All About Me - JHF SEO
Hey all!
I started as a Squidoodler in January of 2008, having stumbled upon Squidoo purely by accident.
At the time, I didn't think much of it, and actually left my couple lenses to sit for about two months (what was I thinking?!), but before long I came back and I was hooked, building lenses, chatting in the forums and networking like crazy.
Squidoo is one of the best things to happen to the Internet. You can carve out your own little piece of cyberspace, be an authority, meet cool people, have an online writing portfolio and so much more.
As a result, I spend a lot of time here and have created quite a few lenses on a variety of topics that interest me.
This is also my bid for Giant Squid. If you think I'm ready, let me know, if not, I'd love to hear some feedback so I can prepare for the big push. I will warn all Giant Squid Reviewers that my forte is writing, content and relevant pictures with some graphic insight, and not so much format and prettiness. Please judge accordingly.
Come take a look, leave a message and favorite/rate me if you feel like it!
Thanks!
I started as a Squidoodler in January of 2008, having stumbled upon Squidoo purely by accident.
At the time, I didn't think much of it, and actually left my couple lenses to sit for about two months (what was I thinking?!), but before long I came back and I was hooked, building lenses, chatting in the forums and networking like crazy.
Squidoo is one of the best things to happen to the Internet. You can carve out your own little piece of cyberspace, be an authority, meet cool people, have an online writing portfolio and so much more.
As a result, I spend a lot of time here and have created quite a few lenses on a variety of topics that interest me.
This is also my bid for Giant Squid. If you think I'm ready, let me know, if not, I'd love to hear some feedback so I can prepare for the big push. I will warn all Giant Squid Reviewers that my forte is writing, content and relevant pictures with some graphic insight, and not so much format and prettiness. Please judge accordingly.
Come take a look, leave a message and favorite/rate me if you feel like it!
Thanks!
Lensmaster Page
Beyond this point, it's my lengthy lensography including commentary. You've been warned.If you just want to see more of my lenses and links, go right to my Lensmaster Page
New Goal: As of August 1, I have 62 fans (love you guys!). My new goal is to have 100 fans by the end of August. If you dig my lenses, join my fan club.
Thanks!
A Quick Word About Lens Philosophy
Admittedly, some of my lenses are business-oriented, promoting products, services and clients, while others are informative for the sake of information, educating readers and trying to interest people in topics, while other lenses are purely for fun, a chance to vent, be funny (hopefully) and just do something that entertains myself and others.
Some lenses are quite complex, chock full of info and images, while others are slapped together hurriedly and with little craft. The formers are labors of love, trying to provide as much useful content as possible, while the latters are either good ideas I got bored with or concepts I want to expand on, but haven't gotten a round tuit.
Either way, despite Squidoo's amazing capacity and potential for SEO, promotion and ease of use, you have to enjoy what you write. Sure, there are good moneymakers that take advantage of affiliate marketing and the like, but I strive to at least add good commentary, content and knowledge.
Some people can really write, some get brief blazes of insight and then burn out, some struggle to put words on the page, and some are just plain hacks.
I think each lens flirts with all of these types, and on any given day I might be a poet or a hack. If you don't get excited by a particular lens, try another. Variety is the spice of life, and if nothing else, my topics should appeal to everyone through sheer shotgun-inity (yep, perfectly cromulent).
Enjoy!
Some lenses are quite complex, chock full of info and images, while others are slapped together hurriedly and with little craft. The formers are labors of love, trying to provide as much useful content as possible, while the latters are either good ideas I got bored with or concepts I want to expand on, but haven't gotten a round tuit.
Either way, despite Squidoo's amazing capacity and potential for SEO, promotion and ease of use, you have to enjoy what you write. Sure, there are good moneymakers that take advantage of affiliate marketing and the like, but I strive to at least add good commentary, content and knowledge.
Some people can really write, some get brief blazes of insight and then burn out, some struggle to put words on the page, and some are just plain hacks.
I think each lens flirts with all of these types, and on any given day I might be a poet or a hack. If you don't get excited by a particular lens, try another. Variety is the spice of life, and if nothing else, my topics should appeal to everyone through sheer shotgun-inity (yep, perfectly cromulent).
Enjoy!
News and Politics
I always have to know what's going on, news, sports, weather, everything. Since I like shooting my mouth off on various subjects as well, it makes sense to make lenses on these topics as well.
- 2008 U.S. Presidential Election - Electoral Vote Analysis Guide
- I'm still undecided, but I'm fascinated with the entire political election process, and particularly the mechanics of the electoral college. My non-partisan, in depth analysis is here (and the model is shaping up quite nicely, thank you).
- Mike Gravel - 2008 Presidential Candidate
- My analysis and tracking of former 2008 presidential candidate Mike Gravel.
I saw him as a quality senator, had a good record and seems to genuinely care what's going on in the U.S. Naturally, he wasn't a big player so got pushed aside quickly, but he was worth a look. The lens also tracks his quest for the Libertarian nomination (which he failed to receive). - News Around the World
- Admittedly a bit of a cheat, this lens was created with the theme of "put all the news modules in one thread".
Since I worked to describe what was there, I think it's pretty good for what it is, but it's still a "module pile". An early experiment that isn't a total loss. - Independence Day Around The World
- Feeling patriotic, I was going to make a lens about obscure Independence Day (USA) facts, and then got interested in other Independence Day info from around the world, so I started pursuing that. Always adding more info as interested readers bring up nations I don't have listed
Squidoo Specific and SEO
Part of my interests are devoted towards Search Engine Optimization, linkbuilding and the like. Squidoo is very useful for these purposes as a fringe benefit to its easy-to-use format and great community of useful content.
Over time, I focused my skills inward to help Squidoodlers use Squidoo better so I also created lenses that focused on Squidoo in particular, oftentimes having an external SEO subfocus.
Over time, I focused my skills inward to help Squidoodlers use Squidoo better so I also created lenses that focused on Squidoo in particular, oftentimes having an external SEO subfocus.
- Geometric Progression - Submitting Articles
- A lens describing the benefits of article and RSS submission to increase backlinks. The lens discusses how backlinks tend to multiply as other sites pick up submissions. This lens was born after writing an article on the subject of Geometric Progression.
- Article Traffic - Using Content to Improve Website Rank
- The big brother of the above lens, complete with article directories to submit to, a greater discussion of why and how article submission works. A better resource with a different focus.
- Article Troll How-To
- I discovered and then became a part of Article Troll, which is an article link directory. Since it was just getting started, I wrote some content and then began promoting it.
This lens was created to help people use it more effectively. It is now a Squidoo-specific lens directory. - Using SquidKnol - A How-To Guide For Developing SquidKnol Lenses
- Squidoo is always coming out with new features and I caught Squid Knol early, so I put together a brief tutorial. It includes links to other Squid Knol resources.
- Squidoo Show and Tell Modules - How To Guide for Presenting Info and Links
- I wanted to do a HUGE all-inclusive guide to all of the modules on Squidoo, but just wasn't that ambitious, plus there are plenty of other module lenses.
I carved out my own little niche by creating a lens on showing content without just using the bland text/write module (and if you do, how to spice it up).
Plenty of my own commentary as well as links to other lensmasters who do really great work. - My Favorite Squidoo Backlink Sites
- I was updating a SquidU forum thread with sites that were Squidoo friendly and whether they were up or down, and decided it would be easier to create a lens about it.
The lens features my favorites and their submissions status. - Linking Squidoo Lenses
- Shows some strategies for adding links to your lenses to get traffic to more of your lenses that show related content.
- Addthis Social Bookmarking Button
- A walkthrough on how to setup and use the Addthis bookmarking button on your lenses, and which sites it connects to get the word out about your lenses.
Arizona Focused
Being a transplanted Arizonan, I've found a lot here to keep me busy and there's a plethora of things to do, see and discover.
Naturally, a lot of my lenses focus on Arizona, it's environs, characters, events and locales.
Naturally, a lot of my lenses focus on Arizona, it's environs, characters, events and locales.
- Tempe Bars, Breweries, Taverns and Pubs
- My first popular lens, and I've had a heck of a good time making it.
It showcases the great locations in Tempe (as advertised) for enjoying beer, but also looks for places across the Valley and across the state.
A good resource if you're in the ASU/Tempe area, but has plenty of places in Phoenix, Prescott and more as I get around to it. - Arizona Renaissance Festival
- My lens for the Arizona Renaissance Festival, which I was inspired to create after my last trip, in which I hadn't been thinking of taking useful pictures and the like. I plan to plan better for 2009.
The Arizona Renaissance Festival is one of the largest ren faires (if not THE largest) in the country, and now 20 years old. It's a lot of fun, and if you're big on reenactments, periods and goofy fun, then you'll have a ball.
My main focus this year will be to take more pictures and catalog the many wonderful artisans. - Arizona is the Most Dangerous State in Which to Drive
- My first shot at a Hey Monkey Brain! lens, and it's alright. Mostly an opportunity to kvetch about the nutcases that inhabit our streets and highways.
It's usually pretty zany in every state, but hey, it's an argument site. Some decent ranting, but it didn't catch on so not much of an argument. I win? - Arizona Cardinals - Destined For Greatness or Doomed For Eternity
- The Arizona Cardinals NFL Franchise. So much potential and so much fail. A mostly balanced analysis of the Redbirds, but my disappointment and ire at my adopted team shines through. Also an opportunity for me to rant artfully, but I really do wish they'd get better, despite the venom I inject into the lens.
- Arizona State University Map Guide
- More of an exercise than anything else. I can't imagine anyone actually USING this lens, because it would be tedious, but if you did, it gives you more detail about the buildings on the standard main campus map at ASU, grid by grid. It also provides a link to google maps for all of ASU's campus, and some history about the buildings, so it's not a total loss :).
- Orbit - Get a Free Ride in Tempe
- Orbit is the free mini-bus with 5 routes around downtown Tempe, ASU's main campus and the surrounding neighborhoods. It's convenient, efficient, runs constantly and did I mention that it's free?
- Tucson Cakes
- A family run business that makes some beautiful cakes, now using luxurious fondant to make just about anything you want. If you live in the Tucson, AZ look them up for your next celebratory or just plain fun cake.
- Grand Canyon Vacations
- Info on how to get to the Grand Canyon, what to do there, where to stay, how to hike it and some history.
Tutorials, How Tos, Guides and Walkthroughs
Part of my business is writing concise how-tos and walkthroughs and so it was natural that some of that content would spill onto Squidoo.
If you know how to do something well, spread the word.
If you know how to do something well, spread the word.
- Win the Lottery and Enjoy the Money
- Ok, no one can show you how to win the lottery, but there are some tips. More importantly, it has my tongue-in-cheek guide to how to save and invest your winnings in the unlikely event that you win.
The advice is sound, even though I play it for laughs the whole way through.
Complete with links to stories, advice, Powerball and Gambler's Anon. - Tribal Wars Strategy
- I play an online game called Tribal Wars and wanted to develop a guide for my fellow players.
I was experimenting with multiple lenses covering separate issues in the game, and so far it is one of my highest traffic lenses.
If you like Civ, you might want to give Tribal Wars a try.
This lens also leads to unit lenses that describe what each unit does, how they work and how to use them, so this lens actually encompases (currently) 5 more. - Dogs of the Dow, Beating the Dow with Stocks
- A basic analysis of Michael B. O'Higgins stock picking system, complete with picks based on his system and caveats.
My dad turned me on to his books, and he's had quite a bit of success with them. Any bad market means the patterns get messed up, but when everything is fine, the reasoning is sound.
If nothing else, his books are chock full of good information about the blue chip companies and what makes them tick. - Public Speaking Tips, Tricks and Training
- An overview of all my public speaking tips from my experience in school and professional speaking. I developed a handbook for students (middle-school through college effectively) and the content on the lens is pretty much from there.
Long-winded and a little rambling, it loses something in the translation and needs more pictures, but the techniques are good and I've gotten good feedback on the content. - Quick Fixes, Old Wives' Tales and Mom's Advice
- A site for all the momisms I've gotten over the years, and still receive to this day. A place to deposit accumulated wisdom regardless of the source on health, getting simple things done and the like. Desperately needs updating, but when you have 50 (100, 200, 400) lenses on Squidoo, that happens a lot.
- How to Buy a New or Used Car - A Guide to Budgeting and Saving for your Next Car
- Although I wanted to provide some tips for when and where to buy a car, the lens is really a guide to saving money so you can buy a car for cash. It's amazing how much you can save if you look to a future purchase and not run out and finance a car because your car just broke down.
A good guide for college students and/or people with foresight. - Zazzle - How to Make, Sell and Market Your Own Products on Squidoo
- A start-up guide for Zazzle, the site that allows you to turn your image content into cool products. Includes the products you can make, how to get started and editing content.
- Constant Content How to guide
- How to get set up on Constant Content, a site that pays for article and photo content and pays you when they sell your content on a per term basis or as a full rights deal. A nice way to make some money from your web content and get published.
- Home Door Security
- Information and products for improving the security of the most broken into portal of your house - The Door. Think your front or back door are safe? Think again.
- Writing a Business Case
- Knowing how to write a business case is critical when trying to get funding, usually from within a company. Learn about each section of the case, and why it's important.
Collections and Collecting
I enjoy collecting things, and over time my tastes have changed, but having cool collections, and knowing how to do it effectively and cheaply is always important.
I try to show off my collections, while giving good tips for collectors to make the lenses valuable to others.
I try to show off my collections, while giving good tips for collectors to make the lenses valuable to others.
- First Edition Books
- My collection of first editions, rare and antique books. I'm not a big collector with a room full of ancient tomes, but I have some good ones, and they are fun and inexpensive to collect.
Some identifying, preserving and finding tips are included. - T206 Cigarette Cards
- Lots of kids (of all ages) collect sports cards, but one of the neatest sets come from the 1909-1911 sets of tiny cards inserted into cigarette packs. Each card features a player picture, and one of many cigarette brand ads on the back (before they started including statistics). Due to the number of players portrayed and the number of brands the cards were included in, there are thousands of cards to collect, making the T206 set the ultimate in baseball collecting.
I showcase all of the cards in the set (by player), as well as all of the cigarette companies, and provide a general price guide plus more resources for the T206 collector. - Silver Coins and Bars
- I collect silver and think it's a pretty neat and inexpensive way to get a hold of a valuable commodity. With everyone screaming about collecting gold because it's value will skyrocket, silver let's you get in the game for a lot less. Silver also comes in historically neat packages, so you have a lot of collecting options.
Animals, Bugs and Critters
Every now and then interesting creatures come to my attention and I start writing. Some lenses I've put together about warm fuzzies and creepy crawlies.
- Hunstman Spider - Heteropoda Maxima
- I learned that a record Huntsman had recently been found and that intrigued me. Then I found out how common these harmless but frightening these guys were, and how well represented in media they were, so I had to give them some more press.
- Desmoxytes purpurosea - The Shocking Pink Dragon Millipede
- This little guy was discovered recently and in the same breath as the Huntsman. The millipede didn't get as much press and was sort of buried, but it's a neat little bugger, and you should know more about it considering how deadly it is (not that you'll ever probably experience one up close). My alma mater weighed in on them so I couldn't resist.
Products and Product Reviews
Information to help you make an educated decision on products and services.
- Inflatable Pool Float Review
- One of my entries for the 30 Day Challenge. It does alright, is entertaining and is the gold standard if you want a piece of inflatable plastic for your pool.
- Portable, Inflatable Hot Tub Review
- This was a natural extension of the pool float lens. Reviews 4 models of portable hot tubs. Small enough to ship on the plane, and big enough to assemble in the galley!
- Glow Party
- Another 30 Day Challenge lens. More fun with a wider array of products, talking more informatively than reviewing the products.
- 2XU Compression Clothing - Performance and Recovery
- Information for 2XU's compression clothing line. They also have run, tri, swim and exercise lines. High quality, affordable performance athletic apparel.
- 2XU Women's Run Apparel
- Information on 2XU's women's run apparel line. Showcases the wide array of fabrics they use.
- Wholesale Distributor - Smokeless Cigarettes
- A site I developed for Shafa Herbal Solutions to promote their smokeless cigarette quit smoking solution and to search for distributors. It's a good product, and lets you "smoke" in places where you normally wouldn't be allowed to.
- How to Quit Smoking - The Ultimate Quit Smoking Program
- A look at Shafa Herbal Solutions products and the success of their founder at conquering the power of smoking addiction.
- Nuun Active Hydration
- Information about Nuun Active Hydration, the tablet you can put in water to give you all of your electrolytes for better performance without the carbs, sugar and artificial ingredients.
- Round Tuit Products
- A companion to my Round Tuit humor page, this features round tuit products made on my Zazzle in particular.
- Dr. Hoy's Pain Relief Gel
- Dr. Hoy's Gel is amazing. Designed to penetrate deep and using natural, healthy botanicals, it beats pain quick. Includes my own testimonial because I love it so much.
- Newman's Own Brand Products
- Besides being a great actor, he was also a great philanthropist, and his Newman's Own brand products continue to contribute money to the charity he created. The products themselves aren't that bad, either.
Humor
Lenses I created just because a topic or concept sounded worth writing about, and basically became an exercise in humor, poking fun or parody.
- Get a Round Tuit
- Can't get anything done? Always telling people you'll get it done when you get around to it? Well, get a round tuit.
- Monty Python Songs - Sketches, Skits and Other Musical Nonsense
- A look at Monty Python's musical talents including MPFC, their movies and other venues.
- Institute of People Who Promote Online Products
- Part joke, part commentary on pointless purchases, a lens about an organization for promoting ridiculous products that you can only get online, and that must have a market somewhere or else people wouldn't buy them.
- Peek-A-Boo! Games for Babies
- Completely tongue in cheek lens about the history (not) and instructions for playing Peek-A-Boo. Was created because my wife's coworker had never heard of the game before (really), so it's a joke site dedicated to her. If YOU'VE never heard of Peek-A-Boo before, go there and learn something, then give the cave you live in a good cleaning. Seriously.
- Are You Ridiculously Charming?
- It started out as a joke with a friend of mine, but then I realized I was on to something. Discourse on being charming, and the products to help you realize your own charmitude (yep, perfectly cromulent).
Movies, Actors and Celebrities
I love going to the movies and collecting DVDs (I'm a sucker for extra features). As a result, it's no surprise that I have to create lenses espousing my fandom and opinions.
- Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Game
- I love crunching numbers and collecting trivia, and nothing is more trivial than figuring out how far an actor is from Kevin Bacon. Seriously. Still, it's fun, and the lens is both Kevin Bacon fan page and game primer. Supposedly Kevin hates the game, but he's embraced it for his charity and for advertising, so it's doing some good. If you're a movie dork, it's fun. You know you like it.
- Clear And Present Danger
- This is one of my favorite movies of all time. From the Tom Clancy novel, the movie itself is great the whole way through. It's my favorite of all the Jack Ryan character movies, and I think it's one of Harrison Ford's best roles and performances. The lens represents my first SquidFlix lens, and I'm not happy with it. One of these days I will flesh it out with a scene by scene and more info, but in the meantime, go rent it. It's great.
- Richard E. Grant
- I really like the work of Richard E. Grant, and I wanted to build a fan page. This was my first SquidWho lens and I was trying it out. Although I want to finish his filmography, I lost interest, got busy with other things and simply didn't get the energy to come back to it. I will some day. He deserves a good fan page (and has them). He's versatile, entertaining and a really warm and funny guy. Read his book, it's a manic stream of consciousness diary of many of the movies he's been in. Illuminating, emotional and erudite.
- Top Grossing Films US
- Listings of historic box office winners and insight on how they got there. I love movies, and watching movies climb the box office charts fascinates me.
- Intelligence Quotient - IQs of the Rich and Famous
- Discussion of IQs and, since celebs seem to be the only ones with listed IQs, a listing of famous people and their listed Intelligence Quotients. Are you smarter than a President of the U.S.
Games and Gaming
I love all kinds of games - from board and card games, to platform, online and MMORPGs, and I often have commentary and advice about all of them.
- Online Games Guide
- Listings of online game sites that I enjoy including long term planning games and quick play flash games.
- World of Warcraft (WOW) Resources
- Yeah, I play WOW too, and I created a lens showing my favorite resources. There is so much going on in the game you have to have other sites to find info and organize your copious amounts of gear.
- Warhammer 40k
- The table top (expensive) miniature game where forces fight forever. Discusses some strategy and tactics, and desperately needs to be updated.
- Blizzard Authenticator - World of Warcraft
- In case you're concerned about your WOW attack getting broken into, you can purchase the Blizzard Authenticator which creates a unique code everytime you login that only you can use, making your account unhackable (so far).
Travel
I love to travel, and I've been to a lot of places (and there are more places I still want to see). A lot of my travel lenses seem to fall under something else, but there are a few here.
- Oberammergau
- Obarammergau is a beautiful small town in Southern Germany that might go unnoticed if not for it's tremendous history. Explore Oberammergau's murels, religious history and beautiful countryside.
- Grand Canyon Vacations
- Being a transplanted Zonie, I've spent a lot of time at the the Grand Canyon and there is a lot to see and do there. Knowing how to get there and get around there is tremendously useful, as going the wrong way can cost you a lot of precious time.
Other Contributions to Squidoo
I am a sporadic contributor to the forums, trying to help squidoodlers with problems, review pages, and provide information to off-site resources.I have several lenses, as you have seen, providing resources for promoting and improving lenses and the culmination of this is my involvement with Article Troll a Squidoo lens link and article content directory. I have been championing its use, and serve as a submission reviewer for your lenses, bios, groups and lensographies.
Feedback on any or all of my lenses and me - JHFSEO
I've had a blast so far on Squidoo and hope to continue writing and interacting with Squids here for a long time.
Drop by and say hi, view my lenses and give me a little love.
Am I ready for Giant Squid?
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- tdove tdove Sep 3, 2008 @ 11:07 pm
- Thanks for joining G Rated Lense Factory!
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