How to make a quality lens in 20 minutes or less.
by 30 people |
Ranked #2,655 in How-To, #26,723 overall | Donates to Nuçi's Space - A musicians' resource & support center
But there's no time!
Um, don't worry about the comparison. Just take my word for it.
The trick is to make it a gradual process. I'll show you how (gradually). You can favorite this lens to get squidcasts about my additions to the content.
1. Focus focus focus!
(Not your brain, stupid)
Well, okay, focus your brain.But more importantly, focus your lens. Don't, say, write a lens about all the fine mammals in the animal kingdom (unless you plan to just hit the high points).
Instead, write one about just one mammal. And the next day, make another lens about another mammal.
Later, on your Mammals of the World lens, you can link to all your various mammalian lenses.
2. Leave room for improvement
Don't do it all at once.
A great lens is one that has been developed for days, or even weeks. It can't happen all in one day (unless you have a whole day and you're bored).Rome wasn't built in a day-- so don't build a lens about Rome in a day and expect it to conquer the known world (or give us anything as great as caesar salad).
Instead, build in just the basics, and realize that quality lenses develop over time.
3. Design your lens for interaction
First, get the ball rolling with some excellent links, insights, and media. Then engage your reader by asking for feedback. Everyone's got an opinion, many of your readers will have excellent ideas, and Squidoo makes room for them both.
What are some ways you've found of easily making great lenses?
Linkouts
Instead of writing all the text myself, I'll just include links to someone who's said it better. It tends to make my lenses a great jumping-off point to find great content on a given subject.1 point
SBMCT
Acceptance certificate to be used in conjunction with a conditional sale agreement or an equipment lease.
The certificate states that the goods have been installed or delivered as required and or satisfactory.1 point
All-out Brawls
I added a Duel module to one of my lenses and started a fight. People keep coming back just to draw more blood. It's almost too much (but then, who doesn't love a good fight).0 points
Rewrite an Article
Find an article that you found very interesting, rewrite it, and add some links to add some pizazz!0 points
Let Michaelmas House Make Your Home Look Beautiful
Choose from Titchmarsh and Goodwin English Oak furniture, Lloyd Loom furniture, Penny Pine hand made plate racks, shelves,
wine racks, mirrors, book cases, DVD racks and more, bespoke painted and waxed solid wood furniture, and a lovely selection of beautiful home accessories and gifts.0 points
Yaeger CPA Review - Pass your CPA Exams now
I am not really sure about CPA courses but this one caught my eye. I went through the profile of the
company and was astonished by the sincereity in which the whole thing was put in and well%u20260 points
4. Avoid walls of text
They're time consuming, and boring to read.
Ever read a 4,000-word essay for fun?
Me too. Pretty often, in fact.
Of course, only in books. But people don't use the internet for that-- they're online for something quick, interactive, and compelling.
Like pictures, which make a great addition to many lenses. Just make sure they're relevant, unlike these randomly chosen pictures tagged "random":
MIAMI GRAFFITI book...
Green Spark
Gold Spark
Punisher christ?
Trump Tower
State Pkwy
Rush Street
Soy Sauce trays
Hancock and 900 Nort...
Stones on Black
5. Give a little Link Lovin'
And it might come back to you
Instead of drowning your readers in text, use a few (carefully chosen, relevant) links to show them around the web. Talking about a new movie? Link to IMDB. Explaining how to knit? Link to supplies or books.
Or find several related lenses and give them a shout-out:
.Net Development
Latest and Greatest in .Net Development1 point
Stock Trading
Stock swings, trades, and options.1 point
Internet News
Your #1 news source for online happenings.1 point
College Recruiting
What is happening with the most valuable high scho more...1 point
College Film
Film of the best college and high school football more...1 point
Ohio State Football
All the latest of Buckeye Football.1 point
2008 Taxes
Tax Tips for 2008 and 20091 point
2009 Taxes
Tax Tips for 2009 and 2010 with Free Electronic Fi more...1 point
Table Pads
The Table Pad Factory is a wholesale supplier of C more...1 point
How to Update a Lens in Five Minutes or Less!
So you've created the most magnificent lens. What more...0 points
Lensmaster Tools and Utilities
SQUIDUtils.com Utilities and Tools for the Expert more...0 points
Squidoo for Dummies -- A How-To Squidoo with Tips from Giant Squids, Squid Angels and Squidoo Lensmasters!
Well, you've come to the right place! Squidoo now more...0 points
6 ways to improve your lens, right now!
You've already done the hard part. You've had a bi more...0 points
Submit URL: Getting your Squidoo Lens noticed.
On this lens, you'll find some links to places you more...0 points
6. Keep a SquiDiary
I'd call it a Squid-Do list, but that's just confusing.
Use a Google Notebook, keep a text file handy on your desktop, or just make a lens about lenses you're going to make (first item: lens about lenses you're going to make).Then, whenever you browse across something that inspires you, add it to your list.
Once there are a few items on it, you'll be surprised at how often you see new content to add to your lenses. By the time you get back to your dashboard, you won't have to hesitate for a second-- just pull out your list and in a few minutes, you'll be launching yet another lens.
7. More tomorrow!
Go start a lens, then come back and tell me about it on the guestbook. And don't forget to keep updating from time to time-- a great lens is a current lens.
What's Your Newest Lens?
Don't forget the link!
Did it take long?
srpatterosn wrote...
How do you get the link lovin going, what's the module name?
Posted July 08, 2009
Intuitive wrote...
Great ideas here, especially the keeping a file in Notebook for keeping track of things. 5*
Posted April 22, 2009
DavidHuntsinger wrote...
I have read thrugh all this stuff and I am at a loss to find the right word tto tell people what I think about . My focus is health right now at 79 I am in excellent health and I owe it in part to VEMMA an excellent source of all the vitamins and minerals your body can use in a liquid form and it taste good.
Posted April 07, 2009
