by 3 people |
So You Want to Be a Giant Squid?
I want to be a Giant Squid too!
The problem is, that pesky "50 good lenses" entry fee is a hard one to reach. It's one thing to create a lens that is passable, but 50 lenses that all get traffic and rankings and other yummy things? It's impossible, right?
... well, maybe not. Any squidoo lens you write will have an optimal acceptable length based on your readers and such, and so you may find yourself splitting lenses up, or writing more specialized lenses on a topic...
Well, these are spinoff lenses. And there's an easy way to generate them, too.
Which Lens Style is Best?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byStep 1: Pick a Parent Lens!
The idea is simple: We have a topic that will gain a fair amount of attention no matter what it is, and we can make more lenses on the topic as is needed.
This can be a lens you already have or one you make right after reading this lens -- so long as you have SOMETHING in mind for the lenses you make afterwards!
A Long or a Short Lens?
Make it whatever length it needs to be!
You can make a short lens longer by breaking it up with highlighting modules like this one, and make a long lens shorter by splitting it into two or more smaller lenses!
Example Parent Lens: Furry Conventions!
As an example, I've included my lens on "Furry Conventions" below.It's a niche topic for sure -- it not only requires that you have an interest in travel, but also in the furry fandom itself -- but you'll see where I'm going with this quick.
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How to Get the Most Out of Furry Conventions!
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They're unlike any other sort of convention, because unlike Comic or Anime conventions where everyone's chasing after only a few stars, at a Furry convention, you can be a minor celebrity all unto yourself! Be careful, though... this also means you...
How Many Lenses Do You Have?
Step 2: Identify possible Spinoffs!
Why? Because Squidoo provides a Featured Lenses module that allows you to feature five lenses and their intro images at a time! If you can sort your lenses into groups of five or more, you have a great way to show them all off at once!
(Also, being able to show off "related lenses" within each respective group like that provides you a great "instant module" to add to your lenses!)
Do I Want Seasonal Lenses?
Seasonal lenses provide a great way to make lots of lenses quickly, but they also imply they won't see much action most of the year.
When they do, however, they'll bring in lots of great traffic to your site!
Also, it means you'll have lots of time to make them look perfect before the big rush of people arrives!
Possible Spinoffs for our Example
If there's a question, it's an answer!
- Elements of Furry Fandom:
What is a fursuit (and how do people get one)?
What is pawpetry (furry puppetry)?
How does someone go about getting a fursona, or commissions for a fursona?
How would someone make a squidoo lens all about their fursona, or other characters?
What are the elements of successful conbadges?
What are some great furry webcomics I can read? - Specialized Guides to Specific Conventions:
A guide for Anthrocon!
A guide for Furry Weekend Atlanta!
A guide for Further Confusion!
A guide for Mephit Fur Meet, Eurofurence... a lens for every con worth mentioning can add up quick! - Special Details for Furry Conventions:
How should one travel when bringing a fursuit?
What supplies are important to having a Dealer's Den / Artist's Alley booth?
How can I find / make a reference sheet for commissions before the con?
Which is better, an online reference sheet or a physical one? - Non-Furry Convention Considerations:
What things are important to ANYONE traveling to a convention? Travel? Lodging? Funds? This is actually getting BROADER than your original lens, but it's still useful!
Example Spinoff Lenses!
You can see where this gets exciting...
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Your Convention Guide to Furry Fiesta!
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Texas's newest furry convention is coming your way, and it's being held February 19-21, 2010! We can't wait to see you there and help make it a success, but first, we've got to do what we must (because we can!) to get you down there and having a gre...
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The Best Furry Comics Ever!
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They're webcomics featuring cartoon animals, animal-like characters, anthropomorphics... whatever you call 'em, we got 'em! If you're a fan of the furry fandom, you can't go wrong reading these! It's just the tip of the iceberg, but we've got summar...
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How to Create Your Own Fursona for the Furry Fandom!
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Welcome to the Furry Fandom! You've already done the hard part -- you've decided that you enjoy cartoon characters as much as the rest of us. Maybe you're even willing to draw, write, or whatever creative fun you do best with rest of us...
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MANGA vs. FURRY: Who Has the Better Cartoons?
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Come on, Anime is nice and all -- it certainly might be helping the fortunes of both animation and comic books as we know it -- but for all intents and purposes, we're still importing a culture that most of us couldn't even hope to be a part of. Eve...
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Your Furry Convention Guide to AnthroCon 2010!
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Welcome to Anthrocon! We're glad you're thinking about coming here and seeing all the furries you know and love on the internet in one great place! Anthrocon is the largest of the furry conventions, and there's plenty here for all ages!...
Step 3: Build Your Lens Over!
... except when combining two lenses together actually makes them both stronger!
Take this review for the Nintendo DS game My Weight Loss Coach that I'm working on. You can hardly call it a bad lens -- it has tons of content, it gives you lots of details about the game, it has links and referrals to other gaming lenses -- but it's not attracting many visitors, despite being loaded to the gills with plenty of weight-loss search terms.
It's not that spinoff lenses still aren't a good idea, it's that the lens in question isn't attracting as much to begin with as we'd hoped for so the spinoff lenses don't add any benefit to the lens, and vice versa.
So I attacked the problem from another angle, and made this Monkeybrain lens on whether games like "My Weight Loss Coach" work to begin with!
By adding the controversial side of health games, both lenses benefit from each other's traffic -- and it didn't even take much effort to get more or less in-depth, since they're both stating the same stuff but with different audiences in mind. The Review lens is good if you're already considering the game, but the Debate Lens will introduce you to the idea that a game CAN help you, before showing you a game that DOES!
You look smarter for helping to convince the skeptics, AND more knowledgeable for having additional information for others!
"Remember,
you need 50 lenses
to become a giant squid!"
Want more Squidoo Lenses?
(Well, it'd hardly be a good article on Spinoff Lenses if I didn't demonstrate how this lens has a spinoff of its own...)-
MORE SQUIDOO LENSES?! Why would I make those?
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Humans are obsessed with perfection. Squidoo doesn't work that way - rather than rewarding really, REALLY good lenses, it rewards people who have lots of lenses. This may sound unfair, but really, it works to your advantage. You don't have to have...
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PAY TO PLAY on Squidoo? No Way!
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You don't need it! All the "Squidoo Secrets" and other programs offering you the "keys to making money online" are all just offering the same thing -- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)! Now, sure, do they have "secrets"? Yeah, but they're the same o...
Who Made This?
Lensmaster JigsawForte has been a member since March 9 2008, has rated 23 lenses, favorited 35, and has created 76 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "The Ultimate "Bejeweled Blitz" Tips and Tricks!". See all my lenses
My Bio
Georgia Tech Alum in Computer Science, and Creator of the Webcomic Last Res0rt. Updates every week!
Check out these great lenses...
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- Last Res0rt: The Deadliest Webcomic Ever
Jigsaw Forte signed up for our deadly reality show knowing full well she'd be up against convicted criminals, mind-controlling Celeste, and even a couple of dangerous "Dead Inside". What she didn't know was that she was one of them! Somehow, she's t... view lens -
- Your Convention Guide to Dragon*Con
A science fiction, fantasy, cyberpunk, steampunk, punk, gaming, anime... heck, it's an anything and everything convention! If you think nerds and geeks will get together over it, they will, and it's here! From fairy wings to Star Trek, Corsets to Ki... view lens -
- The Coolest Tokidoki Ever!
You'd think something this hot and trendy could only come from Japan. Well, it's not! Tokidoki is the brainchild of Italian artist Simone Legno, whose awesome anime-inspired artwork can be found in anything and everything from toys to purses and othe... view lens -
- Stand out from the Crowd with Jigsaw's Conbadges!
Sure, you get a "convention badge" at every convention you go to. But these are usually small, you only get to customize your name, and worse -- Except for a few conventions that have different badges for different member types, they all look the sam... view lens -
- Your Hacker Convention Guide to PhreakNIC
Wi-Fi Racing. Geocaches. Rooting around in other people's boxes for fun and profit -- with their permission! Oh, and scaring the other half of the hotel when you rickroll their myspace page. They deserve it for trying to piggyback on YOUR wireless, y... view lens
by JigsawForte
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