49 Ideas For Awesome Lenses

1. A lens about you. When someone Googles you, what do they find?

2. Make a HeroRoll lens, or an Acknowledgments lens, all about the people who have inspired you. Run a list of all the people you want to thank, with a little note next to each saying why. Link to their blogs or books or work or companies. And be sure to let them know they made your HeroRoll.

3. A lens about the stuff you sell. Do you have a table at the local farmer's market? Do you make your own soy candles and sell them on Etsy? Start a lens about your business. Then make 20 more, about each item you sell, and link 'em all together.

4. A lens about the movie you just saw.

5. Or the book you just read. (Be sure to send the link to the author and say thanks!)

6. Or how about a list of the 20 best golf books ever. Or the worst monster movies of all time.

7. A Flickr overview page. Do you have a load of photos up on Flickr, and wish more people would see your pics? Make a lens about your photography philosophy, what you enjoy shooting, what camera you use, highlight your 5 favorite photos ever, your artistic influences. And, of course, link back to your Flickr photo sets.

8. Go ahead, make that cat lens. Or an ode to your dog. Or pet rat. The pet industry is gigantic, and believe it or not, there are lots of people out there who want to hear stories about raising Scottish Fold cats.

9. What did you hack lately? Did you figure out how to make the BEST coffee ever? Do you know all the secrets about surviving NYC subway life? Did you Jailbreak your iPhone successfully? Make a lens about those mini discoveries and successes.

10. Start a Blurb Lens. This one is for your customers, readers, friends and fans. Call it a What I Like About Megan Casey lens (using your own name, of course ;) and invite the people you work with and play with to post their favorite stories about you, or a testimonial or blurb. That way, next time you're looking for a job, or someone Googles you, you've got a pretty cool page full of endorsements. "References upon Request" is for chimps.

11. Here's one of the most important lenses you could make. And it's this: Make a lens for charity. Make 10, make 100. It could be ABOUT the nonprofit, or it could just be a rant about jellybeans. But if you swap your royalty settings over to a charity, your lens will be donating money to a good cause, month in and month out, for free. Doesn't get any better than that.

12. Stay at home moms, you guys are the some of the most creative people out there. Have a trick for reheating pizza? A pattern for pirate costumes? A list of the best animated kids movies? No surprise, those are some of the most popular types of lenses on the whole site.

13. Geeks & Gamers, alert! Another really highly trafficked kind of lens is the video game review lens. Real, honest reviews. What's in your XBox right now? Which Wii game is the best for playing in groups, vs. solo? Does Guitar Hero really teach people how to play the guitar?

14. This probably could have been idea #1, but here it is: Make a lens for your blog. Introduce your work to new readers, highlight some of your best posts, invite comments. Lay out a few welcome mats, and more people will find you.

15. Jobhunters... would you hire you, without a lens?

16. Start a travelogue lens. Did you just get back from a trip to Florence? Talk about the best hotels, your favorite restaurants and sites and funny stories, stick up your photos (or links to your photo albums elsewhere) and voila! You've got a neat
Travel Diary to share with your friends.

17. Post a rant. Do you hate the smog in L.A.? Got a beef with traffic circles? How about that awful international flight, where the plane ran out of coffee!

18. Better yet, post a rave. What's the best customer service you experienced lately? Did that company totally wow you? Was your Bliss facial the best ever? Rave. Say thanks. Recommend the very best.

19. Did I mention the one about making lenses for charity?

20. Look at the little things you do every day. Seem mundane and ordinary? Not to everyone else! For example, I have a pet parrot, I work (more like play) at an amazing internet company, I just finished reading Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody, I know an awful lot about how make casual games, I've seen every zombie movie known to mankind, and I'm learning how to do woodworking. Maybe not that interesting to some, but other people might like to hear my combination of thoughts, opinions and expertise. (Wow, I better get cranking on lenses... :)

21. Who are you voting for, and why? I bet in a few years it will be fun for you to look back on this one... Kind of like a time capsule.

22. What have you researched lately? Did you learn that Plasma TVs are terrible for video gamers? How about the difference between a 720 and a 1080 HD TV? Post your findings and recommendations. I bet you'll save someone else a lot of time.

23. Affiliate marketers, make a lens. Not just ABOUT making money. But about your passions. Then you can actually make money, instead of just talking about it.

24. Make a Twitter lens. Who are you following on Twitter? Why? Grab their RSS feeds of twits and mash 'em up into a unique-to-you lens. I had a great time following Twittterers during the SXSW conference, and during the primaries. How about you?

25. Teachers, lenses are a godsend for you. Set up a lens for each assignment. It's a great way to organize a bunch of multimedia for your students, quickly.

26. Make a hometown lens. Where do you live? You probably know all the secret hangouts and hotspots. Talk about them.

27. Support your kid's basketball team, or Girl Scout Cookie sales, or your PTA club.

28. Microfiction. This is a cool kind of lens where you post mini short stories, one per lens, and let people share their feedback. If nothing else it's a good exercise for writers to help get over writer's block.

29. Entrepreneurs, inventors, big idea thinkers. Showcase your new project, your idea, your invention, your business. Before someone else does.

30. Number 30 is whatever you want it to be.

31. Make a lens about your wedding. Need a quick way to share some info with guests? Give them directions with our Google maps module. Link to places to stay. Airport info. What to wear. No, black & white does not mean black tie.

32. Dedicate a lens to your mom for Mother's Day. She deserves it.

33. Ebay sellers, you've heard from me on this before. Make a lens for your stores. Better yet, make a bunch of lenses about your items for sale. WHY do you sell weird Elvis memorabilia? HOW did you get into crocheting miniature bears? Come on, there's gotta be a story there. The more authentic your pages are, the more people buy.

34. I'm no fashionista. I don't read Lucky or People. Which means I'd probably love it if someone helped me out with a roundup of the hottest jeans right now. Or good deals on cowboy boots. Shortcuts to hot stuff sells.

35. Calling all authors! You've invested a ton of time and energy into your book. It's getting published to the world. Please, do yourself a favor and make a series of lenses about your ideas, or characters, or theories. Offer free downloads of your favorite chapters. Link to your book for sale on Amazon. This works, guys.

36. Publicists and editors, the same goes for you. Save your authors the time and make a page for every title you're publishing this season. One click away from Amazon is a pretty powerful thing for sales...

37. Facebook Group lenses. Got a Facebook Group? Maybe you have rules for how you want to run the group, what you expect from groupmembers. FB make it pretty hard to know what to read first. So set up your guidelines page on Squidoo, and post it to your Facebook Group so new members know what's up.

38. Where did you go to college? What did you get your degree in? How did you like the neighboring town? Would you go there again? The world needs honest college reviews. When it's time for your kids to apply, they'll appreciate reading real stories about Tufts versus Harvard versus SUNY New Paltz, and will come away better armed to make a decision.

39. Support local businesses! I just found this incredible new organic pizza restaurant in Yonkers. It's invisible on the web, and impossible to find without a map.

40. Start your own Bestseller lists. The top 100 jazz bands of all time. The 50 funniest moments on The Colbert Report. What you think the NYT Bestseller list should REALLY look like next week.

41. Spread the word about a cause that's important to you. Even if you can't tie it into a charity, just talk about it. Do you believe in sustainable farming? Recycling? Think that parents shouldn't spy on their kids email and chat sessions? Talk about it.

42. Or if you're looking for some other points of view, debate it! Make a HeyMonkeyBrain lens and argue your point.

43. Make a birthday wishlist. That way your friends and family don't have to guess.

44. What did you have for breakfast today? I know a blogger whose most popular post, ever, was a detailed description of what he eats for breakfast every day, and how he cooks it. Strange but true.

45. Plan ahead. Maybe you're looking to move to a new state. Maybe you're planning a trip to Australia. Organize your itinerary and to-do list and decisions and priorities on a lens.

46. You know that blog post you wanted to write, but it just doesn't fit in with the theme of your blog? Hey, look, a lens!

47. Write your own Wikipedia entry. Sad but true: Wikipedia doesn't think I'm notable enough. Harrumph. I think I am, and I think you are too. Why not make your own Wikipedia entry... on a lens. And invite your friends to add to it.

48. Of course, there's always lenses about lenses.

49. And a lens about what you're going to make lenses about. Hah!