Paul Newman Tribute to a Great American Actor

Paul Newman, one of the world's best actors passed away today after a long battle with lung cancer. Newman, 83, who has been making movies for over 50 years, was known for having a huge love of life. First as a Oscar nominated actor, then as a race car driver and entrepreneur. All through those years, his wife Joanne Woodward was by his side both on and off the screen.

Newman's movie bio includes many of the most well-received and successful movies of all time. Since 1956's "Somebody Up There Likes Me" where he played boxer Rocky Graziano, to voicing the animated Doc Hudson in 2006's "Cars", Newman brought class to the screen. I just did a webpage in his honor highlighting some of his many, many movies. Take a look at Paul Newman: Acting Icon.

Are You Interested In Affiliate Marketing? Go to This Forum For Affiliate Marketers

If you are unsure about where to start with affiliate marketing or if you are experienced in the ways of earning money online, you might want to take a look at abestweb.com.

There are newbies and veteran online marketers posting and answering the questions you might not have even thought of and they are always willing to provide excellent guidance based on their own successful experience. You could start reading the back posts and days later not have scratched the surface of great information are ready posted. You will come away with lots of ideas and suggestions that you can apply to your own online money making

The Number One Affiliate Marketing Forum

Described as the number one affiliate marketing forum with over 46,000 members, this site should be bookmarked and visited if you have questions about just about any affiliate marketing program.

Abestweb.com has dedicated sub-forums for those working with Commission Junction, Shareasale and others. There is a TON of information from pointers to tips on every aspect of this rapidly growing business. There's even a Google Adsense mini-forum. One of the most active forums available, the boards usually have 50-plus visitors at any given time of the day. Definitely one of the best marketing forums available.

Editing Lenses: I Sometimes Feel Like I'm a Professional Plate Spinner

I sometimes feel like I'm the guy in the picture, spinning plates and trying to juggle everything all at once. You can almost hear "Flight of The Bumblebee" playing in the background as I scurry from lens to squidoo lens adding more information on one and then some video on another. Checking my latest stats. Reading some posts at the Squidoo Forums and elsewhere. But I'm loving it!

This is so much fun! Anyone who knows me, knows I am a trivia nut and know a little bit about a lot of different subjects. Squidoo is allowing me to put overcharged brain to work, shouting from the rooftops "This is something you need to look at" when I publish a new lens. I highly recommend you take a spin at making some Squidoo lens for yourself. Even if the money doesn't start pouring in immediately, the money will start coming in. How much you make is determined by what you know and what you want to put in front of your readers faces. Do it now. Go to Squidoo and start having some fun too.

All I Want For Xmas is a Squidoo Christmas Lens!

A Squidoo lens with a Christmas theme is on the books and going to be published shortly. I love the up-coming holiday season and want to share that with everybody. Even though I don't think I'll be able to elbow my way into the top rankings with such a lens, I do want to have something on Squidoo and the web showing the best parts of the holiday. Maybe it will make it's way to the lofty heights of the top 100 by next Christmas!

I plan to continue adding and re-writing this lens even after the holidays so that it will be one of the best Xmas pages and maybe generate some good traffic from the search engines. I'll edit this post later by adding the URL so you can check it out.

I've Updated More Of My Squidoo Lenses

I've added a new article on my top lens Family Tree Climber outlining how my great-great-grandfather lied about his age in order to join the Canadian army during World War One. He was 56 years old at the time and was accepted!.

I've also added some more video and pictures to my lens about 90210 star Jessica Stroup, but it needs more commentary about her career.

My two lens I made just for fun The Banana Splits and H.R. Pufnstuf and Witchipoo are still getting a fair bit of traffic. Both are about TV shows I loved as a kid and have some great video clips. Take a look if you loved them too. I always got a kick out of Billy Hayes' character Witchipoo. So over the top and hilarious. I have a clip on that lens showing Hayes appearing on Bewitched in a similar role as a witch in "Hansel and Gretel in Samanthaland."

Here's A Video Showing How to Make a Squidoo Lens Step by Step

I just spotted a new video that was posted on Blip.tv showing how to set up a Squidoo lens from login to finished lens. It is simple, and easy to follow. The video is called How To Create A Cash-Making Squidoo Lens and shows how to add pictures, video and content modules and how to tweak each module to display your content at it's best.

What About Using eBay On My Lenses? Try the Squidu eBay Forum

The auction site eBay is a place where fortunes can and have been made. If you use the tips and pointers of veteran eBay sellers and buyers, you can have another source of income. I'm currently planning to start selling some stuff that has a degree of demand and I know will sell.

Using some of my Squidoo lenses, I'll feature some of my items I plan to sell and might be able to direct targeted eager buyers to my eBay store. I don't have a store yet, but they're easy to set up. Hey, my auctions might even show up on your lenses too! I think I can start earning a smidgen of moola from the auction site.

If you visit the Squidoo forum, there's a section dedicated to eBay called eBay Users Forum you might want to check out. I see if I can find any books about eBay that I can recommend from Amazon that I can recommend here. Perhaps a lens just about eBay is in order. Something more to add to my increasing to-do list!

Updated Lenses: Take a Look at My New Format For Squidoo and Lens Making

I've updated a bunch of my lenses but I really like the new format I have for one of my higher ranked lenses called Squidoo and Lens Making. I think it looks really nice and is a touch more professional. The lens details how I'm doing at Squidoo, my goals, and results.

Let me know what you think. If you have any suggestions, let me know here or on the lens in the comments section. Some of my other lenses have been given a similar make-over, and I want to add some more lenses with a similar format.

Squidoo Gift Baskets Lens Provides Some Gift Options For the Hard-To-Buy For

Here's a cool lens for those folks when you just can't figure out what to buy them. Gift Baskets are so varied and appropriate in so many situations that you would be happy to receive such a thoughtful gift. The lens, called That's Creative: Unique Gift Baskets, offers options for new or expecting moms, or for the coffee or chocolate lover (that's me!), and even some for kids.

There's even some choices available for the eco-friendly among us. Hey, with the holidays approaching, it is a good idea to get a jump on your gift-buying by ordering now. And don't forget what I said about me being a chocolate lover - order me something tasty from the lens!

What About a Halloween Lens? Here's One to Visit

Halloween is fast approaching and if you want to have some visitors you should get moving! Here's a new one I just ran across called Halloween - A Spooky Celebration. A word of caution if you are scared of spiders, there's a HUGE spider picture.

The lens has lots of Halloween images and costume ideas and a ton of information about black cats, witches and all the scary stuff that makes Halloween so much fun. Take a look.

I Think Emmy-Winner Mad Men Deserves a Lens, Don't You?

That new series, Mad Men, starring Jon Hamm raked in more awards this past weekend, with an Emmy awarded as best TV Drama and one for Best Actor in a TV Drama for Hamm to boot. It is based around the goings-on at an advertising firm in the 1960s, and centers on Hamm's character, Don Draper. The writing is top-notch and also won some golden globe awards earlier this year.

Here's my lens called, surprise surprise, Mad Men. I've also started making lenses about Jon Hamm and others from the show because it looks like the drama may be around for awhile, and people with start looking for information about the show and its cast.

My New Squidoo Lens About Making Money Online

Well, I've taken the plunge! I finally decided to make a Squidoo lens about making money online. I don't expect this lens to shoot up the ranks or generate tremendous traffic (at least initially), but I do have some ideas about how to make money online and I thought I'd share what I know.

The lens is called Make Money Online and it will hopefully serve as a guide for lensmasters and others as a source for information about the various strategies and methods that are available to generate online income.

There are currently dozens of similar lenses on Squidoo and thousands more covering the same topic plastered all over the web, but I think I can bring my own particular slant to the party.

The Coolest Blogs Featuring Squidoo Ever

Here is a great Squidoo lens called The Coolest Blogs Featuring Squidoo Ever that covers most of the better blogs being written by lensmasters. I'm still waiting for this lens to accept Squidoo Land as one of it's best blogs with a "squidoo theme."

This great source of blogs was built using another of the newer Squidoo platforms called The Ever Project which allows lensmasters to build a theme around a topic they feels deserves a lens so they can shout out to the world "This is the Best Basketball Player Ever!" or "This is the Sexiest Model Ever!" You get the idea. Another one of Squidoo's intriguing lens building models.

I haven't had a chance to create a "best ... ever" lens yet, but I do have some thoughts and ideas rattling around in my noggin. Maybe something like the best war movie ever about Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan. Oops, sorry. I just took that one for myself and it just debuted at 119,100. Take a look. Or you could go another way, say maybe the Yummiest Chocolate Cake Ever - Sorry, that one's already taken too.

Another Squidoo Blogger You Should Read

I stumbled onto the blog written by Magicality who is an IT consultant from Belgium, called Squidoo Challenge where he writes about his efforts to create lenses that bring in $500 a month. He says he is currently bring in approximately $100 a month from his lens portfolio and hopes to increase it to $500 by the end of the year.

It makes for interesting reading seeing the struggles a fellow lensmaster is having with the challenges of creating an income from Squidoo.

How to Use Squidoo Lensroll

One of the coolest tools available to lensmasters for promoting your lens is by using Lensroll. You can highlight your own or other lenses you feel deserve to be promoted. Basically, when you are on a lens that you feel really needs to be seen, what you do is click on the link at the top of the page "Add to my Lensroll" on your lens, which is located on the right-hand side under your profile.

One of the best lenses I've found is How to Lensroll. An excellent lens that also has sections linking to other helpful lenses broken down as Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Squidoo techniques.

You are bookmarking those great lenses that you feel relate best to your topic and trumpet your own work that you feel is worthy. Here's another of the top sites about how to use the Lensroll feature.

Hey, Seth Godin Commented On My New Lens!

Here I am plugging away trying to make my lenses into something to share and the head honcho at Squidoo, Seth Godin, kindly stops by my newest lens to leave some comments. Sweet. Thanks Seth!

I just used the new Squid Sports template to create my new sports lens about how I think that the Detroit Red Wings will repeat as Stanley Cup champions again this year. There's a module that allows visitors to your site to comment on your prediction and Seth differs on my assessment of what will happen in the upcoming NHL playoffs in 2009.

Seth unfortunately seems to be languishing under the belief that the Buffalo Sabres will somehow make their way past the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators to claim the Stanley Cup. Although I greatly appreciate his comments, I have to differ with the creator of Squidoo. Marketing is Seth's forte, but hockey is mine and all hockey fans would be wise to acknowledge the greatness that is the current crop of Red Wings.

You can get some of Seth's insight at one of his blogs. And don't forget to pick up one (or all!) of the bestselling Seth Godin books at Amazon.

Allposters Provide Cool Images and Another Method to Get Some Coinage

Allposters is an online poster company with an affiliate program that might fit in nicely with your lens. Basically all you have to do is sign up with them and you can use some of their images as a link to their site. Your visitors can buy a poster you recommend and you make a small commission. Or not. Still, you can use their posters to augment you lens by display images that are very relevent to your topic and you can make some money doing it.

YouTube Modules Jazz Up Squidoo Lenses

I've been adding some YouTube modules to my Squidoo lenses and it's help draw some traffic to my lenses. What you can do is either have YouTube decide which videos to display or you can pick your own. Both methods have merit, but it depends what you want to display. If you use too generic a search term, YouTube can pull up a completely irrelevent. If you are a bit too specific, you might not find anything.

I like to pick the best available videos that any of my visitors to my lens might want to take a peek at. As an example, if you have a lens about Alex Rodriguez or the New York Yankees, you could look for some of the latest video of A-Rod hitting his 500th Home Run, or breaking a Babe Ruth record with 12 seasons of 35 runs and at least 100 RBIs. Or maybe you've got a lens created in tribute to the babe-alicious Jennifer Anniston. There are soooo many to choose from.

Squidoo Sports: Yet Another Cool Idea From Squidoo!

There's another type of Squidoo lens you can create at Squidoo. You can make predictions about how your favorite teams or individuals will do this year. You can find it at Squid Sports I picked that the Detroit Red Wings will repeat as Stanley Cup champions. You can see this lens at Detroit Red Wings.

I think this will be another excellent addition in the roster of Squidoo lens types and could be a lot of fun. If you love sports, this could be the lenstype for you.

Google is driving me nuts!

I look for my lens on Google and there it is, tucked away on page seven of the results for a certain keyword. Great! I'm in and get the odd visitor because I'm buried so far back in the results. A few days later, I check again using the exact same keyword hoping against hope that my lens has maybe moved up the ranks a little bit. Nothing. Not even listed. My lens which is about a much searched for topic has dropped off the face of Google. And so I go to page one... nothing, page two... nada. I go through 20-30 pages with not even a sniff of my lens. I enter URL and: No Listing. Argh!

I know this is a somewhat common complaint among lensmasters, but it is irritating. I'll check back in a few days. I've heard that sometimes they mysteriously reappear back into the listings. And I was starting to get a nice little bit of traffic from Google too. Well, I'll add some more good content to that lens (and the others too) and I'll get back into the mix.

What About HubPages?

I'm thinking about expanding over to the HubPages site. It is slightly smaller than Squidoo, but still, it does hold a lot of similar potential. I've visited a few of their pages and the people putting up their content are really top notch!

They're writing about everything from Vacation Packing List and Tips, to a guide on What men should wear to an interview, to (of course) How To Make $10 MILLION Over Night On The Internet.

These are just three of over 160,000 hubs and more are joining their ranks daily. Personally, I really have my hands full with my Squidoo lenses right now, so I don't want to spread myself too thin, but you should still give it your consideration.

Squidoo Forum Provides Help and Guidance

The forum at Squidoo has been a great help to me and I want to give kudos where they are due. Reading about the successes and failures of others help me tremendously when I get a little tired of writing. It's just the mental break you need when you're knee deep in the middle of re-writing your worst lens for the up-teenth time.

If you haven't visited it yet, you should. There's a lot of good reading in the back posts and plenty of tips and pointers. And a kind word from the other folks at Squidoo will make your day. Come to think of it, say something nice about their work too. Give something back to those who are more than willing to provide veteran opinions about what needs to be done with your lenses by chiming in with your own 2 cents worth.

Surprising Traffic From Unexpected Sources

I've created lots of lenses and some I've sweated over what content to include and what to leave out. Some of the lenses I created are providing unexpected amounts of traffic from outside of Squidoo. I've been sending off my pings to alert the search engines about some of them, but others I've left for Google and Yahoo to find - and they're being found!

One lens is for history-type information that not many people would have any interest in, but I've checked and it is not only on the first page for Google, it is sitting in 2nd place, right under Wikipedia. I need to add some more content to solidify my position on this and other higher ranking lenses.

It is a wonderful feeling when you discover something you've written being found by those with similar interests. It makes me want to expand my content even more and venture into other areas where I think I can provide some insight.

Well, I've Got 100 Lenses Now

I think I'm going to try to catch my breath. I just cranked out 80 lenses in a 2 week period. All except 2 of them are up and running. Most of the new lenses are about hockey players (one of my favorite topics!). I lucked out because a lot of the past and present top players weren't taken. I couldn't get Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux, but I scored with Sidney Crosby, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe among others.

The amount of content I am now required to create has increased exponentially. Some of the new lenses are a little threadbare, but I think I can stay on top of them.

I found two lensmasters that have about one thousand lenses each. Wow! that is just crazy. I don't think I want to undertake anything quite so ambitious, but if I can make my lenses rise enough in the rankings, I could have a tidy sum coming in each month. Creating an income with Squidoo is not my primary goal, but every little bit helps. I'm looking forward to establishing my lenses as the go-to sites for info about various topics and individuals, but I know this will take time.

Some of my lenses are already starting to appear in Google and the other search engines and traffic is beginning to trickle in. This is with very limited marketing on my part and I know it will continue to increase. I'm looking forward to having some more fun with Squidoo. What should I write about next?!

Ping Me Baby, Ping Me!

The whole point of creating squidoo lenses or blogs is to get people to visit your site and read what you've written. You can't go knocking on every door asking that they visit your website. One way of getting visitors is by alerting them when you have written something that they would be interested in. You do that by pinging the various search engines and get them to crawl your site when you've updated your blog or lens with fresh interesting information. Here's a short YouTube video about the benefits of pinging your blog.

3 Reasons to Ping Your Lens or Blog
1. You receive more links which will help get you noticed by Google
2. Direct traffic from the major search engines
3. Your posts will get indexed faster by Google and Yahoo!

You need to get your update listed where people are looking for updated, fresh content. Where are they looking? Well, here's a list of some sites that want you to let them know about your updates:

Weblog.com
weblogalot.com
Digg.com
Lensroll.com
Technorati
Ma.gnolia
blogbuzzmachine.com

There are hundreds more websites that you need to contact that are more than willing to help you get the word out about you blog or Squidoo lens. If you want to get more people to come to you, first you have to let them know you're out there.

650,000 Squidoo Lenses and Counting...

The number of lenses already made on Squidoo has reached 650,000+. That is I would think, a real vote of confidence in the site and more are being created today. One of them should be yours.

The numbers are starting to get up there and I can see one million lenses appearing in the not too distant future. New lensmasters are joining and those already with a presence on Squidoo are expanding their numbers. Some have hundreds and are making a nice chunk of money and getting the word out on topics ranging from social marketing, SEO, digital cameras, and there's even some about getting rid of Toe Nail Fungus! All of these lenses are simple one-page websites covering broad and narrow niches.

You can make money creating lenses and some tutorials include:
Directory of Squidoo Help and Tutorials
Kathy's Squidoo Tutorials
Squidoo Newbie Landing Page
Tutorials Headquarters

All of these sites are made by various lensmasters and there are many, many others that give help with images, ideas for lenses, how to create a group on Squidoo, how to use RSS feeds, etc.