So You Want To Be A Giant Squid?

An Interview With Giant Squid awelldressedbullet

awelldressedbullet, aka Kathy, has been a member of Squidoo since June 14 2007. I first came across awelldressedbullet last year when I was looking for lenses for my Christmas Shopping Group. I was so impressed by her "bullet" products that I wanted to feature them. You can see more about these neat gifts here: A Well Dressed Bullet Official Website!

In addition to promoting her business Kathy also has many, many popular lenses about food, Squidoo Tips, TV and Music. So be sure to check out her entire collection!

What are 5 character traits of a Giant Squid?

1.  Love of Squidoo

2.  Desire

3.  Creativity and Diversity

4.  Organizational (for all those lenses)

5.  Don't settle.  As an example, when using a selling or video module, I spend the time to go through items to choose the ones I want included on my lens, rather than just letting the specific module automatically select them. I try to match the best choices with the content of my lens. 

How has Squidoo helped your business grow?

One can never be complacent in business.  Squidoo is another great means to reach out to a new potential customer base.  I started out thinking of Squidoo as just a means to search for new customers by creating lenses on each of our products.  All were business related lenses, they were informative and showcased our products well, and we reached a new customer base.  However, after those were all finished, I started to create funny and silly lenses, that's one thing I love to do is to make people laugh.  I also like to help out when I can by making the occasional tutorial lens.  I even created a few SquidVids, which really were selfish on my part, they were a really quick way for me to locate and listen to my fav tunes.  Shhh, don't tell anyone ok?  Although I was now creating lenses that I enjoyed, guess what? I started attracting even more new customers to our business from these non-business related lenses.  Go figure, see an old dog can learn new tricks.

Your best lens is I Love Avocados, how did you get the idea for this lens?

This was actually my first attempt at a Foodie lens and went with one of my favorite foods.  What can I say, I really do love avocados.  I enjoy searching for information, pictures and recipes and trying to put it all together in a fun and yummy way! I have only five Foodie lenses so far, but plan for many more. And yes, I have a lensography for those too! LOL

What's your favorite Squidoo Module?

That's a tough one to answer, it all depends on why topic my lens is. I must admit, I don't use a wide range, but try and use a few in each of the themed modules (Basic, Interactive, Selling, etc).

What's some advice you'd like to give to a new lensmaster?

Take your time, don't try and learn everything all at once, otherwise you might get a wee bit overwhelmed and become a discouraged.  Learn how to use the basic modules and then start to experiment with the others.  Drop by SquidU when you have a question or something has you stumped.  There are lots of really friendly and helpful Squids and Squidettes there just eager to help you out. And you might even make a few new friends too.  And don’t forget…… have fun!

An Interview With Giant Squid CrypticFragments

Lensmaster CrypticFragments, aka Tammy, has been a member of Squidoo since February 18 2007. Tammy is an fantastic artist who likes to promote regional art gift products, ethnic handicrafts. One of her most popular lenses is The Squidoo Zazzle Gallery which promotes Squidoo lensmasters who use Zazzle! You can also check out her own very cool art on Tam's Tees...A Zazzle Gallery. So stop on by and say "Hi " to Tammy and check out all her artistic lenses!

What are 5 character traits of a Giant Squid?
Perseverance, good humor, curiosity, intelligence and creativity.

How has Squidoo helped you as an artist?
Squidoo has forced me to learn new techniques of marketing, which is definitely helpful to any struggling artist.

What do you enjoy doing besides art?
When not creating, I enjoy feeding my brain visual inspiration from other artists.
I am also passionate about traveling and exploring other cultures, which is one reason I am heading back to college after 22 years to pursue a degree in Anthropology and Ancient History!
I recently created the Mission to Morocco fund raiser to help pay for an overseas volunteer program in women's empowerment, an important issue to me as a former domestic violence "victim". Links: http://www.squidoo.com/MissiontoMorocco and http://www.squidoo.com/CandlesforaCause.

What's your favorite Squidoo Module?
I tend to stick with the same group of modules...text/write, Wikipedia, Amazon, ebay and the Link List. Not sure I can really name a favorite. I would like to explore new ones, but haven't figured out the best way to use them in the kind of lenses I write.

What's some advice you'd like to give to a new lensmaster?
Don't give up! Squidoo can be intimidating to a newbie with no knowledge of computers and the Internet. However, if you keep at it, and ask a lot of questions, you can get somewhere with this!  Network with your peers. Explore what good and bad lenses are out there. Did I say don't give up?!

An Interview With Giant Squid DiMcDonald

Lensmaster DiMcDonald has been with Squidoo since January 2006. She is a writer, a mixed media artist, a teacher and a life coach.

Her diverse lens collection covers animals & pets, arts & crafts, health issues and shopping. Visit her Lensography to see more of her fabulous collection! Want to know more about Di? Visit I am Di McDonald. I love how she set up this lens AND we think alike! I would also love to have dinner with Oprah and John Travolta! Thanks Di for such a great interview.

What are 5 character traits of a Giant Squid?

In my opinion the 5 character traits of a Giant Squid would be:

1: A love of learning

2: Tenacity, the ability to keep going.

3: The ability to keep focus

4: A keen interest in the world around them

5: Being able to make a goal and see it through to the end.

 

You've some some amazing arts & crafts lenses. What's your inspiration?

 

Yes my first lenses were all focused on dollmaking and mixed media art

The reason for this was that I have a lot of experience in this area ( more than 10 years) and I wanted to write about what I knew.

 

 I started out making cloth dolls as a hobby and I soon expanded to designing my own dolls, from there I became a cloth doll teacher and was able to travel from Australia ( where I live ) to USA to teach in seminars a number of times As doll making now became a job for me, I needed another hobby so thats when I got into Mixed media art including collage, altered books, visual journals and more.

 Here are my lenses on those topics. http://www.squidoo.com/creative-collage, http://www.squidoo.com/altered-books, http://www.squidoo.com/visual-journals. These days my focus is more on my internet marketing with a little art thrown in!!

Other then arts & crafts, what's your favorite topic to write about?

 

The topics that I liike to write about change every day. As I am now 55 Yrs old , I have a fair amount of life experience to draw on and I do love to learn new things and create lenses on different subjects. However, because I am a former nurse I am always interested in anything medical, and because I hope to be a grandma soon I am very interested in any baby stuff http://www.squidoo.com/BabyHandprintFootprint  and I can get current on all the new information about bring up babies at the same time. I think another favorite topic would be "gadgets". I love anything new and fascinating in the technology field, for instance the KIndle, http://www.squidoo.com/buy-kindle . I think one of the reasons for this one is also my love of reading and books. Then because I am a Life Coach I also enjoy writing about relationships and personal development for instance http://www.squidoo.com/the-signs-of-a-cheating-wife

 

You mention in your bio that you're a life coach. What exactly does that mean?

 

Yes Bonnie, I became a certified Life Coach about 5 years ago. I love to help women who want to change their lives. Sometimes that change is not somthing they ask for ( like the sudden death of a life partner) and I guide and support women to take action to change their lives into the life of their dreams. How it works is that we make an appointment and I call them on the phone anywhere in the world and we have a session once per week. They are given homework to do and can email me as much as they want between appointments. I am not a counsellor but more of a stategy partner and a personal cheerleader. And Life Coaching is always action based!

What is the best piece of advice you could give a new Lensmaster?

 

The best piece of advice I could give a new lensmaster is to only write about something you are interested in. You just wont continue if you are forcing yourself to write about a subject you have no interest in.

An Interview With Giant Squid Chefkeem

Lensmaster Chefkeem has been with Squidoo since January of 2008. It's hard to believe that ChefKeem has only been a Lensmaster for such a short time. In only 7 months he has become a Giant Squid, Squidoo Activist and community leader.

It's hard to sum up Chefkeem is one short paragraph. He's one of Squidoo's most creative, generous, determined Lensmasters and you can learn a lot from this top ranked lenses. So check out his Lensography to see what he's been up to...but come back often because he is always adding new lenses!

Here's an interview I did with Chefkeem:

What are 5 character traits of a Giant Squid?

I can only talk about this Giant Squid, and the answer is:

Lazy procrastinator with a self-deprecating sense of humor, a gluttonous ice cream addiction, and a severe case of misplaced priorities. Allow for a sixth one , please: passion.

I've always had a passion for writing (although I'm not a trained writer) - and for creating presentations of ideas and concepts. My epiphany occurred on the evening I found Squidoo.com - my passion had found its platform, on January 29th of 2008. With Squidoo as the facilitator for my creative expression, I can transmute my negative character traits into a focused approach with tangible, positive results. Passion heals, passion teaches, passion transforms. I can't wait to get up in the morning (checking on my dashboard) - and I work until late at night. Iʼve learned more during the last 6 months than in years before. Not only about SEO and HTML - I've learned about life and people, through research for my lenses and interaction with my fellow lensmasters in the SquidU forum. I've found new priorities through my involvement with charities. Often, I simply forget to eat ice cream while I'm deeply in thoughts about my lens projects. I'm losing weight - Squidoo's been good for me.

Let me try again to answer the question: Passion, times five. And a sweet tooth.

Not only are you a Lensmaster but you are also a business owner. How has Squidoo helped your business?

The number of visitors to my business website - Agasweet Store - has increased over twenty-fold since Iʼve started supporting it with Squidoo lenses. My customers, new and existing, enjoy the great  presentations of info, recipes, and pictures they can browse on Organic Flavored Agave Nectar and Diabetic Sweetener - Low Glycemic Agasweet and a number of corresponding pages on Squidoo. Accordingly, my orders have increased as well, with many new contacts coming directly from the Squidoo community of lensmasters. But this is only part of a whole new business outlook.

Squidoo has given me a new profession: writer, blogger, affiliate marketer, promoter of other businesses through lenses, and - charity activist. I firmly believe in the principle of “do what you love and the money will follow”. Creating lenses for charity will pay off for me, too, simply because itʼs a universal law - as you give, so you will receive. Iʼve observed this law in action - hundreds of times in my life.

And I canʼt even list all the things that Iʼm learning from Seth Godin, and from the people he features on his blog, and the invaluable links to other great thinkers I get there...

And then thereʼs PotPieGirl, Margaret Schaut, the Giant Squids Organizers, Julie, Fluff, Glen, Captain, Triathlontraining, hundreds of generously sharing lensmasters...

I feel like Iʼm back in school, getting a free education in “living your passion” from the masters in the field. www.squidoo.com/superhero-squidoo

Other than food, of course, whatʼs your favorite topic to write about?

The goodness and greatness of other folks - on Squidoo and out in the world.

Two of my favorite lenses are “How to Squidoo with a Lotta Help from my Friends” - www.squidoo.com/squidoo-austin-texas - and “The Funniest Lensmasters” - www.squidoo.com/funny-squidoo. These are archives of the most generous and knowledgeable, and the most creatively funny authors on Squidoo. I also enjoyed reporting on the most popular populist in America - Jim Hightower www.squidoo.com/jimhightower, a true American hero - General Chuck Yeager www.squidoo.com/chuckyeager-american-hero, and one of the greatest singer/songwriters alive - Chip Taylor. www.squidoo.com/chip-taylor-songs.

My other favorite topic is humor. Hopefully, Iʼm not the only one who thinks this is funny: Guide to Driving Like a Complete Idiot - www.squidoo.com/thinking-mans-guide Iʼm Dead - Now What? - www.squidoo.com/life-after-death I know my Weenie - www.squidoo.com/weenie

Youʼre also a Squidoo Activist. Can you tell us what that is?  

A Squidoo Activist is someone who has made a few lenses for charity, either about a specific non-profit organization, or about any other topic - but always set to “100% charity” under payment options in the right-hand column. But thatʼs not all of it...

A Squidoo Activist wants to do more - for charity, and by using Squidoo.

There are so many wonderful causes with great stories that make exciting topics for lenses. A Squidoo Activist is passionate about finding these stories, and eager to generate more donations by making new masterpiece lenses about them.

A Squidoo Activist is someone with a generous heart, focused on charity.

Weʼre persistent in our vision - weʼre on a mission. Five or six lenses set to 10% charity just wonʼt do. Weʼre committed to generating as much money for charity as we can - using Squidoo as our “soap box”. Notice I said, “as much as we can” - many of us consider Squidoo as a supplemental source of income for ourselves, but we still can contribute greatly by the sheer strength of our large membership.

A Squidoo Activist participates in weekly contests and in our ongoing base camp discussions about how to improve our efforts.

Aspiring new members will be invited by our administrator, Anne Reidy. If you are interested in becoming a Squidoo Activist, submit your 100% charity lenses to the appropriate weekly challenges, and draw Anneʼs attention to your overall charity-minded lens work. Be pro-active and introduce yourself to a current Squidoo Activist with all your questions about the beauty and the perks of our program.

To find out who the current Squidoo Activists are, visit the Squidoo Activists Group and show your generous heart by supporting all of the featured lenses. www.squidoo.com/groups/squidoo-activists

What is the best piece of advice you could give a new lensmaster?

The more you put in - the more you get out. That simple. You canʼt even begin to appreciate the power and beauty of Squidoo until you have invested some of your time and effort.

As it is with any new business or hobby, thereʼs a learning curve in becoming a successful lensmaster. But Squidoo makes it easy to acquire all the knowledge you need. Go to the Squidoo Answer Deck and start from the top: look at the 5 great pages, read the answers to the 21 questions (we get asked a lot), and download (and read) the 2 free ebooks. Do it. www.squidoo.com/theanswerdeck/hq

To fine-tune your lenscrafting skills, visit the featured tutorials in the bottom section of the Answer Deck, as you need them while building your lenses. Iʼm a Giant Squid, with 2 “Lens of the Day” honors and a #1 lens (in “Food”) under my belt, and I visit the Squidoo Answer Deck almost daily to improve my skills.

Equipped with this solid foundation, you can now go to the SquidU forum for help with specific problems along your way. Be nice and polite, and youʼll make a gaggle of new friends in no time flat. Look what others do, and then add your own unique, personal twist to it.

Be “you”, and let us get to know you. Squidoo is all about people and relationships. Welcome to Squidoo, my friend! Have a coconut macaroon on the house. www.squidoo.com/best-coconut-macaroons

An Interview With Giant Squid GypsyOwl

Lensmaster GypsyOwl has been with Squidoo since February, 2007. In addition to being a brand new Giant Squid GypsyOwl is also an artist, photographer and business woman. She has shops on both Zazzle and CafePress.

Here's an interview I just did on the very talented and creative GypsyOwl! She's got some great tips here on how to get your Giant Squid status so read on...

Name 5 character traits of a Giant Squid:

Team Player- We are not in competition with other Lensmasters. We have the opportunity to work together and when we do work together everyone wins.The paradox is that the more lenses there are on a particular subject the better, because that brings more visitors to the site.

True to our convictions- We do not strive to be like everyone else, we strive to be the best we can be individually.  Improving my skills, from where I am, is more productive than trying to start where someone else is.

Love to play- One of the most delightful aspects of the Squidoo realm is the ability to have a lot of fun. When you are having fun that is a good sign that you are working on a great lens project and your enthusiasm will be sensed by your visitors.

Persistence- Every exceptional lens is the result of care and follow-up.  Think about each lens as if it were a new born baby squid…be sure to feed and water it regularly so it will grow to be a strong and independent Giant. And remember... "It takes a village to raise a Giant.

Willingness to learn- A Giant doesn’t have to know everything. A Giant Squid will be determined to find the answers and will point others in the direction of helpful answers as well. This character trait will translate well into how Squidoo works. From finding great lenses to lensroll and connect to your lens, to finding great modules and spotlights for your lens.I often hand pick every product that will be included in a lens module recommendation and even then I learn as much about it as I can before I recommend it.

How has Squidoo helped you to market your artwork?

Squidoo has helped me to market my artwork in such a dynamic way!  There are several ways I can promote my artwork on Squidoo by utilizing the different modules (Polaroid, CafePress, text/write for Zazzle, rss from my gallery blog, and so much more).  I can show my work, my product line, and tutorials showing the process to create my digital art.  Additionally, it is always great to create graphics to work with the lens I am creating.  So, in addition to marketing my previous work, I have also been inspired to create new art which translates into new gallery submissions.

You became a Giant relative quickly. Can you share your secret?

I remember reading a couple of tips, early in May (after my friend became a Giant Squid), that I have thought about often.  “Build quickly and perfect over time”, and a newsletter (or blog?) I received, suggested 'the steps to create a great lens, over a three or four day time frame'.  Taking those two concepts, I created a quarter week schedule for each of four steps in the work of creating a lens.  I am creating a Time Management segment on my “How I Became a Giant Squid in 60 Days” to elaborate on my quarter week concept. 

I would have about 6 lenses going at once and my goal for publishing would be once a week.  On average, I would publish 6 new lenses a week and that is how I had over 50 lenses in 60 days. 

Most days I would wake up with 10 new topic ideas and kept them on a master list to look back on.  I still have a notepad by my bed and in the kitchen (I seem to have many ideas early in the morning or while I am doing the dishes).  I believe the secret to becoming a Giant Squid is to build each lens using the steps (research, write/edit, promote, and network).  Remembering the ‘network’ step includes finding other Lensmaster’s work that you can lensroll to yours.  Promoting includes your lens, yourself, other lenses, and other Lensmasters.  Blog about everyone, because it all works together, overall. 

What do you love most about Squidoo?

One of the things I love the most about Squidoo is the ability to raise money for my favorite charities.  Squidoo makes this so easy, the feature is editable, and on every lens so that each lens can be of benefit to a different charity organization.  There is also a default setting that will allow for global setting changes simply by putting a checkmark in the box in the profile (payout section), you can change the setting for all existing lenses.  Many of my lenses donate to Covenant House to benefit their work with homeless and at risk youth.  Creating a lens is my way of contributing to the charities that matter to me.  There are dozens of charities that Squidoo donates to directly and on behalf of the Lensmaster.

What is the one piece of advice you would give a new person just starting out on Squidoo?

One piece of advice I would give a new person just starting out on squidoo is to remember what your passions are.  Your best work is going to stand out because you are interested in it.  If I attempted to write about football, for example, the lens would not be very interesting because I have never been very interested in football.  However, if I start a lens about butterflies or my favorite movies, or my spiritual journey, or my art, it is going to be very interesting to me.  Enthusiasm is the best tool for communication in an online platform and your work will excel when you choose work that you love. Give this a try: Find three things that you love.  Then write about why you love them.  Now you have three lens ideas to get you started. This will help you to realize that you can recommend an endless line of items, books, etc. simply based on your own personal experience with the item.

An Interview With Giant Squid Janet21

Lensmaster Janet21 has been with Squidoo since January 2007. In addition to being a Giant Squid Janet has the #1 Lens on Squidoo right now, which is a huge accomplishment!

Janet is a stay-at-home mom who has been able to create an income for herself with Squidoo which is the goal of many moms and dads out there. What's so cool about Janet is that she decided to makes a lens to share her secret: Are you a Stay at Home Mom (or Dad) Interested in Earning a Monthly Income?, which just happens to be her #1 lens! Janet is also an active participant on the SquidU forum and is always willing to help her fellow lensmasters.

Here's a little interview I did with Janet:

What are 5 character traits of a Giant Squid?

Helpful, Encouraging, Hard-working, Enthusiastic, and a Leader.

You've had a #1 lens with "Are you a Stay at Home Mom (or Dad)
Interested in Earning a Monthly Income?". Do you have any advice for
getting a lens to the top?

Honestly, I never imagined this lens would reach the #1 spot.  It was definitely a pleasant surprise.   I don't think there is any secret formula in getting a lens to the top, but I will  give one piece of advice.  Always write about topics that truly interest you and write from your heart. 

Being a stay-at-home mom you need excellent organizational skills. How do you fit Squidoo into your schedule?

I wish I could say that I am very organized.  Unfortunately, that is not the case. It is something that I am working on daily, so that I am able to Squidoo while keeping the rest of my life in order.  It is a learning process, but I am getting there!

What are you favorites lens building modules?

My favorite modules at the moment are the eBay module and the Polaroid module.  eBay is just such an great money earner for me and it enables me to find so many unique products to offer on my lenses. 

The Polaroid module is another favorite of mine.  I love images on my lenses and the Polaroid module provides me with a way to add large, crisp images.  They also help me break up some of my money making modules, so that the lens flows better.  A small piece of advice here.  When adding images to the Polaroid module, be sure the image you are adding is a minimum of 400 pixels.  If it is smaller than that, the final image may display distorted or blurry and you will not achieve the effect you are looking for. 

What advice would you give a new lensmaster for achieving Giant Squid status?

Keep trudging along and you will get there!   And, if you don't make it this round, don't sweat it.  You can always try again next time.  For instance, I would love to make the 100 Club, but I know I am not going to make it this month or even next month for that matter.   As much as I would like to become a member of this elite group of lensmasters, I know that now is not the time for me, but when the time is right, I WILL make it!  And, you will, too!

An Interview With Giant Squid Barkely

Lensmaster Barkely has been with Squidoo since January 2007. In addition to being a Giant Squid, Linette is also a Squid Angel, a writer and an avid blogger (she's the editor of Mother Earth's Garden, a blog about nature and gardening and a co-editor at Robust Cooking, and She Knows Parties).

One of my favorite lenses by Linette is The Best Cookies Ever which was not only Lens of the Day but is currently #8 in overall Lens Rank! What's so neat about this lens is that she frequently updates it with seasonal recipes and products! Check out some delicious Spring and Summer Cookies right now!

Here's a little interview I did with Linette:

What are 5 character traits of a Giant Squid?

A Giant Squid loves to learn new things, is hard working, tenacious, imaginative, and of course fun!

What is your favorite topic to write about?

Wow, it's hard to narrow it down to one topic. It depends on the week. Right now, today my favorite topic to write about is food. Tomorrow it may be movies, or gardening, or parties, or monkeys. That's one of my favorite things about Squidoo, I can write about anything I want to and create a lens.

I know that you're an avid blogger. Can you tell us a little about the blogs you run?

I started blogging about a year and a half ago (about the same time I started Squidooing). I had one blog for about six months, with hardly any traffic. Then things just started snowballing, my personal blog, The Home and Garden Cafe, started to pick up steam. It was originally a Blogger blog, but I moved it to Wordpress in January.

A blogging contact emailed me last fall to ask if I was interested in blogging at Mother Earth's Garden. I jumped at the opportunity to blog for b5media. Now I co-blog for two additional b5media blogs, She Knows Parties, and Robust Cooking. I love them all.

I also have Kid's Birthday Fun, to go along with my children's birthday party lenses (it's my favorite blog). I have a Squidoo blog, which I post to from time to time called Lens Author, and a brand new blog called Kid's Movie News (it's in the process of getting a new look).

How did you find out about Squidoo?

I found out about Squidoo through a message board post Tiffany Dow made at a work at home forum. I visited several times before I signed up. One of the first lenses I created was for a contest she was sponsoring.

What's the one piece of advice you would give a new lensmaster?

Work on your lenses every day, and eventually it will add up. I treat my lenses like they're one of my blogs. I have a blogging calendar I use to schedule my posts, and to keep myself organized. One section of the calendar is labeled Squidoo. I make notes on the lenses I need to work on, or lenses I'd like to create, and add them to my calendar. Then when it's time to work on Squidoo I don't have to wonder what I should work on. I didn't go from one lens to over 200 lenses and groups overnight, I've worked at it every day, a little at a time.

An Interview With Giant Squid JaguarJulie

Lensmaster JaguarJulie has been with Squidoo since March of 2006. With over 350 lenses Julie is one busy lady. In addition to her enormous Lens library she is also a Squid Angel and a member of the Giant Squids 100 Club.

You can learn a Lot from Julie's lenses run that gamut from Basa to Hungary to Yoana Baraschi Fashion. Her lenses are stylish, fun  and very informative. So here's a little interview that I cooked up with this amazing lady who is not only a sensational lensmaster but a great teacher too!

What are 5 character traits of a Giant Squid?

Can you really pin a Giant Squid down to just 5 character traits? I’m not sure – let me see … the giant squids that I personally know are hard-working and rather tenacious, creative, resourceful, compassionate, and most of all ORIGINAL. They each put their own personal spin on a lens that distinguishes their interpretation/style from everyone elses!

The giant squids are those types of squids/lensmasters who undoubtedly were achievers in school and in their careers – whether in the workplace or as stay at home moms and dads. Giant squids have produced some of the most interesting lenses out there! And, what’s truly amazing is that there are giant squids with well over 50 lenses – for the most part these days, giant squids have 100 quality lenses along with those mega giant squids who have over 200 and over 300 lenses! Squidoo is amazing.

You are so busy, Giant Squid, Squid Angel, Animal Rescue. How do you manage your time?

Bonnie, that IS a very GOOD question. I believe my Jaguar Julie Lensography and SquidWho Jaguar Julie give a good idea of how I look at life and perhaps how I manage my time. Being a good Giant Squid and Squid Angel does have it responsibilities as you well know! To manage all that I do without the help of a maid amazes even myself BUT not when you consider that my housework has suffered since I started working at becoming a giant squid back in the summer of 2007. The house is a bit dustier than I would like, but I enjoy Squidoo so much that it is a trade-off. Yes, I am now working to manage a feral cat colony too! Whenever possible, I multi-task!

You've got over 300 lenses and counting. What's inspires you to build your lenses?

Well, at the moment I do have over 350 lenses, but I honestly never thought I’d have this many. I try to keep them all as current as possible, but it is a bit of work – I’m hoping that the new dashboard and new enhancements will help to make updating lenses a faster operation. My inspiration for lens-building has come from that which I am passionate about – genealogy, Eastern European travel and history, fashion, trends, and health-related topics. I started with 40 lenses and before I knew it, I was well past 200 lenses. It’s lens building one day at a time. I’ve had lots more ideas, but usually when write down the topics and think about them for a few days or few weeks before I actually write the lens.

Animal rescue is a big part of you life. How did you get involved in helping feral cats?

Working with the feral cat colony is really rather a recent undertaking although I’ve adopted a few feral/stray cats over the years. The first feral cat we had spayed from the neighborhood colony was over 2-1/2 years ago. I found her litter of 5 at about 2-3 weeks and took care of them on our patio until they were 8 weeks of age. We interviewed people that adopted the 5 and then had Precious spayed. My active work with First Coast No More Homeless Pets :: Jacksonville, FL really began in early 2008. I’ll be purchasing a business tile for their new feral cat clinic to show my support. We just recently took a pregnant female to their temporary feral cat clinic for spaying. Thus far in 2008, we’ve had 1 male neutered, 6 females [5 of which were pregnant] females spayed, and taken 3 feral tom cats to Animal Care & Control. Working with the feral cats can be emotionally draining because you develop such an attachment to all the cats and particularly because they learn to trust you. That was what made it so difficult taking the 3 feral tom cats to AC&C. More lenses about my involvement with all the cats: Jaguar Julie Cat Lady, Country Club Cats, Bandit the Cat, Precious the Cat, Tigger the Cat and Buy ONE of Jaguar Julie's Lenses.

What's the most important piece of advice you can give someone who aspires to be a Giant Squid?

Be the best that you can be … we are all truly unique in our talents and aspirations … write about your passions … that which you love to do. Be original. Be YOU!

An Interview With Giant Squid flowergardener

Lensmaster flowergardener has been with Squidoo since June of 2007. You can learn a lot about Deb from her Lensography, like the fact that she's 53 and has a son that she's really proud of or that her most important lens is Audio Bible on Compact Disc and Bible Mp3.

Here's what I can tell you about Deb. She is generous, caring, loyal, has a fantastic sense of humor and she knows what it takes to be successful on Squidoo. Her lens library is amazing. As of today she has 12 lenses in the Top 100 of the Animals & Nature Category, now that's a really awesome accomplishment!

Here's a little bit more about Deb in an interview that I did...

Name 5 character traits of a Giant Squid.

I think Giant Squids could be described as being self-motivators, with the ability to stick with a project, turning every stone, so to speak, in the quest for creating the best lens possible.

Another really important trait that I think describes our unique group is our overwhelmingly obvious generosity of time, talent, and selflessness in helping other lensmasters. Whether it's a virtual hug, pat-on-the-back, visiting and rating other lenses, answering questions, making lenses that help others, or just generally having the 'aura' of being approachable to newbies; Giants, in my opinion, have the honor of respect; but don't make a practice of 'lording-it-over' those who aren't Giants.

As your user name suggests, you have a lot of lenses on flowers! How did you get started in gardening?

I've always felt peaceful and in awe of the beauty of flowers, but I didn't take up gardening until I was in my early 20's. As my knowledge and successes increased, they became a welcome "escape" to everyday trials, tribulations, and stresses.

I'm so adapted to it now that when I'm stressed, all I need to do is walk outside, sit within the flowerbeds, and start pulling weeds. LOL! I can get lost in my own little world, with my own little thoughts.

How did you find out about Squidoo and what was you first lens?

Somehow, I was doing a search on Google looking for any competition (lots!) of affiliates promoting Natural Medicines.I had a .com promoting Natural Dog Health products, and wanted to see what the better websites were doing that I wasn't. I found 'Topanga' Lilly's lens with lots of links to the same great company, and signed up. My first lens was My Flower Garden, the 'flowerbeds' link above.

What's your favorite part of being a member of the Squidoo community?

That I have reached out and let others see quite a few pieces of my personality, and they haven't kicked me out yet!

Photo are a big part of your lenses. What advice would you give new Lensmasters about buidling a lens that uses a lot of photos?

Great photo's tell the story so much better! Anyone can type 'till their fingers are bloody....if you're an awesome, descriptive writer, you may be able to build upon a reader's view; but it's not cemented into the reader's mind until you can show your story in photos, IMO.

Best advice? Get some web space where you can store your photos; (not flicker) that way you can upload them onto the lens yourself.......having whole control of the size, keywords (alt), and description tags of each photo. If you don't have a large selection of your own photos, please, please, don't just copy & paste any nice photo you find on the internet. Make sure that you have the author/owner's permission to use their photo.

An Interview With Giant Squid ThomasC

Lensmaster ThomasC has been a member of Squidoo since January 2008. In addition to being our resident Hard Rock expert Thomas is also a talented Graphic Designer and with a really cool Truck Driver Shirts & Gift Store on CafePress so be sure to check it out!

Thomas is also a wonderfully helpful member of the Squidoo Community. He's always willing to answer questions and guide newbies in the right direction. This week Thomas has created a lens called How to feature your favorite band on Squidoo.com. Learn how to feature your favorite group AND your own band!

Creating a lens is free and you can even make money from your lenses or donate the proceeds to your favorite charity. Every band should have a lens to promote their music and merchandise. Let Thomas show you how you can set one up.

Get to know Thomas a little more...

List 5 character traits of a Giant Squid.

• Giant Squids are organized- keeping 50 or more lenses up to date takes someone who can organize their time well!
• Giant Squids are good at expressing their thoughts into words.
• Giant Squids are hard workers.
• Giant Squids are determined.
• Giant Squids are good at completing tasks.

You have a great understanding of the rock world. Who are your biggest musical influences?

The first music I listened too when I was a kid was AC/DC - For Those About to Rock on an old 8 track tape! Remember those? I am a product of the 80's, I listened to Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, Ted Nugent, Kiss, plus all the other "Hair Metal Bands" They just don't play those guitar riffs like they did in the 80's anymore!

Who are your 5 all time favorite bands?

• Motley Crue
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Kiss
• Def Leppard
• AC/DC

What is the one best piece of advice you would give a new Lensmaster who wants to build a music lens?

Hand pick the amazon and eBay products you add to your lenses. You can dig deep into their websites and find some amazing band products to highlight on your lens.

You're also a graphic designer. How have you been able to integrate your design skills with Squidoo?

On some of my lenses I have created custom graphics. But mostly I use Squidoo to showcase most of my Rock n Roll designs from my website http://thomascarlson.com. Besides Rock n Roll. I make designs for Muscle Car Lovers, Truck Drivers, and Martial Artists.