My Interview as a Squidoo LensMaster
Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 08:40PM It's "squid" time, folks!
I confess. I'm a Squidoo fan.
But the folks over at Squidoo already knew that.
That's why they wanted to interview me about my experiences as a Squidoo Lensmaster.
Hmmm. LensMaster. Sounds like I spent 6 years getting a Ph.D. as a "LensMaster." Not.
At the heart of Squidoo are its "lenses." Lenses are like single web pages with one person's view on a topic that they are passionate about. A lens points to other places.
Think of it as your first starting point when you're looking for something on a topic.
My interview will get you introduced to the idea of lenses and why I think they're valuable:
Robert Hruzek over at Middle Zone Musings ran a post recently wondering about the value of Squidoo. We've I mean...I've been recently chatting about the advantages of Squidoo over a traditional website. I recently offered this explanation to Robert which he said was the best one he's heard so far, so I thought I'd share it:
Yes, a website is more versatile than Squidoo but lenses were created to make searching for something easy.
For instance, if I'm looking for a new espresso maker, Google gives me a gazillion hits. Hmmm. Where to start? I don't know about you, but I get overwhelmed with all those hits on Google!
Squidoo, on the other hand, gives you lenses from people who are into espresso and built lenses on their personal experiences with espresso machines. That's all. It's a personal touch; it puts a "face" on Google.
As an example, here's my lens for clients and potential customers on corporate-image filmmaking:
You can tell your personal story in a fun way too.
Creating a lens is ridiculously easy, fun and quick. The modules in Squidoo help you think in "chunks." You break down your passion into segments. Added bonus: search engines like Squidoo. Another good reason to create a lens (or two or three or .....)
Squidoo lensmasters are really cool people; it's community-driven which means you can meet really neat folks who share the same passions you do. I've met some incredible folks this way.
Lenses are also great way to point your clients to something else besides your your website.
OK...what are you waiting for? You don't need a degree to be a LensMaster!
---Tom
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Reader Comments (3)
You made excellent points about the value of the personal perspective versus raw search results. The nice thing about Squidoo lenses, as you mentioned, is that they are quickly indexed and included on the search results so that searchers can quickly get great information on an eclectic mix of topics on the lenses related to their interests.
Being a sci-fi fan, the term "lensmaster" still conjures up images from E.E. (Doc) Smith's "Lensman" series - and the squid image actually fits! (Not that there's anything wrong with squids!)