Squidblog

When you live in a small town or close neighborhood you get to see first hand how non-profits help your friends and family. Online, it’s a bit different. That’s why photos are so important for telling your story.

LindaJM, our Image and Video Mentor, is here to help you use visual aids to connect with users and become real to them.

Squidoo: Linda, charities are often new to Squidoo, but what are three quick things they can do to improve their lenses?

LindaJM: Here are my suggestions for making a charity lens more attractive and effective using images and videos:

a) Include large, colorful photographs of people (or animals) being helped by your organization. The photos in the Intro Modules on most charity lenses need to be replaced or enlarged. Most of them were uploaded before the Intro Module was changed so that it would accept larger images. A large Intro Module photo makes the lens look much better! You can make them 250px by 375px, and at that size they would attract a lot of positive attention.

b) Create a video about your organization, upload it to YouTube, and place it on your Squidoo lens using the Video Module.

c) Create a Power Point presentation about your organization’s goals, upload it to SlideShare.Com, and put it on your lens using the SlideShare module.

Squidoo: Do you have any favorite charity lenses that do something well?

LindaJM: Global Youth Village is one of my favorite charity lenses because there are some great photographs of the young people who have attended the camp. There’s also a very well-produced short video showing how much fun teenagers are having at this wonderful camp.

I also like how First Book used their logo as the image in the Intro Module. For a charity lens, this seems most appropriate. First Book also has a slide show on the lens, and a video. You can really see how much the children love getting those books! That encourages me to want to donate.

Squidoo: What’s one very cool thing you’d love to see on a Charity lens?

LindaJM: I’d like to see more personal stories on charity lenses. These could be short human-interest articles written by donors to tell why they chose to give to your organization, or by recipients of aid. People love to read personal stories. They stimulate human emotions and cause people to want to participate. Combine those personal stories with compelling photos, and your charity lens is sure to be memorable.

These are tips we can ALL agree on! LindaJM is spot-on when she says photos, action shots, and human interest stories are powerful catalysts for donors. Be sure to get that camera out for your next event, and snap a few shots to add to your lens. Need help? Our Image and Video Mentor has you covered!

Twttrlist: A “best of” list of your favorite tweets on a specific topic.

This week we quietly released a new Twitter tool called Twttrlist. It’s good for quickly organizing the best tweets around a certain topic, all on one page, and archiving them for all time. Retweet your list and let followers suggest write-ins.

Mashable calls it: “A great way to create a mosaic of Tweets, to promote a hashtag, compile the best tweets about an event, or even promote yourself on Twitter. It also comes with the ability to reply or retweet individual tweets, as well as share the entire Twttrlist page.”

You can also think of it, simply, as “editing Twitter.”

Twttrlist is useful for building signpost reminders of tweets and links that would be lost on Twitter over time, and it further enhances Twitter as a searchable tool with curated insight. Unlike most Twitter tools, even unlike our earlier Twttrstrm Q&A experiment, this one is a permanent archive or time capsule. It’s Google findable and monetized. As it scales, it brings a stream of relevant, focused traffic back to Twitter–and to your Twitter timeline.

Here are a few examples:

Twitter tips from some of the most successful Tweeps
Best of #MMORPG on Twitter
The Best Tweets Are From Space!
20 Funniest Tweets About The Star Trek Movie
The best, funniest (and some actually helpful) tweets about FlightControl

Why not make a Twttrlist about….
* The 59 funniest (or unfunniest) tweets about the Swine Flu.
* Oprah’s 10 best tweets (so far)!
* iPhone games worth playing: crowdsourced by Twitter!
* Best 140character movie reviews of Terminator Salvation.
* A collection of your favorite #FollowFriday suggestions of all time.
* The 10 most awkward tweets about last night’s bachelor party.
* All your own retweets about job openings, all in one place. Help the job market!
* The 99 most inspirational tweets from your favorite marketing gurus. Make a quotebook Twttrlist.
* Wall of Shame examples of the worst spam tweets.
* Cabernets under $10 that won’t burn the enamel off your teeth, according to Twitter.
* 25 weirdest @replies you wish you’d never read. (HT to Time magazine’s Facebook version).
* The best Twitpic photos from airports.
* And so on. You tell me.

RocketMoms is a gathering of the smartest women on the web, working together to make Squidoo lenses (and a whole lot more).

It’s a 6 week, invite-only program for a small number of leading women on Squidoo. They get daily tips and lessons, their own private forum, and are challenged to help each other make just 1 new lens each week. The inspiration, support and feedback they give each other is just incredible.

The first session of Rocketmoms is coming to a close in a few weeks, with Session Two starting on June 8 2009. Everyone who successfully participated in the first session will be getting 5 invites to give out to their friends. We’re also opening just 30 spots for new Rocketmoms who want to apply. So drop us a note if you’d like to take the challenge or make nice to an existing Rocketmom!

Doesn’t matter if you have 1 lens or 900, if you’re a Giant Squid or not, if you’re a soon-to-be-mom or grandmother of 12. If you’re a mom and you want to work in a small group to learn and make and market new Squidoo lenses, then maybe this is for you.

How Rocketmoms got started

I realized quite a while back that more often than not the people making the very best lenses–the most creative, thoughtful, well written pages–were women. More specifically they were workathome moms and mombloggers. Supersmart, generous, down to earth (and very busy!) people.

Now, this is no slight to the tens of thousands of guys and non-moms out there rocking Squidoo. I’m one of those myself. (A non-mom, not a guy!) But when I see a trend, and a group of likeminded people with massive creative energy, I like to see what I can to do help. And then get out of their way and watch them go go go.

So I talked with one of our Giant Squid Organizer community leaders, BDKZ, to see what she thought of leading a “mom squad school” for a small and exclusive group of moms on Squidoo.

She jumped in with her usual zeal and smarts, and a few weeks later our Rocketmoms project was underway and exceeding every expectation.

It started out as an experiment, and we’re glad to say it has worked tenfold, that the lensmasters participating love the challenge and camaraderie, and that we’re going to do a few more invite-only sessions over the summer and see how it goes.

Just a handful of great lenses from Rocketmoms

Birth Order - How Did It Affect Me? by OhMe
Momography: Parenting a Deaf Child by Wysiwigs
How I came to Love Teaching Math by Evelyn_Saenz
House on the Rock by MysticMama
Top Ten Cures for the Homeschool Blahs by Jimmie
The Retro Robot Revisited by enslavedbyfaries
Top Ten New Moon Moments I WANT to See! by Tiffany
Complete Make-Ahead Summer Dinner Menu & Recipes by Treasures-by-Brenda
Top 10 Things I’ve Learned From My Kids athomemomblog
Help Baby Sleep Good by NaturalMommys
Deviled Eggs by LakeMom
The 10 Best Things About Raising Twins by TwinsMama
And so many more…

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that we care an awful lot about creating and celebrating great content.

Top 100 lists. The Giant Squids program. Special online workshops. The Angels volunteer camp. The Squidoo Greeters project. Ongoing conversations on blogs and newsletters and forums. I’m constantly trying new ways to make it fun and rewarding for our lensmasters to build great pages… and maybe even reach out of their comfort zones and surprise themselves with what they produce.

The latest installation is the Purple Star program, run by your hardworking Giant Squid Organizers.

Purple stars are scarce and special. You can think of a purple star as an official pat on the back, a stamp that says to your visitors: “This is worth reading. This is representative of what you can do on Squidoo if you put a little elbow grease and creativity into it. This is what a great lens looks like.”

Or you can just think of a purple star as pretty flair for your lens.

Or you can think of it as an elitist editorial award, subjective to the opinions of a few real live lensmasters, leaders who spend every day sifting through lenses and learning what makes them great.

You’d be right on all counts.

I believe very much that well-told, innovative, approachable and useful content is one of Squidoo’s biggest contributions to the rest of the web. It’s worth showcasing and promoting.

I also know how hard it is to sit down at the computer, a cup of tea your only company, and put yourself out there. It’s scary to create authentic content and then click Publish and share it with the world. It’s easy to feel isolated, or like no one is paying attention. It’s tempting to give up and go away.

So purple stars are one way, out of many, to give you an ultimate goal to reach for. A reason to stick and keep going and create a body of work you’re proud of.

Not for me. Or for your readers. But for yourself.

Just in time to get that new video game you always wanted, or take your sweetheart out for a nice dinner, it’s payday on Squidoo. If you haven’t checked your dashboard, you should see that lovely blue note soon.

Did you know that a growing number of lensmasters are earning $100 or more every month? Tweaking those money making modules is really helping lensmasters boost their profits. Plus, more and more lensmasters are donating to charity. It’s heartwarming to see that even when so many are in need, those same people are willing to keep giving. That’s what keeps the world going ’round. Even a few cents a month adds up to big help for our non-profits.

It’s true that this round we had some hiccups during payment processing. We finally processed our long-standing “unclaimed royalties” policy which donates royalties unclaimed for more than a year straight to charity. As such, reserve hopper numbers bounced around a little over the last few days. You may have seen your numbers go up, then down, maybe even sideways! But we’ve adjusted it back to the correct numbers. Everything is in its proper place and a go for payday, thanks to Gil to the Rescue!

Enough from me; enjoy your royalties!

Traffic equals eyeballs equals potential donors. But what are the basics of getting more traffic to your charity lens? The most simple solution is to be where your donors already are, and Squidoo has special connections with two of those places.

By logging into your account and scrolling to the bottom of your My Profile tab, you can enter your Facebook and Twitter details to make posting lens announcements easy. Go ahead - test them out.

And for more lens promotion tips, we’re bringing in Lens Promotion Mentor jeffwend for a quickie Q&A.

Squidoo: Jeff, what are three quick tips charities can use to promote their Squidoo lenses?
Jeff: 1) Create a Twitter account for the theme of that charity. Actively tweet and seek followers who are into the same topic.
2) Promote your charity with your Facebook account. Start a Facebook group too. Do your best to spark conversation and encourage people to follow the link to your lens.
3) Put a link in your signature and get active on some forums related to your charity. If you speak with knowledge and passion about your charity, people are going to follow your signature link to check out your lens. (BTW - learn how to edit your SquidU Forum signature.)

Squidoo: What is an example of a charity lens that does promo right?
Jeff: I like how the Genocide Intervention Network has a call to action. You can add cohesiveness by making the rest of your modules related to the lens.

Squidoo: as Lens Promotion Mentor, what would you like to see charities doing in the area of promotion?
Jeff: I’d like to see charity lenses be more active by combining several social media sources. Use a social synergy if you will. I’d also like to see better pics and videos of the charities at work.

We ALL love seeing pictures and videos of your charities at work. They give the people in them something to brag about and show your donors you are real live people doing really special things for humanity. In fact, keep an eye on your inbox. In a few days we’re interviewing Image and Video Mentor lindajm as she helps us get familiar with photos and videos.

Make it a great week!

You’d probably never guess I used to be a web designer. Yup, I used to write all my own HTML and CSS, and one of the things I love so much about Squidoo is how you can create a great web page with no coding required. However, for those who want to test the coding waters and add a little more visual interest, Squidoo DOES allow HTML and CSS to be used in several modules.

Trekkiemelissa, aka Melissa, is our HTML and CSS Mentor. Melissa is a coding wizard, and has made the daunting task of writing code simple with tips from her HTML/CSS Mentor lens. Today she’s offering a few ideas charities can use to pep up their lenses.

Squidoo: Melissa, how can charities use HTML and CSS to create prettier lenses?
Melissa: I have looked at some of the charity lenses within Squidoo. The one thing that I feel that is lacking is the inclusion of HTML and/or CSS. I know that I respond more to lenses that have a bit more color in them.

Bullet lists are also great, and you do not have to constrain yourself to the bullet list module. If you create your own with HTML, can add a variety of bullet styles. Instead of having the colored in circles, you can have open circles or even colored squares if you like.

If you really want to highlight some really important information on the lens, you can even create boxes around your text. We have the most important things module, but you are only limited to only the colors that are provided by that module. By creating your own boxes in HTML/CSS, you have more control of what colors and borders you use to bring in your audience.

Squidoo: Which charity lens do you think already does a great job using HTML/CSS?
Melissa: Not many of the charity lenses that I looked at have used much HTML/CSS in their lenses, but I did find this one: Big Cat Rescue. This is a great example of effective HTML and CSS. When Frankster wanted the audience to take action, she highlighted the note in a box with a border and background. The call to action is clear, and I bet more volunteers answer it!

Squidoo: What’s one very cool thing you’d love to see on a charity lens?
Melissa: I would love to see charity lenses include more HTML and CSS in general. If they do that, they would have more opportunities for people to actually donate. It’s all about drawing people in.

There you have it! Thanks for those tips, Melissa. Learn more about how to draw donors in with basic HTML/CSS arena. Read the HTML/CSS Mentor lens and try applying one tip at a time. You’ll be an expert, and addicted, before you know it!

Need more feedback on your lens? The Critique Me forum at SquidU is made just for that. Stop in for five minutes and see what ideas fellow lensmasters have for you. Five hours of lens maintenance a day is over two hours a month!

To start out a post about “sticking with something” by telling you jeffwend has quit his job is counter-intuitive. But just wait until you read his story about why he was able to quit:

I put in my two weeks at my day job

Every day we hear about how it’s impossible to be a success on the web.

“It’s too hard.”
“No one wants to buy what you’re selling.”
“You can’t trust anyone these days.”

And most of these comments come from people who fly from one project to another, trying to make a quick buck, scamming users along the way, and leaving before there are any results to be seen. But if you ask any of our hundreds of top lensmasters if it’s possible to be successful, they’ll tell you the real story. A lot of the time, it has to do with more than just money.

greekgeek: “I want to share my passion and enthusiasm on random topics.”
AdrienneJenkins: “There are others who are using the tools of Squidoo and affiliate programs to not only make money but create a life with flexibility so they can enjoy their time and spend more time with family and doing the things they love.”
greekgeek: “I think … lensmasters do actually make that kind of money. But they’ve worked hard, treat this as a full-time job, and have had to learn by trial and error what works and what doesn’t. Not everyone can do what they do.”
Cinetech: “Credibility has become a factor for readers to stay with your content/lens.”
thefluffanutta: “A truly great lens will perform continuously…”
AndrewShim: “Patience, perseverance and hard work will bring you to that place.”
ViolinStudent: “…content is king.”
BFuniv.com: “I’ve often thought that getting excited about the numbers may be good general marketing, but it is the quality of the traffic that is most important.”
jeffwend: “It just takes patience, and a willingness to work hard and to read and learn. Delayed gratification is the key.”

Congratulations to jeffwend on his new adventures. Congratulations most of all for building great stuff, sticking with it, and being a role model to your peers.

Lensmaster “Making a mark” sends in her tips for, well, making her mark on Squidoo.

And it’s all about having a vision.

Two suggestions from her to you:

“Root the long-term development of your lenses in what you’re interested in. I’ve got a very strong focus on visual arts and have two big groups of lenses. “Resources for artists” - about the media I love and “resources for art lovers” about pre-20th century artists.”

and

“Create related lenses in series - that way you have the potential to create traffic between lenses if somebody ends up on one site as a result of a browser search.”

There you have it. Go with your natural interests and passions, first. Then tie them all together. A simple, smart strategy for success that goes way beyond just Squidoo.

Good question.

Here’s the answer.

As we’ve posted in company policy, on SquidU and in this blog post from a few months ago, if you haven’t claimed your royalties for over a year, not even once, not even a penny, we’ll assume you’ve left the site or are not here for the cash and will roll your earnings over to charity.

Today, after a few months of heads-up time, we rolled over all unclaimed royalties to the Squidoo Charity Fund, which in turn gives to cool organizations like JDRF and Room to Read and KIVA.

But don’t panic! This only happened if you hadn’t claimed your Squidoo royalties via PayPal for over a year. Most of you earn and receive your cash royalties regularly and aren’t at all affected by this accounting.

So if you got a note on your Squidoo dashboard today about donating your unclaimed royalties, here are 4 things you might want to consider:

1. For starters, this overview all about payment might help.

2. Doublecheck: Was your PayPal address on file in Squidoo? It’s up to you to make sure your correct PayPal address is on record, and that emails from them don’t get stuck in your email spam filter.

3. Was your Cash Payout Threshold what you thought? If your Threshold was at $10 and you earned $4 in the last year, that means your money was sitting in a reserve hopper, waiting. But after a year of being unclaimed, we rolled it over to charity. Make sure to set your Cash Payout Threshold low in the future (Even as low as $1, to make sure you get paid early and often!)

4. AND… if you got a note on your dashboard about this, and you think your unclaimed royalties from the last 12 months were donated by mistake, please report the issue here. We’re happy to help.