thank you lensmaster – squidoo reviews

It’s been a while since I interviewed anybody on this blog. Mysticmama forced my hand though, by setting up two spiritual blogging / networking sites in the past month.

Bambi has been supportive and generous ever since her appearance on squidoo only a little over a year ago (Jan. 8th 2009). She’s in the Giant Squid 100 club, she donates her royalties to Humane Society of the United States and is generally a great addition to the community. But she’s also been appointed Squidoo Support Sites Mentor – and her lens about Squidoo blogging communities was recently made LOTD.

I think you’ll agree that there are enough reasons to be grateful, so, here’s the interview:

Why are you a squidoo lensmaster?
I actually originally joined Squidoo through cafepress to promote my store, but as a writer, I fell in love with the Squidoo platform…so I hardly use Squidoo for my cafepress store…Mostly why I’m still a lensmaster is my love of the Squidoo platform & the Squidoo community, which is the best community on the web!

What is your favorite lens?
Truthfully…if favorite were to reflect the lens that I visit the most…it would be N376’s HTML Tips For Colors which I use a lot!.
If I had to choose one of my own it would be Let’s Write:
About GrowWear’s popular SquidU story thread…just because It’s so much fun!

What lens of yours is most under appreciated?
My lens about coping with Pet loss.
I think it’s a really important & helpful lens…but because SEO & lens promotion are not my strong suits…it just doesn’t get the traffic it should.

What lens of yours is most popular?
My Hamburger lens, which somehow magically stays in the top tier.

What’s one thing you see lensmasters doing that doesn’t work – and why doesn’t it?
Bad visual presentation…using too much html or CSS, really bright mind numbing colors, really thick borders… Having too much color is worse than having none…It makes a lens hard to read & not viewer friendly. While a little html can make a great lens better…too much can ruin great lens.

What’s your most important squidoo promotion method?
Blogging, blogging & blogging lol…
I also like facebook, twitter & reddit…because I actually get traffic from those sites…I’ve tried a lot of others, but the little bit of traffic, wasn’t worth the time one needs to spend there to get it. I also find that RSS feed sites are very helpful.

Can you tell us a bit more about your blogs?

I had a bunch of blogs, but recently decided to close them & start over in a much more focused way…which is part of the reson for starting Mystic Minds, so I have just one place for the majority of my blogs… So right now I actually only have one terribly neglected blog & one super successful blog…and my main blog, while it’s highly successful & gets hundreds of hits every day…is in a totally different niche.

[BTW - I would never advise anybody to close down blogs, even if they were going to neglect them. Just let them lie low instead. See: Being a fidgety blogger. - KH]

But since you asked, here is the link:
http://my-tunes.crabbysbeach.com/blogs/

There are also multiple lenses about the Squidoo Music Blog, Alex & I started it on a whim as kind of fun side project…we made it a multi-authored blog, so we wouldn’t have to spend too much time on it…but then it skyrocketed to success so fast, that it has become one of our main projects lol…

Squidoo Music is a wonderful example though of how a blog can be used for lens promotion. Each of our writer’s tries to link back to at least one related lens with each blog post, which we call articles, because it is presented in a fun music magazine format where each of our writers writes a weekly column about a different genre of music.

One of my next projects will be to create a multi-writer “New Age” blog…because having daily posts really is a major factor in blog success…and it’s hard for just one person to consistently posts every day.

[I'll have to disagree respectfully. All Considering has a steady audience of 200+ subscribers, despite me blogging only once a week. Marketing Spiritual has 50+ subscribers, despite me blogging VERY irregularly there. Getting an audience is about setting expectations, and providing something readers want. Blogging daily is certainly one strategy, but it's not the only one that works. Quality over quantity is also a good way to go: and more likely to get you links.

I'm not saying that to discourage you from starting a group blog. I think that's a very good idea and I think you'll be great at managing it too. ]

You’ve started several online spiritual communities recently. Why?
Tarot was my first “niche” on Squidoo, and the whole “New Age” metaphysical & spirituality field is my area of expertise. I’ve been in this field basically my whole life, I’ve had 2 “New Age” retail stores, & been giving readings & teaching classes in different areas for over 25 years.

So Starting Mystic Squids, which is a Ning site for Mystic-minded Squids & Mystic Minds, which is a public blogging community for metaphysical, spiritual & New Age bloggers… was a logical next step for me. Both sites are a reflection of me getting back to my roots as I grow & develop as an online entity. I spent the greater part of 2009 playing around on Squidoo & learning new skills, and not that I sort of know what I’m doing, it was time to get serious & do something with my new skills that really reflected who I am & what I am all about.

Which lensmaster(s) have helped you most?
Boy, now that is a long list…but right off the top of my head…ChefKeem was my first mentor so big love to him…Also a_willow & spirituality have always been wonderful to me…bdkz & rms are always there whenever I need them.

I would be lost without drifter0658 & squidster…My Squidoo BFF’s, Ramkitten, AJ, GrowWear, luvmyludwig, Boshemia, & BevsPaper. The wonderful support I’ve gotten from SquidooKimberly & giltotherescue. All my Mystic Squid & RocketMoms friends, my Squidlog & Crabbysbeach friends…I could just go on all day!