In the pink literally : read all about it

Hubby was heading out the door on Saturday October 18th when he shouted back, "Hey, the newspaper's all pink!" Yep, sure enough! And, a mighty nice shade of pink I must admit. That must have been fun for the web press operators early that morning printing the Times-Union.

As a Squidoo Activist, I've created two colorful lenses Cook for the Cure -- Think Pink in Your Kitchen with KitchenAid and KitchenAid Artisan Mixers -- How to Colorize Your Kitchens. Both of these lenses donate their royalties directly to Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation. October is breast cancer awareness month so I'd say these lenses are definitely topical and spot-on.

Searching all of the many Squidoo lenses, would you believe there are some 573 that mention breast cancer while cancer seems more topical with 997 lenses. Shop directly at KitchenAid Online Store: Cook for the Cure!

Tribes Casebook released as companion to Tribes book

Today I downloaded a copy of the official Tribes Casebook that Seth Godin just released. It's a companion piece to his Tribes book which was shipped this week. The Casebook is an interesting read in that it contains case studies by many of the Triiibes members. It's 228 pages long; while the Tribes book is 151 pages. I couldn't help but notice that Ed Welch is quite prolific with many of his case studies being featured. Ed has an interesting blog entitled Tribe Building.

So, what about the collage of Triiibe member photos on the inside of the Tribes book cover? We must have been out of town when Seth blogged about submitting your picture in May 2008 to be included in the collage. Yes, I'm sure of it.

Well, this is the first cover of its kind that I can ever think of that you may want to seriously consider framing it. It'd even make an interesting mouse pad with proceeds benefitting the Acumen Fund!

If you look closely at the middle of the "S" you can find my dear Squidoo colleague and lensmaster ChefKeem! His lenses are some of the MOST amazingly touching and creative that I think I've seen in all of the >740,000 lenses. In addition to his tremendous creativity, he has the kindest soul. It is a pleasure to count him as a friend and colleague.

Learn more about the Tribes book from Seth on Squidoo. Or, better yet, go ahead and buy one for yourself. What are you waiting for?

Hearing more and more about Tribes

On October 7th I received my advance copy of Tribes by Seth Godin. At 151 pages, it is a relatively quick-read -- quick enough that you may want to go back and reread it before you opt to pass the book on to a friend or colleague. By the time you get to page 146, you'll realize that you have not found any checklist follow this type of instructions or the Tribes for Dummies how-to how-tos.

I'm really NOT sure what I expected to find in this little book, but it has got me thinking -- thinking more and more about what it is that matters.

What it is that matters.

You can choose to lead, or not. You can choose to have faith, or not. You can choose to contribute to the tribe, or not.

For me, I had a bit of an epiphany when I reached page 114 -- realizing that in one of my roles, our organization is a bit 'stuck on stupid.' No, my colleagues aren't stupid, don't get me wrong. But our organization works with an industry that is dramatically changing since the advent of digital. Trying to convince a former retiree, now partner, that fax-blasting may be a practice out of the past and not the best form of communication can be challenging indeed.

Tribes, the book has shipped this week from Amazon. As is usual with Seth's new-to-be-released books, the buzz has already generated a huge interest. Searching on Squidoo for 'tribe' produces some 386 lenses. Tribes yields 419 lenses while triiibes yields only 7 lenses for now. If you'd like to hear more about the buzz on Triiibes on Twitter, you can search on #triiibe.

On August 2nd, I joined Tribes, the community. As of this writing is up to 3,650 by-invitation-only members and will soon be open to the public.

Squidoo meets Alltop and becomes Squidoorati

Have you heard of Alltop yet? It's a site founded by one of my favorite marketing guru-types, Guy Kawasaki. I've been a fan of Guy Kawasaki for more than 4 years since I first read The Art of the Start and then attended one of his cool webinars. It was about the same time that I was launching my own business, Jaguar Julie Designs.

Back to Alltop: I've been hearing lots about Alltop from Guy's tweets on Twitter. Today, I read a fellow blogger and lensmaster MiMi aka GrowWear post about Alltop meeting Squidoo. We Are Squidoorati on Alltop. It's a magazine rack meets CraigsList approach to the top Squidoo lenses by various topics or categories.

Well, I headed on over to Squidoorati on Alltop to check it out. You'll find the top 5 lenses listed by Squidoo topic or category. When you click on one of the categories, it will take you to that Top 100 list over at Squidoo. So, I interpret Alltop as ALL-TOP with an RSS-like feed of the top Squidoo lenses. It's rather dynamic in that one moment I saw my top Stuffed Cabbage lens in the top 5 list and a couple of minutes later, my lens had gone to number 6! However, I still was seeing my Jaguar Julie Lensography in the top 5.

I would think that being in the top 5 of a categories would give lensmasters an added benefit of a backlink perhaps? Thanks MiMi for blogging about this and bringing it to the attention of other Squidoo lensmasters. Can't get any more topical than that! Be sure to check out Squidoorati and take a look at the badges to see if one of them interests you! Read more about Alltop.

Squidoo is making it easy for you to donate

How many times have you received an email asking you to take a moment and click on some link so that your vote can be registered for some cause? I personally have received well too many of those type of emails and I've always wondered if my vote mattered. Now, you can see the transparency in how your vote for a favorite charity can add up.

Until October 15, 2008, votes registered for a variety of terrific charitable organizations on Squidoo will earn that charity $2.00! That's pretty remarkable. It's a $80,000 Squidoo Charity Giveaway. Make your vote count as each vote equals a $2.00 donation. Hey, vote now! I've voted for my 'pet' charity First Coast No More Homeless Pets [FCNMHP]. Want to know more about my 'pet charity?' Check out the lens I've written highlighting this fine organization.

Talk about topicability -- that's Squidoo! For nearly 3 years, they've been donating thousands and thousands of dollars to charities on a monthly basis. Now, you can get in on the donating through casting your vote! Hurry up; what are you waiting for?