Squidoo News

It shouldn’t surprise us that many of our lensmasters are not prepping their kids to go back to school somewhere else, they’re going home to school.

My NOT Back to School Page is _Joan_’s list of reasons why she and her kids think homeschooling is supercool.

BT says, “I learn when I want to.”
JG says, “I can work in bed.”

Smart kids.

http://www.squidoo.com/not-back-to-school

This lens was selected as LOTD because the lensmasters reads Kimberly’s Morning Coffee and nominated it!

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Is buying colorful school supplies the only way to get your child interested in learning? If you have a horse fan in the house, these themed school supplies from HorseAndPony will make her whinny in delight.

Horse Themed School Supplies contains pencils and erasers, notebooks and folders, lunchboxes and backpacks; there’s a little of everything to get your educated equestrian off to school on the right hoof.

Not only was this lens smartly built around a theme, it was smartly built as part of the Horse Review Squidclub.

http://www.squidoo.com/horse-school-supplies

This lens was selected as LOTD because the lensmasters reads Kimberly’s Morning Coffee and nominated it!

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Today I completed an exercise of going back through all of my purple star lenses, adding each of them to a new lens, a purple star lensography of sorts. After I was finished, I realized that I had learned something very important about myself and about crafting lenses.

What I learned isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s something that many of us offer as good advice to new lensmasters on a regular basis. That advice? Make lenses from your heart.

Another way of stating it is to write lenses on topics you’re passionate about, things that mean something to you. The reason that is good advice is that the end result is meaningful and, almost always, of a higher quality than when you write about something to which you have no personal connection.

Of my 14 purple star lenses, almost all of them are what I would judge as very good to excellent lenses. There are a couple that, frankly, I’d place in the “good” category; I’m not so sure they quite measure up to “very good.” And it turns out that the best of the best are on topics that I felt passionate about or had a strong personal connection to at the time they were written. The just “good” lenses, not so much.

Of course I know that I’m not able to judge my own lenses totally objectively, but after three-plus years on Squidoo I know an excellent lens when I see one, even if it is my own. I know how to recognize a “good” lens, too.

My point, which I’m not sure I’m stating very clearly, is that if quality matters to you, if you want to make a truly great lens, then put the money motive on the back burner and choose a subject that is really, truly close to your heart. If just “good” is good enough (and sometimes it is good enough), then settle for a subject that will meet some other goal or objective, such as increasing your earnings.

As for me, from now on I’m going to weigh more carefully my passions and my motives when I choose a topic for a lens and do my best to make each lens purple star-worthy by injecting into it a little piece of my heart.

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Is buying colorful school supplies the only way to get your child interested in learning? If you have a horse fan in the house, these themed school supplies from HorseAndPony will make her whinny in delight.

Horse Themed School Supplies contains pencils and erasers, notebooks and folders, lunchboxes and backpacks; there’s a little of everything to get your educated equestrian off to school on the right hoof.

Not only was this lens smartly built around a theme, it was smartly built as part of the Horse Review Squidclub.

http://www.squidoo.com/horse-school-supplies

This lens was selected as LOTD because the lensmasters reads Kimberly’s Morning Coffee and nominated it!

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Have you set monthly Squidoo goals yet for September?   If you’re not in the habit of setting goals each month, September is the perfect time to start.  With school back in session and the holiday season approaching ever so quickly, motivation for making more lenses and increasing opportunities for income is at its peak.

If you need even more motivation, check out Kimberly’s Morning Coffee post for today.  Add your September Squidoo goals to the forum and, at the end of the month if you’re able to show that you met them, you could win a prize. 

Make your goals specific and measurable.  Posting them publicly will add the element of accountability that many of us need to help us work a little harder to accomplish what we might otherwise give up on when we hit the inevitable rough spot.

To demonstrate that I practice what I preach, here are my September Squidoo goals:

1. Three new lenses this month, which will make 200 total! Still need to decide on something significant for #200.
2. Update all of my seasonal lenses, which is much easier said than done. I will ashamedly admit that some are horribly out of date.
3. Approach a new charity I learned about this week to let them know about Squidoo and, if they’re interested (and of course they will be) do what I can to help them get started.

So, who’s next?  Don’t forget to post your goals on the SquidU forum, then feel free to share them here as well. 

Now let’s get busy!

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For some kids, the bus ride is longer than others. jptanabe shares the story of her daughter’s trip Back to School and Back to Maine in today’s first back-to-school LOTD special.

It’s a tribute to her daughter’s education, and full of stories, photos, visitor guides, and reasons why heading back to Maine is worth the drive. If school for your kids is more than a ride down the street, consider a lens about their change of scenery.

http://www.squidoo.com/school-Maine

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Writing book reviews can be fun and challenging. On one hand you want to convey your love for the story, but you don’t want to give too much away. How do you do it?

One example is with today’s LOTD by jmsp206 on Frank McCourt’s book Angela’s Ashes. Jmsp206 writes, “‘Angela’s Ashes’ tells the story of Frank McCourt and his family living in extreme poverty in the small town in Ireland.” The line that got my attention is, “His father, an alcoholic, is later forced to move his family to America to relieve the family of financial debt.” I’ve always been under the impression that America was seen as a place to create wealth, not necessarily as one to relieve debt. Additional photos of an inadequate kitchen and barren loft further demonstrate themes that make this book an anomaly among stories of the rich.

I’ve already flagged it as a book-to-read on my Kindle. If you’ve read it, weigh in on the polls. If not, consider adding the book or movie to your library list.

http://www.squidoo.com/angelas-ashes

What do you “like” most about this book review? Sound off on Facebook.

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I’m very happy that two of my local friends are now lensmasters on Squidoo.  It’s fun to know other “squids” in real life!

Today, both are coming to the house and we’re going to be talking about building a business online with an emphasis on how to Squidoo.  (Gotta love “Squidoo” as a verb.)  There are some things that I want to make sure they know as they start out, but I want to know what other lensmasters think is important for a new lensmaster to know.

I’d love if you’d leave a comment here giving your one best piece of advice for a new lensmaster on Squidoo.  I’ll make sure to pass your Squidoo tips along to my friends and I’ll report back later to let you know how they’re doing.

Thanks!

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Today our journey to LOTD takes us through the feline jungle in search of the elusive cat tree. These trees, which can be a short as shrubs or as tall as your living room ceiling, are seen sprouting from walls and corners of homes with cats. Imported from your local department stores, these items have been to known to cost hundreds of dollars. But crafty lensmaster AlishaV is showing us how to make them at home from scratch.

Make Your Own Cat Tree covers cat creations from the simplest of carpet covered boards to the most elegant kitty complexes. There are levels, rooms, shelves, posts, and catwalks galore, with dozens of photos and kits to browse. If you have a box or a pipe or a board and some leftover twine or rugs, you can make a condo that fits your space and saves your furniture.

Why do we love this lens? It’s comprehensive, gives the reader dozens of options, and is obviously written by an author who loves her topic.

http://www.squidoo.com/Make_Cat_Trees

Nominated by makingamark, approved by Tommie and Missy.

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This week LOTD is brought to you courtesy of a guest author. Whitemoss recently submitted some awesome LOTD nominations and won the privilege of bringing you five of her favorite, wholesome lenses as LOTD picks. Today is the fifth selection to wrap up the week. Enjoy!

When I first saw this I was puzzled. How to be annoying…was this a typo? Duh!

Lensmaster girlfriendfactory is channeling Homer Simpson to run us through Annoyingly Impaired 101, a three part study course.

I laughed out loud; it’s a good honest piece of fun. If you’re on the same wavelength you’ll love this. (If not it could REALLY annoy you!)

~whitemoss

http://www.squidoo.com/being_annoying

Stop by LOTD on Facebook to say hello and thanks to whitemoss for this week’s LOTD selections! You could win guest author for a week in September.

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