Ten Tips for a Bless-Worthy Squidoo Lens

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 130 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #186 in Squidoo Tips, #27,376 overall

Confessions of a Squid Angel

Being a Squid Angel is a responsibility I take very seriously. I'm currently serving my third term as a Squid Angel, and am thrilled to have an opportunity to recognize and reward Squidoo lenses worthy of a boost. It's exciting to meet new lensmasters at Squidoo, and to discover outstanding lenses by our existing lensmasters and Giant Squids. How can your favorite lens receive a blessing? The Squid Angels are constantly scanning the Top 100 lenses in Squidoo's main categories (that's more than 3,000 lenses right there!) They also check in regularly at the Angels Forum for blessing requests. Many randomly search topics to see if there are any lenses worthy of a blessing. Suffice it to say, the Squid Angels are very busy, often working quietly and furiously behind the scenes. My goal here is to help you make your lens bless-worthy. I've listed many of the qualities I look for, with help from some of my favorite lenses, highlighted below. Each received an Angel Blessing from me, though many of the respective lensmasters may not have realized it. That's part of the fun, since Squid Angels can strike anonymously if they choose to do so.

Will your lens be next? Try these tips and see!

ONE: Get Rid of the Default Stuff 

It's All About Personalizing Your Lens

Okay, so the orange guy's a dead giveaway... Anyone using the default avatar is either new to Squidoo or extremely shy. If I see this on a lens, I tend to move on. Your biography doesn't have to be carved in stone. I've changed mine lots of times and have gradually revealed more about myself as I've grown comfortable with the Squidoo community. Start by sharing a few facts about yourself, and be sure to add a photo or graphic to distinguish yourself from the rest of the squids. I've also been running across lenses with the default orange introduction graphic or default module titles. Both scream 'work in progress' to me. Remember, module titles are your friends! They function as tags and help your lens get discovered. Savvy lensmasters pack their module titles and subtitles with powerful keywords to attract visitors to their lenses.

TWO: Add Some Gorgeous Pictures & Graphics 

It's All About the Eye Candy

I once managed a Squidoo travel group and it always puzzled me when people submitted lenses about beautiful places accompanied by one or two postage-stamp-sized photos. Squidoo makes it so easy to add photos and they even host them for you! Check out these dazzlers:

THREE: Check Spelling & Grammar 

It's All About the Details

I've edited lots of articles and publications over the years, so proper grammar and spelling are important to me. But I must confess, I had a glaring typo in one of my lens introductions that went undetected for 5 months! I know you're anxious to post your latest lens in the Angels Forum, but make sure it's up to snuff. Unless someone specifically asks for my advice, I'm not going to point out spelling or grammatical errors while reviewing a lens. But don't worry... I'll never ding a lens because of bad grammar or misspellings. Also, if English is not your primary language, it helps us when you mention it in your bio.

FOUR: Interact with Your Visitors 

It's All About Social Networking

Add poll, duel, and plexo modules to encourage participation in your topic. These lensmasters know how to get their visitors talking:

FIVE: Don't Begin with a Sales Pitch 

It's All About Proper Netiquette

It's okay to sell things on Squidoo... in fact, it's highly encouraged. I love to visit commercial lenses, if they're done properly. But when I see a lens introduction bogged down with hyperlinks to other non-Squidoo sites, my interest declines rapidly. Save those for later, and place them sporadically and tastefully throughout your lens. The same goes for requests for star ratings, favoriting, lensrolling, etc. Put these toward the bottom of your lens, preferably near your guestbook. Speaking of which...

SIX: Make Sure Your Lens has a Guestbook 

It's All About Accessibility

These lensmasters not only have busy guestbooks, they encourage interaction with their visitors. By the way, I will still bless a lens without a guestbook if 'Contact Me' is enabled.

SEVEN: Spice Up Your Lens with New Modules 

It's All About the Widgets

You've published your lens and are ready to go... or are you? In my opinion, there's always room for more. And that's where the new Squidoo widgets come in. My favorites include the Polaroid, Black Box (with its exciting new rainbow variations), The Most Important Thing, and StickyNote modules, but there are many more to choose from and new ones being added all the time. If you haven't experimented with the new Table of Contents module, you're really missing out. (Hint: I'm using one on this lens.) How do you find the widgets? While in edit mode, click on the 'Add Modules' button and search for them under the 'Widgets' and 'Search A-Z' tabs. The best way to see the new widgets in action is to simply visit other lenses. That's where I get most of my ideas.

EIGHT: Feature Other Relevant Lenses 

It's All About the Community

When I hear someone wax on about link leakage, I have to figure they don't need a boost from me. These lenses go the extra mile to feature the work of other worthy lensmasters (and their lens ranks aren't suffering, either!)

NINE: Lensroll with Related Lenses 

It's All About Spreading the Link Love

Every so often I get a guestbook comment along the lines of "Gee, I liked your lens and I'm lensrolling it to my lens on xyz." Do I check out their lens? Naturally. Do I reciprocate and lensroll to their lens? You bet! These lensmasters really get the spirit of social networking. It's even more fun when someone spots their lens on one of my lensrolls and expresses appreciation. When I'm in bless-mode and scanning lenses all over Squidoo, nothing pleases me more than a guestbook comment saying "I just lensrolled your lens to mine." You don't have to use html. A mention of your lens title is all that's needed.

TEN: Make the World a Better Place 

It's All About Giving Back

Lastly, I have a soft spot for lenses that support our troops, animals, the environment, or people in need. Still... I'm looking for the cream of the crop. Here are some great examples:

My Squid Angel Diaries 

Squid Angel Bless-a-Thons 

A Big Thank You to Some of My Squidoo Fans

Squid Angel Tribute 

Meet the past and present Squid Angels. Video and music by retired Squid Angel, Achim Thiemermann (Chef Keem). He's busy with a new business venture, and we hope to welcome him back as an Angel when his schedule settles down a bit.
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  • Reply
    thesuccess thesuccess Nov 18, 2009 @ 10:19 am
    How should I thank a Squid Angel for a blessing?, and how can I promote the fact that I've had a blessing, I think some people add an icon?
  • Reply
    ImportEyedeas ImportEyedeas Nov 16, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
    thanks for the heads up! people(Angels) like you are what makes Squidoo so Great... bc you take so much time out just to help others succeed. its nice to be part of a real community.
  • Reply
    blujeanmomma blujeanmomma Nov 7, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
    Kim, thanks for all the tips and my recent angel blessing.
    I don't know how you do it. You have tons of lenses and still find time to help others. I guess you really are an angel :)
  • Reply
    spunkyduckling spunkyduckling Nov 6, 2009 @ 8:07 pm
    Don't have anymore lens yet for blessings. LOL
    Hey these tips are great. Thanks for sharing. Learned something new. P.S That orange guy to the top of the lens still look better than the other orange pair on a newbie bio. :) I agree with you about the photos. Although I knew that a picture could mean a thousand words..I thought on the internet content meant more. But people really do love pics and I couldn't appreciate the full value until joined squidoo, its community and the easy tools.
    You are so generous with everything you do..what a nice quality..I'll be taking the feature other lenses into consideration. Got one already on the mind...
  • Reply
    stargazer00 stargazer00 Oct 31, 2009 @ 9:50 pm
    Great advice for all of us! Blessed and featured on Angels Unaware!
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About the Author 

Lensmaster KimGiancaterino has been a member since October 30 2006, has rated 8,025 lenses, favorited 3,945, and has created 288 lenses from scratch. Kim Giancaterino donates their royalties to Asante Africa Foundation. This member's top-ranked page is "Diary of a Squid Angel (2009)". See all my lenses

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