Giant Squid Tips

Landing in your inboxes as we speak (so to speak) is the brand new, just-for-you Giant Squids newsletter.

We’re moving away from this Giant Squid Tips blog in favor of a once monthly newsletter in order to make things a little easier on you.  Why? A few reasons. Because we hear you that it’s confusing to have so many different tips and Squidblogs to read. Because we know you’re busy and don’t have time to check in here very often. Because very few of you are subscribed to the this blog’s RSS feed. And because most of you are already subscribed to the email delivery option here, which can be erratic and delayed via Feedburner, and which sends you entirely too many emails if we just post short little squibs (not squids).

So, voila. Simplicity. One email, once a month, exclusively for Giant Squids, filled with some things we think you might enjoy celebrating and learning. It’s a meaty, sink-your-teeth-in kind of email that we hope will be fun to read and useful.

For smaller updates or sneak peeks, we’ll use dashboard notes directly within Squidoo instead of posting on this blog. Since most of you are daily active users, that will get the right info in front of you when you login, with the minimal amount of inbox noise.

We won’t turn this blog off quite yet, but we probably will soon.

So please make sure you got the newsletter we just sent (it’s coming from giants@squidoo.com) and if you didn’t, please drop us a note at that address so we can make sure you’re on the list.

If you got the email and would rather not have any special tips in your inbox, and don’t want to hear from us at all, thank you very much, just reply to the email and say ‘take me off!’ And we will.

The monsters at Squidoo are throwing a Halloween party and they need your elite Giant Squid help to plan it!

In return they’ll not only put +300 Squidpoints in your trick or treat bag, but they’ll also help you compete in the SquidBoo 2010 Lensmaking Challenge.

Ready, set, BOO.  Start the Quest.

Today we’re accepting a wave of new Giants to the Giant Squids program.

Welcome all you Giants of October!

This here is your (secret) Giant Squid Tips blog.  We have big plans for the next few months of the Giant Squids program, so stay tuned here to keep in the loop. Please bookmark the blog or put the RSS feed in your Google Reader, or sign up to get the Giant Squid tips blog email alerts. Just look at the top right of this page for the Subscribe options.

Since you’re new around these parts, you’re invited to meet your fellow Squids and earn a pretty bundle of experience points by taking the inaugural Giant Squids Quest: Old Hortence’s Alphabet Soup.

Welcome, and have fun.

Hi all!

We’re posting the link to the Old Hortence’s Alphabet Soup Quest here for any Giant who might have missed it in their points stream.  (A little monster told us that many of you were looking in the wrong stream.)

If you’ve already taken this quest please disregard this message.   All quests are to be taken ONE time only.  Thanks!

Old Hortence’s Alphabet Soup

Hey Giants!

As some of you may have already noticed, we’ve brought our Get Cracking with Bonnie and Robin to the Squidu forum. 

Starting tomorrow, August 1, 2010 we’ll be posting our daily lens challenges at the Get Cracking with Bonnie and Robin Facebook page and at our new Get Cracking thread at Squidu.com.

During the month of August the Get Cracking challenge will be dedicated to Halloween.

Create 13 NEW SquidBoo lenses by August 31st to receive a Purple Star on a lens of your own (your choice) AND another Purple Star for a friend, whether they are a Giant or not.   As a special perk just for Giants, Bonnie and I will also be looking for stellar SquidBoo lenses to award with Purple Stars all month long!

In addition, Bonnie will be looking for lenses to blast on her SquidBoo Blast Blog and Twitter page. 

To get your SquidBoo lenses blasted, you’ll need to post them at the SquidBoo Facebook page in addition to the proper Get Cracking thread at Facebook or Squidu.  It’s a little bit of extra work on your part but the extra exposure for your lenses will be worth the effort!

Why Halloween in August?

Halloween is huge at Squidoo and the earlier you get your SquidBoo lenses built, the better shot you have at getting them found by the search engines in time to reap the rewards.  Keep in mind that your October Squidoo payment arrives in December and that should be incentive enough to get cracking for Halloween now.

We hope you’ll be able to join us for the 13 in 31 Days Challenge be it for a day, 13 days, or all 31!

I just had to share these amazingly creative cupcakes from Giant Squid puzzlemaker. My personal favorite are the sparkly ones because they are just so darn cute. Although the Giant Squid eye ones are nice too. You can also vote for your favorite Squid cupcakes right on the lens.

Do you have a fun Squid lens? Share it right here on this post.

It’s dead in the middle of the summer.

Practically every website in the world sees some summer slowdown happening in their communities and traffic.

But not Squidoo! Not with people like you!

WELCOME, new Giants. Not only did you create 50 or more amazing lenses, you did it when the rest of the world is taking time off.  That’s what I call beating the heat.

You’ve already met Bonnie and Robin, who will be your biggest champions from now on. They’re here to make sure you know about fun stuff happening around Squidoo, share a few insights here and there, and generally help you guys keep up the great work.

Another often overlooked perk of the Giant Squids program is this: Each other. You are now in the company of hundreds and hundreds of fellow lensmasters who have reached a similar level of achievement.  Get inspiration from each other. Give some back. Don’t be shy to introduce yourself to a fellow Giant you admire. Never know what kind of trouble you can get up to if you join forces in some creative way.

So, welcome, have a blast, and thanks for being here.

Megan

We’re looking into some issues with logins and locked accounts (and locked lenses) today. 

 Just a reminder that Giants can get help asap by writing to giantreports@squidoo.com

All others must file a regular bug report.

Thanks for your patience!