Why are you a squidoo lensmaster?
I like to read and learn new things. I like to dive into topics that interest me, regardless of how unimportant they seem to the world. I’m like a virtual hunter and gatherer. I always thought it was such a waste that I would find the best sites, information, and products on some topic to satisfy my own curiosity, and then the next guy would have to do all that searching for himself. Now when I dive into a topic, I create a lens on it, so I earn a little money as a result of my searching, and so the next guy has everything he wants all in one tidy place. It’s a win-win, and its fun.

What is your favorite lens?
Of mine? It’s hard to choose, but I am a true nerd. I was geeky before geeky was cool. So, I think my favorite would be my lens on Celebrating Pi Day. http://www.squidoo.com/PiDay
Of someone else’s?
My Favourite CSS Tricks on Squidoo. What can I say? I hit that lens a couple times a week for that sexy two column code. Thanks, thefluffanutta.

What lens of yours is most under appreciated?
I never could pick this lens off the ground. I think it’s a lot of fun.
Neckties of Famous Classic Paintings

What lens of yours is most popular?
In terms of visits, my lens on Senior Pranks is the most popular.
It’s just a fun lens to blow time on. I guess it feeds the curiosity of a lot of different people – middle schoolers to senior citizens can get a kick out of it.

What’s one thing you see lensmasters doing that doesn’t work – and why doesn’t it?
I think a lot of lensmasters get tripped up in spending a ton of time adding extra code to lenses that simply don’t need it. The squidoo layout (and now themes) are very good. They are usually enough. I see a lot of lenses that use a bunch of different borders and backgrounds and colors and junk. I save the extras for highlighting important pieces of information. I think a few well placed pieces of code can make a world of difference, but I don’t think spending an hour or two adding lots of code to a lens is a good financially wise use of my time.

What’s your most important squidoo promotion method?
I really don’t promote like I probably should. I rarely do more than a squidcast. So, I guess my best method of promotion is to make content that I think people want, and to make sure it says all the right things so that google knows it is the content they want.

Which lensmaster(s) have helped you most?
Oh, I couldn’t possibly name everyone, and I would hate to leave someone out. But, I have been helped greatly by hanging out in Captain Squid’s chat room and learning from others there, and from the active members on squidu.

How exciting! An interview! Heavens, I hardly know where to start – things have just happened so fast for me on Squidoo that I can hardly keep up. I’d scarcely recovered from the thrill of making the 100 Club when, out of the blue, I had a Lens of the Day followed soon after by another lens scoring a Purple Star award. In between the LOTD and the Purple Star I woke up one morning with Angel wings.
I keep pinching myself to make sure I really AM awake. See what I mean about exciting?

Why are you a squidoo lensmaster?

One day back in September of 2006, I chanced upon Squidoo and joined up to see what it was all about. I made two pretty dreadful lenses and then promptly forgot all about them. They would have stayed there forever, awful examples of lens creation, if a friend had not emailed me the address of a lens about Ancient Greece. A fabulous lens! (You guessed it, the lens was by GreekGeek ) Straight away I saw what could really be done with a lens.

So in August of 2008 I found my account again. Surprisingly it was still active after after 2 years, and I jumped in to make some lenses I wouldn’t be ashamed to show my friends. I put in some hard yakka for a full month. Now it’s something I enjoy afresh each day.

Q: What is your favorite lens?

My own favourite is How to Host a Roman Murder

I enjoyed making that one, I was smiling as I put it together. A Roman Party is wonderful fun for grown-ups in real life and I have some perfectly hysterical memories of murders round my dining table.

Q: What lens of yours is most under appreciated?

That must be my lens on Demeter

It’s my favourite Greek mythology lens but has more to it than that.
As I say in the introductory module, myths can be read as symbols, and can be used as working templates for modern times. Demeter is relevant, if you read past the supernatural, for women right here and now.

What lens of yours is most popular?

Would you believe 2000 year old recipes? It’s my Ancient Roman Cooking lens.

If you fancy some dormice for supper, I have just the recipe for you. Perfect for when you Host a Roman Murder

What’s one thing you see lensmasters doing that doesn’t work – and why doesn’t it?

Not proof-reading. I’ve seen some lenses that start off in a delightful fashion when suddenly- zoom – a big fat typo! Then there will be sentences wrongly spaced, text jammed together and no room for any words to breathe much less any sense to be made from the mess. Jumbles like this are always pasted and left ‘as-is’. They ruin the lens.

What’s your most important squidoo promotion method?

My blogs. I have a handful of blogs, each one on a different topic.
I link to a lens with a post on something similar to the content of that lens, and I use feeds both in, and out of squidoo. FaceBook is a good place to drop a lens. But not with the robot!

Which lensmaster(s) have helped you most?

Susan52 for her jolly companionship and sturdy shoulder on the journey to the 100 Club. And GreekGeek, of course, for giving me that kick-start.

For help overall

Joan4 (for her To-Do list)

thefluffanutta (for everything)

Tracey_M (for graphics)

And for entertaining me, drifter0658

And of course she can’t limit herself to just answering my questions. She started out her e-mail to me with:

What fun!! I am flattered! I hope I have answered these questions appropriately. Feel free to edit, etc. I just had fun with the questions! my only concern is that I have left out someone vitally important on that list of lensmasters — whew! it takes a village to build a lens, for sure!

Why are you a squidoo lensmaster?
I joined because a friend recommended Squidoo. I stay because I am having so much fun creating and meeting such wonderful people!

What is your favorite lens?
Legally Blind and Plays Golf – a lens about my legally blind husband and his super attitude!
What lens of yours is most under appreciated?
Kids with Special Needs. My sister Betty DeLorme helped me with this one. She has worked with Developmental Therapy-Developmental Teaching for over 20 years – and we both sincerely believe in that program and its developer, Dr. Peg Wood.

What lens of yours is most popular?
My most consistently in the top lens is Crazy Funny Songs – which I really created just for fun!

What’s one thing you see lensmasters doing that doesn’t work – and why doesn’t it?
I am always disappointed to see a lensmaster with too much text and no break, no pictures. It’s just too hard for me to read that much text on the screen. So though the content may be excellent, I miss it because I get tired of trying to read it. I enjoy short paragraphs and lots of pictures and graphics.

What’s your most important squidoo promotion method?
Definitely twitter and facebook.

Which lensmaster(s) have helped you most?
Oh my!! What a list that would be, for sure! My sister, Ohme, is sooo good about double-checking my lenses for errors and supporting my Squidoo life! I am so glad she joined Squidoo. Chef Keem has always been helpful to me– and his angel blessings seem to always arrive on just the right day — when I need them the most. GypsyOwl pushed me to apply for Giant 100 and has always supported my work with her encouraging and kind words. Growwear featured one of my lenses on her blog when I was new, and that gave me a huge boost – and then later she created a beautiful lens about me, which still touches my heart and is probably the nicest compliment I have ever received. Mukunda22, Charlyjl, lwhitelaw, magicpocketz, blissnow are all members of our mastermind group — these ladies keep me on target toward my goals! thefluffanutta, captainsquid, potpiegirl with their excellent advice and training!

And of course, faithful followers like sittonbull, and tipigal and luvmyludwig and ccgal and so many more who visit and comment on my lenses. What a blessing!

First of all RMS of the Gothic Temptations group (and much else besides) has started a series featuring lenses in her group. Which I’m very glad to show off here – as some of mine are in her set. She’s set up a special blog for the group – which is great. Obviously. Now that’s a Great Group taking it up a notch

Anyhow two of my lenses are featured in the post about wiccan lenses and another is featured as one of her favorite Gothic things (yes – pagan calendars apparently).

It’s about time I give AJ some credit for linking to my lensmaster profile so often but pulling out all the posts would be a bit much. Her weight loss lens is getting some traffic from Yahoo and getting some backlinks from friendly lensmasters active elsewhere. Which is great news. I’m glad she’s not proving me totally wrong in my advice and it also shows that weight loss is a topic one CAN rank for – despite the obvious competition. I suppose starting a group about weight loss also helped some, however small it still is.

Then there’s Eelkat – a unique lensmaster if ever there was one. Her latest lens about becoming a squidangel is only one of many of hers that link to mine. Another one (though so far only one of my lenses is featured) is her list of lenses she’s blessed in April. I mean really – the effort of keeping track! Then an old favorite – her massive Faith not religion lens. And of course her also grand lensography index links to a few of my lensographies (I’ve not bothered her with all of them as I can hardly keep track of them myself).

And then – an honorary mention of new squid Gee-Wiz who is learning squidoo by writing about squidoo. Rather a unique strategy – and he’s not doing badly. And I’m finding myself mentoring again

Whenever I mention (and link to) any of her projects on here she becomes embarrassingly thankful. I’ve been thinking about that when I decided to ask her for this interview, and concluded she must be insecure. Then I wondered: should I write that in a public forum like this? But since she brings up her own insecurity below as well – I guess I can. Carrie – you’ve got NOTHING to be insecure about. And when someone features you on their lens or blog, a (one) simple thank you will suffice (Though of course a backlink is even more appreciated: not necessary, not expected, just appreciated.)

One of the things I really appreciate about Carrie is her professional attitude even while her lens content is often personal. She came into squidoo (or became active on squidoo) when she already knew a lot about online promotion and what it takes to become successful online. Yet she’s not scringy with links (perhaps because she knows that what you give, you receive). Next up: a self-hosted blog?

Anyhow, here’s the interview:

Why are you a squidoo lensmaster?

I joined Squidoo many years ago but didn’t do anything with the account. When I returned in August 2008, I was a more confident and prolific writer and felt I could do some good with the lenses that I published. I’m a Squidoo lensmaster for the earning potential, the community and for the chance to help others with my experiences.

What is your favorite lens?

Of mine, my favourite lens is What does not destroy me, makes me stronger simply because it allows me to write down my most hardest experiences and somehow move on and because, by publishing this lens, I could also be helping others who have gone through the same experiences as me and are looking for a way to cope.

Of another Lensmaster, my favourite lens is Squid Etiquette. It’s a lens that every Squid should read before and after they join and then bookmark it for future reference. It’s important reading and is another lens that could quite easily be made into a book.

What lens of yours is most under appreciated?

Oh crumbs, I have several so it’s hard for me to pick out just one… But, I would have to say Innocent Mums accused of Abusing their Children . A subject that I feel strongly about as I’m a mother myself. Despite thinking that this would get people debating, there’s been very little activity on the lens I don’t want to give up on it yet though! [Of course not, it's an important topic]

What lens of yours is most popular?

My top lens changes occasionally but the debate Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox? always seems to do well. I managed to get in there early and it’s really picked up over the last few weeks or so.

What’s one thing you see lensmasters doing that doesn’t work – and why doesn’t it?

I’ve got a thing about personal experiences and lensmasters who don’t use this in their lenses won’t get much in the way of interaction and interest. I, for one, am more likely to read about something that someone has gone through, used or experienced even if I’m not that interested in the subject to begin with.

What’s your most important squidoo promotion method?

At the moment, blogs seem to be working well for me and I’ve increased the number of blogs I own dramatically! I’ve realised the importance of blogs for promotion and networking and it helps encourage feedback on both the blogs and the lenses. I’ll probably set up another blog or two for subjects I have more than one lens on like health issues. My biggest success with regards to blogs is Giving Squids a Helping Hand. It’s really helped to boost the ranking and traffic to those lenses I’ve featured so far and I’m happy that I can help other lensmasters in a way that I feel comfortable doing. I’m not a great forum poster so this is my way of giving something back to the Squidoo community.

Which lensmaster(s) have helped you most?

There’s been several! AJ2008 for being so supportive with regards to my lenses especially the hardest ones I’ve had to write, for the chance to write an article for the new website she’s a part of and for just being a good friend. Poddys for always commenting on my blog at Squidtop and giving great advice and support. GypsyOwl for promoting my lenses outside of Squidoo without asking, for showing a lot of faith in me and my abilities which I find very difficult to do in myself and for providing some awesome graphics for my Twitter profile and the Giving Squids a Helping Hand blog. GrowWear for being there and also giving me advice and support when I’ve found things tough going personally. CleanerLife for always helping me and my lenses by commenting and rating those that have yet to be rated! And you, for considering me for this interview, for comments and ratings on my lenses and for having faith in me for when I eventually apply for Giant Squid! There are also a few more and I’ve featured them all on my lens.

Why are you a squidoo lensmaster?

Originally, I started creating lenses as a way to promote my eBay store. I wrote lenses on products that I sell like Roots Canada Ltd. and actually created one about my store, Treasures By Brenda. However, once I started I was, as we so fondly say, addicted to Squidoo and my lenses now cover items related to my eBay business as well as many other topics that are of interest to me like Carrot Jokes ~~ A Bright Orange Lensography.

What is your favorite lens?

Favorites are always hard to pick but I think Baby Carrots ~~ When Is A Carrot Not A Carrot stands out as my favorite. Why? I think because this lens is about a basic food item that we take for granted and because the carrot photos make an attractive page. This page also was the beginning of my (believe it or not) carrot ‘niche.’

It just occurred to me that you did not want me to answer with my favorite lens that I wrote…in which case, I would answer Advanced HTML for Squidoo Lenses or Great Squidoo Groups Lensography both lenses that I keep returning to again and again. [Actually - I'm very glad the question is ambiguous. I like it when people share what lenses of their own are their favorites, but I'm just as pleased when they share their favorites from other lensmasters.]

What lens of yours is most under appreciated?

This is a tough question. My lenses that are the least popular tend to change. For instance, my very narrowly focused Canada Post ~~ Flat Rate Shipping Program lens which often has no visitors has been mysteriously doing better over the last week or two. I once considered deleting it.

Today’s under appreciated lens? I guess I would have to pick Disney Shopping ~~ From The Comfort of Your Chair At Home!. It is not a well-focused lens and I do not have a good URL for the content of my page. (Sorry, Katinka I know better now). I wish I could change the URL. [Actually- the URL could be worse. At least it has the word 'Disney' in there - Katinka]

What lens of yours is most popular?

Currently, my most popular lens is Elvis Presley Christmas Duets. I think it is a great lens on an album that is generating plenty of interest on the internet, Google loves it and it has enjoyed being blessed a few times recently. The sister lens that I created to it, Sing With Elvis Presley and Record Your Song As A Christmas eCard is also enjoying good Google traffic and traffic is flowing nicely between these two lenses. It is the first time that I have seen such an obvious flow of traffic between two lenses.

What’s one thing you see lensmasters doing that doesn’t work – and why doesn’t it?

A big distraction for me on any lens is proper grammar and spelling. (Not that I am perfect.) Unfortunately, when there are many little mistakes it takes away from the lens as a whole even when the rest of the lens is good.

What’s your most important squidoo promotion method?

I am not very good at promoting my lenses. I think that the most valuable thing that I do is write on Squidtop. That format has proven good for having the search engines find my lenses. Promoting my lenses is an area which I know I need to work harder on.

What do you like best about the Squidu forum?

I love the very friendly community and the willingness to share information and knowledge with others.

Which lensmaster(s) have helped you most?

Many lensmasters have leant their support in various ways. Some have answered my many questions on SquidU, others have rated and/or commented on my many lenses. Picking out a few is tough, but I would like to thank:

YOU! Spirtuality – From the very beginning, Katinka you have been a great source of advice on Squidoo in general and on search engine optimization. [Yes, it's weird. I have no idea how it started, but Brenda is the only lensmaster I have been mentoring so consistently. Of course it helps when someone actually takes what you tell her and uses it to make LOTD quality lenses with it. Not that I take any credit for that lens, obviously. - Katinka]

Rockycha – Volunteered right away to teach me html for promoting Amazon items which has proven extremely helpful and is available whenever I have a question.

Poddys – Answered questions and shared his spreadsheet which I now use to track my lens status.

Mimi of Squidoo Lens Reviews and Bonnie Robin of Cabaret Squidoo have both promoted my lenses in their own blogs.

Finally, all of the Squid Angels who have visited my lenses and blessed them when they saw fit. I know that doing so takes a lot of valuable time!

Wow Katinka,
I’m honored and humbled with your request!
Thank you very much, I hope my answers to your questions will not seem mundane, and help someone else. It’s funny (in my weird sense of humor) that you stated I’m being interviewed because of my contributions to SquidU. He-he-he, sometimes I’ve warily watched to see if I was going to be kicked off.
SquidU is the ultimate social vehicle for me, and when you check and read the posts as I’ve done for so long, the forum becomes the very best LIVE novel I’ve ever read. You get to know all the regulars, watch all the newbies, see what everybody’s newest ‘thing’ is, their personalities, and wether they help or only post for personal agendas. Gods Love and mine,
Deb

So here’s the interview. What more introduction can it need other than: thank you Flowergardener!

Well no, I really can’t leave it at that. Flowergardener is one of the most famous lensmasters at squidoo – not because she markets herself well, but because of her excellent lenses and her contribution to squidu. In other words: she’s authentic. She’s also one of the first lensmasters to contribute a quote to my Spiritual Quotes lens. Something I remember fondly.

Why are you a squidoo lensmaster?
Oh boy, that’s kind of a hard one. I started out being a lensmaster by just making a lens with pictures of my flowergarden. I had no other agenda besides getting my pretty pictures online for others to see. The motivation evolved when I saw that the lens was successful. Then I dredged up the multiple previous attempts online that I had stuffed into a dark unused folder on my computer. I dusted off the “desire” to make an income online one more time, and I’m still here because it’s become a reality.

What is your favorite lens?
Always, my very first one….My Flower Garden

What lens of yours is most under appreciated?
Hummm. I’ve got about 10 ‘losers’ that don’t get very many visits! I really don’t think any of them are under appreciated, because when I do get visits to my 90-some lenses I also receive heart-felt comments on them.

What lens of yours is most popular?
That would have to be Dog Medicine Side Effects So far this week the traffic is at 2,600, and it’s been on the top 100 list for 342 days.

What’s one thing you see lensmasters doing that doesn’t work – and why doesn’t it?
Only 1 thing? Ooo. Oh, oh, I got one! Giving up too soon. Everyone has a wild dream about putting a tiny bit of effort into something online, and receiving ‘overnight’ success. It just doesn’t work that way. I’ve had to learn step by step, to keep at it and try a different angle if the current one isn’t working.

What’s your most important squidoo promotion method?
This one takes awhile to achieve, but it works everytime. I build many lenses that circle around 1 topic. My main topics are dog health, people health, natural medicines, and flowers/gardening. Since I have so many lenses within those topics, I make them promote each other. There is always a link module or featured lens module at the bottom of my lenses, promoting my other lenses.

What do you like best about the Squidu forum?
The very best feature of SquidU for me is the ability to form friendships! I live alone (except for 3 dogs and a cat), and don’t socialize like I used to 20 years ago. Everybody needs friends. Most of mine are online at SquidU.

Which lensmaster(s) have helped you most?
LOTS of ‘em! Margaret Schaut, ChloeCavanaugh, Christene, Janet21, Glen, Chef, Thomas, Jeffwend, Cinetech, TheBookGarden, Timewarp, and The_Bard.

Why are you a squidoo lensmaster?
It’s fun! I love how Squidoo makes it easy to create lenses that allow you to create your own text, as well as pull in content from other sites and add interesting graphic elements such as the talk bubble and black box. I think that’s what makes Squidoo better than any other article writing site. I also love the fact that Squidoo donates money to charity and allows lensmasters to do so also.

What is your favorite lens?
Ooh, that’s tough. If you’re asking about my own lenses, there are plenty that I’ve enjoyed creating, but the one I’m most proud of is “What is Dissociative Identity Disorder?” Many people don’t even believe this disorder exists, much less know anything about it. I hope this lens will shed some light on DID.

As for my favorite lens from another lensmaster, it’s definitely Margo Arrowsmith’s lens “A Question of Forgiveness”. I love this lens! I think it is undoubtedly one of the most thought-provoking lenses on Squidoo. Everyone should read it.

What lens of yours is most under appreciated?
Probably my SquidWho lens on Melissa Etheridge. It doesn’t get much traffic because she’s obviously not as popular these days as, say, Britney Spears or any of today’s superstars, but I love her music and think it shows in this lens.

What lens of yours is most popular?
It depends on the season. Right now, “How to Write Family Christmas Letters” is my most popular.

What’s one thing you see lensmasters doing that doesn’t work – and why doesn’t it?
It’s hard to say what doesn’t work and why because everyone wants something different out of Squidoo and people write lenses for different reasons. But one thing I see that doesn’t work if you’re trying to get traffic or make money is people building lenses that don’t target their keyword. Sometimes this is unavoidable.

I have a lens, for instance, called Save the World with Peanut Butter and Jelly. I knew when I created it that it would never make the first page of Google for anything people actually search for (but it does show up if you search for “save the world peanut butter jelly”!), but I wanted to write it anyway. For most of my other lenses, however, I try to find a few keyword phrases I want to target, and then I focus on those. I see a lot of lenses without any keyword focus, and I think that’s one reason people get discouraged with Squidoo and think they can’t get traffic or make money.

What’s your most important squidoo promotion method?
I bookmark my best Squidoo lenses on various social sites, but I’m very careful to bookmark at least 15 or more pages from other sites for every one Squidoo page I bookmark of my own. I don’t want to get banned for spamming.

What do you like best about the Squidu forum?
I love the fact that the forum is so friendly and helpful. I’ve been in other forums where there is a lot of flaming and general rudeness. I have never seen that at SquidU, which is impressive.

Which lensmaster(s) have helped you most?
I’m not as social as I could or should be on Squidoo because I find myself running out of hours in the day, but several lensmasters have helped me simply by creating great lenses that I looked at in my early Squidoo days to learn what to do. Two that spring to mind are SemperFidelis and ComfortDoc. They not only create great lenses, but they also do a lot for charity, and I really admire that. Also, Poddys recently contacted me and gave me a nice pat on the back and helped promote one of my Christmas lenses, so he also earns top honors on my list of helpful lensmasters. I know there are others, too, but if I listed them all, it’d sound like one of those long acceptance speeches at the Oscars, so I’ll hope that you get a chance to add some others to your “thank you lensmaster” blog.

He starts out his interview saying:

Wow, I feel so honored – never thought I’d get picked for something like this OK, here goes:

But of course, the honor is all mine…

Why are you a Squidoo lensmaster?

It’s simple: I want to make money with Squidoo. I’ve made a lot of different lenses since I became a member; some do not have any money maker modules or links on them at all, some I wrote just because it’s a topic I’m interested in, fully realizing that they won’t really “bring in the cash”, so to speak. Lenscrafting has helped me improve my English (there’s still a lot of room for improvement here , share the things I like and discuss them with others. However, the reason I joined Squidoo in the first place was to make money, and it still is my goal.

What is your favorite lens?

Top Anime List has always been the “flagship” lens of mine. I am a stats junkie so I just love watching all those pretty charts Squidoo provides. And, this lens always makes me happy since it brings in few thousands of visitors from search engines every week. Of course, I’m a big fan of anime myself as well.

What lens of yours is most under appreciated?

I’ve always thought that my lens about third-party firmware for Linksys WRT54GL routers was pretty much unnoticed. The main reason is that it gets no Google traffic whatsoever. Another reason is that it’s a very specific topic, so it needs outside visitors who know exactly what they’re looking for (and like I said, I get none of those from Google). I put some work into it back when I was tinkering with my router, so it was a bit of a shame to see that no one’s reading it. However, I can’t say that it isn’t noticed at all – chefkeem recently added it to his “The Little Lens That Should” lens booster club, which I’m very thankful for.

What lens of yours is most popular?

Oops, it seems that my most popular lens is also my favorite. Top Anime List gets about 6,000 weekly visitors (mostly from search engines), so it has a lively discussion in Duel and Guestbook modules going on, as well as hundreds of votes in the Plexo module.

What’s one thing you see lensmasters doing that doesn’t work – and why doesn’t it?

Leaving links in guestbooks with the goal of promoting their own lenses. I’m sure you’ve seen comments like “Hey, great lens, I gave you 5*****. Please visit my Satellite Dish for PC lens“. This is nothing but spam, and not only you won’t benefit from it, you could even get in trouble if enough people report you.

What’s your most important squidoo promotion method?

I find that optimizing lenses for search engines and getting links from relevant websites is the best way of bringing targeted visitors to your lens, and, ultimately, making money. I think you should always start with working on your lens content, titles and tags before you submit or post it anywhere.

What do you like best about the SquidU forum?

Everyone is always very friendly. SquidU has to be one of the nicest communities online. Usually it’s a good thing You can also get help on any topics related to Squidoo. That is always a good thing.

Which lensmaster(s) have helped you most?

A lot of lensmasters have helped me since I became a Squidoo member, but if I had to name just one, it would be thefluffanutta . One, the tools and information he offers at SquidUtils.com are very useful for a lensmaster. Two, he somehow found the time to answer several of my SEO-related questions at SquidU, and that information proved to be very helpful to me.

Before I forget: she is featured here because she was helping squids when I looked at the forum picking the most helpful and active squidu contributors. What’s more – she’s made a whopping 1008 posts there. I mean seriously. AJ has been been at squidoo since July 2008! Are there even words for such dedication?

Why are you a squidoo lensmaster?

I became very unwell in April 2008. It was a very scary time and I had to stop working. I had tests, including an MRI Scan on my brain, which was clear and I ended up being referred to the Neurological Hospital in London. Finally I got a diagnosis, and so of course I made a lens about it: Otosclerosis.

So why Squidoo? I needed a job where I could work from home. I have always wanted to write. I wanted to learn how to make money on the internet. I needed to learn about networking and how to promote myself. Since I joined Squidoo in July 2008, I have learned so much…..I won’t say any more as I am going to publish a lens about “My Squidoo Journey”.

What is your favorite lens?

Oh, so many! Where do I start? It’s like saying “What is your favourite book?” or “What is your favourite song?” or choose between Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom…..

Of the lenses written by other Lensmasters, I would have to say:

Janet21 ’s excellent lens: Are you a Stay at Home Mom (or Dad) Interested in Earning a Monthly Income? – it was the first lens I ever landed on and it was the lens that inspired me enough to think “OK, I’ll give Squidoo a go”. Reading that lens was life-changing for me – but you will have to wait a bit longer to find out why as it will all be on my next lens!

However, I would also have to say that MiMi’s excellent lens: The Best Squidoo Lens NOT To Do is one that I absolutely love. This lens is a “must read” for every new Lensmaster who joins Squidoo.

As far as my own favorite lens is concerned, it really is very hard to narrow it down and maybe I should update my lensography and add information as to why a few of my lenses qualify as “favourites”. Trying to pick out one lens would be
like trying to answer the question: “Which is your favourite child?” – I have four children…..

What lens of yours is most under appreciated?

There’s several, but I have to say Squid Etiquette. I believe, and lots of people have said the same in the Guestbook, that this lens is essential reading for all new Lensmasters. I have had messages left in the Guestbook and also e-mails from new Lensmasters who wished they had read this lens before they published their first lens or before they made their first few posts on the Squidu Forum.

This was never intended to be an “earning” lens as although I may always have a lot to say in the SquidU Forum (well, I AM a Gemini! [ Me too, but I'm not as active on squidu ]), I also observe and watch as people come blundering in at times and lose friends before they make them on Squidoo. This Lens is my attempt to stop that from happening. Of course not everyone will take my advice!

What lens of yours is most popular?

Although it is my number two ranking lens at the moment, Bullying At Primary School is the second lens I published and has been my most successful. It has never been Lens of the Day but has recently been in the Top 100. It was a very hard lens to write as it discusses what we went through when one of my beautiful girls was bullied at school. But it also has a happy ending.

What’s one thing you see lensmasters doing that doesn’t work – and why doesn’t it?

I have to say that I find myself shouting at my PC screen, when I am looking at some of the posts on the SquidU Forum! I cannot believe how many Lensmasters come flying in and leave posts in so many
threads, without:

1. reading the Forum Guidelines
2. reading the “stickies” at the top of the threads

So many “newbies” post messages asking other SquidU Forum members to check out their lenses, give feedback, bless, visit, rate…. The first thing I do if I look at a new post in the Introduce Yourself Thread and Critique Me Thread is visit the new Lensmaster’s Bio and see how many lenses they have
favourited and star rated.

I get very frustrated at the number of new Lensmasters who post so many messages about “please visit” my lens, when they have hardly visited any lenses themselves! There is one Lensmaster in particular who has a very low “visit rate” and has not yet worked out the “give and take” ethos of Squidoo. He has thought up all these ingenious ways to promote the same lens in nearly every thread on the Forum and yet does not seem to have cottoned on to the fact that although he gets lots of views on each thread, no one actually answers!

What’s your most important Squidoo promotion method?

For some of my lenses I have found relevant forums to join and posting messages that I hope help people by answering questions. Then every so often I will either start a thread or leave a link to my Lenses in relevant threads. I have had a great number of visits to my lenses from “outside” Squidoo and at the end of the day, much as it is great to have visits from other Lensmasters and I treasure each one, it is visits from outside that will help maintain your lensrank long term.

What do you like best about the Squidu forum?

So many Lensmasters are willing to help so many people, despite the fact that if some of the people asking for help had done a search, they could have found out the answer to their problem, without having to post the question! It is definitely the best forum I have ever seen. Everyone is very polite (well most of the time) and even when someone either Spams or is just so full of themselves, the error of their ways is usually pointed out ever so gently.

Which lensmaster(s) have helped you most?

There’s so many! I have listed some of the Lensmasters who have helped me on a lens I published to do just that – Thanks for the help. However, I need to go back and add more. The first lensmasters to comment on my first two lenses were Everything Mouse and Debnet – they gave me the confidence to believe that perhaps I was doing things right and should definitely do more. There’s MiMi, who has featured three of my lenses on her Squidoo lens review. Then there is Carrie who has just featured http://www.squidoo.com/squid_etiquette on her Helping Squidoo Lenses Blog. There’s just so many good people on Squidoo – I really must go and update that lens of mine. And then of course there’s you Katinka. Your lens Squidoo CSS – my favorite code to spice up a lens is one of the very first Squidoo Tips lens that I saw and it helped me so much, as you have, when you have answered my own requests for help in the Forum.

So thank you everyone who I am in contact with on a regular basis – I love Squidoo and the Lensmasters I know are one of the main reasons why!