each time, I feel gratitude and pleasure that somebody thinks something I've done is good enough.
This is the kind of encouragement I want to pass on to other lensmasters, particularly those who lack the confidence in their work to push it forward for attention. That doesn't mean I won't bless a great lens that is drawn to my attention even if the lensmaster uses a megaphone, or the virtual equivalent, to publicize it.
Blessings or Dings
Which will your lens get?
The best thing about being an Angel is being able to bless a lens. As an Angel, you know you are going to give pleasure and encouragement to the lensmaster and the lens will get a short-term boost in rank as well.
A ding is the opposite. Your lens is bad and it breaks Squidoo's Terms of Service (TOS). Actually, even if it's a great lens in appearance and writing, if it infringes the TOS, it will still get dinged. The people in Squidoo HQ didn't write them because they were bored. They wrote the TOS to keep the junk lenses off Squidoo. The junk hurts all the good lensmasters who work hard on making great lenses that conform to the rules because junk lenses give Squidoo as a whole a bad reputation that rubs off on everybody. Make sure you are part of the solution, not part of the problem.
An Angel Using Dark Powers
Don't get dinged by an Angel.
Check Out Squidoo's Rules for Lenses
Make sure you don't get dinged
Here is information that will help you stay on the straight and narrow when you are making lenses. We want to bless your lenses so read these pages then you won't get any nasty surprises. The worst that could happen is your account will be locked and you won't be allowed to make more lenses.
Not all of these pages deal with things that will get your lenses locked; some cover what you can do to get dinged for a making poor lens or, at least, the kind that nobody will stop and read. The two that deal with this are written, tongue in cheek, as demonstrations of how not to do it.
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SquidSpam: Zero Tolerance
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... that everyone deserves a voice online, and a free service for sharing and spreading recommendations, ideas, products and passions. Not just the gatekeepers. Not just paid editors. Not just A-listers and marketers. Everyone. We also believe...
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The Best Squidoo Lens NOT To Do
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Oh, yippee yay! This is all about me and my Website and what I want you to buy. I am not going to add any of my personality or give you any information on the lens topic, because that would waste my time! In fact, I don't have a topic! After all, all...
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About the limit on "overly promotional lenses"
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As part of our recent Squidoo policy update, we're introducing a new limit to the number of links to the same domain that you can have on a lens. Here's a deeper look at our thinking on this issue and how it affects you. Thanks for reading. **Phot...
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The Worst Lens Ever Made
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In this introduction, I am going to say something moderately intelligent about my topic (squid) so that you will think that this lens is worth reading. Once I've drawn you in, I hope that you will buy some stuff. A squid is a kind of sea creature th...
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SquidDon't!
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It's simple: given our pedigree, our point of view and our dyed-in-the-wool, we-will-never-change-our-mind conviction on this issue, spam is not okay at Squidoo. This page outlines our thinking on the issue. It supplements our terms of service. Don'...
What Makes a Great Lens?
The kind that I will bless?
I believe that you have to capture your visitor's attention the moment they come onto your lens. It must look attractive and inviting so that people want to read it. You have a heartbeat or two before someone will bounce away if anything puts them off.
I won't bless a lens that doesn't have a picture of the lensmaster or an avatar and which still has the default text in the bio section, top right.
I want to see a well planned lens with some kind of logic to the order of modules.
Pictures are usually essential, they relieve a text heavy appearance and make a lens more attractive. There should always be a picture in the Introduction module.
The writing style should be clear and easy to understand. I don't expect to be sent elsewhere, even if it is to your own blog or website, to get the information the title of the lens promises.
Care should be taken with spelling, punctuation and grammar. Correct usage helps make your meaning clear.
Write original content, don't copy and paste large passages of text. If you do copy and paste a small section, make sure you have permission (unless it's so small that it is covered by 'fair use') and that you cite your source with a link. This also applies to all graphics. Using text or pictures without permission is plagiarism.
Show your passion for your subject. Let me see you are interested in it. If appropriate, express your personal opinion or relate a relevant personal experience.
Personal experience and opinions are particularly important if you are writing about a product whether it is a book, DVD, electronic device, computer program, website or anything at all. If you don't write from this perspective, how can I trust you to tell me if it's worthwhile buying?
Get Help to Make Great Lenses
It's available here on Squidoo
There is help of all kinds available on Squidoo to guide you along to make great lenses. Your first port of call should be the Squidoo Answer Deck where information about all aspects of lens building has been gathered together.
I've also listed some other lenses that I'm sure you will find helpful. Two of them I wrote, the other three are ones I've used myself.
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Advanced HTML for Squidoo
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The techniques shown here aren't much more advanced then what's in the Basic HTML tutorial. The code being used isn't any more special. But the results and presentation can appear to be more sophisticated. Hence it being the Advanced HTML tutorial. F...
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Make a Reader Friendly Lens
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When I visit a lens or web page for the first time, I quickly scan down it to see if it covers material I want to read or look at. If it doesn't, or it's hard to tell, then I bounce off to look for somewhere that makes it easy to see it has what I wa...
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Squidoo Lenses - Quickly and Efficiently
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I'm not going to tell you how to build a Squidoo lens in 20 minutes. You might be able to do one that fast but the trick is build a good quality lens as quickly and efficiently as possible. We've all seen lenses on Squidoo and web pages elsewhere th...
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Online Image Generators
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Since starting on Squidoo, my biggest challenge has been to find original images that I can use on my pages. Recently, I came across image generators. My first impression is that they're nothing more than an automatic image editor. You choose th...
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My Favourite CSS Tricks on Squidoo
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The basic tools provided by Squidoo will do pretty much everything you need to get your content out to your audience. But sometimes you want to format it a little differently, and this is where inline CSS comes into play. Here I show some of the tric...
If I've Blessed Your Lens, List It Here
Don't hide your blessed lens, list it here, as long as I've blessed it. If it was blessed by another Angel, he or she will probably have their own list to put your link. Every link to your lens helps with SEO.
How To Overcome Driving Test Nerves
Driving test nerves...getting nervous and stressed more...2 points
Wreck This Journal Fun
Recently I was wandering around Flickr looking at more...2 points
Whispers of the Crone
The dictionary defines a hag as a 'an ugly evil-lo more...2 points
Acronyms, Rhymes and Songs To Learn Facts
Do you remember using certain phrases or jingles t more...1 point
An Ex-Hippie Remembers: Long-Haired Hippie Music
'Old hippies don't die, they just lie low until th more...1 point
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis by Max Shulman
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, originally publish more...1 point
Ideas For Your Farmers Market Booth Or Vegetable Stand
Once upon a time, Steve and I lived on a farm. And more...1 point
Turkey Roasters for your Holiday Bird
Have you read the latest news?? The holidays are a more...1 point
Four Days in Paris - The City of Lights
Bonjour! There is nothing quite like a vacation in more...1 point
The Gift of Solitude: Soothing Ideas for Introverts and Solitude Seekers
A place for introverts and lovers of solitude to f more...1 point
Star Registry of Sylvestermouse
If you have been around Squidoo for very long, you more...1 point
Hitting Someone Else's Children
I can't help but ask, 'What in the world is going more...1 point
Beginner Crochet from the House of Sylvestermouse
When you crochet, you can create beautiful home de more...1 point
The Lost Art of Conversation
Margaret Wheatley begins her book "Turning to more...1 point
I Had It On The Tip Of My ....Thingy
Frustrating, annoying, vexatious little devils tho more...1 point
Pictures
Except for the ones from allposters.com, all pictures shown here are in the Public Domain and I found them on Wikipedia Commons.
Leave a Comment or a Request for a Blessing Here
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Reply
- theraggededge theraggededge Dec 8, 2009 @ 9:54 am
- What a lovely and original Angelography! Thank you for blessing my lens today.
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Reply
- grannysage grannysage Dec 6, 2009 @ 12:22 pm
- Thank you for coming back to Whispers of the Crone and blessing it. It is funny, I really don't relate much to angels. I'm more of a fairy person. But I sure like those sprinkles of blessings when they show up!
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Reply
- kimmanleyort kimmanleyort Dec 2, 2009 @ 3:22 pm
- You have always been an angel to me. I would know you anywhere! After reading this lens, I am doubly honored to be blessed by you.
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Reply
- Stazjia Stazjia Dec 2, 2009 @ 3:38 pm
- You are too kind, Kim. Your lens really made me think about conversation and some of those I've had. Some of them have been a real gift and your lens made me realise this in a way I had never done before.
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Reply
- Sylvestermouse Sylvestermouse Nov 28, 2009 @ 9:30 pm
- Disguise? Hardly! I knew you were an angel the first time you spoke to me and you are the real blessing to Squidoo. Thank you for taking the time to help me, instruct me and encourage me.
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Reply
- Stazjia Stazjia Nov 29, 2009 @ 8:55 am
- Aw shucks! Thank you so much, Cynthia, but I recognised your talent on your first lens and just made a few suggestions. It's the kind of help I'd received from other Squids, not only when I first started here but still get and am grateful for. It's what makes Squidoo's community so fabulous.
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Reply
- WordCustard WordCustard Nov 20, 2009 @ 4:19 pm
- All of your lenses are so beautiful and informative - a real example to new lensmasters (and the not so new who just haven't quite figured it out yet). Thank you for your angel blessing to my Solitude lens, which I'm proud to add above.
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Reply
- lakshyaa lakshyaa Nov 17, 2009 @ 11:30 am
- Thank you very much for showering your blessings on my lens about Four Days in Paris. It was a pleasant surprise, and its highly encouraging. Thanks again dear Angel :-)
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Reply
- Wylldeire Wylldeire Nov 16, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
- Thank you so much Stazjia for blessing by wreck this journal lens. I loved reading your lens and learning how you started on Squidoo and what your experience has been since I am new. Hope you are having a wonderful day and thank you again!
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Reply
- Stazjia Stazjia Nov 16, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
- Your lens well deserved a blessing, IMO, and I hope you will go on to make many more great lenses.
- Load More
Stazjia's Potpourri Blog
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Nov 15, 2009 @ 7:58 am rssHelp a Squidoo Lensmaster
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Nov 10, 2009 @ 10:05 am rssNow I'm a Squid Angel
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Nov 2, 2009 @ 6:48 am rssSusanna Duffy - A Respected Squid Angel
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Oct 21, 2009 @ 10:11 am rssSquidoo's Rocket Moms: Session 3 Ends
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Oct 11, 2009 @ 7:20 am rssGiant Challenge for September Closed
Image by Kathy McGraw via Flickr September 30th saw the final deadline to make Squidoo Giant or a Giant 100 Clubber. The Wiwon Team did well and I think many of its members will qualify with ei...
Oct 4, 2009 @ 5:56 am rssMeet a Squid - Sylvestermouse
Sylvestermouse's Avatar on Squidoo No, I'm not suggesting you shake the tentacle of a denizen of the deep blue sea but rather learn about one of the great people who write on Squidoo. The first i...
Sep 19, 2009 @ 8:50 am rssAbout Me
Lensmaster Stazjia has been a member since September 26 2006, has rated 1,381 lenses, favorited 823, and has created 129 lenses from scratch. Carol Fisher donates their royalties to Dolphin Communication Project. This member's top-ranked page is "Classic Funny Poems for Kids". See all my lenses
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by Stazjia
I am English and I've spent the last 11 years writing freelance for UK magazines, a couple of books and online. More on my Lensography.
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