About The Mall on Squidoo

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 19 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #9,980 in How-To, #104,430 overall

Mall on Squidoo Group Basics!

The Mall on Squidoo Group is my group.  You have already gone to the Mall group page and added your lens. 

What is the theme and focus of the Mall?  What am I doing? What would you like me to do?  Have you had a success story too?

This is a good place to discuss those things,  to participate and be sure I know you, and to support and encourage each other. 

The better YOU do, the  better we ALL do! 

The Mall on Squidoo Blog 

Get the swing of things here

Ideas, plans, comments, questions, opportunities, find it here.

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Theme: Metro-Mall 

French Shopping Assistance

The theme of the Mall is 'Metro Chic' with an emphasis on our specializations in a French style.

I am:

1. Promoting and writing about YOU as an EXPERT who personally recommends your products.

2. Featuring YOU and YOUR LENS as a top-notch and desirable place to shop and refer friends.

3. Linking all of my featured lensmasters together like a 'tour guide' so that visitors can have an enjoyable browse and return again and again.

Requirements to be FEATURED in The Mall on Squidoo 

Necessary Minimums

1. Minimum of 5 modules which can include (and hopefully does) a guestbook. No empty modules.

2. Products with prices. Every lens in the Mall on Squidoo will be offering products with pricing and a way to order them. If you don't have that, you will probably end up in a different Mall group.

3. A bio. "Hello world, this is my bio, I can edit it later" is NOT A BIO FOR A BUSINESS PERSON.

4. Contact Me function MUST be enabled.

An INCREDIBLE Success Story 

Have you read about it?????

Gareth Eckley, a member of the Mall on Squidoo group AND the Squidoo Web Companions Group, has achieved a near miracle because of Squidoo, and his own formidable talent and skill.

There isn't any telling what membership in the Mall on Squidoo can do for you, too!

Star Ranking 

A New Interaction

I am figuring out ways to feature EVERYONE who earns 4 or 5 stars from me. Since Squidoo is growing at 20% PER MONTH, we will probably have about 10,000 Mall members by the end of the year!

Help me to help you stand out in that crowd! I have guestbooks here, on the group page, on my own lenses. Mall members have guestbooks.

If ANY lens I look at has a guestbook, even one that isn't in the Mall Groups, I ALWAYS look and see who has commented

I LOOK AT THE GUESTBOOKS! Impress me.

Earn one more star by showing up in the guestbooks!

Focus, Focus, Focus 

Focus your lens!

Good shopping lenses are FOCUSED.

They also offer at LEAST three things:

1. Features

2. Advantages

3. Benefits

Can you bring out the features? Do you know the advantages of what you are showing? Do you know of any benefits?

We may have only one opportunity to convince a guest that we are the right no stress, no pressure, personal shopping assistant for them. The lenses I like best are the ones that do this.

What Do You Want to Know? 

Tell me what you need here!

This is a very bare lens, and so if you have questions or need resources and think they should be here, tell me what you want! I update every so often, and I'll try to take care of you!

How do I improve lensrank?

How important is lensrank and how do I improve min more...4 points

Lensroll Question

How do I lensroll, read about it below and am very more...1 point

Pay issues

When do we get paid?0 points

Squidcast Question

Where do I find Squidcast?0 points

Some Resources for You! 

These can be helpful!

Promotions, advice, technical help and fun stuff.

Star Rankings for the Mall Groups ONLY. For you to be Featured! 

This does NOT apply to non-commerce lenses.

These issues are all considered when I examine your lenses.
  1. BIO: A good and relevant bio for the specific lens. Your main bio may be too general to be useful to your lens topic. A 'hello world, this is my bio. I can edit it later' is NOT a bio for a business person. I can only assume you're here to see if you can make a few bucks and nothing more. Your lens will NOT get featured.
  2. Contact Me enabled. A true business will always be accessible in case a potential client has questions. I am always surprised how often I am contacted by visitors, even if there are only affiliate items on my page. I will take you more seriously if your contact function is enabled.
  3. Intro: The lens actually does have an intro. Picture in the intro. I don't want to feature lenses without a picture loaded into the placeholder. Without a picture, the lens looks ugly featured. I occasionally do anyway, but generally when I have no choice. If your competitor comes along offering exactly the same products or a seriously similar set, and they have a picture, I will feature them first.
  4. Content: original content, not regurgitated or repurchased content. Convince me that you know what you're selling, and why you are interested in selling it. Give me something to come back for.
  5. Products with prices. There must be something to buy, even if it clicks through to your own website or to an affiliate account, the visitor must see products and their price.

I Lensroll. Do YOU? 

Interconnecting Mall Members

I go out of my way to lensroll Mall on Squidoo Members as much as possible, to provide you extra links.

Three Ways to Lensroll

You can ignore the lensroll altogether, and Squidoo will add 5 - 7 lenses with your tags- of THEIR choice. These may be your competitors, so I highly recommend you choose your own lensroll!

You can lensroll only your lenses. This way it is easy to find your other lenses for a visitor.

You can lensroll your other lenses and Mall-on-Squidoo member lenses. This way your other lenses will be easy to find, yes, and if a visitor is clicking OUT of a lens, perhaps they will continue through the Mall group itself. The more mileage we can get from our visitors, the better!

The more of us that lensroll in the third way, the longer our guests will stay in the Mall.

Lensroll ONLY those lenses in the Mall Group that you think are GOOD.

Interesting Lenses in the Mall Group 

When you show up, I see you!

The Amazon Spotlight Module is YOUR FRIEND! 

It creates a beautiful presentation!

Its too bad that we can't have this spotlight module for all of our product offerings, because it sure makes a striking presentation of a product!

I do enjoy seeing the new modules and all the creative ways people are building and upgrading their pages with them.

Do let me know if you've upgraded your pages with these new modules. I may want to use your genius as an example on the blog!

European Shops and Shopping 

Using the Amazon Spotlight Module!

To really focus on your best products through Amazon, and give your page a polished and professional look, this is a terrific new add on from Squidoo.

Through the Windows of Paris: Fifty Unique Shops

Amazon Price: (as of 11/11/2009)Buy Now

A very interesting look at how shops are set up and what shoppers really like, for that special personal touch Europe is famous for!

You may learn some excellent techniques that you can use in your own pages to increase the elegance and customer participation of your own lenses.

SquidCasts are GREAT! 

Increase Traffic AND Links to your page!

On your dashboard you will see the function 'cast'. This will allow you to send a squidcast to everyone who has favorited your lens or has become your fan.

There are lots of ways to use the squidcast, but in general you first want to create a title and description that will be attractive to anyone that hasn't seen your lens.

In the case that you have news, such as when I announce an update to the Mall group, I still want to have an attractive title, and a clear description of the news I'm trying to convey.

You can find the squidcasts you've subscribed to by looking under your 'favorites' tab.

Don't forget that you can increase links to your lensmaster page, with all your lenses, by leaving comments on people's pages. Some lensmasters permit the html you need to leave a link- if you use this do it carefully so that it doesn't appear to be spam! Spamming comment books can get you banned from leaving ANY comments anywhere on Squidoo!

I also suggest leaving comments on the Mall on Squidoo blog, which is increasing in traffic and PR, and I permit links to your pages there. I have also started a Mall on Squidoo group on Facebook to accept your lenses, and an accompanying page which will also do so.

Make the most of these opportunities to create links to your page. You can't believe what a difference it will make for you!

Mall On Squidoo Yahoo Pipes Feed! 

Extra External Links for Your Lenses!

Be sure to subscribe to this feed on your IGoogle page or Yahoo page!

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Commercial Calendar 

Important to Be READY!

Every Squidoo commerce merchant really needs to have a commerce calendar.

This maps out your best, primary seasons, for potential commerce, and gives you enough time to plan, promote, and tweak your offerings.

My suggestion is to have your lenses READY and begin promotion at least 8 weeks prior to the START of the shopping season.

In the case of Christmas, the trend is for Christmas shopping to begin in October!

Once you have gotten that in-hand, then it is useful to look at any gaps you might have in your line-up. Are you hoping to make sales year round? Fill out your offerings to have some representation throughout the year, or a plan to alter your pages for specific traffic during off seasons.

Tell me about the Mall on Squidoo 

What will support your marketing efforts?

I am building this lens, and working on the master plans for the Mall on Squidoo. I have the Mall Blog. What would you like to see done? What do you need? What questions do you have? You can leave your squidoo page or your shopping website link in the comment.

Kitsune64 wrote...

Thank you so much for having a companion lens to the group! It gives me a much better idea of what you're looking for in a lens. Hopefully, mine measure up!

ReplyPosted April 16, 2009

Jfay wrote...

Wonderful Lens and wonderful group. Glad to be able to participate! Candle Artist Jfay xxoo

ReplyPosted April 01, 2009

BoldLoftGifts wrote...

A very nice lens. It is really helpful. We are new to Squidoo.
Valentine's Day is coming. If you're looking for cute Valentine's gifts for your lover, please visit us at

http://www.squidoo.com/Cute-Romantic-Valentines-Couple-Gifts

ReplyPosted January 13, 2009

BoldLoftGifts wrote...

A very nice lens. It is really helpful. We are new to Squidoo.
Valentine's Day is coming. If you're looking for cute Valentine's gifts for your lover, please visit us at

http://www.squidoo.com/Cute-Romantic-Valentines-Couple-Gifts

ReplyPosted January 13, 2009

Susan52 wrote...

You are a great example of a group leader, Margaret. Kudos, and thanks for the group!

ReplyPosted January 06, 2009

Tammyrf wrote...

Hi,
I just added my lens and am hoping to be accepted. This looks like a wonderful and informative place for a new merchant to learn what it takes to be successful! I will be reading and learning while I wait for you response :)

Thank you

ReplyPosted August 24, 2008

TheNewGreenWayToHealthyLiving wrote...

Absolutely love the Mall and I lens rolled all my lenses! Thanks for an easy navigation and submitting me to the Mall! Kudos to you!!

ReplyPosted May 23, 2008

bafiedel wrote...

What a great group! I'm just beginning to digest all the information here! I'll have to get to work on my lens.....

ReplyPosted April 10, 2008

gemjane wrote...

This is interesting! I just joined a few days ago, and I'm finding out about so many cool things and ideas here at Squidoo! I'd like to invite members to see my lenses. I sell dollhouse miniatures on ebay, and 2 of my lenses are about dollhouse collectibles. (There's a lot more in my head to add!)

ReplyPosted April 05, 2008

The_Spotted_Olive wrote...

Thank you so much for all the good information in this lense.

ReplyPosted March 20, 2008

awelldressedbullet wrote...

Hi Margaret, thank you so much for featuring my Lens! As usual, you are such a busy squidoo'er! - Kathy

ReplyPosted March 05, 2008

deb_mc wrote...

Hi I'm glad I stumbled upon this lens, it is great. Keep up the good work.

ReplyPosted February 12, 2008

Margaret_Schaut wrote...

Thanks Deblyn, and I agree, I'm working on expanding the offerings of the Mall, and I'm working on creating a network that will generate lots of links for members to help them get found. Its a huge project, but of course, well worth doing!

ReplyPosted January 30, 2008

Deblyn wrote...

Hi, Margaret...as a newer member of this lens, I love it! Especially the escalater...great idea! However, you NEED to add more categories there...like, maybe Jewelry?! With 2000 lenses in "The Mall", it would make it a LOT easier for shoppers to find what they are looking for...like a directory.

ReplyPosted November 27, 2007

HAMMERDOWN wrote...

Hey margaret,

I'm new to Squidoo and I'm slowly learning how to use this site. I'm trying to get the word out about my auction house. We have some really unique and cool items from time to time ( it depends on what you are looking for) Coming up Dec 8th we have alot of antique dolls and toys!

ReplyPosted November 24, 2007

StarrFinancial wrote...

Good information but being the beginning of holiday seasons I would take any help in that area as I could get! Please feel free to check out my lens and leave some advice. http://www.squidoo.com/starrfinancial

ReplyPosted September 20, 2007

awesomesteals2002 wrote...

Great lens, lots of usefull information, thanks for sharing!

ReplyPosted September 19, 2007

giddygabby wrote...

Thanks for all the info here, Margaret, especially for telling us what you want to see on Mall lenses. Hope I've satisfied with my quiche pan lens!

ReplyPosted July 15, 2007

shoppingnetty wrote...

I am so happy to be here! Thank you for all your help!

ReplyPosted June 26, 2007

brookehudson wrote...

Great lens Margaret. Helful tips and resources. Keep up the good work. :D

ReplyPosted June 21, 2007

rms wrote...

Thank you for these great tips. Your wonderful lenses set an example for all of us! 5 stars!

ReplyPosted June 15, 2007

wrote...

Great tips, I learned something new today! 5 stars!
Instant Home owners Insurance Quotes

ReplyPosted June 12, 2007

wrote...

Great tips, I learned something new today! 5 stars!
Instant Home owners Insurance Quotes

ReplyPosted June 12, 2007

movies wrote...

Very helpful to get orientated. Thanks.

ReplyPosted June 07, 2007

SARASOTASWEETIE wrote...

Thanks so much for your help. You have a wonderful lens!

ReplyPosted April 03, 2007

by Margaret_Schaut

The Mall on Squidoo is my primary shopping group. 

Though I have others groups, the Mall on Squidoo is the best for shoppers and for shopkeeper...

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