Squidlog.net

AJ would like to wish her Squidpal Alex Crabtree a Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Alex

Squidoo Lensmaster Drifter0658 (aka Alex Crabtree) has a birthday today and I would like to join various people who have written Birthday tributes in wishing one of my best buddies on Squidoo a very Happy Birthday.

This is what Alex’s Squidoo Bio says:

drifter0658 has been a member since October 23 2008, has rated 1,051 lenses, favorited 780, and has created 111 lenses from scratch. This member’s top-ranked page is “Riding The Tail Of The Dragon“.

Alex joined Squidoo three months after me and immediately embraced the ethos of the site with enthusiasm. He was soon a regular contributor at the Squidu Forum and only managed to get his knuckles rapped a couple of times by Kimberly for being a tad too honest when people were behaving like total twits

Alex originally joined Squidoo to promote his online Biker Leather store but it wasn’t long before he was not only entertaining us but also educating us. As he learned so he started to teach.

He made Giant Squid in June 2009 and by September he made the Giant Squid100 Club. Then his lensmaking dropped off as he set up and nurtured Crabbys Beach into life.

At first glance Alex gives the impression of being just a big biker, who has a liking for poker and tequila. But it’s not long before you get past the leathers and you find a man with a big, huge sharing heart, with a wicked sense of humour.

Alex has a great range of lenses. The reflective and thought provoking: What branding means to me -   the tender: Cameron Joseph Isaak ~ My Grandson and the ironic: Make money at home (really).

I could go on for pages about what makes this great guy so special, but I will just say what a priviledge it is to call this man friend and to work with him on various “stuff” as I do.

You can find more birthday tributes to Alex on Bev’s beautiful blog: Native American Totems and MiMi’s Squidoo Lens Reviews.

Happy Birthday Alex!

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AJ is musing about how we can help our fellow Lensmasters with some words of encouragement

Giving a critique on another Squidoo Lensmaster’s lens is one of the ways you can really get involved in the Squidoo Community. For some new Lensmasters it is the way they can start tackling that very steep learning curve that we all face when we first start publishing lenses on Squidoo.

When giving feedback you can  give just a couple of tips or you can give a thorough critique.

While I was a Squidoo Angel, I stopped giving critiques because I just did not have the time. But recently I have started critiquing again. And I tend to pick the threads on the SquidU Forum that have a number of views but have had no responses.

Why do I do that?

Well……threads that have had views but no responses tend to feature lenses where there may be problems but not everyone feels comfortable giving feedback that may need to be negative. I see this as an enjoyable challenge.

The challenge is to be able to help someone and give them the opportunity to be a better Lensmaster AND to nip TOS violations in the bud. Yes, we all know that in an ideal world everyone would read the Squidoo TOS before they hit the Publish button on their first lens, but we also know that Squidoo life just ain’t like that!

I defy anyone not to be able to find something positive to say in a critique in order to be able to encourage someone to look at how they do things and then give tactful and helpful suggestions about the things that need changing.

If you approach critiquing with the attitude of “How can I help”, rather than “Sheesh, this is not good”, then you may just be helping someone who will turn into a brillaint lensmaster and everyone on Squidoo gains.

If you want some more tips about how to go about critiquing, then I started a thread on SquidU: Prepared to give a critique? Then please read this first. So go on, make someone happy today!

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AJ is musing about a change of identity and some forgotten joys

These last few weeks have seen some major introspection on my part. It always happens at this time of year but the difference this year has been that external factors have had quite an influence.

So, along with the decision to emerge from behind my Simpsonized avatar, I have again been assessing what is important to me as I go about my on-line activities. And yesterday I realised I had forgotten one of the things in my on-line life that gives me greatest satisfaction.

I love to write and create just for the sake of it

When I first joined Squidoo I was looking for something to keep me occupied. I’d had to give up my job because I had been diagnosed with Otosclerosis and could not cope with working.

The concern was that I would not have enough to keep me happy – I am not someone who gets any joy whatsoever out of cleaning and ironing and although my family would undoubtedly love never having to look for their clean clothes that are always ironed the minute they are dry, that is not exactly my idea of fun!

I had always wanted to write and when I found Squidoo I realised that not only could I indulge my passion for writing, I might just make some money as well.

Then as I learned more, the possibility of making money started to become the priority and I forgot about the joys of writing for pleasure. I stopped just writing about whatever came into my head as I started looking at topics that had more potential for generating an income.

When I look at my lenses, the ones that are the most successful on Squidoo are those that contain bits of the real me in them.

The lenses that have been made solely with the aim of trying to make sales of a product, don’t do so well. And why is that? I think it is because my heart is not in them and, although they are products I genuinely either have or would like to have,  I am almost embarrassed to promote them (lenses like:  Samsung 3D Gaming Monitor and Samsung 3D HD TV).  I make them and think:

OK, what will be, will be

(Note: I am not knocking anyone who does make lenses for making sales, I wish you every success, it’s just not for me at the moment.)

So, over the next few weeks, as I try to make another 14 lenses in time to apply for the Giant Squid 100 Club in June, I am going to indulge myself by just writing about what grabs me at that moment in time, which yesterday was to write about my fav football song: Three Lions

As a passionate supporter of the England Football Team, I just love this song and I loved making the lens!

OK, I will do some keyword research, but I won’t be publishing to any Game Plan. I will go to where The Muse takes me and boy, all of a sudden I feel re-motivated to make some lenses again.

Hmmm, is there a lesson in there somewhere?

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The return of a “regular” at the Squidoo Forum after quite an absence, has AJ thinking about other old friends who have disappeared from SquidU and some changes are afoot

Networking on Squidoo is like networking all over the net. The internet reminds me of the sea. It covers the planet but it depends which way the tide is flowing as to where you end up.

To me the tide is the trends, the latest “in” platforms, the places that shoals of  Squidoo Lensmasters and networkers flock to as word gets out that this is “the” place to mix, establish backlinks and, if you are lucky, get some traffic as well.

I have been a regular on the SquidU Forum since I first started on Squidoo in the summer of 2008. I have seen celebrations, I have seen arguments. I have seen thought provoking discussions and I have seen comments that have made me wince. I have seen people reaching out to others to support them when life is getting them down.

I have seen people sharing Squidoo Tips as they help others solve problems on their lenses (thanks Flynn the Cat for pointing me in the right direction over some AllPosters code this week ). I have felt sad and I have laughed out loud.

There’s been times when I get so cross that I think I will never, ever, ever, (ever!) set foot in the Forum again. I have seen people come and I have seen people go…

But in the last couple of weeks, with the return of Rock The Ice after a long absence plus fleeting appearances from Poddys and Chef Keem, I have been reminded about a lot of great people who used to regularly visit SquidU, who I know are still publishing on Squidoo and are active on other networks, but who no longer visit the SquidU Forum.

Where are you? Poddys, Joan, MiMi, Bev, Drifter, Lakeerieartists, Spirituality, to mention just a few…… Come back! We miss your input and we miss YOU!

If your absence is due to a bug stopping you from logging in, then Kimberly has announced it has been fixed in this SquidU Forum thread.

And it was something that happened on the Forum recently that made me stop and think and do something I have been planning for some time.

AJ is changing!

On SquidU and here on Squidlog, we have often talked about being open and honest in our online activities, particularly if you are relying on people to trust you and believe what you are saying, whether it be to recommend a product or do some teaching.

Having a cartoon character for an Avatar, probably makes it harder to build credibility. I have always known that, but I had some very genuine (and honest) reasons for wanting to remain anonymous, which my online friends have always accepted and respected.

However, I always knew that one day, I would have to lose my anonymity online and on Squidoo, if I was to be able to further develop my online presence and also realise my ambition, which is to make a reasonable income through my writing, whether it be publishing on Squidoo, blogging or having my own websites.

So over the last few days, I have been editing my very personal lenses and now I have to keep my fingers crossed that these changes don’t ruin the Top Tier ranking that my school bullying lens has enjoyed for so long.

Then I made a new Avatar!

I followed MiMi’s example when she changed her avatar, what seems like a long time ago. I added my “AJ” handle to it and a mini version of the old Avatar, so that people will know it is me. Eventually the old Avatar will disappear.

My feelings about changing my avatar are in a bit of a jumble. I have reservations about mixing up my personal and private identity with my online one, which is why I don’t use Facebook for keeping in touch with family or personal contacts.

I guess I could describe how I feel as dipping my toe in and getting ready to take the plunge. The water feels a bit cold but I know I will enjoy the swim once I get in there!

Hello from the real AJ

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AJ is Musing about the people who give so much time to help run the Community of Squidoo and make it such a great place to publish and network

I had planned a post about the new Squidoo Angels who took to the Squidoo skies at the beginning of April and I still plan an article about them, but today I have decided to pay tribute to all the Squidoo “volunteers”.

When I joined Squidoo in July 2008, I think there were about 750,000 lenses. This has gone up to around 1.3 million!! I don’t have a clue how many Lensmasters are registered….

When you look at those numbers and the number of people actually on the paid HQ Team, (is it eight?) then it’s obvious the only way the site can run is with the help of volunteers. During my time on Squidoo there’s been Squidoo Angels, Mentors, Citizens, Greeters and Giant Squid Challenge Teamleaders (who could ever forget Joan’s Cheerleader Avatar!) plus a whole host of Lensmasters without a title, but who have also given their time to help people find their way on Squidoo. They critique lenses, they answer calls for help, they organise networks and support groups and they share Squidoo tips and ideas. They do it without a badge or a title because they are community minded.

Every one of these people, the Volunteers with and without titles, is a Lensmaster like you and me. They have their own lenses to manage and nurture and I know from my own personal experience that often your own lenses suffer while you are helping others with theirs.

But not only are these volunteers Lensmasters like you and me, they are human too. They have their own view of the world about what appeals to them in other people’s lenses, what they think is OK and what is not. Everyone is different and their view may be different to your’s.

The Volunteers who have been selected by HQ to fulfill specific roles have been chosen because HQ believes that, whichever way they decide to do their job, they will do it with honesty and integrity. And I would say that 99% of the time, this is exactly what happens.

Now I am not here to speculate or discuss what happens 1% of the time, because I want us to stop and think about the 99% and pay tribute to what the volunteers do, for the benefit of everyone who cares about the Community of Squidoo.

It is so easy, particularly when we have no responsibility, to start questioning how others with responsibility conduct themselves and to start shouting “foul”, the minute we believe they have got something wrong. It also seems to be human nature to find it easier to complain when we think something is wrong but forget to smile and say “great work”, when it goes right.

So, all I want to say here is thank you to all these Squidoo Volunteers and can the rest of us please redress the balance?

Whenever you want to raise a concern or suggest something is not going right, can you also  mention something you like or something that IS going right? Because to be honest I think that there is more going right on Squidoo than is not going right and we all need to stop and remember that sometimes.

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