Giant Squid Mentor Kiwisoutback

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 21 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #809 in Squidoo Tips, #147,182 overall

Potential Squidoo Giants, Step Right Up!

The Giant Squid Program is a prestigous honor and a completely attainable goal. With 50 lenses published under your belt, you'll be much better at crafting amazing lenses, selling products, promoting your website, and raising money for charity. Many Squidoo lensmasters have made 50 or more lenses in 60 days, 50 days or less. Do you already have a bunch of great lenses? Great! Then you're already on your way.

Here are a few of the things that all Giant Squids have in common that you should strive for:

*Include a lens introduction picture, especially an interesting one!
*Change default module titles to something that suits the lens. This is very important!
*Not all lensmasters have one, but a bio page or lensography is good to have, and kind of like your own site map and biography in one.
*And there's more tips down below!

If you're on your way to becoming a Giant Squid, I'm here to help. Just contact me and I can review your lenses (include a link to a few of the ones you think need work) and I'll take a look!

Ten Easy Fixes for your Lenses that will Help you on your Giant Squid Quest 

And help you forever on Squidoo!

Making Giant Squid is a great accomplishment. 50 amazing, interesting, thought provoking, well-illustrated, and useful lenses will get you noticed, but there are some small things that might deter you from making the cut. What are these tiny things that you should take care of on all of your lenses? We'll list some them out here...

Need your lenses reviewed or stuck on something?

I would be happy to help out any potential Giant Squid by reviewing your lenses. Contact me along with links to a few of the lenses you'd like help with and I'll tell you what I think!

1. Upload a Bio Picture on your Lenses or Bio Page! 

Also, be sure to fill in a description!

Uploading a picture is easy, and a very important step in having your lenses get noticed. Using the default Squid picture is a bad idea. You want to build a following here on Squidoo and create an online presence, so your bio picture will be your symbol...and be something they'd like to associate with interesting lenses, websites, blogs, etc.

2. Balance your Text and Pictures to Make it Interesting! 

Add some visual interest to your lenses!

Online readers aren't exactly the same type of reader that walks into a bookstore. They want visual stimulation. Think of a Squidoo lens like a magazine or newspaper. It needs pictures to add to the excitement and to get the point across better. The front page picture of a newspaper is like the introduction picture...it entices you to either keep on reading, or go somewhere else.



Squidoo



You'll also want to disperse images throughout your lens to break up big blocks of text. This is one of the biggest mistakes newbie Squidoo lensmasters make. Break up those big blocks of text into additional text modules and add pictures. Or, you can add your own picture that you host on a site elsewhere, like Flickr.



squidoo modules



Squidoo has many unique, visually appealing modules for you to keep the reader's attention. Try the Polaroid module, YouTube module, Video module, Sticky notes, Black boxes, and even product modules like Amazon, eBay or CafePress. This module is a Flickr module. You can let Flickr pick each image based on tags you enter, or you can choose your own photos. Choosing your own guarantees you'll have the same photos on the lens every time, and puts you in more control. To find pictures on Flickr suitable for use here on Squidoo, click the "advanced search" on Flickr and check off "Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content ...Find content to use commercially" at the bottom. Then, pick from these results and add them to your Flickr module!

squidoo orange guy at pavilion by jimmiehomeschoolmom

squidoo orange guy with bamboo by jimmiehomeschoolmom

squidoo_sticker by teamstickergiant

Quebec City Winter Carnaval with Bonhomme by A Well Dressed Bullet

in China eating tang hu lu by jimmiehomeschoolmom

Northern Ontario moose checks out Orange Squid Guy by A Well Dressed Bullet

curated content from Flickr

3. Put Interesting, Unique Products on your Lenses! 

Pick your own products and you'll get better results and make more money!

Pick your own eBay, CafePress and Amazon items to give your readers a better experience. Using the automated results has its uses, but you may find that the lens looks better and you'll get more click throughs with products that you hand pick instead of letting the module do the work for you.



unique products



For the eBay module, try searching through the eBay stores section and entering in the item number of the product. For CafePress, search for items that relate to what your lens is about, and for Amazon, books are always a big seller. It's easy to find books on the same topic as your lens, and there are plenty of different ways to feature the products (Amazon Plexo, Amazon Spotlight, Search...).

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eBay

Meet the Giant Squid Greeters! 

Faces that will greet you and welcome you with open arms to Squidoo!

featured lens Meet The Giant Squid Greeters

Very simply, Giant Squid Greeters are here to help! A Giant Squid Greeter is a cheerleader and a go between for The Giant Squids on Squidoo. The Greeters will also be on the look out for talented lensmasters who'd like to join the ranks of Giant Squ...

featured lens Mission: Possible - Becoming a Giant Squid in 2009

Attention Giant Squid Greeters, Giant Squid Community Organizers, and Citizen Squid Mentors... Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to welcome new lensmasters to the Squidoo community, answer questions and offer assistance to struggling...

featured lens Giant Squid Greeter Pretty Bullet Tells All!

Hello, I'm Kathy, aka "Pretty Bullet" and loved being a Giant Squid Greeter for almost two terms. What does a Greeter do exactly you ask? Greeters are a volunteer welcoming committee, who also search for and mentor lensmasters with potential. We get...

featured lens Giant Squid Greeter KAB

Welcome to Squidoo, we're glad to have you. As a Giant Squid Greeter, I am here to help you along the way. If you should have any questions, feel free to ask. Don't be shy. I have gathered some useful information that may be of assistance to you, but...

4. Do Less Self Promotion, Create More Interesting Lenses 

Offer your opinions and cut out the spam!

Occasionally you might come across a lens where the lensmaster has decided to put a link or banner every two sentences to their own website, or for an affiliate product. This isn't very effective, exciting, or useful, and is largely considered to be spamming. The efforts of the lensmasters will either go unnoticed and the lens will sink to the bottom of Squidoo, or the lens might even get banned. It's okay to promote your own business or cause, but do in a way that is interesting for readers. What would you consider interesting?

Interesting can be visual, it can be something that hasn't been done before, it can be easy to read bulleted tips, it can be a huge resource of information. But chances are, if it isn't interesting, it will be ignored. So make it interesting, and sprinkle your self promotion through your lenses, don't overwhelm us. We'll see the link.

Break up big blocks of text

with cool modules like this black box or the Sticky Note module. It looks good, it sticks out, and it seperates the content nicely.

Read All About the Giant Squids! 

So...you wanna be a Giant Squid?

The Go-to lens for potential Giants!
featured lens THE GIANT SQUIDS (and how you can become one)

No, it's not a rock group (but it might as well be). It's the core group of movers and shakers at Squidoo. It's a gathering of influentials, the most dedicated lensmakers on Squidoo. Here's how this whole thing started. One day at Sq...

These Lensmasters Have Lots of Great Lenses! 

Take a look at their lenses and get inspired!

5. Skip the Automated Content 

Create your own original content for the best results!

On Squidoo, it's easy to build a lens quick using template lenses like Hey Monkeybrain!, SquidWho, and Best Ever, but to be a Giant Squid, you really need to add something special to these lenses to make them great and worthy of being Giant Squid level. This doesn't mean that every lens needs to have 50 modules, it just needs to be interesting, and added more modules besides the default picks will add more interest and content.

A good module to avoid overuse of is the Wikipedia module. While Wikipedia is a great source of information, these tidbits of info are already on the web. Giving your own unique personal take will make it more interesting to the reader, and will help with search engine optimization. Duplicate content pulled from the Wikipedia might hurt you if you overuse it, so consider using it sparingly.

Laziness (also called indolence) is a disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to do so. It is often used as a pejorative. Chronic laziness may be an underlying psychological condition.

Feelings of laziness may be a symptom o...

read the rest of the Wikipedia article

Tip: Link your Lenses Together!

Don't forget, Squidoo is a great place to get links to your own lenses, too! Join groups, add your link to plexos of other lenses that you visit (if its meant for the Plexo), and feature your lenses on your own lenses w/the featured lenses module, text links, and lensrolling!

6. Check to See if its Original...if it isn't, Make it Stand Out! 

If your lens topic has been done before, you might have a hard time finding an audience.

There are hundreds if not thousands of lenses for Clickbank products here on Squidoo for the exact same ebooks. For instance, the convert your car to run on water is a good example. The automotives category is overrun with these lenses on the exact same topic. Before you decide to write a lens, check and see if the topic has been written about using Squidoo's search box. If it has been written about again and again, maybe you might want to try something else. If it's been done, but not very well, give it a try. If it's never been done, perfect! You've found a good lens topic.

If you've already published a lens and just found out that there's another out there on the same exact topic, add more content to yours to make it better, more unique and great! You can always improve upon things.

And this is a huge lightlulb to represent a good idea >>>
and it's probably been before, so that's a bad example...woops!

Take Some Inspiration from Successful Lensmasters... 

7. Participate in the Forums to Tweak your Lenses and Make them Better! 

Don't be shy about your lenses, come be social all around Squidoo!

Squidoo is a very social community. Squidoo thrives off of lensmasters visiting the forums, commenting on guestbooks, taking part in duels, voting on link plexos, taking polls, favoriting lenses, lensrolling and rating lenses. Visiting the forums (that's SquidU) is a great place to learn more about making lenses, to see what the community is up to, and get some critique for your lenses. The "critique me" forum is one of the most valuable places to head to that often times is ignored. There's plenty of lensmasters willing to take a look at your lens and tell you what looks great and what can be improved upon. Before you go there, maybe you might want to read this lens on SquidU forum help.

Some Giant Squids do just fine with no interaction at all with the Squidoo community, but it never hurts to get out there and mingle with other lensmasters! But these lensmasters aren't usually all about self promotion, they've still made great lenses worthy of Giant Squid status (and that's what is most important!).

More Lenses About Giant Squids! 

featured lens Confessions of a Giant Squid

I am so very excited to become a Giant Squid. It is truly an honor and a privilege to be part of such a great group of people. I have worked hard to get here, but I could not have gotten here without lots of mentoring, encouragement, and help from o...

featured lens I AM a Member of The Giant Squid 100 Club

Yes, you too can be a Giant Squid on Squidoo. When the call went out to us lensmasters here on Squidoo, the challenge was to create 100 interesting and topical lenses in order to earn the honor of being a Giant Squid. I do believe a few lensmasters,...

featured lens How I Became A Giant Squid in 40 Days

I joined Squidoo on May 10, 2008 and got my Giant Squid Badge in the June 30th round. How did I do it? Am I completely nuts? Did I take a break to eat during that time? Let me tell you all about it....

There's a whole forum dedicated to supporting potential Giant Squids!

Come on over and visit to get some support and to post your progress in the quest to become Giant Squid! You're not alone, there are many lensmasters heading for the goal every quarter. Stop by SquidU to see what's happening!

8. Your Lens Could Use a Little HTML 

Those four letters are terrifying to someone who doesn't know how to use HTML. Luckily, there are many lensmasters that have written incredible, easy to follow tutorials to make your lens look more interesting using HTML here on Squidoo like these:

featured lens Squidoo CSS - my favorite code to spice up a lens

I've gathered my favorite Squidoo-code for later reference. I'm tired of trying to find that specific lens I used a css effect on and then having to go to edit-mode, copy paste, and then go back to the lens I was working on. This lens will he...

featured lens Basic HTML for Squidoo

Before you start reading all this, you may want to open Advanced HTML in a new tab, because you'll be wanting to check it out as soon as you've finished this! You can use basic HTML in a few of the lens modules. Mostly used to create hyperlinks (the...

featured lens HTML for Photos: A Tutorial for the Semi-Clueless

How often do you look at a really great Squidoo lens and wonder how they changed colors or backgrounds or add photos somewhere other than the upper right-hand corner of the module? They use HTML. I'm not a genius at this sort of thing, so every time...

featured lens Create Stunning CSS Backgrounds with Images

Have you heard of CSS Backgrounds? Do you have a Squidoo lens or two? How about a website? A MySpace profile? Are you bored by all those plain old white backgrounds? Here I'm going to show you how to spice up your lenses and pages and create bea...

featured lens My Favourite CSS Tricks on Squidoo

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...

Linking Outside Helps with Traffic!

Squidoo lensmasters often find links in Squidoo web directories, as well as sites like Lensroll.com. Forum participation and blogs can also sometimes be great traffic generators.Commenting on blogs can also bring you some traffic, and don't forget about Twitter! Twitter also drives traffic nicely to your lenses. This lens goes over why Twitter is a great way to drive traffic.

9. No Guestbook! 

Guestbooks are a big part of the Squidoo community...

The Guestbook isn't absolutely necessary for lenses on Squidoo, but if you're starting out and on your way to Giant Squid, it's a great form of feedback to see who is visiting your lenses, what they think, and receive some feedback. It also generates extra content for your lens, which is always a plus with search engines. To lessen spam, approve all comments one by one by selecting "ask me first" for pending guestbook blurbs. You can also choose to strip the HTML out of your guestbook entries to discourage or reduce the impact of spamming.

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More Lenses About Giant Squids... 

featured lens The Giant Squid Community Showcase

The Giant Squid Community Showcase blog features the best lenses made by Squidoo's Giant Squids along with tips, lens ideas and useful information for the entire Squidoo community of lensmasters. This lens is the home of the Choose Your Favorite Gia...

featured lens How I Became a Giant Squid

If you want to become a Giant Squid, you're in the right place - I'm here to spill all the beans. And the secret is...there are no secret tricks or techniques, and your lenses don't have to be about cutting edge, controversial topics, either. You can...

featured lens 2008 Giant Squid Awards Ceremony

And now the moment you've been waiting for! The Giant Squid Organizers are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2008 Giant Squid Awards. Every single lens that was nominated is outstanding so I'm sure that this was a really tough choice for every...

featured lens What We Are Looking for When We Choose New Giant Lensmasters

The Giant Squid Lensmasters are my superheroes because of all the hard work they put into their lenses. You see, having 50 Squidoo lenses made is NOT the only requirement for becoming a Giant Squid Lensmaster. We've raised the bar and we're only ac...

10. You Have No Links to your Squidoo Lenses, So No One Can Find You! 

Squidoo is a very large community, but it's just one community on the web. If you don't have traffic flowing to your Squidoo lenses outside of Squidoo, your lenses may not be very successful. But where can you get these backlinks?
featured lens Where to get Backlinks to your Site

Well, no one...except search engines! If you want to people to read your page on the web, you need to have plenty of incoming links pointing right at your site. Search engines value the quantity, quality, and relevance of these links. The trouble wit...

featured lens DoFollow: Increase Your Backlinks with DoFollow Sites

The DoFollow revolution embraces the sharing of link juice going out to other sites. Learn more about DoFollow, where you can get listed on DoFollow sites, and what it means to you as a webmaster and link builder!

featured lens Submit URL: Squidoo Lens Promotion

On this page, you'll find some links to places you can submit your Squidoo lenses to so that you can get more web traffic to your lens. Google is usually the main source of traffic to my lenses, but to rank well in Google takes other websites linkin...

featured lens Relevant Backlinks Boost Website Traffic

The biggest problem facing webmasters is getting more traffic to their websites. The best way to get free traffic is to optimize your website so that it ranks well in the search engines. This lens discusses why getting backlinks from other sites with...

A little more about my giant squid mentoring

Giant Squid mentoring doesn't cost money, but there are a few criteria you must meet:
* You can't already be a Giant Squid
* It would be best if you had a few lenses under your belt already so I can best critique you/offer advice.

Are you on your Path to Becoming A Giant Squid? 

Or are you already a Giant Squid? Tell everyone about how cool it is to be a Giant!

sign our guestbook so we know you were here!



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The Top Ten Lenses by Kiwisoutback Right Now... 

At least according to lensrank...

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by kiwisoutback

Hi, we're Kiwisoutback! We're into writing on Squidoo here on topics like road trips, eBay, endangered species, and other random topics that are stuck... (more)

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