Why not Squidoo?
It took some time for me to warm up to the idea. I'm usually so busy, I don't have time to investigate new sites on the web. I have blogs to maintain, a job to attend to, and a family.
Plus at first Squidoo didn't seem like something I wanted to know about. An orange Squid? Lenses? What's that all about? Pretty scary stuff!
Read on to find out how I overcame apathy and fear to become an avid lensmaster and fan of Squidoo.
2006-2007
A woman named T.Majors kept emailing me about things she was adding to her Squidoo lens, The Truth About US Foster Care. Since she and I are both family rights activists, I appreciated her emails and several times went to look at her lens. Eventually I started clicking on links and looking around Squidoo. When I realized it was a huge Web 2.0 site I of course wanted to take part, and at least make lenses to promote my two largest blogs, Fight CPS and Bigfoot Sightings.
Those two original lenses are:
Fighting Child Protective Services False Allegations,
and Bigfoot Sightings.
After that I built a few more lenses. I started a series about the Newbery Medal Winning Books and wrote my lensography. Then I decided not to work on Squidoo anymore for a while and see what happened with the lenses I'd made.
A few of my first lenses
...from the summer of 2007
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Fighting Child Protective Services False Allegations
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Fight CPS is a family rights website that seeks to assist parents and others who are falsely accused of child abuse and neglect. This lens clarifies family rights issues and explains why I choose to try to help families who have been torn apart by C...
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Bigfoot Sightings
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I've always been intrigued by the idea of Bigfoot, but it wasn't until 2005 that I decided to study the phenomena. I've never seen Bigfoot, but I live in a small town in the middle of a huge forest in Northern California, and lots of people around h...
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Tips For Writing Middle Grade Novels
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If you have any writing skills at all, you are able to write a middle grade novel. It is easy to do and I'll show you how. A middle grade novel is intended to appeal to children ages 8 to 12. If you want to write a middle grade novel, the best way to...
Almost a year went by...
It was nearly a year later, in May 2008, when I got my first money from Squidoo: $55. I decided to give Squidoo another try and after a few days decided on a goal of making 200 lenses. I made a blog to keep track of my progress on that goal: 200 Lenses. I started posting there about my newest lenses, as well as linking to many of the lenses I visited. I have a philosophy that it is best to help others when helping myself, so I decided to spread the link juice around. 200 Lenses
This is the feed for my blog, 200 Lenses. In this blog I keep track of my progress toward my goal.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byCurrently I have 21 lenses.
(My deadline is December 31, 2009)
Goalsetting
Goal Setting: How to Create an Action Plan and Achieve Your Goals (Worksmart)
Amazon Price: $9.60 (as of 12/02/2008) 
May-June 2008
...giving Squidoo its due
When I got back into Squidoo during May and June 2007, I made a lot of progress. Here are some of the lenses I made:-
Swimming Holes
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Hot days, sweat, and that lazy, exhausted feeling. All these can be cured by a dip in a countryside swimming hole. I am lucky to live in a town where there are swimming holes all around. I invite you to visit us here and check out some of the local s...
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Creating and Using Your Writer's Notebook
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Writers need notebooks. That's where they record all the flash inspirations the Muse sends them. Thoughts are fleeting. If you have a good idea for a writing project, you need a place to write it down. The logical place, the place thousands of writ...
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Ten Must-Read Classics of Great Literature
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Because I love to read good books - I want to have the honor of introducing you to ten favorite classic novels that have enchanted and entertained readers for decades. I feel one of the saddest effects of modern society has been to take young people...
The E-Bay Challenge
...this ended on June 17, 2008
I decided to try out the eBay Challenge only a few days before it ended, so I couldn't do the entire ten lenses. It didn't help that I had to work extra hours that week.However, I'm thrilled that I stretched my wings and tried something new.
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Benjamin Franklin Was A Vegetarian
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Benjamin Franklin was a vegetarian. In his own words: "When about 16 Years of Age, I happen'd to meet with a Book, written by one Tryon, recommending a Vegetable Diet. I determined to go into it. My Brother being yet unmarried, did not keep House,...
All My Lenses
Also during June 2008, I set this secondary blog up on Blogger.Com to generate backlinks for my Squidoo lenses.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand bySquidoo Traffic: How to Promote Your Squidoo Lens
I'm excited about this lens. I wanted to create it when I first started with Squidoo because I've done a lot of SEO professionally. I finally published it on June 24, 2008.-
How To Promote Your Squidoo Lens
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Now that you have a lens, you want to let people know about it. Getting people to read your lens is harder than writing it! But there are many ways to promote your lens, make it more popular in search engines, and make it a success. In this lens I'll...
July 2008
...another month, another module.
July 1, 2008 - I'm pleased with my progress toward my goal during May and June. I've got 26 active lenses now. Nine of those were created during the summer of 2007, so that means in just a little over a month I've created 17 lenses. That gives me a goal to reach for during July. I'm going to set my goal at 20 lenses for this month. Right now I have 18 WIP (work in progress) lenses, so I want to complete all of those plus two more.July 7, 2008 - I'm working hard on some new lenses, but they require a lot of research! This is slowing me down, but I'll have better quality lenses because of it.
So far this month these are the lenses I've published for the first time:
Newbery Medal Winners, 1960-1969
Newbery Medal Winners, 1970-1979
Newbery Medal Winners, 1980-1989
Newbery Medal Winners, 2000-2008
As you can see, these are all lenses in my Newbery series; all those lenses are now published! I still have plenty of material to add to these lenses, but it will be little by little, day by day... because of the amount of writing and research that must be done.
July 22, 2008 - Today I noticed I have 526 more days to achieve my "200" goal. I now have 36 lenses. This means I need to make a new lens every 3.2 days to achieve my goal.
August 2008
...a few goals.
I've got goals for August:
1. Ten new quality lenses
2. Develop new monetization strategies for my lenses
3. Finish the fifth revision of my novel (The Scribe of Irohila)
4. Create some cool stuff at Zazzle.Com
5. Continue working on my art
6. Finish reading at least three books
7. Continue improving my already-existing lenses, updating each of them at least once this month
September 2008
...back to business!
I'm writing new articles at Gather, plus linking back to my Squidoo lenses in the comments and in my articles. All those links are GOOD backlinks, meaning they aren't cloaked and don't have the 'nofollow' attribute.
On August 30 I made an opinion poll page about Sarah Palin and later wrote a Gather article about my poll. I received HUNDREDS of hits to my Squidoo lens from that Gather article! It is a great way to get traffic... and it works both ways, really.
By the way, I've earned several hundred dollars worth of gift cards from Gather. Always a lot of fun.
If you haven't joined Gather yet, please use this link:
Here on Squidoo I created four good quality lenses. Now I need to scramble to get seven more done by the end of the month if I want to request the Giant Squid status. Wish me luck!
I now have 43 lenses. I'm excited that I finally got one into the top 100 earlier this month for a few days, and also excited that my 43rd lens, published only 4 days ago, has already had over 1000 hits and LOTS of activity on the Duel module. It is a poll I created re: Sarah Palin.
My Successful Sarah Palin Opinion Poll Lens
Hey, I'm not even a Republican (or a Democrat) but this lens is doing great. I expect that after November 4 the traffic will slow down.-
Sarah Palin - Opinion Polls
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Sarah Palin, at 44, is not only young and beautiful, but many Americans are now hailing her as "The Hope of America". She represents small town values, personal ethics, and individualism. Will she run for president in 2012? Do you think she should?...
A Few of my September Lenses
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Dowsing
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I've learned a type of dowsing that goes beyond just reading bio electric fields that surround each feature of this planet, including human beings. The dowsing I've been training myself to do involves actually changing energies from negative fields t...
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Save Gas - Ride A Bicycle
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A good old fashioned bicycle will get you around town. So why pay a high price for gas? On a bike you can feel the wind in your face, say hello to your neighbors, and enjoy the sunshine. You can also get great exercise and develop the body you've be...
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Reading Novels To Children - Twenty-Five Recommendations
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I'd heard that some parents were reading books to their children - and not just picture books. They were reading long novels - not only children's novels but sometimes novels meant for adults as well. When I started reading to my youngest during his...
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Messenger from the Summer of Love
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This book inspires us to remember that love is the most important thing, and that we can live life in a way that brings joy to our souls and thereby uplift the consciousness of others whose lives we touch. Messenger from the Summer of Love is a fun-...
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Natural and Artificial Sweeteners
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Everyone likes to add a bit of sweetness to their diet, but how much do we really know about the sweeteners we eat? How bad are artificial sweeteners, really? And if they're all that bad for us, what natural sweeteners can replace them? If you liste...
October 2008
...what a month it was...
During September I was promoted to morning shift supervisor at work... but unfortunately the evening shift supervisor (a long-time employee) didn't like that. She went on a defamation campaign against me, turning other employees against me, and only two weeks after my promotion, I was fired!
The boss said, "I know the problem is THEM but I have to do this..." and said he'd hire me back when things changed. But... now that I'm free from that job, I have no intention of going back. (I was a cook.) Since he didn't have the intestinal fortitude to defend me and tell them to get a grip on themselves, I can't see myself working for him again. The job conditions were miserable anyhow.
My honest opinion on why the other supervisor didn't like me is that I was over-qualified for the job with two college degrees. As author of about ten novels (unpublished), my accomplishments were a threat to her as she was/is on a control trip. In other words, I just didn't fit in with the other restaurant employees and, egged on by her, they resented me being there after I was promoted to supervisor.
Why I was there: 1. I needed the income. 2. This is a small town with few job opportunities. 3. I enjoy cooking.
Believe it or not - my boss dropped by my home this morning to return something to me and made a comment about how I have no firewood. (That's how most homes are heated in our backwoods location.) My boyfriend told me I should have said, "I was going to buy some but I got fired!" But of course I didn't think of that at the time.
My firing left me free at the end of September to finish three more lenses and slip in under the finish line for consideration as a Giant Squid. If I get it I'll be the most surprised one here, but I am so proud of myself anyhow for getting my fiftieth lens done just before the last day of the month.
My next goal: fifty more lenses.. and since I'm not working outside my home anymore, maybe I'll get them done before January. Wish me luck!
Good news! I'm now a Giant Squid!
November 2008
...just another month
This is my eighth year of doing NaNoWriMo.
November 12, 2008 - Jewelsofawe asked (in comments here) how I'm doing in November. I'm happy to report that I'm managing to get a lot of updates done, plus I've made two new lenses in the last week or so. One is about my writing and blogs: Linda Jo Martin... and the other is about a topic that I love to think about because I live in a Bigfoot infested forest: Bigfoot Videos... so I'm definitely on track again, making new lenses and improving older ones.
I still don't have any lenses in the top 100. One lens, Bigfoot Sightings, went there very temporarily for a few days last summer due to a Bigfoot hoax that was big in the mainstream media, but since then, nothing. Today I looked at and analyzed the entire top 100 list so maybe I'll make my new lenses more directed toward popularity, and quit making so many lenses that don't work.
November 23, 2008 - In my pursuit of understanding what does and doesn't work, I've made two more lenses this week: Website Content Writing Tips for Squidoo, Your Website or Blog, and My Least Popular Lenses - and Lessons I've Learned From Making Them. The first one tells what does work, and the second one analyzes what doesn't.
Today I wrote a blog post about my analysis of the Top 100 list: Lensrank - What Works and What Doesn't.
If you liked this lens, you might also like...
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Linda Jo Martin
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Linda Jo Martin, author of The Scribe of Irohila, The Seagull Rebellion, The Alyssa Project, and other novels, lives in Northern California in the Klamath National Forest. Also see: Lensography of Linda Martin I confess that photo of me is from a f...
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Linda Martin - My Lensography
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Hi! I'm Linda Jo Martin of Happy Camp, a small town in Northern California. I enjoy cooking, photography, art, reading, writing, and learning about new things. I'm also into gold prospecting, Bigfoot research, and visiting swimming holes with my boyf...
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Literary Arts Lenses by LindaJM
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Since I read and write a lot, many of my lenses are about books and the skills it takes to write them. This lens lists my literary arts lenses. This is a supplement to my regular lensography - created because I know I'll be writing dozens of literar...
Your feedback is WELCOME
I'd love to hear from you ...
marsha32 wrote...
I want to make it to the 50 to apply for giant squid.....just going through the fans on my profile page now and checking things out. Are we friends on gather? I am marsha32
Posted November 22, 2008
littlemisspiggy wrote...
hello. thank you for welcoming me to squidoo. my 3rd day and it's really fun. ^^ i really like this lens. :) you're very inspiring. 5* from me, hehe and i want to become your fan. keep up the awesome work. feel free to come back to my lens.:)
Posted August 04, 2008
