No More Ratings Swaps!

The Squid blog had a post yesterday, which brought up an issue facing Squidoo. There appears to be a growing problem with exchanging ratings for lenses. This practice is frowned upon because it tends to negate the value of star ratings on Squidoo. If everyone has a 5-Star Rating what is the point of the ratings system?

Squidoo has announced that this practice will no longer be acceptable and in fact may hurt your lens rankings going forward, so please take caution when rating lenses. It is not a problem for you to rate a lens at the request of another lensmaster, but please do not swap a 5 for a 5. Rate the lenson its own merit not because you received a 5. Rate the lens for its value to the community as a whole. I tend not to rate lenses at all until I can rate them with a 5, but it is up to you to develop your own criteria for rating lenses.

So let's stop the swapping of ratings and lensroll's

eBay Squidoo - Lens of the Week! July 30th, 2007

Where you'll find handcrafted jewelry made with love and care!

Welcome to Cactus and Coyote's lens!! I hope you enjoy browsing ~ I offer handcrafted jewelry with a Native American/Southwest theme. I have begun to add more earth-tone jewels and Swarovski Crystals to my creations just recently.

I'm sure you'll be able to find something for every taste...for yourself or for gifts. Each package is wrapped carefully, in gift boxes, and packaged professionally. If you purchase 3 or more items, I'll include a jewelry cleaning cloth at no charge...my gift to you!

Hope you enjoy reading some interesting facts about Native American fetishes. I have many more details linked from my recently updated eBay homepage... www.cactusandcoyote.com It's much more navigation-friendly!!! Come check it out!!

eBay Squidoo Lens of the Day - July 27, 2007

Michael Hero - Heirloom Quality Collectibles 'Crystallized with Swarovski'

Michael Hero designs, formerly a division of Nob Hill Luxury Group, was purchased by a large American jewelry manufacturer in early- to mid-2007, and have since been discontinued. These items, especially those that are new in original gift box with original packaging and inserts, will become more and more difficult to obtain as retailers' and individual sellers' inventories are depleted.

These elegant and delightful frames, vanity trays, trinket boxes and pill boxes were featured in major high-end department stores such as Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom and Macy's, and fine jewelry stores such as Bailey, Banks and Biddle and Zales. This unique line of home decor can best be described as "table jewelry," as they are a product of Michael Hero's twenty-five-plus years of jewelry design and manufacturing experience. Each design is inspired by Michael Hero's passion for world travel, architecture and art history, as stated in the Romance Story card, originally provided with each new piece.

eBay Squidoo - Lens of the Day! July 26th, 2007

A Well Dressed Bullet

We offer custom handmade Belt Buckles, Bolo Ties, Bullet Pens, Card Guard Protectors, Clocks, Keepsake Urns, Key Chains, Shotgun Wedding Bar & Party Lights, Zipper Pulls and so much more.

Unique gift ideas for hunters, rifle, handgun and shotgun shooters, police officers, military personnel, conservation officers & those hard to buy for.

We offer several shopping options for you, through our website, our eBay Store or our new Etsy Shop.

We know buying on the internet can be nerve racking sometimes, be confident buying from us, check out our customer comments on our website or eBay feedback.

Squidoo Lens! - House Cleaning Tips!

I've been checking out so many of the lenses being created by the eBay Seller community and I think you are all doing a fantastic job. Here are a few tips on fine tuning your lenses.

• Make sure the lens isn't too long (10 or more modules) or too short ( just 3 modules plus the introduction).
  
  
• Don't show all of your product, the key is to entice them to visit your store or website where they can see everything.
  
  
• Add a Guestbook so visitors can say hi!
  
  
• My preference is for the Guestbook to always be the last module in the lens. If you've added new content or modules, just use the reorder module button to move the guestbook to the end.
  
  
• Always feature your best stuff at the top of the lens. Many visitors scan the page first so you want to catch their eye at the beginning.
  
  
• Sell another eBay Sellers product on your lens. If you have a friend who sells complementary product why not work a deal where they list some of your items and you list some of theirs. That is what makes a community work.
  
  
• Link to your other lenses by lensrolling them, marking them as favorites -- even if they are personal and have nothing to do with your product. I get a lot of links to my Single Dad lens from my eBay related lenses.

Those are just a few suggestions. I hope they help. Please contact me or comment on these posts if you have questions or suggestions.

eBay Squidoo - Lens of the Day! July 25th, 2007

All manner of magical creatures...

Thanks so much for visiting!

Do you love fairies, tales of King Arthur, and all things that whisper of magic and imagination? Glimpse into the world of enchantment through the art of turn of the century and modern artists from around the world! Artists such as Arthur Rackham, Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, John Bauer, Edmund Dulac, Margaret Tarrant, Molly Brett, Florence Anderson, Hilda Miller, Hans Arnold, Elsa Beskow, Mili Weber & more!

Fairies, sprites, pixies, trolls, angels, mermaids, knights, maidens, unicorns, and all manner of magical creatures await you in the castles, forests, oceans, and meadows of these fabulous illustrations!

You'll find enchanting illustations from children's fairy tales that take you back to your childhood. Teddy bears, forest, water & farm creatures and their happy adventures are sure to bring a smile!

Announcing Lensroll.com

Now you can vote for your favorite lenses at Lensroll.com Make sure to submit your lenses and vote for others.

Here is the announcement:

Dictionary meaning...

Lens: something that facilitates and influences perception, comprehension, or evaluation

Roll: a list of names or related items, a catalog


Squidoo meaning...

Lensroll: Lensrolling is a way to share the love and create your own personal lens network. List your friends' lenses, relevant lenses on your topic, or even link to other lenses by you.


And now the all new lensroll.com meaning...

It's DIGG for Squidoo Lenses!

A chance to plug your work, and have others check it out. Register to submit and also 'roll'.

What others call "voting" we call "rolling".

Roll your own, and roll others that you like.

An excellent range of categories to choose from. And once submitted your lens is instantly searchable.

Give your lenses a chance to double-dip and another method in which to expose themselves on the world wide web.

Stop by lensroll.com

* Please note: Lensroll.com is not owned by Squidoo Inc. Permission was sought before making this thread in the Announcements sub-forum. Lensroll.com is a partnership between myself and another lensmaster who is not active at SquidU. I'd like to take a moment to thank MrLewisSmile and thefluffanutta for their invaluable feedback in the proceeding months. As well as the beta testing lensmasters who have helped out in the last month. No monkeys were harmed in the making of this website.

Manage Your Expectations!

Many of you are excited about the potential of Squidoo and are hoping to make some money from your effort and see an increase in traffic to your stores, websites etc. Don't be discouraged, when there is just a trickle at the beginning.

Managing your expectations, is key to coping with the extra work, while seeing relatively minimal results. Squidoo, has been proven to generate increased traffic to eBay Stores, Blogs and Websites but it isn't an avalanche of traffic.

When I first started using Squidoo, to drive traffic to my blogs, visitors just trickled in from my lenses, maybe once or twice a week. Now, three months later, I get multiple visitors a day from my lenses. Your traffic will follow much the same pattern.

If you set small manageable goals for your Squidoo results, it will help you get through the early days of little traffic and small payouts from Squidoo. As Squidoo grows, so will the traffic to the site and so will your potential customer base. Online marketing is a marathon not a sprint. Those sellers who give up too quickly, will not reap the rewards from all of their hard work.

Some reasonable goals would be:

• Earn enough each month from Squidoo to pay your monthly store subscription or upgrade to the next level.
• Earn enough through Squidoo to help pay for Christmas presents for the family.
• Earn enough through Squidoo to pay for an occasional round of golf (my personal favorite)
• Generate enough traffic from Squidoo to increase sales by 10% in a month.
  

I don't sell product any longer, so I pay more attention to the Squidoo payouts then many of you might. When I received my first payout amount of $1.50, I was very excited. Sure, it was barely enough money to pay for a cup of coffee, but it was equal to the amount of money I made from my blog, the first month I started blogging and it was more than what I expected. When it came to the second month's payout, I was once again surprised, because it was 3 times what I had earned the previous month -- I could now buy 3 cup's of coffee or lunch at Del Taco.

I'm sure you get my point. If you manage your expectations you will be in for a pleasant surprise each month. I've spoken to many professional bloggers and have been told the same thing over and over again. It takes up to 18 months of hard work before you see any measurable income from blogging but only an additional 6 months before it becomes a great living. One caveat, you have to keep refining and improving your product (content).

When it comes to Squidoo, or any other marketing tool, instant success rarely happens but if you stay the course and continue to enhance and improve your content, there is actually gold at the end of the Rainbow.

One of your fellow Squidzens is conducting a poll of Squidoo lensmasters called How Much Money Are You Making With Squidoo? in case your curious where your earnings stack-up.

I am confident, if you continue to create more lenses (I recommend a lens for ever major product line) and you work on fine tuning your lenses, it is possible that you will begin seeing measurable results by the 4th quarter of this year. Don't lose heart!

eBay Squidoo - Lens of the Day! July 24, 2007

Authenticated Sports Memorabilia for Fans of ALL Sports

Our collectibles are from the leaders of the sports memorabilia industry. You will find Sports Memorabilia from Steiner Sports, Mounted Memories, and Tri-Star. We carry Autographed Memorabilia from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, NCAA, College Football and College Basketball.

For the NASCAR fans we specialize in a 1/64 diecast car that is different than all the rest you see on the market. They are only available for 4 of the top drivers, Dale Earnhardt Sr, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Our most popular NASCAR item is the 1/24 Display Case with a Platform. We have the display cases for ALL the drivers of NASCAR. Click here to see the 1/24 Display Case for your favorite driver.

eBay Squidoo - Lens of the Day! July 23, 2007

Everything you ever wanted to know about Garnet Gems

When most people hear the name Garnet they think red. But Garnets are more then just a cheap red gemstone. Garnets can come in a wide variety of colors and some can be quite valuable. This guide is a comprehensive look at many different kinds of Garnets and their individual properties.

History

Garnets have been around a very long time. Dating back to Bible, Noah, it is reported, used a lantern of Garnet in order to safely steer The Ark through the darkness of night. Garnets were known to have been used in 3100 B.C. by Egyptian artisans who created beautiful garnet beads, bracelets and other jewelry. They also used crushed Garnets as an abrasive. The ancient Chinese are said to have used Garnets as bullets! But Garnets did not reach their heyday until the late19th century when Victorian women were practically dripping in Garnet jewelry.

How To Create An eBay Stores Lens That Sells!

I'm sure many of you don't know the first place to start with this Squidoo stuff; don't worry you are lot alone. Many eBay sellers have heard of Squidoo but no very little about it. I'll try to give you a snapshot.

5 Reasons YOU Need a Squidoo Lens...

1. Squidoo Is Free. You can’t beat free! In the few minutes it takes to create your lens, you can quickly start driving traffic to your eBay listings. That's right...for free.


2. Squidoo Lenses Are Easy To Create. Squidoo is easy, friendly and totally non-techy to use, and provides you with the tools to create an excellent page describing your product or service.


3. Squidoo Helps You Become The Expert. Nobody knows your products as well as you do, so use Squidoo to share that knowledge with potential buyers. Showcase your bestselling stuff, introduce yourself to new customers, give a little background about your store, explain a process or some unique history about your product... and then (of course) point readers to where they can buy buy buy!


4. Squidoo is a Wowsers Traffic Driver. Hundreds of eBay sellers have seen increased traffic to their eBay Stores and websites. If you use the eBay building block on a lens, you can list your items once and as they change on eBay they will automatically change on your Squidoo page. Many eBay sellers get a nice percentage of their store traffic from their Squidoo lens.


5. Squidoo Pays You! You earn a royalty from every sale off of your lens. For you or charity. Just for selling stuff you were going to anyway. Nice.

I thought it would be nice to give you a head start, creating your very own eBay Stores Lens, with an example of some of the "best practices" for creating a lens: How To Create An eBay Stores Lens That Sells!. Once you've had a chance to review the lens and see how easy it is, then just click on the Make Your Own link on the header and get started creating your own lens.

Grab A Plexo For Your Own Lens or Blog!

Did you know you could grab a plexo from one lens and add it to another? Or even add it to a blog, website or your favorite RSS Reader. A Links Plexo is a Squidoo nodule that allows you to list links in one place and allow user to vote for them or even add their own if they choosen.

To get an existing Links Plexo for your lens or blog, just click on the "Grab This" button underneath the Plexo you want. It will give you three options:

Get the RSS feed: Keep an eye on this Plexo list. See who wins. And who's left in the dirt.

Get the widget: Add this Plexo list as a widget on your blog, site, forum, whatever. Be an influential. Show off your great find.

Get this on my lens: Attack of the clones! Grab this Plexo module for your own lens. Get YOUR readers to vote for their favorites.

Just select the option you like and follow the directions.

Why not grab one of the category plexo's in the eBay Seller Directory and add it to your lens or blog like I've done at my blog The Seller Evangelist -- The more exposure the better.

eBay Sellers! Add Your Links to the Seller's Directory.

I've created an eBay Sellers's Directory on Squidoo to help promote your many online properties. It is meant for eBay sellers to promote their blogs, Squidoo Lenses, eBay Stores, Websites and other online commerce stores and content

The traffic is building, so make sure to add your links. The Seller's Directory is ranked #4 on all of Squidoo so don't miss out.

The directory is broken down into categories and each category contains (2) Links Plexos; one for your ecommerce links, like your eBay Store, Websites, etc; the other is for your online content like your blog and Squidoo lenses. Please make sure to put your links in the appropriate section. Also vote for your links, to move them higher on the list, because I only display the top 5 links on the directory index. (All of the links display on the category specific lenses). Here is a link to the listing directions.

My goal is to have this directory humming by the Christmas shopping season, every little bit of promotion helps. Squidoo is growing and so will this directory so take advantage of the free promotion.

eBay Squidoo - Lens of the Day! July 20th, 2007

Movies, Music and More from Newport Media Source

I'm a Movie and Music Nut!

At Newport Media Source (our eBay Store) and Inet Media Source (our Amazon A-Store), we carry a great selection of hard-to-find DVD's and CD's.

We carry a limited selection of items in our eBay Store but our entire catalog of items is available in our Amazon A-Store Because we sell at multiple marketplaces, I thought it made sense to put all of our store links in one place.

My eBay Feedback is 99.6% positve on eBay with over 5500 positive Feedback and I work closely with my customers to make sure you are satisfied with each and every purchase. We sell on both marketplaces because our customers like options. So please visit either our eBay Store or Amazon store for your next DVD or CD purchase,

Visit my eBay About Me Page

Welcome to the eBay Squidoo Blog!

I have recently been given the honor of serving as the first Community Manager for the eBay Seller Community on Squidoo. This is strictly a volunteer position but I take it very seriously. My goal is to help eBay sellers maximize their Squidoo experience while promoting their online products and content.

I have a number of things planned for the community and would love to hear your ideas and suggestions. Together we can build a community that helps each member be successful.

The first order of business is to give you all of the community links. They are also available on the sidebar.

• The eBay Squidoo Community Headquarters: This will serve as the main hub on Squidoo.
  
  
• The eBay Squidoo Group Headquarters: I recommend you join this group and add all of your lenses. The group homepage will feature lensmasters and lenses from its members. Just another window to your product and content on Squidoo.
  
  
• The eBay Squidoo Directory of Sellers: This is a fast growing directory of ecommerce and content links for community members. The traffic is growing on a daily basis so make sure to include your links. You may not get tons of traffic right now but if I have my way by the 4th Quarter shopping season this directory will be humming.
  
  
• Directory Listing Instructions: Please read the information on this lens before adding your links.

I'm pleased to announce that each day I will be featuring one of your lenses as the Lens of the Day, both on this blog, as well as the other community links. Squidoo HQ has said they will help us promote the eBay Squidoo LOTD as well (but we still haven't figure out how , so stay tuned). My goal is to pick a lens each weekday, so make sure to freshen up your lenses because I'm gonna come a lookin'. Please check out my lens "What I Look For in a Lens" to get an idea what I look for.

I'm really excited about working with all of you, to build the best community on Squidoo, so please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or suggestions.

While this community is made up of eBay sellers, it is not strictly geared towards promoting only eBay items. If you sell on other marketplaces or your own website please include those links as well. This community is for the Seller not the marketplace. It is a way to celebrate sellers and provide you with the tools necessary to succeed.

Thanks Again!
Randy Smythe

eBay Squidoo - Lens of the Day! July 19th, 2007

Try Winsor Pilates and "Sculpt your body slim!"

Are you looking to lose weight or get in shape?

Consider adding Pilates to your weight-loss and exercise plan. Created by Joseph Pilates in the early 1900s, The Pilates Method is a low-impact form of exercise with an emphasis on precise, controlled movements designed to strengthen the powerhouse, the core muscles in the torso. In just a few sessions, you will notice an increase in core strength and an improvement in posture.