A Milestone on Squidoo

Over the past several years, we, as Squidoo lensmasters, have read and heard about many a milestone as experienced by fellow lensmasters. Milestones come in many shapes and sizes for us writers. On the platform of Squidoo, a milestone can mean an overall top lens, a lens in the Top 100, a lens of the day, creating 50 quality lenses to become a Giant Squid or creating 100 quality lenses to become a Giant Squid 100 Club status, a purple star for a quality lens, and it can even mean celebrating a memorable anniversary!

A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. --Thank you Wikipedia!

Within the framework of project management, a milestone is the end of a stage that marks the completion of a work package or phase, typically marked by a high level event such as completion, endorsement or signing of a deliverable, document or a high level review meeting. --Thanks again Wikipedia

Today is March 21, 2006 and it means that I, JaguarJulie, am celebrating my own personal milestone on Squidoo. Today marks my 4th anniversary as a Squidoo lensmaster. Bright and early, my first task that I wanted to accomplish was to share my special day on the SquidU Forum. Thank you Squidoo for my 4-year anniversary milestone today!

I started writing my post just before 9am and published it at 9:35am. That is of significance as there is a fellow lensmaster Rick Phillips who is also celebrating his 4-year anniversary today. And, remarkably, unplanned, he was posting on the SquidU Forum at the same time, publishing at 9:37am his post, Joined Squidoo 4 Years Ago Today - The Results.

If you want to know a bit more about what this 4-year anniversary milestone means to me, catch my SquidU Forum post.  I've shared my personal mantra that has been my driver for more than a decade online, "Be the best that YOU can be! Be authentic, original and unique."  And along those lines, "Reach for the stars!  Sparkle and shine."  You know it is important to be authentic and yourself!  "Don't be a CopyCat."  Ah, yes!  "Be the best that YOU can be!"

Do you want to know what my favorite gadgets are? Here are a few that I own and love! Yep, they are a little older like me! While I would love to have the latest and greatest, sometimes you need to celebrate what you have and make the most of it. For me, I am making the most of it with my Amazon Kindle, Apple iPod nano, and FujiFilm FinePix V10!

And, I am still making the best and most of it over on Squidoo as JaguarJulie, a lensmaster "since March 21 2006, who has rated 7,147 lenses, favorited 537, and has created 637 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is Stuffed Cabbage. 1,775 people are fans."  Thank you Squidoo hugely for the 4-year anniversary milestone today!  You rock seriously.

The Topicability of the Top 100

It is the middle of May and the halfway of the month for determining average lensrank for May 2009. That helps to determine if lensmasters will have lenses in the top tier that might pay $10-$12 for that coveted spot. The second tier pays much less at $1.30. The third tier earns about what a simple click might earn $0.08. One year ago, there were not nearly as many Giant Squids as there are today clammering for a top spot. Also, one year ago, to be a Giant Squid 100 Club member, well you could probably count those members.

Today, there are so many Giant Squids that occasionally when I am making visits to lenses I encounter a Giant Squid that I have met for the first time! I find that so interesting as I thought I knew all the Giant Squids. For me, it is a little tougher to guess who exactly might be a Giant Squid 100 member -- but I'm thinking WE Giant Squid 100 Club members might be earning our own badge to sport on our profiles.

I'd vote for an orange badge as the giant badge is purple to match the purple star. Giant Squids earn a yellow star for their lenses once they achieve that distinction because of 50+ quality content lenses -- you can see that yellow star on the profile. The purple star is for a special lens that was 'judged' to be a Giant Squids' stellar lens. I've only got one of those so far for my Stuffed Cabbage lens -- now HUB!


FYI, yesterday was a payday for Squidoo lensmasters. Some lensmasters have shared with other lensmasters how much they have earned in royalties for the month of March. I haven't shared my stats online but have kept them private. I've run a debate about how much of our stats should be public. It is my opinion that some things should be private. If I publicize that I have made $2,000 in one month on my The Journal of the Traveling Squid lens, I'm afraid that might encourage more journals to be traveling around the world ... or maybe not. ;) Or, it might encourage other lensmaster in the U.K., Europe, and the U.S.A. to jump on board the project! Yeah!!!

So, what about that topicability of the Top 100? Well, I am super thankful that I have ONE of those lenses in the Top 100 -- Yep, only one. But it is my most important lens because it celebrates my grandmother Julia Nagy, my Hungarian heritage, and pretty importantly what grandma taught me to make -- Stuffed Cabbage -- thank you grandma!

This morning, I took a look at the Top 100 and am thrilled to report that some of our fine lensmasters who are also GSOs, Giant Squids, Giant Squid 100 Club members, and Squid Angels have MORE than one lens in that coveted Top 100 spot! Wow -- isn't that amazing? I've added the number after the dear lensmasters' names to indicate how many Top 100 lenses they have today -- the middle of May. I'm not sure if any of these are a second ID for a Giant Squid which would skew the numbers for those with more than one lens in the Top 100.

• a_willow
• airabongco
• aj2008 - 2
• awelldressedbullet
• bdkz - 3
• boredofeducation
• bruceeisner
• Chadrew
• chefkeem
• Christene
• Cinetech - 2
• ClassyGals
• Color_Expert
• Comfortdoc
• CoolFoto
• Crystal_Booth
• dagsmith
• debnet
• ekurit
• Ener-G
• enslavedbyfaeries - 2
• Evelyn_Saenz
• EverythingMouse
• flowski
• Frankster
• Greekgeek - 4
• GypsyPirate - 2
• hmsweaver
• JaguarJulie
• Janet21
• Janiece
• Janusz
• JimH
• Jimmie
• JJNW
• Joan4
• kab
• KathrynDarden
• katiyana
• KimberlyDawnWells - 2
• KimGiancaterino
• KinHK
• kiwisoutback
• Kylyssa
• LindaJM
• luckycharms
• Mac33
• Marc_Sandford
• MiaBellezza
• MobyD
• MrLewisSmile
• mynameiskate
• N376
• Noadi - 2
• OhMe
• Pastiche - 2
• Pixelrage
• relache
• rmoore
• rms - 4
• SemperFidelis
• sewjr24
• spirituality
• Squidster - 2
• Susan52
• susannaduffy
• SusanVillasLewis
• tandemonimom
• tdove
• The_Health_Lady
• thefluffanutta - 3
• TheGreenerMe - 2
• ThomasC - 2
• Tipi
• Treasures-By-Brenda
• Victoria_Neely
• x3xsolxdierx3x
• xrayspecs
• zuzanna

P.S. So, what are YOU waiting for? Are you a Squidoo member yet? Join me on Squidoo and start having as much FUN as I am having! Who knows, if you keep at it, you might just become a Giant Squid or a Giant Squid 100 Club members or even someday a Squid Angel. At the moment, I am a Squid Angel OTL -- out to lunch or retired, but hoping to earn those wings back so that I can bless lenses.

In closing, Blessings to YOU! That has been my tagline when I was a working Squid Angel. ;) Peace you all.

Rewarding Content - Unveiling the Purple Star

Rewarding Content - The Unveiling of the Purple Star. The PURPLE ONE has made its appearance at Squidoo! By 'purple one,' I am referring to the purple star that is now being rewarded to Giant Squids for their quality content lenses. These purple stars made their debut on April 16, 2009 -- oh, they had been around for quite some time, but officially just hit a handful of Giant Squid 100 Club lenses.



Above is a screenshot of what that beautiful purple star looks like on a lens -- you can find the purple star next to the gold star under the lensmaster photo in the upper-right hand corner of the page. I love that my Stuffed Cabbage lens was tapped for my first purple star !



For those Giant Squid 100 Club members who have just earned their first purple star you can also see a purple star on their lensmaster profile. Check out mine!

The purple star program has now kicked into high gear! To find out more about what it takes to earn a purple star, be sure to visit this official Purple Star Program Lens lens which explains the program. At the moment it is only available to Giant Squids! So, I'd say that is an incentive to qualify as a Giant Squid!

Update: After my Stuffed Cabbage lens earned the purple star on April 16, 2009, it made it to the #1 spot overall on Squidoo on April 19th. As of May 18, 2009, it spent 24 days in the #1 spot; 6 days in the #2 spot. As of May 18th, it was one of 3 different lenses, each recently earning purple stars, to make it to the #1 spot. The Stuffed Cabbage lens, now HUB, had been experiencing excellent traffic for about 1-1/2 years, before it earned the purple star. It is open to debate whether any lens now occupying the #1 spot could achieve that lensrank without the benefit of the purple star !

Say, you're not yet on Squidoo? Hey, what are you waiting for -- here is your invitation!

Finished my first year at Squidoo

Hi, nice to meet you - I've finished my first year at Squidoo. Well, hello there -- it sure is nice to meet you! I'm a Squidoo lensmaster -- you can call me Janice Doe as I represent many a top-notch lensmaster who has finished their first full year at Squidoo. Many of us took on the challenge of becoming a Giant Squid and actually were fortunate enough to get accepted into the honorable Giant Squid 100 Club! What's that you might ask -- well check out Jaguar Julie's Giant Squid lens for a bit more information.

Attaining the coveted honor of Giant Squid means quite a few perks -- to demonstrate that in tangible data is to look at the following monthly royalties chart for the first full year of a lensmaster. Royalties earned cumulatively for the first 10 months of the year when compared to earnings for the last 2 months alone equalled 80% of that total. In other words, in 2 months alone, those total royalties exceeded the previous 10 months by 20%! How come? Well, a lot of hard work #1 is the primary reason! No spamming or spammy lenses went into this lensmaster's work! Also, since this lensmaster qualified for the Giant Squid 100 Club, that meant their portfolio included upwards of 150 lenses!

Are you on Squidoo yet?

Well, why not join me there and start writing about your passions and hobbies.

Share a recipe or two; talk about a family vacation; show that you are an expert on a certain topic; or tackle a genealogical research topic!

In hindsight, man what a ride it was! I figure I maybe made a bit over $50,000 throughout the course of the run. Try to make that in today's market legitimately. Good luck.

OOOPS! Squidoo's tentacles are in a twist

Yes, that's right! You can't get any more topicable than Squidoo lensmasters suffering withdrawal from those tentacles that are in a twist!

Since mid-day Saturday, July 5th, Squidoo lensmasters LIKE ME have had their tentacles all in a tangle over the Squidoo servers going out for a swim. Seems as though the swim was a bit longer than planned -- they decided to do a little scuba diving and fishing ... to hear tell, the gang might be back today some time. Well, not soon enough for us serious lensmasters who have normal commitments throughout the week and rely on our weekends to tweak lenses and create new ones.

This morning when I tried to access my one of my lenses, I got that cute little message. At least it helps to know that there is a bit of levity amongst all the feverish workings going on by our crack Squidoo tech staff. Personally, I'm pretty partial to Gil for a number of reasons -- but, that's for me and him to know and for you to find out. Maybe.