Poll Modules invite participation
The more you engage your visitors, they more they will be interested in coming back. People are curious to see how others voted over time. Over the next few days, I’ll try other tactics which engage the readers.

Adding content boosts your lensrank
Every time you add something interesting to your lens you get a small boost in lensrank. This is especially true for lenses with a unfavorable lensrank. So if you have a lens ranked higher than 300,000, republish it with new and improved content and you’ll see a big boost in lensrank.

Before you promote your lens, you need to have something interesting on it. You need to have something worth promoting.

Stats update
Visitors in the last 7 days = 9
Lensrank = 26,843

If you or your lenses are new
One place to introduce yourself and your lenses is on the New? Introduce Yourself! thread. People are very friendly and most are willing to check out your lenses.

But you can do more than just have people visit your lens. You can often get more visitors if you ask for (or offer) help. You can ask for feedback at the Critique Me… thread. And remember if you ask people to critique your lens… they will. You can also ask for (or offer) technical help at the Help, Please thread.

Yesterday, I posted in some of the above threads discussing my lens.

Once you have a quality lens
You can get even more traffic, and lensrank boost, at SquidU. Announce you lens at Lenses We Like. This is one place people go to find new and interesting lenses. They are actually looking for your lens. So help them find it…

The best way to get a boost in your Lensrank is to be “blessed” by multiple Squid Angels. These are lensmasters who have shown Squidoo HQ that they can create great lenses. Many of them are Giant Squids. They have the ability to bless, or curse, lenses. You can ask for blessings at the Angels Forum. Just make sure you have something you can be proud of since they can also curse your lens.

I will be submiting my lens to these forums next week. (It’s not ready yet.)

Stats Update
Visitors so far = 5. Lensrank = 88984
I just noticed that someone had given my lens 5 Stars! That will also help its Lensrank.

So far I have had 2 visits–one of which might have been me.  The lensrank is currently 91,326.

The post does still have its advantages.  My facebook friends, and search engines, will still see the link when they visit my page, and some will click through to visit my lens.

I first published The Tales today and its lensrank is #442,023 overall and has had zero visits.

Day 1:  Facebook

Most of the promotional tactics involve telling various communities about your lens.  It is very important that the lens be relevant to the community.  Telling a group of surfers about a Harry Potter lens would be a waste of time.  It’s also important that you are a regular participant in the community.  For example:  The Harry Potter forums at Mugglenet have about a gazillion members.  Although I have an account I’m not a regular participant.  (In fact I’m not even sure of my username or password.)  I could post a link to my lens but most of the community would think I was spamming the forum.  And in a way, I would be.

I generally don’t tell my “Facebook friends” about my lenses because, most of the time, they wouldn’t be interested.  (Most of them are former students and don’t really care about my Hyundai Tiburon.)  But many of them are Harry Potter fans.  Those that aren’t know that I am, so a link to a Harry Potter lens is not out of character.

So today’s promotion tactic is to tell my facebook friends about The Tales of Beetle the Bard.

Every time I interact with Megan or any of the other Giant Squids I am always impressed by their vision and generosity. As always there are some cool new things coming soon from HQ. (I’m not sure if I can share them here.)

I am, again, convinced that Squidoo is the most powerful tool available to promote yourself and your business, charity, school, etc. As soon as I can I will share what we discussed.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Seth Godin showed up!

Just another day in the life of a Giant Squid.

Here are my 4 tips.

Tip #1: Only consume relevant information
This sounds obvious but how often do we surf away from the information we were seeking, to read unrelated sites?

If you’re working on a problem. For example, you want to insert images into an Amazon module. Only read information that is relevant to the problem at hand. It is very easy to be distracted by other things such as… the commission we make on Amazon sales. Although they are related and are both interesting, the latter will not help you solve your original problem.

When researching a lens I often find myself reading one of the web links, and clicking through to another and reading, then clicking through to another, and so on. After several hours of this I often have nothing to show for my time. I end up consuming content instead of creating it. Although there is nothing wrong with that, education and entertainment play an important role, but does it relate to your purpose?

Tip #2: Give yourself a deadline
There are a gazillion solutions to every problem. Unfortunately, you don’t have time to evaluate each one. I used to think I always needed the best solution. This is obviously impossible. You (and I) need to find the best solution we can within our time constraints. So give yourself 30 minutes to figure out how to insert an image into your Amazon module. At the end of the 30 minutes, use the best solution you have found. Then move onto your next problem.

Note: I am not saying to plan your day by breaking it into 30 minute intervals and then religiously following your Franklin-Covey planner. (Shudder) I’m simply saying that if you have a problem, don’t tell yourself: “I’m going to work on this until we have a perfect solution.” Life is too short. Tell yourself: “I’m going to work on this for 60 minutes and use the best available solution.”

Tip #3: Don’t buy any eBooks
Don’t buy any eBooks unless it has the exact information you need to solve the problem you’re working on right now. If it solves your problem it’s worth the cost. If it doesn’t, then it’s more information you don’t need… right now. It is true you might need it in the future. Wait and buy it then. You might even find the information for free somewhere.

Tip #4: Get help at SquidU
SquidU is a great place to get all of your questions answered. Don’t worry about research, just ask an expert.

I hope these help.  Later this week I’ll be posting tips to help your readers deal with information overload.

Stay Tuned

1. Find New Customers
More and more people are using the internet to find everything from barbers to personal trainers. If you don’t have an internet presence you don’t even have the possibility of connecting with these people. This trend is going to continue as people can now turn to their cell phones to do a google search.

But what about word-of-mouth?

Word of mouth is very important in growing your customer base. But it is also going digital. Now people are using services like facebook and twitter to do their word-of-mouth communications. You want to facilitate this by having a website people can point to.

When is the last time you used a phone book?

2. Educate Your Customers
A Squidoo lens is a nearly perfect medium to communicate with your customers. An acupuncturist could have a lens explaining how the meridians in your body affect your health. An auto mechanic could have a lens explaining how to best maintain your car.

3. Connect Your Customers
Your customers are you best marketers. The interactive elements of a Squidoo lens is a great way to let them sing your praises, give you feedback, etc.

4. Your competition will…
If they don’t already your competition will have an online presence.

These are just the things I thought of this afternoon. Any other ideas?

Some people use Squidoo to help promote their charity. Others build lenses to educate their readers. Still others use Squidoo’s networking tools to build their own online community. Some just want to see their lenses at the top of a Google search.

What’s your purpose?

In the business community the terms Vision and Mission Statements have been thrown around for decades. The terms have become cliches. In education most schools have a Vision and/or Mission Statement but they are so full of educational mumbo jumbo nobody knows what they really mean. Despite the cliches and mumbo jumbo, I believe it is essential to know your purpose. (You can call it whatever you want.)

The strategies and tactics you use to promote your lenses, and yourself, will depend on your purpose.

Although not essential, I believe it’s helpful to have a written statement. If you are unsure of your purpose, writing it down helps you clarify the big picture. It’s not set in stone and your first purpose statement might even be wrong. Let me explain.

I have been a lensmaster for just over two years. I joined in April 2006 just after I finished my income taxes. I was looking for ways to supplement my income. I thought that was my purpose. I saw Lewis making money selling cell phone accessories. So I tried to make money making lenses. They didn’t do very well. I saw Tiffany writing and selling eBooks. So I signed up as an affiliate and tried my hand at selling. I again had little success. Was it because of lack of skill?

Hardly!

I wasn’t successful because I had taken on someone else’s purpose as my own. I wasn’t truly invested in it. I didn’t give it the time and energy required to be successful. In some ways I wasted my time. In others it was extremely valuable to help me clarify my purpose.

I now have a clearer understanding of what Squidoo can do for me, and what I can do for Squidoo. I’ve always enjoyed teaching. I love it when a student “gets it,” especially when it’s something with which they struggled. So I think it’s time for me to articulate a Statement of Purpose:

I want to help individuals, and small businesses, successfully use Squidoo to increase their online presence.

What’s your purpose?

I am already familiar with the work of BFuniv.com and Orthia. If the work of the other Giant Squids is just as good then Squidoo has arrived!

They also announced the Top 100 Giant Squids. I believe there are 57 of us. I’ve worked with several of these lensmasters. They not only have great lenses but are generous with their time, etc.

Congratulations to all Giant Squids!

This year I’m going to show them this video. I think it’s important for students and anyone else who may need to function in the new Web 2.0 world we are building.

Shift Happens. Are you ready? Is your business?

What do you think about this video? Why would I include it on a blog about Squidoo and small business?

Please comment below.

So if you’re interested in finding out how Squidoo and other free internet resources can help you and your business then sign up for email updates above. (You’ll get a copy of each post as an email.) You can also subscribe to the RSS feed.