It shouldn’t be all that surprising, I suppose, that my Spore Game Strategies page is really starting to take off. Spore is the newest game to be released by EA. It’s still in preorder right now, but on Sunday, it’s going to revolutionize PC computer games. This game about evolution is definitely not one to be missed.
I’ve introduced my Spore Game Strategies lens before. If you hope over to the lens right now, you’ll see that it’s still mostly blank. Of course there are no hints because the game isn’t out yet! I just ordered the game myself, and I can’t wait to get it. I hope to start filling the plexos myself once I start playing.
This lens is also an experiment to see whether people who are not members of Squidoo would actually sign up on Squidoo so they can participate in my plexos. Does anyone know if the referral sign-up link leads you directly to making your first lens? Because that might confuse and turn off a lot of people. Also, since the referral link is an internal Squidoo link, it’s really too bad it won’t be shown in my click-outs stats, so I won’t even know how many people clicked!
On a note related to my previous Chinese Snuff Bottles lens, I’ve created a lens on Chinese Ethnic Minority Dolls. These dolls are absolutely adorable and make great gifts. At only 6″ tall, they showcase the traditional dress of one of China’s 55 ethnic minorities. Did you know that there were 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities? Some, in the last census, had only a couple thousand people while others had millions. China’s ethnic majority is the Han, which makes up 92% of the population.
This is my most recent lens where the primary purpose is to sell something. If you’ve followed along on my blog, you’ll know that I recently joined PepperJam. You’ll also know that I got my first click very, very recently. Well, since then, I’ve gotten a couple more clicks but absolutely no sales. 
Traffic for my two Chinese collectibles pages have not been very high, and I’m hoping both will be picked up by search engines soon.
New lens! Many of you are aware that the Giant Squid deadline is coming up. I’m working on getting Giant Squid status this time around. Although I have 50 lenses already, GypsyPirate recommended I have at least 52 lenses just in case.
Chinese Snuff Bottles are just absolutely beautiful. While they began as practical little bottles to hold snuff it, when artisans became more creative, the rare or exquisite snuff bottle soon transformed into a status symbol in China. Today, you can find all sorts of snuff bottles from the cheap souvenir type to high-quality, hand made masterpieces. Snuff bottles make excellent collectibles, and the experts are very passionate. Perhaps a snuff bottle would be the perfect party favor as your next elegant gathering?
You can find this lens right at the top of my lensography. Don’t forget to join my fan club so you can be on of the first to find out about my new lenses.
One week ago, my top lens, Plant Tycoon Game Strategies, hit the 300 traffic mark. That means, the in the 7 days prior, I got 300 visitors. Yesterday, however, traffic for this lens hit the 400 mark! I was pretty amazed! About a little less than half of the traffic comes from Google, it seems. The other half comes from Yahoo, MSN, etc. and referrals. In particular, one site gets me twice the traffic has any other site. The lens is now in the #38 range of Video Games, and in the last 30 days, it has had over 5000 clickouts. Not bad.
My strategy for getting referral traffic to this site was pretty simple. All computer games out there have forums and game reviews and blogs. I googled the name of the game and went to every link on the first couple of pages of Google results. If I could, I left a comment or link or something promoting my site. Most of these links would end up being “nofollow” but still managed to bring people to my page. One person added their own fanpage to my plexo, so I asked if they would post a link to me on their site. That site now gives me a couple of referrals a week. Yay! Haven’t managed to sell anything from this page, but most of the clickouts are for game hints, not Amazon.
In broadening my billiards niche on Squidoo, I recently made two lenses just for pool and billiards fans. Sometimes, you just can’t get to a pool table. What if you’re stuck on a long flight or just have a long commute? Why not read a book?
Books for Pool Players: Biographies - Read up on some of the greatest pool players that ever lived. Read about their hustles, their highs and lows, and their championship accomplishments. What kind of work ethic and talent did they have? And do you have the same? Do you aspire to be a pool champion
Books for Pool Players: Novels - Maybe fiction is more your style. On this lens, you’ll find several casual reading books that have billiards as the backdrop. Some of them are total classics (The Hustler, The Color of Money); others are little known gems written just for kids.
No promises, but I’m working on a few more lenses for pool players. One idea is a list of the Top 10 technical pool books, books on how to improve your game. Do you have a favorite? Another idea is must-see movies for pool players. Any other suggestions?
I try to profile all my new lenses on this blog as they come off the press, but I’m a little behind these days. I’ve been totally on a roll and aiming straight toward Giant Squid status. Well, tonight, I published my 50th lens. Still gotta do a few more lenses just in case some of them aren’t quality enough. So…
Welcome to my Lensography!
Wow! I’m so excited because I got a click on one of my PepperJam links. Now my EPC is listed as $0.00 instead of N/A. 
I’m cheering for the small victories. This does mean that search engines have picked up my lens so I hope to get more traffic from here on out. Yay!
I’m a little behind in posting my new lenses. These lenses are still warm off the press, let’s say. I’ve been on a real bocce ball streak recently, leading me to create three bocce ball lenses: How to Choose a Bocce Ball Set, Novelty Bocce Balls, and Bocce Leagues in the United States.
How to Choose a Bocce Ball Set: The title says it all. Lots of families play bocce ball in the backyard at family get togethers. In these cases, bocce ball is the perfect outdoors game to play because it’s so easy to learn and understand, and people of all ages can just pick up a ball and play! But that’s just the thing, if there are people of ALL ages from 7 to 70, what kind of bocce ball set should you buy? Not all sets are created the same!
Novelty Bocce Balls: This lens showcases some of the more interesting bocce sets I’ve seen around. They would make a great gift, especially my favorite, the indoor/in-house bocce ball sets. I think those soft, purple-gold designed balls in a wicker basket make a cute addition to any interior. Plus, your guests could give them a toss or two, and no one needs to worry about breaking something. The transparent bocce ball set is also very nifty.
Bocce Leagues in the United States: I kinda wish I were in a bocce league. Looks like a lot of fun. Bocce ball isn’t that popular in the States, so it’s not so easy to find leagues. On this page, I tried to create a sort of league directory. Of course, I would like to be as complete as possible, but that would require some help. I’ve inputted leagues I’ve been able to find information on online, but if anyone knows of a bocce league I haven’t included, please let me know! This directory will be a work in progress for some time. I hope it can become a resource for bocce enthusiasts.
Eh, hehehehe. I was feeling geeky when perusing eBay while reminiscing about RPN with a good friend. Well, what else is there to do when you feel that way except make a lens! This lens give a very brief introduction to the HP-10C Series of calculators. Aren’t they beautiful? It was difficult to find information on the web that wasn’t too technical. Four out of the five are discontinued, but everyone I know who used them a lot before still use them today. My mom swears by the quality of HP and just shook her head when all the kids had to use TIs in school.
This lens was very simple to make. I think it needs a bit more content in the copy to make it more friendly for search engines. I’ll have to think about it some more. I also wanted to hook this up with my Slide Rules Rule! lens, as they are both about (mostly) discontinued calculation devices. I was telling my friend, maybe I should make an abacus lens!
Decided to give SquidVids a try and here it is! The first Pool Trick Shot Videos showcase! Add your favorite trick shot videos from YouTube, and vote up the best. I’ve posted some of my favorites already, so check them out! Some of them will blow your mind. Some of you guys may already know that I am a fan of trick shots, otherwise known as artistic pool. One of my closest friends is Tim Chin, who is a professional trick shot artist. I gotta put a plug here for his website, Trick Shot Tim, where you can find trick shot tutorials and diagrams, great tips on doing trick shots, videos, and more! Drop him an email any time and he’ll get back to you. I promise!
Wait, what are trick shots? Everyone knows what 9-ball and 8-ball are, typical games you play at the pool table. Trick shots, on the other hand, are special shots that are set up beforehand and executed with precision. You’ll see the balls do crazy things like jump over obstacles, bend around stray balls, go forward and come back, or the crowd favorite: sink 6 balls in one shot! If you want to learn more about the hot shots in this sport and information on upcoming tournaments so you can see it live, check out my Pool and Billiards Trick Shot lens.