Just The 19 Copies Then...

OK, so Google seems to have forgotten all about a few of my top ranked, and interlinked lenses overnight. Smashing. Of course on noticing the sudden traffic plummet I headed off to investigate, starting with the highest ranked of them.

Hmmm. It's a lens (like many of mine) all about a Trading Card release. The central and most important part for players and collectors is the card list. A quick Google search reveals the small matter of 19 copies of my version kicking around on various websites, blogs, retailer's sites, etc.

Of course all of those writers may have painstakingly compiled the list by hand in the same manner I did. Erm. And then chose to format the list in exactly the same way I did. Or maybe not. Of course, it could never be proven as plagiarism since my original is simply a compilation of readily available information for the convenience of players.

Ho-hum. Of course this may or may not have anything to do with Google's negative change of heart towards that group of lenses, but nonetheless it's a touch annoying.

Gift Guides

One of the biggest successes I've had on Squidoo so far was with a couple of fairly straightforward Christmas Lenses. The idea was simple - take a couple of hobbies I write about a lot, and create Christmas Gift guides, aimed at people that need to buy gifts for hobbyists but don't know the first thing about the hobby. They both worked extremely well and so one of the goals for this year was to expand the theory. Make them 'not just for Christmas'. Make more of them. We'll see if it works. Here's an example.

March Blues

Well, erm, March was a bit quiet for me on Squidoo. There is a reason - scouts honour - I do my own accounts and March is the month when it all has to come together. Gosh I hate accounts. It's not that they take all my time up - in fact my books are pretty straightforward - it's just that they melt my head, and I'm utterly unproductive on anything else while I'm doing them. Only 18 lenses for the month - not good - although someone important suggested making one lens per week on the forums - maybe a response to that on another post another time. Anyway, here's a new lens about a new toy that I rather like. Much more in April.