Cobie Smulders And Taran Killam Announce Forthcoming Marriage

I just noticed that my lens on Cobie Smulders has spiked again. It shot up a while back because of the announcement that she and Taran Killam were expecting their first child, but why the renewed rush today?

Well, it looks like Smulders was spotted wearing an engagement ring. Smulders and Killam have confirmed that they plan to get married. For more info check my lens. Ah well, another one of my dream girls is now officially off the shelf. I guess I'll just have to pine over Rachel McAdams.

Still, Squidoo Land extends congrats to Cobie Smulders and Taran Killam on their upcoming nuptuals and the birth of their child (likely late spring 2009).

Fallen Canadian Soldiers: A Tribute

It's with a heavy heart that I published my latest lens. Entitled Fallen Canadian Soldiers In Afghanistan, it is a tribute to the 108 men and women who have died in Afghanistan.

It is, unfortunately, likely to need regular updating. Difficult though it may be, I would recommend taking a look at the faces and information of these people who have left behind many, many grieving loved ones. I think it is very important to put faces and names to the numbers: 108 and counting.

This is a personal lens as well. Although I don't believe I knew any of the soldiers listed myself (one at least from my hometown has fallen), the faces do have a ring of familiarity. They are from all across Canada.

As well, I'd like to dedicate the lens to the 4,551 who have died in Iraq. And the countless others who have been horribly injured, maimed or worse. And their families.

Facebook: My President Obama Fan Club Is Drawing Members!

Cool! My group on Facebook dedicated to newly minted President Obama is about to get it's one hundredth member. I know that there are many, many other Obama groups out there on Facebook, but this one I started. You can take a look at the group by going to President Obama Fan Club. Join up if you support Barack Obama.

It's kinda cool when something you do on Facebook or elsewhere on the internet starts working and drawing interest. I have several other groups on Facebook, but they are still in the embryonic stage. I don't know if this group will ever rival some of Obama's other fan groups (one has over 4 million members!) but if you make the right group at the right time... There are a LOT of really, really big groups on Facebook and MySpace that can generate a fair bit of traffic to your lenses (or blogs). Maybe you will get a sale here or there because of it. Maybe you won't. All I know is that if you give people a place to voice their opinions/hopes/complaints etc and let them know it is there for them, some will start showing up. Hmmm... I wonder who the Republicans will have as their candidate for the next election. Or maybe which team will contest the Superbowl next year (the Cardinals surprised everyone this year, except Cards fans of course!)

A little work here and there on Facebook could mean a trickle of traffic or a flood. Just keep the info fresh and interesting and people do start showing up. It may not be the tightly focused traffic with their credit cards in their hot little hands, but it is traffic nontheless. I'm just happy that people are enjoying the little group I started! Now... on to the next one.

Well Looky Looky... AnnaLynne McCord Is On Page One!

Okay, somebody pinch me. One of my Squidoo lenses is on page one of Google! My lens AnnaLynne McCord is at number seven (and rising!) for the search term "AnnaLynne McCord"! What's up with that? I thought I would check it's Google rank because my lens has been getting some good traffic from Google. Usually it is buried way back about 6-7 pages, but there it was on page one! Sweet! And it is well into the top tier at Squidoo (probably due to the traffic), so doubly blessed.

I made this lens in mid-September and it has risen and dropped, but it has moved up recently just about every day on my Squidoo lensmaster dashboard, so I knew something was up. I keep updating it once, twice or three times a week. It's nice to see one lens make it so high. Maybe I need to talk about ALL my other lenses here on Squidoo Land so they'll have a similar increase.

My New Rachel McAdams Lens

I have to admit that I have something of a crush on Rachel McAdams. I saw her in Mean Girls, but it wasn't until I saw her flash her dazzling smile in The Wedding Crashers that I became smitten. I've always been a little more partial to brunettes rather than blonds, and McAdams really struck me as beautiful in the wedding Crashers opposite Owen Wilson. So, being the geeky fan I am, I thought I would announce my everlasting love for my fellow Canadian here at Squidoo Land by creating a Squidoo lens highlighting Rachel McAdams. Let me know what you think. It is a bit of a work in progress. I'm always trying to make the lens better.

Working Towards Top 100 Giant Squid Status

Okay, now that I breezed my way into getting Giant Squid Status (breezed? I don't think so!), I'm going to try to work my way further up the Squidoo ladder by trying for Top 100 Squid Status. To get there, I need to have at least 100 great lenses. I do have well over one hundred lenses already. Anyone who has been to my lensmaster page can see all my published lenses (I am currently at 127 lenses!), but I also have another 46 in-progress lenses. That means that when I get them published, I'll have 173 lenses floating around the web. Yikes!

I started on Squidoo back in mid-August 2008 with one little lens called Family Tree Climber to highlight my genealogy research. Yes, I'm a family tree geek. That lens made it all the way up to 737 overall in the Squidoo lens ranking, which is pretty good. So I thought "Hey, this is easy!" and started cranking out lenses like crazy and also participating at the Squidoo forum. If you are a member of Squidoo, and you are not taking advantage of the forum, start checking it out. There are lots of successful lensmasters helping out new members and providing some guidance there. It is really one of the most positive forums in which I have ever participated. It's almost like an idea factory. You can get help with your own lenses and get ideas for new ones too as well as getting feedback from other members of Squidoo about how to do even better.

If you haven't joined Squidoo yet (and why not? You can make some money doing this and make some great friends) join now. Here's a referral link to so you can join Squidoo.

Now back to me getting Top 100 Status. I have the same dilemma I had when I was considering applying for Giant Squid status. I have enough lenses to apply, but I am unsure if the quality is there. Maybe what I should do is get those lenses I have waiting patiently in the wings published first before I apply. I have until March 31st before the next deadline, but maybe I'll just lay low (like a squid in the weeds if there is such a thing) get more lenses published, polish up the ones I have and then STRIKE!

I have a mental image of a squid leaping out at someone (looking like the sea monster at right: That's Sigmund from the 1970s show Sigmund and the Sea Monsters). Not exactly terrifying. I think I'll wait until the next deadline which would be June 30th to put in my application. That will give me time to get my 40-odd lenses published and improve the quality of the ones I already have. And make some more new ones. Who knows. I may have 200 lenses at that time. Now that is quite the goal to look forward to.

I Made It! I'm A Giant Squid! Now What?

I did it! Yea me! I just got the email confirmation from the powers that be over at Squidoo that I have been bestowed with Giant Squid status. I get a nifty badge and everything!

I am actually surprised about this because although I had enough lenses, you need 50 great lenses to be given Giant Squid status, I of course was a little nervous because I didn't think that the quality was there. I am currently working on my 127th lens (I have about 40 waiting in the wings to be published).

When I started at Squidoo, I set 3 goals for myself:

1. Have 100 lenses. Done.
2. Attain Giant Squid status. Done.
3. Generate $1,000 a month from Squidoo after a year. Not yet done, but some progress.

I got to 100 lenses really quickly. I started at Squidoo in mid-August 2008 and had 100 lenses by the end of September (a lot of work!). Now I'm a Giant Squid. If you are wondering what being a Giant Squid means, see this Squidoo Land post about Giant Squid status. Now for the hard part. Actually the last two goals were the hard parts. Making money from Squidoo is possible, but not easy. I'll be reporting here at Squidoo Land about my progress. Come back and I'll try to show you how I'm doing and hopefully provide some useful advise.

Meanwhile, I'm doing a "Happy Me" dance on my getting Giant Squid status.

What The? My AnnaLynne McCord Lens Is Suddenly Red Hot!

If been off Squidoo Land for a few days dealing with personal issues. Unfortunately, a loved one passed away January 2nd, so I have had little interest in online marketing or Squidoo, but I've just checked the AnnaLynne McCord I blogged about last week. I had determined that I would try to get that particular lens into the top 10 in it's category, Pop Culture and Celebs and it is now in the the top 20, sitting at number 19! I had planned on reviewing those lenses that made up the top ten in the category in order to try to get my AnnaLynne McCord bio lens to rank better. I figured I should write something because I'm happy about the upward trend. Hopefully I'll be motivated to write more soon.

Have You Tried This Squidoo Widget?

I really like this widget that came out a few months ago from Captain Squid's Widget Squid website. There's a bunch of other great widgets that you can use for free at the site.

Basically, all you have to do is just click on the widget below, hover over any of the pictures to enlarge it. There is a description provided for the item and the time remaining in that particular auction.



If you want to search for items other than "Twilight" on eBay, just input a different search term in the search box and you will be presented a new set of pictures of items matching your new search term. Cool, right?

The really cool thing is that you can have a bunch of items displayed like they are above, or you can display one item only, or you can display YOUR EBAY STORE!! Imagine that! A widget on your Squidoo lens that shows everything you are selling at eBay. You can have traffic arriving at your lens and find your copy of this widget displaying all your wonderful eBay stuff. You need to check this out!