Supercharge Squidoo with 'Google Apps for your Domain' (1 of 11)

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How to Create Professional Multi-Lens Squidoo Projects using 'Google Apps for your Domain'

If you're like me, you probably got hooked on Squidoo after building your first lens.

By the time I'd finished 8 lenses about Las Vegas, I realized I needed a way to keep them all organized.

For me, Google Apps for your Domain was the solution.

Adding Google Applications to Squidoo can create powerful new capabilities. And open up a lot of innovative options for larger multi-lens projects like ebooks, extended tutorials, department stores, shopping malls, more organized collaborations and partnerships with other lensmakers, and virtually anything else you can think of.

Best of all...

*** No Special Technical Skills Required ***

This 11-chapter ebook describes the basic concepts behind building professional-looking multi-lens projects using Squidoo and Google Apps for your Domain.

Demonstration sites: SuperchargeSquidoo.com and FirstTimeInLasVegas.com

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Why Did I Create this Squidbook?

No Sales Pitches Here, Just Information You Can Use.

I created this Supercharge Squidoo ebook for 2 reasons:
as a demonstration project to show what's possible.
as an educational resource.
This ebook recommends only free resources that I feel can help a Squidoo lensmaker build a better presence on Squidoo.

There are no product sales. No ads. No promotions. I donate 100% of the revenue from Squidoo AdSense ads and Squidoo promotions to the Squidoo Charity Fund.

What Is 'Google Apps for Your Domain'?

It's a set of 'simple, powerful communication and collaboration tools' -- called Applications or Apps -- bundled together and hosted by Google.

Domain Name Registration & Management through GoDaddy.com.
Gmail address for email using your domain name.
Chat (Google Talk) for instant messaging.
Page Creator for building webpages on your domain using easy-to-edit templates.
Start Page, which is a personal welcome/sign-in page that you can customize using Google Gadgets.
Calendar for scheduling events and publishing them to a public web page.
Docs & Spreadsheets, so 2 or more people (e.g.: lensmakers) can collaborate on documents and spreadsheets from anywhere in the world.

Google Apps comes in 3 versions

Standard & Education editions: FREE.
Premier edition: $50/user.

...which Google designed for 4 specific types of users:

For most individuals, families, groups and even small businesses, the FREE Standard edition provides plenty of great software to supercharge your lenses.

To learn more about Google Apps, check out this multimedia introduction, which includes:

2-minute video tour.
12-minute slideshow: comprehensive overview.
weekly online webinar, where you can ask the presenter your specific questions.
step-by-step guide to help you sign up, when you're ready.

Why Use Google Apps with Squidoo?

Here's My Situation

I created my first Squidoo lens for first-time visitors to Las Vegas:
Your Virgin Las Vegas Vacation

I had so much fun, I created four more lenses:

Then 3 more lenses:

THE PROBLEM
The URLs (Uniform Resource Locators, aka: web page addresses) were long. And difficult for people to type, spell and remember. Even I had trouble remembering all 8 titles, let alone the exact URLs for all 8 lenses.

On top of this, my personal email address was something completely unrelated to Las Vegas -- just one more odd thing to remember.

Here's How Google Apps Provided the Right Solution for Me

Briefly:

I registered a new domain name that summarized and replaced the 8 individual Squidoo URLs.

I created a branded email address and used that to create a new Squidoo account for my new domain name.

I created a web page and listed all my Squidoo lenses there.

I created a Start Page to coordinate all business relating to my new domain, and set it up as an information hub to collect related RSS feeds, Google Alerts, GMail, etc. that notify me of news and activities around Las Vegas.

I use Docs & Spreadsheets to prepare files that visitors can download, and to collaborate with friends, associates and subject-matter experts who want to contribute to the web site / lenses.

I created a custom search engine that empowers visitors to find specific information across all the lenses via keywords and phrases.

I also have the option to add Google Talk (Chat Instant Messaging) and a public Calendar of Events page in the future.

Follow the links to find out more details about how I set up my First Time in Las Vegas web site using Squidoo Lenses and Google Apps for your Domain.

Meet Some Small Businesses using Google Apps

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How to Get Started

Take It One Small Step at a Time

A couple people told me: "This is too big (or too difficult) for me."

Here's a SquidU post I put together that describes a simple step-by-step way to get started.

Once you get started, you realize this is actually pretty easy.

Then you feel empowered. You get a little bolder. And soon, there's no stopping you!!

Google Apps Demonstration

On-screen demo by Rajen Sheth, project manager for Google Apps.

Includes: tour of all the applications, their benefits, and their potential uses. (17 min 44 sec)

Rajen Sheth Demonstrates Google Apps

Rajen Sheth Demonstrates Google Apps. http://www.google.com/a

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Google Apps Quick Tour

Pressed for time?

Try this 2-minute intro.

NOTE: This is part of Google's Multimedia Introduction mentioned above.

Google Apps Quick Tour

Watch this quick tour of Google Apps Visit http://www.google.com/a to sign up or learn more.

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* * * NEW ADDITION * * * ==> Google Sites

How to Develop Full-Blown Websites with Google Apps' Newest Feature

I've played around with Google Sites. It's very easy to use. But I have not had time to build anything for the public yet.

This video provides a good overview, so you can start to imagine the possibilities available to you.

Here's 4 examples of things you can do with Google Sites:

Not only can you create powerful collaboration environments with your friends, family or business associates. You can also make your pages public, so anyone can view or use them. And put together very sophisticated websites using simple tools like here in Squidoo.

Google Sites Tour

Google Sites, a new offering from Google Apps, makes creating a team site as easy as editing a document. Use Google Sites to centralize all types of information -- from videos to presentations -- and share your site with just a few people, your entire organization, or the world. Learn more at: http://sites.google.com

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More about Developing a Squidoo / Google Apps Project

Things to Consider When Doing a Project Like This

Relevant articles and news stories that can help you make better decisions about your email addresses.

New Features for Google Apps Users: Current -- Quick summary and screen shots from Google about new features in Google Apps.
Defeating Procrastination: Analysis Paralysis: February 10, 2007 -- Tips from Chris Garret for overcoming the mysterious resistance that occurs between planning a project and actually starting to develop it.
Back up your Google Apps data: July 24, 2007 -- Suggestions from LifeHacker.com for backing up different Google applications using different methods.
Web Office Defined - How it's Evolved From 2005 to Present: August 29, 2007 -- Google Apps is part of the growing trend toward the 'Web Office.' ReadWriteWeb does a good job defining 'Web Office,' describing what it is, and projecting where the trend could take us.
Report: Google Apps Worth a Look by Small, Midsize Businesses: August 31, 2007 -- Interview with Guy Creese, author of the report supposedly critical of Google Apps. " 'People are commenting on the report without reading it... The impression is Google Apps isn't applicable to large enterprises.' ...[Creese] insists the report doesn't say that."
Google Reveals 2008 Plans For Google Apps: December 1, 2007 -- Google was "surprisingly revealing about upcoming plans for Google Apps at an event in Ann Arbor earlier this week." (Techcrunch)

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Leave a relevant comment, suggestion or correction. All posts are reviewed prior to posting.

Thanks.

PatinKC

oooohhhh, I can't wait to try this out. I'll be more addicted to Squidoo than ever!

Posted March 04, 2008

wenfri

Wow I think I did a double take of your lens. Took your well deserved and added to my fav's. On 2nd thoughts it so well done I am going to lensroll it. Thank you for coming to my and your comments on my page (I sure hope it fits(wink)
Wendy
http://www.squidoo.com/OBAInfo/

Posted August 13, 2007

Pixelrage

Very interesting...thanks for joining the Web 2.0 group - please submit this to the Squidoo group as well, it would be a great match there, too.

Posted August 08, 2007

A Few Closing Remarks about SuperchargeSquidoo.com

I provide the information on these pages for educational purposes only. Read more.

I want to say Thank you to several Squidoo lensmakers. Their lenses helped me develop my projects. I suggest you check them out.

SuperchargeSquidoo.com and related Squidoo pages are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Google, Google Apps, GMail, Google Page Creator, Google Calendar, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Custom Search are trademarks of Google, Inc. Squidoo is the trademark of Squidoo, LLC.

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R841

I'm a publisher living in Las Vegas. And one of the original beta testers for Squidoo.

I've been playing around with Google Apps for your Domain. And discovered that...

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Why Did I Create this Squidbook?
What Is 'Google Apps for Your Domain'?
Why Use Google Apps with Squidoo?
Here's How Google Apps Provided the Right Solution for Me
Meet Some Small Businesses using Google Apps
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How to Create Professional Multi-Lens Squidoo Projects using 'Google Apps for your Domain'

Why Did I Create this Squidbook?

No Sales Pitches Here, Just Information You Can Use.

What Is 'Google Apps for Your Domain'?