Squidtop.com Master Site Feed

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

marelisa — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:50:26 +0000

What if I were to tell you that you have complete control over your life? And that you can choose how you want to feel and how you will act regardless of circumstances or of what others say or do? This is how proactive people live their lives.

In his fabulous book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Stephen Covey explains that there are seven habits that all successful people adopt. The first of these habit is to be proactive. Being proactive means that you take responsibility for yourself and for your actions. It means that your attitude is the following:

I create my life.
I will choose how to respond instead of just reacting to others and to events on auto-pilot.
I know what I want.
I take action to get what I want.
Instead of making excuses I look for ways around obstacles.
Instead of saying “I’ll try” I say “I will”.
I know that even in the worst of circumstances I have the ability to choose my attitude.
I act within my circle of influence instead of worrying about things over which I have no control.

If you’d like to read more about Stephen Covey’s bestseller, visit my Squidoo lens “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People“. In addition, you can read my blog post “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Habit 1“.

Branching out my Disney swimwear

Susan Villas Lewis — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:38:55 +0000

I’m pretending summer’s almost here. The snow on the ground on the second day of spring not withstanding. And one lens I have that’s done very well traffic and sales wise of late is related to childrens swimwear, specifically Disney girls swimsuits. And I realized that despite the lower search numbers, it would be silly to not take advantage of the current traffic stream to promote Disney boys swimsuits as well. Still have a few other things to add, in fact, want to add ebay listings to both, but it’s up and running. And no one’s clicking through yet. Bummer. Still early yet, so we’ll see if it pays off in time. Not much involved in creating or maintaining a lens like this (unfortunately). Need to figure out some ways to add more text to them. Hmmm.

Lego board game blast

Susan Villas Lewis — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 02:07:55 +0000

Went on a run this weekend making lenses on the new Lego board games. They are just totally cool from getting to build the game board yourself to the minifigures that are the game pieces. Even the die for each game are built – sometimes as the game goes along – and the sides are usually colors rather than traditional numbers.

One of the challenges I had with these was trying to figure out what else to feature on the lenses. In some cases, the connection with classic games like Connect 4 and Mastermind and Pictionary was obvious. In others, I couldn’t figure out anything that might even come close, leaving me with a rather sparse lens. Gotta fix that later.

For your browsing pleasure – Creationary, Lava Dragon, Pirate Code, Minotaurus and Monster 4 from Lego.

These are part of my niche I’m working on for family game night fun.

Everything Top Gear Related – Watch Top Gear Online

jeffryv — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:04:02 +0000

Top Gear is one of the most entertaining shows on television today.
Easily one of my favorite shows

You can watch just about every episode for free online
Top Gear the home of ambitious stunts, the world’s fastest supercars, power laps, stars in a reasonably priced car and of course the challenges

via squidoo.com

Posted via web from Thoughts and Things

Huh … things I wish I’d done

Susan Villas Lewis — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:20:53 +0000

Developed a better system for keeping track of lens promotion stuff. Had a spreadsheet going at one point, but it was next to impossible to keep track of. Particularly when I would go on a lensmaking spree and forget to add new lenses to the list. Maybe I needed a system for adding lenses to the list.

Paid more attention to my titles. Afraid to change them now because of the potential hazard of losing Google love. But as I look down my list, so many are my main keyword and that’s all. Not overly appealing, unfortunately. Unless you’re a really focused buyer. Which I like. And they’re doing well. Just figure they could do much better. (That’s a tricky one, isn’t it? You always assume they could do better if only you had done/did X. Maybe they’re doing as well as they can. Who knows?)

Not published so many lenses that weren’t quite ready. Finding it hard to get motivated to get back to them. And it’s less motivating when they don’t do great. Which could be because they aren’t quite complete. Or could be because they’ll never do well, in which case why bother. Yes, I’m running in a circle on that one.

Been just a little less perfectionist about a lot of stuff. Ugh. The time I’ve wasted.

Spent more time making lenses rather than thinking about topics.

Not felt a lens had to be long to be complete. More tightly focused and shorter is good too.

Not wasted so much time prettifying lenses that never had a chance. It was good practice, but could have been had just as well on a lens with good keyword research.

Learned about keyword research first, foremost and above all. So much better now that I know how to do that stuff.

How to treat your hemorrhoids

tb550 — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:57:42 +0000

Here is a good article that I recently came across. I thought you might find it interesting, or even useful. If you want to know how to treat hemorrhoids naturally in only 48 hours you really need to see this. There is a safe and natural treatment known as the H-Miracle. Their techniques treat not only the hemorrhoid symptoms but also the cause so that they do not return.

How To Treat Your Hemorrhoids

The Sedona Method – Releasing Negative Feelings and Beliefs

marelisa — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:58:00 +0000

One of life’s best guarded secrets is that the only thing that is holding us back is ourselves. We limit and sabotage ourselves constantly with beliefs such as the following:

I’m not good enough.
I’m not smart enough.
I don’t deserve to be truly happy.
I’m not worthy.

These beliefs have been drilled into our subconscious and it’s very difficult to let them go, despite our rational mind’s attempts to tell ourselves that these beliefs just aren’t true, that they’re not serving us well, and that it’s time to let them go.

The Sedona Method is a very powerful–yet very simple and easy to learn method–which will help us quickly release any beliefs which may be holding us back.

It consists of three simple questions:

Could I let this feeling go?
Would I let this feeling go? (Am I willing to let this feeling go?)
If so, when?

In order to learn more about this incredible technique visit my squidoo lens “The Sedona Method”, or visit my blog post “The Sedona Method – Let Go of Negative Emotions and Limiting Beliefs”.

There’s Something to Be Said for Brevity

mulberry — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:37:03 +0000

Throughout the week I’ve tried to stick with short. Short articles, short lenses, short hubs. To the point. Provide useful information but don’t overwhelm people. The beauty of this is that I can get more done, cover more ground in less time. There are no long creations that serve to be the ultimate resource of everything on a given topic.

Among my various writings this week, I have managed to add some new things on Squidoo and Hubpages. I added a lens about outdoor wireless speakers for all of those people who will be hanging out on their deck or at the pool this summer. I know I’m looking forward to the warmer weather! I also added a lens about camcorders under $100. Even the pocket camcorders aren’t really starting at this kind of price point anymore with HD quality video and tons of features. But through refurbished models or a willingness to buy a model that’s a year old, you can still do it and get a quality brand.

My new Hub is on the topic of shower MP3 players. For the first time I have a couple of hub requests from other writers. A couple of my recipes went over well, and they are looking for more. Amazing, but if that’s what they want, I’ll try to deliver.

Western Painting – Regionalism – A Regional Capture of Life

thisisarty — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:02:23 +0000

Regionalism – The History

The American Realist Modern Art Movement, popular during 1930s, 1930-35 to be specific, is known as Regionalism. In fact, this art form grew parallel to Social Realism. Artists, desirous of depicting normal & healthy rural life, finally started this Western Painting style. They uniformly disliked the rapid advancement and the modern city life, away from nature. Adopted by 'Conservative' artists, author and art critic Thomas Craven (1888-1969) promoted Regionalism. The art form was also used as a tool to counter the growing creative 'European Abstraction.' Therefore, American art scene in 1930s witnessed a productive conflict between Regionalism, Social Realism, and Abstract Art. In 1940s, Abstract Expressionism eventually overtook Regionalism, ending an interesting art style.

The Details
American Regionalists usually followed a typical idiosyncratic art style. Their artworks concentrated more on localized subject matters and realistic themes, reflecting a positive and bright rural or urban lifestyle during the 1920s and 30s. The scenic paintings often depicted normal village life and the everyday activities of the villagers. In effect, natural landscapes, animals, and rural village life, were the key themes of Regionalist paintings. The paintings offered personal viewpoints to any given situation in the background of a typical American region or place. As mentioned above, these painters were rather opposed to the urban culture and Modern Socialism.

The Artists & Their Works
Some of the classic examples of Regionalist art works include paintings depicting the American heartland, filling the viewer with hope and optimism during the dipping Great Depression Era of America in 1930s. The three most popular Regionalists of 1930s were Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), Grant Wood (1891-1942), who loved depicting the rural life of Midwest America, and John Steuart Curry (1897-1946), among many others. Their masterpieces include the following paintings:

o American Gothic – This unique Regionalist work by Grant Wood was done in 1930. A rural cottage household wondrously inspired it. A farmer and a woman (may be his daughter or wife), shown in a colorful apron like those worn by the Americans in the 19th century, are the central characters of this picture. While the man is depicted holding a pitchfork indicating labor, the flowers in the background hint at a rural domestic scene.

o Kansas Pastoral – The Unmortgaged Farm, called as Kansas Pastoral, is a lovely mural by John Steuart Curry, depicting the American scene, the Regionalist way. It is a simple black and white artwork done on paper. Inspired by the Kansas Statehouse of Topeka, the painting shows cows grazing, with a farm-like scene in the background.

o Letter from Overseas – This Regionalist painting by Thomas Hart Benton was produced in 1943. The scene indicates dusk, with a woman reading a letter in an open farmland, under the light of a single lantern. It is a lithographic artwork, done on woven paper.

Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art . Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com.

Annette has bonus offers on her work only. Buy 2 paintings of any size and receive 1 painting of your choice for free of equal size and value. SHIPPING IS FREE IN CANADA AND US ON SMALLER ITEMS. Please feel free to subscribe to her newsletter at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com.

Moved to….

Carrie — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:30:34 +0000

Squid Ink Blot

Recent squidoo and webdesign help articles

spirituality — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:01:16 +0000

I have a feeling many of you haven’t switched over to my Marketing Spiritual Blog yet, to keep up with my squidoo help tips So I thought I’d do an update here. Note that I’ve set it up so it’s easy to subscribe by email on there.

So here are my most recent help posts. There are several about the blogging platform WordPress, as that’s what I’m busy working with this month. But there are a few about squidoo promotion and SEO as well:

Should I have a seperate blog of each squidoo lens?

Pagerank sculpting: putting rel-nofollow in your own links- DON’T. This was in response to something Alex told AJ to do. She decided not to take my word on this one. Pity, though understandable.

Link wheels – getting yourself links & blogging for profit

Thematic or Thesis – choosing a WordPress Theme, about my new design for my Marketing Spiritual blog, and several of my other blogs as well.

Reciprocal linking devils…

And last but not least: Menu item only on one category page and posts in that category in WordPress, using widgets.

A little Squidoo experiment

Carrie — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:36:21 +0000

A change in title for some of my lenses that do not receive any traffic from Google has paid off in the past.

I’m careful to do it only to ones that do not receive traffic from Google though. Do not attempt it on lenses that are receiving traffic from the search engines; it could be a disaster!

One lens which received a new lease of life was:

http://www.squidoo.com/bestofsethsaidontwitter

I removed the hashtag #sethsaid and replaced it with Seth Godin. It’s not the highest of my lenses but it’s no longer scraping the bottom of the barrel!

Now I’ve changed a few more titles on some of the Squidoo marketing lenses that I have.

I’ve made them shorter and snappier but as they’re Squidoo related, the experiment may not pay off unless I can attract traffic from those who seek general website marketing methods (my squidoo lenses on marketing for squidoo can apply to general website’s too.)

I’ll let you know how I get on

Are you ready for Spring?

ohme — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:38:41 +0000

via squidoo.com

I sure am ready for Spring!

Posted via web from ohme’s posterous

Gas Or Electric String Trimmers

cleanerlife — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:30:57 +0000

Getting ready for a new season using my Black & Decker Cordless Trimmer!

Updated: I’ve completed two seasons using my electric trimmer, and one of the best things about it is being able to enjoy the smell of fresh cut grass without having the stench of gasoline engine exhaust hanging around. I did find the original recharger that came with the electric trimmer to be inadequate for charging my batteries. I need 3 or 4 fully charged batteries to do my rather large yard. I bought two replacement batteries, and one of Black & Decker’s FSMVC 9.6-Volt to 18-Volt Slide Style Battery Chargers which charges the batteries much faster than the original charger. It also has an indicator light that lets me know when it has finished the charging cycle, something lacking from the original. Since I have quite a few Black & Decker cordless tools, this recharger has paid for itself in the time it saves me!

See the story about how and why I switched from a gasoline to an electric grass trimmer here.

Sales Guru Bob Beck’s Prescription For Sales Success

bobbeck — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:59:35 +0000

The list below contains my prescription that will make a difference in your sales success and put you on the road to becoming a sales guru.

Copy the list. Hang it by your phone. Leave copies where you’ll see them often. Carry out these actions. Your sales manager will thank you. Your checkbook will thank you.

Establish a give-and-take relationship.
Sell. Don’t tell.
Stress features – benefits – differences.
Act. Don’t react.
Ask open-ended questions.
Keep “SO WHAT?” in mind.
Be interested.
Ask for referrals.
Cement the sale.

1. Establish a give-and-take (Quid-Pro-Quo) relationship
Selling is about relationships and every successful relationship, regardless of its nature, must have a give-and-take aspect to it.

2. Sell. Don’t tell.
Stay on track and in control by demonstrating only what the prospect needs to see in order to convince him to buy your product.

3. Stress features – benefits – differences.
These statements simply point out a feature of your product, service, or company, and explain the benefit of the feature as it relates to the prospect’s personal or business situation. Simply point out the differences and explain why, based on all the information you’ve gotten from the prospect, your solution is different and offers a better alternative.

4. Act. Don’t react.
One of the keys of Quid-Pro-Quo Selling is staying in control of the prospect throughout the sales cycle. This means you should act, not react.

5. Ask open-ended questions.
If you’re having trouble getting your prospects to open up and talk with you, then you’re not asking enough good, open-ended questions.

6. Keep “SO WHAT?” in mind.
Picture “So what?” written across everyone’s forehead. The point is, prospects are always asking, “So what?” They want to know what your product or service will do for them.

7. Be enthusiastic.
You’ve got to be enthusiastic about what you’re doing. If you don’t look happy and enthusiastic, you probably don’t sound it either.

8. Be interested.
It’s one thing to act interested; it’s something entirely different to actually be interested. Even if you are in a business-to-business market place, you need to sell at the personal level.

9. Ask for referrals.
The best way to get referrals is to ask for them. Ask after every call. Every one knows someone, and that someone needs to know you!

10. Cement the sale.
Cementing the sale is done by reviewing with the prospect all the reasons he’s buying your product. By cementing every sale, you’ll be going a long way to eliminate buyer’s remorse, which affects most buyers.

Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland Movie Review and Rating

Treasures By Brenda — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:44:55 +0000

If you are interested at all, you are probably wondering how the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland movie faired when judged by the critics.

I consider the critics to be from two camps. There are the official, professional sort of critics and then there are the critics like you and me. The ordinary, regular movie-going and watching public.

This critic (Brenda) enjoyed the new Alice in Wonderland movie but decided it was not the best-ever movie and would not make her list of favorite movies. Many of the critics gave this movie marks ranging from 2.5 to 3.5. However, if you want to see what many of them had to say and what else I had to say including what I rated this movie, you can visit my new page, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland Movie Review. On that page, you will find information about whether or not this Alice in Wonderland movie is suitable for your children.

I would like to take this opportunity, too, to let you know that if you are a movie fan, you can follow my movie ramblings or reviews at my new blog, Music and Movie Treasures By Brenda. I’d love to have you follow me and, if you are really interested in movie reviews, you can even subscribe to my posts via e-mail.

Brenda

Quick Links:

Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland Movie Review
Music and Movie Treasures By Brenda
Top-Rated Movie Recommendations: My Favorite Movie List On Blu-ray and DVD

Easter Event In Pendleton SC

ohme — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:24:45 +0000

via squidoo.com

Come join the fun in Pendleton on March 28. Check out our website for more information and great photos from previous years at aaaaPendleton Easter Event

Posted via web from ohme’s posterous

Cute riding toys for kids

Susan Villas Lewis — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:30:18 +0000

I run across stuff at all kinds of random that I never knew about. And sometimes it becomes a lens. I always knew there were cars for kids. I’m pretty sure they had them when I was a kid and they fell into the category of cool things we couldn’t afford but it seemed like everyone else had. *sob* But I had no idea they had motorcycles. For kids. Seriously. And since I’m getting my own grown up version now that I have my license, I was intrigued. And dang it, they’re so cute! So a lens with kids motorcycles was born featuring the Ducati model I found.

Along with that, and still in my backyard fun and outdoor toys theme, I did a lens on the Peg Perego John Deere pedal tractor. Also adorable, but less something I would have wanted when I was a kid. Wasn’t really into the farming thing. Now, if they had had a blue convertible like Nancy Drew, we would have been getting somewhere. These days, they have almost everything else, so why not!

Southern Magnolia Tree

ohme — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:39:27 +0000

via squidoo.com

I love the Southern Magnolia Tree and enjoyed writing about it and showing my many magnolia photos and products.

I was so thrilled that Holley reviewed this lens for the Squidoo Lens Review
http://blog.growwear.com/moved-by-a-magnolia

Posted via web from ohme’s posterous

Setting Time Aside

mulberry — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:53:34 +0000

I’ve been so focused on building lenses and Hubs, that I’ve been neglecting any social sites and article writing to promote my work. I’m always pretty good about blogging regularly but other things tend to fall to the wayside.

I’ve decided that I need to play some catch up over then next 7 or 8 days. Then I need to set 15-20 minutes aside for social site participation each day and maybe a few hours a week for article writing. I’m ahead of schedule on my goals related to Squidoo and Hubpages so I can afford to do this. Now I just need to stick to my schedule. My work will be for naught if I create it but fail to promote it at all.

We had this month’s Squidoo payday this week. I was pleased. Things were much, much better than I anticipated with it being the post holiday slump period that I typically experience this time of year.

Since my last blog I created two lenses. One on travel scanners. I would think that there is a rather specific, but limited market for these. But what’s really nice is that they do a pretty good job as compared to full sized flat bed scanners and therefore, they can be a good and affordable option even in an office where you have limited space.

The other was about outdoor WiFi antennas. They’re great of course if you have multiple buildings and want to get a WiFi signal to them from just one access point, but they’re also great for those times when you take a “working vacation” and want access when you’re on the beach, in the camper or RV, and so forth. I, of course, would never do this…but I’ve heard of people who do!

My final creation was a Hub about glass measuring cups.

I am increasingly intrigued to look at results between Squidoo and Hubpages in few months. Squidoo gives me the thrill of a big payday in one lump sum at the end of the month. Hubpages is more subtle. You never see that one big payout. You see it trickle in through AdSense, Amazon sales, Kontera, etc.