Danger, Will Robinson! Google is Taking on Squidoo AND Wikipedia!

Perhaps you have heard, and perhaps not, but the big news is that Google is taking on Wikipedia and Squidoo with a new project they call Knol. Like Squidoo, it offers writers free pages and a share of ad revenue. It also is a social page, with rankings and votes by visitors, permits suggested edits by visitors like Wikipedia.

It isn't open to everyone as yet.

There is a lot that is unclear about this project like whether they will add revenue sharing modules as Squidoo has or not, for example. We don't know how those pages will rank next to the Google version. Google pay has rapidly overtaken Paypal, and there was the unfortunate coincidence of Squidoo going to the Ebay convention almost immediately after Ebay and Google had their big falling out. Who knows if the Google slap which lasted for months had anything to do with that? If Google overtakes the revenue modules that Squidoo offers, it is possible that the only remaining distinguishing module will be Ebay.

As to Wikipedia, since their information is public domain, and contributors/editors get nothing for their trouble, many of them may migrate to Google Knol pages to at least earn something for their contribution. Since all the information on Wikipedia is public domain (copyleft), even all the content they already have could be pillaged to make, not only Squidoo pages, but also Google Knol pages.

I was one of the folks that made a 'Google Page' prototype months ago and frankly, it wasn't much. It wasn't even close to the sophistication of Squidoo at the time. I don't recall any traffic of any kind to or from it. Google will have to do much better to overtake Squidoo quality- wise. The prototypes they're showing are really nice though.

Seth, Gil, Corey and Megan are quite bright. If anyone can 'pull a rabbit out of a hat', its them. We'll have watch and see what the big shooters do. For an admittedly far more expert take on this, visit a friend here.

I'm Back!

Hello friends, I'm back. Past the worst of the worst...

Janusz has kindly made a beautiful new header for the Mall on Squidoo for the Christmas season, and I hope that you will all take a look and compliment him on his wonderful work!

There are many things to get up-to-date with: SquidWho, SquidVids, SquidFlicks... too much to write about all at once.

Another Squidoo Success Story!

Director Tom writes to me:

Greeting from Tom :-)

Here's some quick news to keep you up-to-date on my latest happenings. Feel free to forward this email to those who might benefit from it...thanks!

1. I will be re-joining Moving Pictures in Middletown, CT, starting June 4.

This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the future direction of corporate television. The recent emergence of social media and web video outlets will propel personal stories captured from employees in corporate videos to even greater audiences. Corporate stories captured on DVD will now be just the beginning of sharing that story.

2. "Director Tom" website: "Bringing Brands to Life"
In an effort to help others "bring brands to life" through min-documentaries and to acknowledge the power of employees as "heroes" and "storytellers" in corporate videos, I launched DirectorTom; Branding with Remarkable Corporate Videos nine months ago.

That first month had only four readers! Thankfully, with a lot of help from folks sharing and spreading this conversation, the readership has soared! It's incredibly rewarding to know that people across the globe have been touched by this concept. The "heroes" in my films over the years have certainly taught me, in fact, that each person's story can change the world for the better.

3. Award-Winning Videos are Changing the World with "Heroes."
Speaking of "heroes" and "changing the world," the four teen "heroes" in the two videos I recently produced for the Epilepsy Foundation are, indeed, changing the world.

The two videos are used thoughout the junior high and high school national public school system to help change the misperceptions many people still have towards those with epilepsy.

Both videos were entered in two film festivals. The film, "Take Charge of the Facts," has already recieved two awards; a Telly Award and the Ad Club of Connecticut Award.

"Out of the Shadows," a day-in-the-life of documentary featuring four teen "heroes" with epilepsy, just received a Telly Award, as well.

The stories of these "heroes" are truly remarkable and are, indeed, changing the world.

That's it for now.

The conversations are happening...the stories are spreading. Feel free to jump into the pool (you won't get wet...promise!)

:-)

Thomas R. Clifford
Corporate Documentary Filmmaker & Story Katalyst
"Let's see that again!"

Pocahontas, Her Majesty the Queen & Squidoo

Dear Margaret,

I wanted to drop you a line to tell you about this amazing cameo order and my recent trip to Virginia. My original enquiry cameo via my Squidoo lens on gemstone portrat cameos. So Squidoo really works - Go Figure !

This has been such a busy two months. I was contacted in late March and asked if I could make a copy of a cameo brooch first given to Pocahontas 400 years ago by the King while she lived in England.

I was flown over in early April to examine the original which is at the Jamestown museum in Virginia. I stayed in Virginia for a few days and made time to visit some previous customers who live near Washington D.C.

I then returned to Wales and made the cameo brooch. This was carved out of natural layered agate and set in a Palladium frame set with natural American seed pearls.



I flew over to deliver the cameo to the museum in early may. It was given to the Virginian Indian nations who performed a ceremonial blessing and then presented it to the Queen on May 3rd in Richmond.

I saw the Queen during her visit to the Jamestown museum on friday 4th, May. This is an amazing museum and you really must visit it if you are ever in the area.



I had bought over my family and we had a short break in the Shenandoa national park and then re-visited my previous customers around Washington D.C. We also made time to visit the Capitol buildings, the Smithsonian natural history museum and the air and space museum near Dulles airport.

It was such an amazing time and now I have the satisfaction of knowing that one of my cameos is in the Royal collection in Buckingham Palace, England.

I have put up a quick page on my website that has a picture of the cameo. Visit it here: Queen's Cameo

Thanks, Gareth Eckley.

MySpace for Businesses: MySiteProfile

Myspace does not like to be used for small business networking, and I've heard stories of how people have been booted from there because someone detected a hint of business tendency on their page.

MySiteProfile is probably the best alternative that I can recommend. They encourage small business owners, though their interests are primarily graphic designers and web designers, and if you have a small business you are welcome to develop your own profile page. So far it is still very small, last time I checked it was about 175 good members. In such a case, it is very easy to be seen in the group, develop some new friends, and create an easily found profile.

It is free to join, and there are no ways to earn money by recommending your friends, but the pages are very easy to set up (mine turned out beautifully in just a short while) and it will give you additional external links to drive traffic and improve your google rankings.

RED HOT: Awesome Websites & Blogs

Many of you have developed incredible websites and blogs, and made squidoo pages to promote them and drive traffic to them. This includes me, and even with Squidoo, these websites and blogs can still be hard to find.

So in conjunction with the Mall on Squidoo group, page and blog, I have developed a Squidoo lens: Squidoo Web Companion Sites; and group to gather together and highlight your websites, blogs and personal pages.

I invite you to add yours, to make it easy to find.

I have included all three, because not everyone has all of them. If you only have a personal page, please add it to the plexo. If you only have a blog, add it to the blog plexo. If you only have a website, add it to the plexo.

If you have any combination, please add them all to the correct plexo.

I will also be working to promote this page and these links, which, after all, is one of the big reasons we decided to Squidoo too!

"By Invitation Only" Best Commerce Lenses

Although there have been a few fits and starts, the "By Invitation Only" group is now in full swing. Nearly all the votes are in, and once they are, the winners for January will be announced. Is it you?

Be sure to enter the February contest! If you haven't yet, or you don't know what to do, click on the plexo to the right and it will take you where you need to be- to enter your commerce lens, VOTE on all the ones there, and LEAVE YOUR COMMENT!

DinoDino, whom you know and love, and who is one of the finest commerce merchants in Squidoo, has very graciously become a member of the jury for "By Invitation Only."

There probably isn't anyone more knowledgeable about what it really takes to make a great commerce lens, a great Squidoo lens, and build customers and relationships. We are delighted to have such a great advocate for you, the Mall on Squidoo merchants, in that jury!

I Follow the Links of Every Lens that Applies to the Mall

I have found a number of problems when I do this. Sometimes the links actually redirect me to a pornographic site.

Other times, when I have examined the lensmaster's main page, I have found unfinished lenses with 25, 30, over 50 five star ratings, meaning that they had a congo line of people giving out high star rankings regardless of content.

However, this lens horrified me more than any.

In this case, I was directed to "Hitler" at videosense. His videos were parodies, most significantly, parodies of the Jewish Holocaust and the SS.

Squidoo has its hands full just with policing adult content. Groupmasters are on the front line of what it means to be squidoo, and as these many things come across my desk, I am responsible to turn them over for TOS violations and for whatever else it is expected of me to do.

It can make, and has made me, very unpopular.

Star Ranking Atrocity

At this time, the top 100 by lensrank has become inexplicable by any of the standards that have been previously used. I have asked for clarification of the algorithms that make this a useful tool for all of us. As yet I haven't received this clarification, which I hope is forthcoming soon.

Until it is, though, and while I'm delighted to see some of our Mall lensmasters rankings improving, my previous tutorials about lenranks and stars are suspended and I consider them to be useless.

As a groupmaster, the tools such as most profitable, most emailed, and top 100 by lensrank could be extremely helpful to assist group members in achieving more, becoming more profitable, obtaining more traffic and becoming more visible to the internet community, both inside and outside of Squidoo.

Until it becomes clear how to use these tools in a reliable manner, I am developing alternative ways to support you and your work.

Tutorial: Five Stars- Genius!

If, after today, you receive 5 stars from me, it is because you have struck me as a creative or marketing genius. Your commerce lens is PHENOMENAL!!!

You have ALL YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW. People look at your commerce lens and say WOW!!!

The five star rating is the best way I have to tell the world that you BELONG in the top 100 ranking on squidoo.

It is the best way I have to tell the world that you are an up and comer!

These lenses, and the lensmasters who make them will receive my unmitigated, solid, continuing support. These are GRANDMASTER LENSMASTER COMPETITORS.

They each have a tight-focused niche. They each have something very special about them. It could be creative, artistic, quirky, humorous, activist, intellectual, informational, it could be anything, but they REALLY STAND OUT IN THE CROWD.

You say Margaret, I only sell T shirts, knit socks, sell breadboxes. How could that EVER get 5 stars???

Even the most pedestrian, ordinary things can be extremely profitable lenses, if you are the phenomenon I think you are.

Now, go out there and blow everyone away!

Splensed Repeatedly

Hello Mall groupies. I'd like to announce that your new friends and mine are splensing me. What is SPLENSING? I am being spamdooed with lenses! Yes, that's right, squidoo lenses!

Who on earth would be doing this to YOU, Margaret?

Our new parasite 2.0 pals who use lame, black hat seo, have driven all of our great lenses down the rankings so they could have top lensrank spots. To get famous and rich REALLY FAST. All in the name of OFFERING YOU A GET RICH QUICK OPPORTUNITY TO DIE FOR!!!

Silly me. Why would I want to withhold the awesome opportunity for you to also get splensed and taken for a ride by every cockamamie scheme the internet dreamers can regurgitate in our direction? I mean, who wouldn't want that????

Not happy. No, not happy at all.

see this from my extremely plentiful emails:

#1
Howdy, Groupmaster!

thevideosense wants to add a lens to your Group "Catholic Lenses": http://www.squidoo.com/groups/catholic.

The lens pending your approval is Official Squidoo Personals Site Find Lensmasters in Your Location.

#2
Howdy, Groupmaster!

thevideosense wants to add a lens to your Group "Americana": http://www.squidoo.com/groups/americana.

The lens pending your approval is Official Squidoo Personals Site Find Lensmasters in Your Location.

The list is going on and on and on.

No. Not happy.

Valentine's Day Module

It was tough to choose, but I have featured 5 lenses in the Valentine's Day module.

We have over 200 members in the Mall, and I want to create spaces and places on the landing page to show off as many of you as possible.

This means I'll be thinking about different options for showing off the great lenses, and I'd like your ideas.

Here we go... it (hopefully) will be a big year for the Mall on Squidoo and all its members.

Mall Page Module: The Promenade

You may have noticed The Promenade on the groups page.

FOCUS!!!

This module I am reserving for lenses that 1. Are on the top 100 lensrank. 2. Provide an entire shopping experience. 3. Tell a GOOD story. 4. Are extremely focused. 5. Have active & participating Mall members.

These will be put in on a rotation basis, according to how many of them there are in The Mall on Squidoo, and good placement for these stores seasonally.

If you have suggestions, I really want to know them.

You Are The Person of the Year!

It wasn't mentioned specifically, but those of us in the know understand that this Time article applies as much, or more, to Squidoo as it does to anyone, any group, anywhere.

Allow me to quote: "It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes."

Its a huge responsibility AND a huge need. Wresting power from the few with all the money and influence, power and coldness, is a proud American tradition and heritage.

So your small lenses, your small shops, your small blogs or websites, and your small purchases, will add up to one of the greatest changes global society has ever seen.

This is what Seth means when he says, "Small is the New Big." The better your small piece of 'real estate' on Squidoo, or on the web, the better this change will be.

Introducing The Mall on Squidoo Blog- Cooperation is Key

Hello Squidoodlers!

As you might have noticed, The Mall is in the process of being transferred to my management. This is going to be a REAL CHALLENGE.

I'll surely do my best to create the NUMBER ONE GROUP on Squidoo to be a great presence on the internet, too.

This is the discussion place. This is where I will listen to you, where I will tell you my ideas and where I can hear yours. This is where we can talk about our plans...

We have great resources with our people. There are great business blogs and sites to help you.

Our Mall will be better the more and more we cooperate.

I look forward to working with all of you!