Top 9 Squidbits From The Giant Squid Conference Call With Seth Godin
Who else but Squidoo founder Seth Godin can offer insider knowledge and specific tips on how to be successful on Squidoo.
On Tuesday, April 28, 2009, Squidoo's Giant Squids were invited to an exclusive conference call and live chat session with Squidoo founder, Seth Godin moderated by Giant Squid Organizer and volunteer community representative Bonnie, aka BDKZ.
In lieu of a written transcript or rebroadcast of the half hour conference call, I took notes as best I could so Seth's answers are somewhat paraphrased. Hope it's helpful to those Giant Squids who were unable to attend and for all lensmasters who could benefit from much of what Seth had to say.
Feel free to leave comments in the guestbook about any other relevant points that I may have missed or that struck you as especially meaningful.
On Tuesday, April 28, 2009, Squidoo's Giant Squids were invited to an exclusive conference call and live chat session with Squidoo founder, Seth Godin moderated by Giant Squid Organizer and volunteer community representative Bonnie, aka BDKZ.
In lieu of a written transcript or rebroadcast of the half hour conference call, I took notes as best I could so Seth's answers are somewhat paraphrased. Hope it's helpful to those Giant Squids who were unable to attend and for all lensmasters who could benefit from much of what Seth had to say.
Feel free to leave comments in the guestbook about any other relevant points that I may have missed or that struck you as especially meaningful.
Here's my favorite link:
Giant Squid Conference Call With Seth Godin
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
#1 - A Question About "UUU"
Two Ways To Get Around This Problem
QUESTION:Seth, you and Megan have posted before about UUU -- adding unique, updated, useful content to our lenses. I have a question about the "updated" part. Lenses are different from blogs, right?
They're not meant to be updated every day, or to be a continuing constant reveal story. So why the emphasis on updating? It can be a chore for lensmasters who make lots of evergreen and useful lenses but don't have time to update them all or even content to update them with.
ANSWER FROM SETH GODIN:
1. Pick Topics Where You Don't Have To Be Up-To-Date Every Moment
Lenses about topics such as Sarah Palin will require constant updates. Squidoo wasn't developed with the expectation lensmasters update their lenses everyday. Unless you want to, avoid building lenses that demand to be updated.
2. Let The Lens Update Itself
Use modules like the guestbook, twitter, polls, duel and links plexos where by default other people update the lens. Bonnie mentioned as a Giant Squid with so many lenses to update, she does a quick review of all lenses about once a month, taking about 3 minutes a lens to proofread and check links.
Image Credit: foxypar4, flickr.com
#2 - Customer Service
Why Haven't You Hired More People To Do Customer Service?
QUESTION:
Squidoo has more people using it than ever, since you believe so much in remarkable service why haven't you made it item #1 on your agenda to provide live customer service to everyone? We are getting kind of tired of the small team excuse, sorry but true.
Squidoo has more people using it than ever, since you believe so much in remarkable service why haven't you made it item #1 on your agenda to provide live customer service to everyone? We are getting kind of tired of the small team excuse, sorry but true.
ANSWER FROM SETH GODIN:
Here's an explanation. I believe for a business to compete on service, it must be remarkable. Squidoo is a co-op. If we spent money for the level of customer service required to be exceptional, it would be expensive and there would be less money available to share with lensmasters and charities. We've chosen to focus spending Squidoo's time and resources on the platform.
#3 - Write About Your Passions
What Kind of Lenses Should I Write?
QUESTION:If you could have every lensmaster make one lens today what kind of lens would it be?
ANSWER FROM SETH GODIN:
Write about what you're passionate about. You'll find it's easier to write and update. For example, I wrote a lens about "Which Presentation Remote Should You Buy?".
Squidoo provides a way to establish expertise in something you care about. It's our job to provide the tools to help you write about the stuff that you're proud of. We trust you to figure out what's important enough to write about.
Image Credit: Nganguyen, flickr.com
#4 - Is Squidoo Under the Radar?
Is This Intentional?
QUESTION:With Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. making waves, Squidoo could just as easily submit a press release advising people they could make money from their social networking. Have you intentionally avoided promoting Squidoo in that way so that growth is manageable, servers aren't blown and that people are joining Squidoo for the right reasons and more than just a quick buck?
ANSWER FROM SETH GODIN:
As far as servers, Gil as in "Gil to the Rescue", Squidoo's chief engineer, recently attended a technology conference and fellow engineers were blown away by the server farm Gil has created for Squidoo. We have efficient servers at Squidoo so we're not worried about load.
Yes, we are worried about people in search of making a quick buck who want to deceive people. We are however, delighted when people make money on Squidoo. In coming months you will see greater integration with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as we continue to work with other sites that already have a critical mass.
Image Source: Terinea Social Networks, flickr.com
#5 - Critical Mass?
Why Is There Such a Strong and Relentless Push For More Lenses?
QUESTION:More than ever before, it seems as if Squidoo is almost desperate for new lenses by Giants and lots of them. Why? Is this to keep attention off all of the junky lenses on the site or has Squidoo's growth rate slowed down to a point where it is becoming a problem? Or, is there another reason?
ANSWER FROM SETH GODIN:
Relentless is not our goal. One consistent, single indicator on whether a lens is great is whether the lensmaster is a giant. It is our goal at Squidoo to give you tools that accelerate and empower you to achieve what you want to achieve when your heart and passion are in the right place. Certainly the long tail effect helps. Don't want to focus on being the grammar and content police but are working hard to clean up Squidoo. We want to find people with the best passion and talent and encourage you to do more.
Many of the best lenses are built by people who have a lot of lenses.There's an art to building a Squidoo page, and once you learn it, you can scale it.
"Looking to add another zero. Initially 210,000 visits, then 2.1 million & now 21 million/month."
#6 - Squidoo's Future
QUESTION:
What do you think is the biggest change (positive or negative) that will impact Squidoo in the next 5 years?
ANSWER FROM SETH GODIN:
Working hard to give core people like the Giants, more tools. With tremendous growth, in the past year Squidoo has added two people on staff to build features and tools.
What do you think is the biggest change (positive or negative) that will impact Squidoo in the next 5 years?
ANSWER FROM SETH GODIN:
Working hard to give core people like the Giants, more tools. With tremendous growth, in the past year Squidoo has added two people on staff to build features and tools.
#7 - Full Time Income From Squidoo
QUESTION:
Do you see a day when people could make a full-time income from creating lenses?
Do you see a day when people could make a full-time income from creating lenses?
ANSWER FROM SETH GODIN:
750,000 people make a fulltime living on eBay. There are others earning income on Amazon.com. We want a platform robust enough for people to make a living, to raise money for charity. Or raise a lot of money for themselves.
There are two ways people can earn money -- pages that regularly and productively persuade people to buy something. Or have pages so focused on a topic, people click on ads.
The net is like a giant haystack with needles in it. We're counting on you to find those needles. If we knew the right answer we'd be doing it ourselves.
#8 - The Power Of Recommendation
Is There a Catalyst?
QUESTION:
I understand that Squidoo is about "The Power of Recommendation". However, how is that power ignited? There are lots of squids recommending things, but how do marketers get audiences to react and follow through?
ANSWER:
What very few lensmasters have managed to do is build a tribe of users. People are looking for leadership. Integrate with other tools. Find subscribers. Subscribers are key. For example, what if you were to have a book discussion with 200 people. Those people would then have to get a copy of the book. Build a tribe.
I understand that Squidoo is about "The Power of Recommendation". However, how is that power ignited? There are lots of squids recommending things, but how do marketers get audiences to react and follow through?
ANSWER:
What very few lensmasters have managed to do is build a tribe of users. People are looking for leadership. Integrate with other tools. Find subscribers. Subscribers are key. For example, what if you were to have a book discussion with 200 people. Those people would then have to get a copy of the book. Build a tribe.
"Watching Amazon's bestseller list is bad for the psyche."
#9 - Lensrank
Don't Focus Too Much On It
QUESTION:
What's up with the lensrank not being updated lately?
ANSWER FROM SETH GODIN:
Watching Amazon's best seller list is bad for the psyche. It took my third book to stop looking at the Amazon bestseller list. I found that it did not help me write better books. My attention was on the wrong thing.
To clarify lensrank does not impact Google search rankings nor do we share our data with them. Not to diminish the importance of lensrank as it does affect payout. But lensrank is a cue but not the thing that should ultimately make us happy or unhappy. Continue to focus on building great content which has relevance that you feel passionate about.
What's up with the lensrank not being updated lately?
ANSWER FROM SETH GODIN:
Watching Amazon's best seller list is bad for the psyche. It took my third book to stop looking at the Amazon bestseller list. I found that it did not help me write better books. My attention was on the wrong thing.
To clarify lensrank does not impact Google search rankings nor do we share our data with them. Not to diminish the importance of lensrank as it does affect payout. But lensrank is a cue but not the thing that should ultimately make us happy or unhappy. Continue to focus on building great content which has relevance that you feel passionate about.
P.S. More On Lensrank
From Giant Squid Margaret Schaut
Find out more about "tall poppy syndrome" & the possible downside of high lensrank...-
Squidoo It All: Lensrank- How Important Is It?
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Lensrank is one of the hottest discussions at Squidoo. It is talked about continually, watched on dashboards daily, complained about, twiddled with, and freaked out over. So let's talk turkey about Squidoo's lensrank. I want to tease out the ways a...
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Who Else Would You Like to Hear From On The Squidoo Team?
Or Can Squidoo Hook Giant Squids Up With Outside Speakers Too?
Gil Chief Engineer
I'm a professional software engineer from New Orle more...10 points
Megan Casey Squidoo Editor-in-Chief
One of Squidoo's Founding Members. Before joining more...7 points
Seth Godin
More Seth!5 points
Patrick Dempsey
Why Not? I heard Squidoo can pull some strings.1 point
Caller ID Spoof - Fake Caller ID Spoofing
Caller ID Spoofing made easy. Fake caller IDs with more...1 point
Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook CEO0 points
Whadda Ya Think?
Thirty minutes seemed just enough time with Seth. What do you think? Was there one question that you wish was asked or you really really wanted answered?
Was The Conference Call Everything You Hoped It Would Be?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byLoved It. Thanks Seth!
Dkprincess6 says:
I liked it. I wasn't able to follow the phone call, but just discussing things with the other Giants was awesome!
Posted May 06, 2009
Jimmie says:
Thanks a million for sharing. The time of the meeting was in the middle of the night for me. As interested as I am, I'd rather read your lens than loose sleep.
Posted May 03, 2009
Always Room For Improvement
Thank You For Participating
Thanks to Seth and Megan for arranging and to Bonnie, Patti & Robin for organizing. Moderated conference call with chat format -- did you like it? Any other thoughts?
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- grannysage grannysage Sep 19, 2009 @ 11:06 pm
- I'm not a Giant or even close to it, but I really enjoyed this lens. Thank you for taking the time to share the conference call. I am really intrigued with the concept of building a tribe. I am going to have to ponder that some more. 5*
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- charlino charlino May 10, 2009 @ 9:25 pm
- Thank you for taking the time to take notes and compose this lens. It was not in the cards for my participation in the telephone call, but I was very interested in the Qs & As.
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- LindaJM LindaJM May 7, 2009 @ 10:50 pm
- Thanks for the transcript!
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- JenOfChicago JenOfChicago May 7, 2009 @ 11:30 am
- Thanks for making a lens on this!
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- Greekgeek Greekgeek May 7, 2009 @ 12:52 am
- Thanks for this review!
I was another who couldn't make the call... and was keenly interested in the answers.
Thank you also to Seth for taking time to talk to us!
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- Dkprincess6 Dkprincess6 May 6, 2009 @ 12:42 pm
- Thanks for doing this transcript. I was there, but I wasn't able to listen in on the call. I got all the high points off this page.
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- hlkljgk hlkljgk May 5, 2009 @ 8:47 pm
- great of you to do this!
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- lakeerieartists lakeerieartists May 2, 2009 @ 1:34 pm
- Thanks for this rundown, Adrienne. I was unfortunately not able to be at this conference call. This really gives us the main points.
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- tandemonimom tandemonimom May 2, 2009 @ 11:00 am
- I was signed up but had to miss - had to take my husband's car in to the shop that day! Thanks for the rundown of what I missed.
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- Joan4 Joan4 May 2, 2009 @ 6:17 am
- I am so glad you took such great notes and created this lens for all of us to review! Thank you!
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- aj2008 aj2008 May 2, 2009 @ 5:24 am
- MiMi tweeted! Very interesting and I think it was a great idea to have a confernece call like this. Thank you for taking the time to put this together and share the information. Blessings!
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- GrowWear GrowWear May 2, 2009 @ 5:01 am
- Wonderful and helpful! Going to Tweet you now. :)
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- spirituality spirituality May 2, 2009 @ 4:24 am
- Well done review of the conference call. blessed by a squidangel :)
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