Squidology

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:35:00 +0000

Well,now that I`ve gotten started on the great Squidoo account organizing project, I can tell you that I am totally freaked out and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work behind-the-scenes.

The lenses have to be transferred one at a time ~ and as you know there are literally hundreds of them. Then, I have to log out of one account and log into another one, preferably the correct one.

Also, you have to sign into the email account of the receiving Squidoo account to see the transfer emails from Squidoo. From that emailed transfer notice for each lens being transferred, you can click a link to accept each lens.

Wow, just working on the fancy-gift-wrap account made me change my mind about how I`m going to do this. From now to the end of this month, I`ll be getting all the lenses moved into the accounts they're supposed to go to. In between, I`ll update what lenses I can and try to sneak in a new lens or two here or there, but I doubt there's going to be any new lenses.

Then, if all goes well, February can be the start of a humongous lens updating campaign, ROFL.

To the transfers! Charge!
Back soon,
sylvia

No More Rocketmoms At Squidoo???

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:51:00 +0000

Back in 2009, a group called the RocketMoms was created at Squidoo. I totally thought it was before that, lol. It was an invitation-only group of women, mostly moms, but not all.

I was thrilled when I was invited to join the RocketMoms by Bonnie, bdkz, after being recommended by BevsPaper. I was in total awe of the brilliant women in this group. Soon, I was soaking up everything I could learn from them.

We laughed together, we cried together and we made every kind of lens under the sun to meet Bonnie's fun challenges each session. Most of all, we forged friendships that are as deep as any offline friendship. RocketMoms Rock!

But now, much to my heartbreak, the RocketMoms will be no more and RocketSquids will soon take their place. I think I deal with change fairly well most of the time, but the changes at Squidoo are sometimes hard to understand. In fact, some of the changes are getting harder and harder to understand all the time. meh...don't mind me, I guess I'm just being sentimental about the RocketMoms being done away with. So many of my 'hero lensmasters' are RocketMoms.

These are my lensographies for the RM sessions I did graduate from. Some sessions I didn't participate, others I didn't graduate, but my heart was always there...

RocketMoms Session 3 - boutiqueshops
RocketMoms Session 7 - boutiqueshops
RocketMoms Session 10 - boutiqueshops
RocketMoms Session 11 - boutiqueshops

I am crossing my fingers that they don't do away with the RocketMom template on our existing lenses. That would totally hurt! *sigh*

Ok, I better get back to work before I bring everybody down with me, eh? wahhhh...oh, and before you ask, no I won't be applying to be a RocketSquid mentor. Two reasons ~ my higher priority this year are my affiliate web sites and blogs AND my style of sales lenses aren't that welcome anyway.

Alright then, back to the grindstone...see ya soon!
A RocketMom Forever!
sylvia

Here's An Incredible Deal On Squidoo Lenses

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:21:00 +0000

CALLING ALL SQUIDOO SQUIDS ~ This is an amazing offer! Please take a look at this deal. A fellow Squidoo author needs our help and this is a SUPER way to do it!

Squidoo Lens Sale

Deborah is an AWESOME Squidoo lensmaster and I know you won't be disappointed! There's still time to order some February Squidoo lenses (think Valentine's Day, President's Day, etc) and then there's March and April ~ Spring, Easter and more!

Start making your list now for some outstanding Squidoo pages made by this talented, experienced lensmaster.

Squidoo Lens Sale

Buying Squidoo lenses is a timesaver when you're wanting to increase the number of lenses you already have, which can increase your earnings!

Buying Squidoo lenses from an experienced lensmaster is also a good way to learn how to make lenses yourself. You'll be able to "look inside" and see how they're built. You'll be able to add and move modules around, too. This is an excellent opportunity ~ don't miss it!

Squidoo Lens Sale

see ya at the sale!
sylvia

Goals For 2012 & Squidoo

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:49:00 +0000

All my Squid-friends have been talking about their goals for the last couple of weeks, but I like to take my time thinking out my goals at the very end of the year. LOL Don't know why I do that. But anyway, at long last I've finished setting my goals.

This year, I'd like to organize my Squidoo lenses across 8 accounts I'm going to keep. This means reducing the amount of lenses in my boutiqueshops account, but it will be worth it since it will be tons easier to manage them & keep them updated when they're spread out & organized. For now, the goal will be to have 100 in 6 of the accounts, 200 in sports-gifts and 500 in boutiqueshops. Which brings me to the next goal...

My lens counts are currently as follows:

boutiqueshops, 492
sports-gifts, 129
fleece-blankets, 27
wall-clocks, 36
jigsaw-puzzles, 47
fancy-gift-wrap, 2
ultimate-bride-guide, 2
party-guide, 1

I hope to increase my overall lens count from 736 to 1500, an increase of 764 lenses - or 64 lenses per month in 2012. Now before you comment that I'm crazy (which I already know), remember that I can often make 3-5 lenses a day and I frequently buy lenses from SquidooLenses4Sale (aka ThomasC) and others. Not to mention I probably have enough in my WIP's to get partway there. LMAO!

Google likes current Squidoo lenses, freshly updated, so I need to keep doing more and more updates to keep them all up to date. Haven't quite figured out how to get it done, though. I'm going to start off with trying to update about 5/day and see how I can increase it from there. Tips, ideas and suggestions would be appreciated! Comment away!

Wizzley & HubPages are also on my radar. Especially Wizzley as I did see some sales come through from some recent articles I added there. I haven't quite figured out how many articles I want to add to each or if I even can. We'll see.

And finally, in the area of income - I will triple my online income in 2012. I know I can do it because I set and exceeded my 2011 goal of doubling my 2010 online income. You know what? I know you can do it too.

Ok, I'm going to stop here for now before I put us all to sleep. There's more in my handy-dandy notebook, but hey I want to surprise us with the rest!

Have A Squidilicious New Year's Day!
sylvia

Happy New Year To All And To All A Good Write

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:52:00 +0000

May you be blessed. May you be well. May you be prosperous. May you be happy. This is my New Year wish for all of you. Thank you for your friendship and your support. Thank you for your help and for your cheers. I'm looking forward to working with all of you in 2012.

*muah*
sylvia

How To Get The Most Out Of Yourself By Maintaining Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:32:00 +0000

1. Focus on your potential, not your limitations.

2. Devote yourself to something you do well.

3. See yourself as a rich person personally and professionally.

4. Break away from other people's expectations.

5. Build a network of supportive relationships.

The Best Pie Recipes on Squidoo

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 08:33:00 +0000

The Best Pie Recipes on Squidoo

I'm so honored to find that Robin (rms) has included two of my pie recipes on The Best Pie Recipes on Squidoo monsterboard. My Southern Pecan Pie Recipe and My Famous Buttermilk Pie recipe are both on the monsterboard. Yipee! Thanks, Robin & Thanks, Squidoo!

Be sure to visit the monsterboard for some delicious pie recipes from the best pie makers on Squidoo. You'll be glad you stopped by, I promise! I know I'm going to be as big as a house by the time I make it through all the recipes! LOL

Yak soon,
sylvia

Lens Of The Day: Where Can I Sell Online?

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:44:00 +0000

Where Can I Sell Online? | SquidooHQ

WOW! I was so thrilled to find out that my lens "Where Can I Sell Online?" was chosen as Lens of the Day by Squidoo. I don't know who nominated it, or if it was ~ but it's a wonderful feeling as a writer, when you are recognized for writing about something important to you. I made this page several years ago, but the information remains pertinent today (alas, poor eBay).

When you want to succeed at something, whatever it may be ~ you *have* to keep trying. Writing Squidoo pages about important topics and crafting Squidoo pages for selling fun, cool items is the most fun I've ever had ~ and they pay me for it! Who'da thunk? lol

So thank you. Thank you to whoever nominated the article for Lens Of The Day (LOTD) or chose it. Thank you to all my (old) friends at PSU (Powersellers Unite) for taking that journey away from eBay with me. Thank you to all that have visited and commented, tweeted, liked and shared it. Way cool! =)

Blessings for YOUR success,
Sylvia

Giant Squid Niche Quest

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 00:17:00 +0000

Shop Made In America

There's a quest for Giant Squids were we're to make 31 new lenses in a new (to us) niche. At first, it was HARD to come up with an idea that hadn't been done or that could be taken out to 30 lenses (and a lensography). Then, suddenly, I had 5 niches!!! I had to pick one, so I chose 'made in America.'

I chose 'Made In America' as my quest niche because I've totally enjoyed the ABC News pieces by Diane Sawyer, as well as some other very well done articles and TV shows. I wanted to remember who these companies are, that are working so hard at keeping their manufacturing, their products and their jobs in America. But I don't want to have to hit several sites and do searches every time I'm shopping for something Made In America. So, partly from the pieces already done and partly from my own research, I have 30+ companies who are making some of our favorite products right here in America. I was pleasantly surprised with several of them!

Shop Made In America is the lensography page (like an index list) for all the other Made In America pages I'm making. As I finish the others, I'll add them to this main page. I hope you'll take a look, sign my guestbook and share it with your friends. Many of these are products we already love, like Yankee Candles and Burt's Bees. But like they say, if we each spend another dollar, or five dollars...or what we can, with these companies instead of on imported products - more people will be needed to produce enough products to meet the demand. More people will be able to go back to work.

Now the next big question ~ you know how I have a tendency not only to procrastinate (*cough*), but to bite off more than I can chew also. LOL Let's hope I can finish the 30 lenses for the quest by Halloween! OMG!

So. Stop by my Made In America pages and see what you think. Don't forget to 'like' the pages, if you like the pages. :) Sign my guestbook and let me know what you think, ok? Thanks!

sylvia

How to Decorate a Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 21:55:00 +0000

How to Decorate a Cake

Have you ever wished you could learn how to decorate a cake like a professional? I love looking at all those pictures of beautifully decorated cakes for ideas.

The easiest way for me to learn how to decorate a cake would be to break the process all down to the simplest steps for me to learn. Then, I'd want to learn the most fun cake decorating tips and tricks along with the basics.

Stick with me and we'll learn how to decorate a cake my way. The fun part of course is getting to eat our practice cakes. WOO HOO!

Coca Cola Jigsaw Puzzles

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 02:50:00 +0000

Coca Cola Jigsaw Puzzles

Coca Cola Jigsaw Puzzles are really fun and challenging to put together. They also look great on the wall! Coca Cola has a huge following and these coca cola jigsaw puzzles make great gifts for coca cola collectors!

Enjoy!
sylvia

Harley Davidson Jigsaw Puzzles

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 02:15:00 +0000

Harley Davidson Jigsaw Puzzles

Wowzers! From 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles to 3D jigsaw puzzles, these superhero jigsaw puzzles are all best sellers and will make your comic book fan smile when you give one of these to them as a gift. Harley Davidson jigsaw puzzles are also highly collectible items. Purchase one of these below to add to your own collection of Harley Davidson jigsaw puzzles.

Superhero Jigsaw Puzzles

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 02:11:00 +0000

Superhero Jigsaw Puzzles

From 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles to 3D jigsaw puzzles, these superhero jigsaw puzzles are all best sellers and will make your comic book fan smile when you give one of these to them as a gift. How cool are these?

sylvia

National Geographic Jigsaw Puzzles

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 01:50:00 +0000

National Geographic Jigsaw Puzzles

National Geographic has a way of capturing nature. These national geographic jigsaw puzzles are wonderful works of art. Putting together one of these 500 to 1500 piece jigsaw puzzles will be fun and adventurous. I've always loved the quality of National Geographic photos; they always have the most talented photographers. Now, we can enjoy the gorgeous photos on jigsaw puzzles!

Sylvia

Harry Potter Jigsaw Puzzles

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 01:23:00 +0000

Harry Potter Jigsaw Puzzles

Put together one of these jigsaw puzzles and watch the magic unfold! Have these puzzles laminated or glued so you can hang them on the wall. Harry Potter Jigsaw Puzzles are a fun way to spend time with those you love. Give these puzzles to those avid Harry Potter fans!

Stop by and visit, you'll love these puzzles!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:39:00 +0000

Well, howdy! July sure went by like a hurricane around here! LOL Which is actually a good thing because Texas, and especially South Texas, is so hot I'm afraid we may spontaneously combust before my birthday next month! Hope all is going well for your Squid efforts ~ looking great here!

boutiqueshops is now a Colossal Squid; the giant squid application was approved for that account. However, sports-gifts did not fare so well. OMG! Honestly, I should have waited on that one until I'd updated a lot more of the lenses in it. So no joy there - no Giant Squid for sports-gifts. :( So there's an August goal if I ever saw one! And with the NFL lockout over...WHEEEE!

Had to skip out of the Summer Rocketmoms Session since I'd fallen so behind. Hated to do that, but with hubby sick there's not any extra work time anywhere. He's showing some improvement now, if we can keep his sugar leveled off.

Making huge strides on getting caught up now that he's doing a little better. So, look out! I'll be back with more big news soon!

laterz,
sylvia (boutiqueshops)

Nascar Driver Kurt Busch

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:02:00 +0000

Nascar Driver Kurt Busch

Las Vegas NASCAR Driver Kurt Busch shot straight to the top of the racing world early on in his career and has kept a high level of performance since he burst onto the scene. Kurt Busch started racing dwarf cars at 15 so he could spend time with his father.

Check out this newly updated lens on Kurt Busch!

Thanks,
sylvia

Oakland Raiders Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 07:40:00 +0000

Oakland Raiders Gifts

Here are ideal Oakland Raiders gifts for the Raiders fan in your life, even if that fan is you. If you need birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, anniversary gifts, or even a "housewarming" gift for a college student, consider these Oakland Raiders gifts. Check out my newly updated Oakland Raiders Gifts page for some unique gift ideas.

Squidoo Dashboard : My Lenses

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 05:52:00 +0000

Squidoo Dashboard : My Lenses

If you have a Philadelphia Eagles Fan in your home then Philadelphia Eagles gifts to add to their collection would put a smile on their face. There are so many unique & fun Philadelphia Eagles gifts to choose from, too!

Just updated this page with some totally cool gift ideas for Philadelphia Eagles fans!

sylvia

Barrel Racing

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 04:49:00 +0000

Barrel Racing

Barrel Racing is an intense, exciting rodeo event requiring cooperation between horse and rider to beat the clock against their competitors. Clean runs around the barrel course and fast times are essential in barrel racing to avoid time penalties.

Just updated this Squidoo page from my sports-gifts account. Hope you like it!

sylvia

Bulldogging

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 01:57:00 +0000

Bulldogging

Bulldogging is another name for steer wrestling, an exciting rodeo event where the contestant chases a steer down with his horse, then jumps from his horse to the steer and wrestles it to the ground by the horns.

Just updated this Squidoo page from another of my Squidoo accounts, Sports-Gifts. I just applied for Giant100 Club for this account, so cross your fingers for me!

Back to updating lenses,
sylvia

WebNuggetz , A New Site For Writers

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:21:00 +0000

Recently, I was blessed with the opportunity to help ThomasC build a new adsense revenue sharing site called WebNuggetz. Truth be told, I'm really not much help over there. A lensmaster like ThomasC doesn't need much help!

WebNuggetz promises to be one of the best new content sites around. Earning from our articles, which are called nuggetz there, will come from affiliate programs like Amazon, Zazzle and Allposters, among others - as well as Google Adsense.

There is a link directory where members can add links to their articles on other sites for some excellent back links. Members can also earn achievement points during the course of their activities on the site.

The site looks great, works great and is tonz of fun. I heartily recommend you check it out. There is already a forum for members and a Contest For Writers, too!

Squidoo Giant Squid Program Overhauled

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 00:05:00 +0000

Now here's an interesting change that I really like. Squidoo has updated their Giant Squid program. What's A Giant Squid? Well, you can learn more about the program and Giant Squids on the newly updated page The Giant Squid Club (and how you can join) and at the SquidooHQ post, The Giant Squids: A club for the best writers on Squidoo.

There are now five levels of 'giant-ness' that we can achieve. Levels 25, 50, 100, 250 and 500. Very cool. I submitted my application for boutiqueshops for 250 level, Colossal Squid! LOL The names for the levels are great too.

I also plan to apply for Giant 100 Club (Mammoth) for sports-gifts and Giant 25 Club for wall-clocks in July. We'll see what happens. The lenses (our 'articles') have to pass muster and stay at the high-quality level that's expected of Squidoo Giants. So, that's my real goal is to freshen up all (ALL) my lenses and improve them.

Luckily for me, I've been working on updating my whole boutiqueshops account AND the sports-gifts account during May and June. There are TONS of lenses that haven't been updated since sometime in 2010. And there are a few that I bought in batches that turned out to be blank, yikes! (ooops on my part for not checking when I bought them!) So this will improve my chances for my Giant applications (I hope).

So besides the titles, trophies and points you get - what good is all this work you ask? Look at it this way, working towards one or more of the Giant Squid achievement levels really gets you looking at your lenses to make sure they are good, quality articles you can be proud of. It's a great way to stretch your wings, er I mean tentacles, to reach for that next level. Of course, the cherry on top is the increased earnings that come from having lots and lots of timely, well written lenses under your wing...uh, tentacles.

So are you going for any of the new Giant Squid levels? What do you think about this change?

back soon,
sylvia

Coming Up For Air

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:18:00 +0000

Slowing down a bit to come up for a breath of air. Ok, maybe a few breaths. Deep breaths. I like to work hard and work fast, but spreading too thin is never a good idea.

Writing at Wizzley is a lot of fun and I love it. HubPages is really nice too. There are just a few more things I want to get out of the way at Squidoo first. Wish I was able to juggle everything at once, but I think I'm just plain too old for that now. LOL I managed to get to 6 published pages at Wizzley and even published 1 new hub at HubPages. Worked on Top Kitchen Solutions to break out the categories a bit better. Then, I realized I missed the last 2 challenges for Rocketmoms Spring Session, after doing the other 6. Well DUH! Good Grief, Charlie Brown!

So there. Obviously, too big a bite to chew. Too many balls to juggle. Spread too thin. You pick the cliche.

Don't mind me blathering, I'm just frustrated. In order to at least meet 1-2 goals, I'm going to finish working on Sports-Gifts and Wall-Clocks at Squidoo this month and finish updating Top Kitchen Solutions and the main Boutiqueshops account at Squidoo. Wait...isn't that 4 goals? LOL *sigh* The third quarter has got to be better than this. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

On the other hand, earnings are looking UP! That is very welcome news indeed. Have 4 HUGE, GIANT, ENORMOUS (really big) bills to pay by the end of the year, so every extra penny added to the savings account now will certainly help. Amazon has been on a steady increase for the last 5 months and so has eBay (EPN). What a relief! Ha! Squidoo earnings are fluttering around a bit, but that's probably a result of ME fluttering around too much.

Traffic is still on the increase, just a bit more modestly. What's helped that quite a bit is pinging my lensmaster feeds weekly, after all the updates and new lenses each week. I'm also tweeting my lensmaster feeds automatically through Hootsuite and using scheduled tweets through Twaitter.

Another way cool bit of news is that How To Adopt A Military War Dog won a Purple Star on Squidoo. I was sooooo happy! Dogs (and cats) and the military are close to my heart, so that page was really special. Thank you Squidoo and thank you so much whoever nominated it!

Well, that's what's going on with me. How about you?

back soon,
sylvia

Organizing With Binders To Organize Home, Business And Life

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia/boutiqueshops/angelsolutions) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 23:28:00 +0000

Organizing With Binders To Organize Home, Business And Life

Just updated this Squidoo page, which lists all the pages I've done (a lensography we call them) about organizing life with binders. Come by and take a look at my 'organizing with binders' tips and ideas!

sylvia