A Twitter Etiquette Interview with GypsyOwl

A Twitter Etiquette Interview with Squidoo Lensmaster GypsyOwl. Topicability readers, today we continue on our discussions about Twitter and Twitter Etiquette with a very special interview with GypsyOwl aka Deborah Bryan. Topicability is providing this interview today to help those of us who might need a little help with our Twitter updates -- how to not flood Twitter; how to send meaningful Twitter updates; bottom line: what are some of the do's and don'ts of Twitter Etiquette?

GypsyOwl was selected after a rather extensive analysis of the Twitter Score for a number of Squidoo lensmasters using Twitter. According to the Twitter Score Report, GypsyOwl ranks at a 7.8 out of 10. Of all Squidoo lensmasters analyzed, GypsyOwl had the highest Twitter score! JaguarJulie ranked at a 7.3 out of 10. Quite a few though could be found with a Twitter score of under 3.0!

Deborah, thank you for taking time today to agree to this interview for Topicability. So, let's begin, shall we?

Q. How do you use Twitter in your daily life?

A. Twitter has several applications in my daily life.

• It is a great way to stay connected with family, friends, and associates.
• I use it to touch base with Team members during project development & deployment,
• My clients use it to alert me to emails (since I use an email management strategy) so I will retrieve timely updates at un-scheduled times.

Q. How do you promote your Squidoo lenses through Twitter?

A. I have a variety of processes in place to promote my Squidoo lenses through Twitter. A couple of these include:

• Posterous account - Auto Tweets to my SquidGypsyOwl Twitter profile. My Posterous account showcases many lensmaster's lenses. I submit a lens sighting (by email) to the account and have an auto post installed so it will post to my SquidGypsyOwl Twitter profile.
• Direct Tweets - Through my GypsyOwl Twitter profile. Direct tweets are about 'sections' of a lens (the updated portion or the most popular section). For this I will create a tweet or click on the "twitter" icon near the section I want to promote on the lens and then revise the tweet.

Q. Do you promote your Squidoo referral link through Twitter?

A. Yes. When I have a promotion which requires registration on Squidoo to participate, I will incorporate the Squidoo Referral Link into the tweet. This is a convenience measure so people will not have to search around to find access to leave comments on the Squidoo site.

Q. Do you have some thoughts on best practices of Twitter?

A. Personally, I believe Twitter use can be best compared to a dinner party at a highly honored and respected friend’s house. You will want to engage, roam around the room, meet people, help people when you can, introduce people to each other, and build relationships. You will always be thinking about your friend and the general rules of conduct she embraces.

Q. What does Twitter Etiquette mean to you?

A. Twitter Etiquette is defined in many ways and interpreted in over 82 thousand different ways. Each user of the service has an opinion and realistically it would be impossible to align with all of these perspectives. Embracing the diversity is the most important aspect of the Twitterverse, which in essence is the reason Twitter, has become a central portal for International communications.

Q. Do you recommend using automated tweets?

A. Automated tweeting services can provide a variety of benefits and they can also be the failing force for users who do not moderate the usage. The following are my personal do’s and don’ts for automated tweets.

Do:

• Set up an automated welcome message (DM). Ask your new follower to send you an @ message. Personally check each new follower (to limit spammers and “follow me - I’ll follow you” scams) and select to follow each one after you have reviewed their profile.
• Send announcements (not about your blog, Squidoo, etc) that will be of interest to your followers. Use this to send 2-3 tweets during different times of a day (one day – two at the most) to ensure your announcement has been seen by a great deal of your followers.
• Set up your #followfriday stream (if you participate) which will introduce your followers to a few people you recommend and include “why” you recommend them. Spread these out, hourly for example, over the day (Friday only).
• Set up Tips about your niche and spread them out (once a day or twice a day).

Don’t

• Self promote or include any links in the automated welcome message. Do not auto follow new followers (see “Do” section).
• Automate self promotional messages, repetitive “read my stuff,” or what could be called “re-tweeting yourself.”
• No need to include a links in your Tips, because if your followers want to find your website or blog they simply click on your Twitter name and find the link on your Twitter profile.

Q. What about what they say -- you are what you Tweet?

A. The most important thing to remember about Twitter is everyone is listening. It is easy to believe at times that there are only a handful of people seeing your tweets. But, the truth is they are being seen over and over again through various applications around the world. Each message finds its way into a time capsule which can be opened at any time by anyone anywhere in the world.

Q. Can you sum up how you think of Twitter?

A. Bottom line, it is really about building relationships. Are the majority of your followers developing respect for you and trust in your recommendations? Are you beginning to remember the names of the people behind the avatar? When you meet new people on Twitter and start to get to know them, do you think of someone else who would be a great recommendation for them?

Thank you GypsyOwl aka Deborah Bryan for your insight on Twitter Etiquette.
GypsyOwl on Twitter | SquidGypsyOwl on Twitter | GypsyOwl on Posterous | GypsyOwl is a Squidoo Lensmaster and Giant Squid 100 Club member. Deborah Bryan has been a member since February 19, 2007, has rated 767 lenses, favorited 792, and has created 163 lenses from scratch. Deborah Bryan donates their royalties to Covenant House.

More about the Author of Topicability, JaguarJulie:
JaguarJulie on Twitter | JaguarJulie Blog On and On | JaguarJulie on Posterous | JaguarJulie was a Squidoo Lensmaster and Giant Squid 100 Club member. JaguarJulie has been a member since March 21, 2006, has rated 5,305 lenses, favorited 510, and has created 489 lenses from scratch.

Another Day of Business as Usual in the Twitter Flooding

Another Day of Business as Usual in the Twitter Flooding! Gosh, I would hate to go so far as to say clueless, but it surely seems some people are clueless with their incessant drowning of Twitter with the same tweets over and over and over again!

I am hoping to get past this topic and on to the positive examples of excellent Twitter users -- there are some fine examples amongst Squidoo lensmasters. Not to worry, we will be coming out of the darkness soon to showcase the shining examples.

But to return to that multiple twitter user/Squidoo lensmaster who also does multiple, duplicate posting on the forums. Do you know WHAT it 'sounds' like or 'looks' like with those machine guy, rapid fire tweets on the same links?

Here is session #1 converted into what they are saying:

Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Check out my store, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Follow me on Squidoo, Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Check out my store, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens!

And, here is their second session, through their second Twitter ID, for the same links, converted into what they are saying:

Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Follow me on Squidoo, Follow me on Squidoo, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens, Read my Squidoo lens

Do you get that? Does converting the repetitive tweets not zero in on the craziness of all that promotion? I don't know about you, but I might need to schedule me a lobotomy!

Should I be a Squidoo lensmaster

Should I or shouldn't I be a Squidoo lensmaster? Today in his blog post, Seth Godin asks the question, "Why am I here?" Indeed! I'm not waxing philosophical when I say that I've recently been asking myself that question a lot! It's been a time of examining how my time is spent; whether it is making sense that I participate in some form or fashion online at certain social media sites. After all, a person can spread themselves a little thin by trying to keep active everywhere -- unless you are a Wonder Woman or a Superman or perhaps Guy Kawasaki who is one amazing guy -- especially on Twitter!

Just as Seth's blog post was quite topicable for me today, so was the blog post from the SAMBA blog. The latest post asked another resonating topicable question of What do you hear? That topicable question was also picked up on by ChefKeem when he asked, "Do You Know Who Is Talking About You On The Web?" The SAMBA blog suggested that we check out Social Mention which is an aggregator that collects information from a number of different social media sites.

In addition to listening to what people are saying about your brand, also listen what they are saying about your competition. It is not sneaky, but smart!

So what does that have to do with whether I should or shouldn't be a Squidoo lensmaster? Here, hear! When I was taking a hard look at my presence online, I was evaluating my presence at a number of social media sites. I took a particularly close look at two different activities: blogging and Squidooing. I've been blogging since December 2004 and on Squidoo since March 2006. There is a ratio of 2 to 1 when you compare the number of lenses I have authored to the number of blog posts I have penned. Squidoo has had me in its hold for over 3 years.

It is interesting to compare worldwide readership of blogs to Squidoo lenses. Here is a snapshot of readership -- the worldwide visitors -- from my Jaguar Julie :: Blog On and On ... blog:


For comparison purposes, here is a snapshot of the worldwide readership -- the worldwide visitors -- to my >445 Squidoo lenses:


It's pretty obvious from the second snapshot that there is more cultural diversity in the readership for Squidoo lenses. The worldwide reach of Squidoo is quite phenomenal! When you author a quality Squidoo lens that has been optimized with rich, meaningful content and relevant keywords, your lens has an excellent opportunity of being indexed by a variety of search engines so that you can have a strong worldwide readership base. The icing on the cake is when you additionally promote your lens judiciously to social media platforms.

Let's take a closer look at the top twenty countries for the worldwide readership comparing Squidoo lenses vs. a Google blog. Looking at the snapshot above, and comparing the list on the left with the list on the right, you see many of the same countries. In this example, the top three countries for both are the same -- the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom! Together, for lenses they account for 77% of the readership base; for the blog, 72%. For the most part, this would be what I expected to see without looking at the tangible evidence.

You know it would be interesting to have a snapshot of the membership base of Squidoo lensmasters to see how their percentages stack up against the readership base. Much has been said that more Squidoo lensmasters are of the female persuasion; many of which are work-at-home moms. I'm thinking that the greatest percentage of Squidoo lensmasters DO come from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom!

OK, so back to the question, "Should I or shouldn't I be a Squidoo lensmaster?" If you are interested in having a worldwide reach that is quite phenomenal, I would say that the answer is a compelling YES! Do you have something that you are passionate about? Why not create a phenomenal lens to shout out to the world? Why not join me! I've invested many an hour writing about a number of things that I find interesting; looking to engage my readers -- my worldwide readership base.

And, now I'm looking to judiciously monitor my time by asking, "Why am I here?" and What do you hear? Can you hear me now?

Any Squidoo Lensmasters Living in the UK

The Journal of the Traveling Squid is a goodwill project of sisterhood and brotherhood, connecting Squidoo lensmasters worldwide. Through this project, we are looking to connect lensmasters worldwide. It is our mission that The Journal of the Traveling Squid will travel far and wide; that it will cover all continents. And, in our effort to pay it forward, it is our goal to raise money for charity at each step of the journey.


The Journal of the Traveling Squid departed from Jacksonville, FL on March 19, 2009 jetting to the U.K. JaguarJulie posted the package to Squidoo lensmaster and Giant Squid, Gordon Hamilton in the U.K.

• Are you a Squidoo lensmaster living the U.K who would like to participate in this project?
• Do you live outside the U.K and want to participate?

Learn much more about this project : The Journal of the Traveling Squid.

Celebrating 3 Years on a Social Platform

Celebrating 3 Years on a Social Platform - Not a Flash in the Pan! March 21, 2009 marks my third anniversary as a lensmaster on Squidoo. That is a pretty long time to be able to stay active on one social platform and not be a flash in the pan! Squidoo has been a remarkable place to BE -- I absolutely LOVE Squidoo. I originally came to Squidoo from a personal BzzAgent invitation. At BzzAgent, we learned to be word-of-mouth evangelists [not religious fanatics]; and we learned to spread the word or buzz about worthy topics.


During the past 3 years, I've authored over 404 lenses along with 6 groups. I became a Giant Squid and achieved the honors of Giant Squid 100 Club, rather a daunting achievement at the time as I experienced a crushing hard drive crash in the midst of qualification. HQ blessed me with the wonderful experience of being a Squid Angel -- putting me more in touch with my spiritual side. ;) Hard work and luck gave me 3 different lenses of the day or LOTD! Each of these LOTDs were very special lenses to me: To Catch a Thief in under 40 Days!, Jaguar Julie Lensography, and Julia Nagy -- My Grandmother, Namesake and Superhero.

So, are you celebrating a special anniversary on Squidoo, or have one coming up? I'd love to hear from you! Please take a moment to visit my signature lens, Jaguar Julie Lensography, and be sure to sign my guestbook to let me know you dropped by! Thank you and may the force be with you.

P.S. Want to join me on this wonderful platform? Hey, what are YOU waiting for! Get started now. Do you have a favorite food like stuffed cabbage or maybe basa? Have something to debate; e.g., blondes are sexier and have more fun? Experienced a sports injury like a meniscus tear and want to write about your personal experiences? Or, maybe you just want to remember your mom!

Lensrank tanking for some lensmasters

Why is lensrank tanking for some lensmasters? The funniest thing about lensrank -- for some lensmasters lenses, their lensrank is tanking and in the toilet while other lensmasters are NOT experiencing such a tanking. Perhaps it is because of a new algorithm? Or because of more Giant Squids sharing in the wealth? I'm hoping that because I've started blogging more and am taking a look at some topical topics objectively, that there isn't a correlation to this apparent tanking. To be fair, ethical, objective, and evaluated on the same scale across the board -- is that too much to ask?

My THREE year anniversary with Squidoo is one-month away! For me, this is really quite an incredibly long period of time to be involved with one 'project.' I've held the passion and convictions that what I am doing is of value and worthy of my time. During these three years, I have spent COUNTLESS hours working on creating unique lenses, some of which are my 'pride and joy' although one wouldn't be able to tell by lack of a desirable higher lensrank. I've taken lots of grief from my hubby who has asked me way too many times if I was making more than $1.00 per hour with this 'hobby.' Squidoo has given me the opportunity to express myself through my lenses that I've not had the pleasure to experience ANYWHERE else.

In the past three years, I have achieved the 'honors' of Giant Squid, Giant Squid 100 Club, 2008 Giant Squid of the Year, Squid Angel, Lens of the Day three times, and 2008 Best Cooking lens, among a few other nice honors. I have not yet been tapped as a Citizen Squid -- that would have been nice though. I've created over 402 lenses and 6 groups and done my best to be a positive contributor on the forum. Through my private mentoring, I've helped many a lensmaster. Through the power of Squidoo, I've had the distinct pleasure to become online friends with so many wonderful PEOPLE -- people who matter to me ... Hello, you undoubtedly know WHO you are.

Recently, my lenses were HIT by a speed-rater who might have been disgruntled for some reason -- I can't speak for them as I don't know why. HQ was great in helping to remedy MY problem. Thanks Gil. And, thanks to Blake, Corey, Kimberly, Megan, and Seth -- and anyone else that I might have missed.

As Squidoo has exploded and grown to nearly one million lenses, there are a lot of issues to deal with -- how to handle all those bugs in a timely fashion with such a small staff is a top concern. How to handle all those lensmasters with multiple accounts; I'm not going to discuss that here -- I can well understand what I read about this in many a lensmasters' blog. What about non-authentic content; or God forbid plagiarism? What about all those many lenses on the same topics and the same questionable topics? Oh my! What about spam, one stars, locked lenses, being nasty to other lensmasters? That's not good at all. My grandmother Julia Nagy taught me that I should treat others as I would have them treat me; AND, if I didn't have something nice to say, to not say anything at all.

Squid Angels, and others with the power, can only do so much to ding those SPAMMY lenses to move them out of the top tiers so that the deserving lenses have the better lensrank. Squid Angels are human after all.

But, why is lensrank tanking for SOME lensmasters? In the following graphic, you see three columns of numbers which are squidoo lensrank for lenses. In each row, you see the lensrank day #1, day #2, and day #3. The numbers show the progression of lensrank downward in just days for lenses.

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.

Lensmaster Newbie - Squidoo earnings

Hello, I'm a Lensmaster Newbie - What about my earnings? So you've found your way to Squidoo -- [that's my lensography to give you an idea of what I've written] and you've started by building your first lens! Yippee -- this is very exciting stuff. You've probably written a remarkable lens on a fabulous recipe that has been handed down through your family -- you've included terrific instructions and great pictures.

 Oh, and to get your lens noticed, you've introduced yourself on the Squidu Forum and then asked for a critique in the correct thread. You have built it and now "they" are coming! Ah, your next step was to announce this terrific lens to the world, in a non-spammy way, via the available social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and maybe Tagfoot.

Oh, did you forget to include some Amazon spotlight modules that complement your lens so that you might sell something directly from your lens? That's one of my favorite selling modules -- and then there are others like eBay, etsy, and Cafepress.


This is a chart of monthly royalties paid to a Squidoo Newbie -- in the first year. The first month showing a whopping monthly royalty of $0.96 was for 18 lenses! The next month, 4 received $0.78; followed by 22 earning $5.41; and the fourth month earning a royalty of $10.33 for 40 lenses. The best monthly royalty for the first year of this newbie was $28.48 for approximately 40 lenses.

Why this blog post? There are a LOT of reasons -- but basically getting down to some honest no-nonsense business. If you are thinking you are going to earn thousands and thousands of dollars right out of the shoot on Squidoo, that is an unrealistic goal, at best. But, if you want to make a contribution to a great community and be allowed the opportunity to create a great lens using some terrific building block modules, then you have come to the right place! If you are of the thinking that you have something important to share and can have your writings published, then you will love it here! That was my motivation when I started -- I wrote about my passions and then branched out. In 2006 I had a few dozen lenses; today I have over 400!

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!

OK, I survived Squidoo and did quite well there, amassing probably over $50,000 during the course of that ride.

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.

Expanding Your Lens Publishing Power

Hot off the presses of Squidu Review, it's Expanding Your Lens Publishing Power :: A Squidoo How-To From a Mega Giant Squid!

Hello Lensmasters! The question is often asked on the forum, “How long is too long for a lens?” The answer varies, depending on the topic of the lens, the target audience, the types of modules, etc. However, if you are thinking about breaking your lens into smaller parts, or creating new ones to showcase new information, additional lenses can boost your linking power and give you new opportunities to get found online.

This week, Giant Squid Jaguar Julie teaches us how to expand your lens repertoire by creating new lenses from old ones.

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Making New Lenses Out of Old Lenses

As Squidoo fanatics, many of us have loooooong lenses that we developed on our favorite topics. Is this the best way to go? There’s nothing wrong with a few long lenses, but many smaller lenses to compliment them can be very powerful as well.

When your readers notice that you have several lenses on one topic, they’ll be more interested in seeing what you have to say. “The more you have to say about one topic, the more people will think you know about it.” says Kimberly Dawn Wells. And, not only that, but “more lenses equals more links equals more opportunity to be found.”

You can take what Kimberly says “to the bank” as your Squidoo royalties will increase with more focused lenses too! How does that work? Read on to find out.

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P.S. Be sure to check out the Squidoo lens inspired by THE article I wrote for SquidU Review, Expanding Your Lens Publishing Power :: A Squidoo How-To From a Mega Giant Squid.

Oh, I didn't become a Mega Giant Squid overnight! It took me two years to arrive at this distinction; however, it really meant about 6-8 months of part-time dedicated work at writing Squidoo lenses. I initially joined on March 21, 2006 after receiving an engraved invitation from BzzAgent. I created about three dozen lenses and then took a 'break' from Squidoo for about 1-1/4 years. Then, in the Summer of 2007, Squidoo challenged me to become a Giant Squid by creating 100 lenses! Despite the fact that the number of lenses needed to become a Giant Squid was scaled back to 50, I exceeded the 100-mark by the deadline; working through a hard drive crash!

So ... what I am saying is that YOU too can become a Giant Squid and maybe even a Mega Giant Squid! How? You simply MUST read my lens, Expanding Your Lens Publishing Power :: A Squidoo How-To From a Mega Giant Squid.