5 Ways to Use SquidUtils RSS Feeds

Many lensmasters are already aware of the great tools and tricks available from SquidUtils. When you sign in, you can do things like: create affiliate links that work with Squidoo HTML rules, do a Squidoo only Google search, or check backlinks for your lenses.

You can also view and grab RSS feeds of your lenses and groups, your latest updates, your Squidcasts or your favorite lensmasters’ Squidcasts. This is an incredibly handy resource, but what can you do with it? Plenty!

Here are just five things that you can do with your lensmaster feeds:

1. Add to your lensography, groupography or plexography.

The next time you create or edit a Squidoo-ography about yourself, add one of your Squidoo feeds to show off some of your lenses and groups. Use the recently updated feed to show readers what you've been up to.

2. Add to your Yahoo home page.

If you’re using Yahoo for Flickr, MyBlogLog or email, you can add RSS feeds to your home page. Throw up a feed of your latest lens updates and your favorite lensmaster Squidcasts.

3. Add to your Tweetfeed.

You can add additional RSS feeds to your Tweetfeed home page. Why not use thefluffanutta’s new Pipes program to include feeds of your lenses by category or tag? Use the same keywords as your Tweetfeeds.

4. Add to your Lijit content.

You can add many RSS feeds to your Lijit content or network. Keep your Lijit searches up to date with a feed of your lenses and groups.

5. Add to your blog.

Place a feed to your latest Squidcasts on your blog or other website. Be sure to see pmolinero’s tips on adding backlinks to your Squidcasts. This will allow you to highlight important updates and information from your latest lens, and help draw in readers from outside of Squidoo.

Sending Better Tweets

Twitter is one of the best tools available to lensmasters, not only for promoting their lenses, but for staying connected with Squidoo friends, finding ideas and learning new things. There’s a space for your Twitter page in your Squidoo profile, a Twitter feed module, TwttrStrm, and of course you can Tweet your latest lens update using OpenID.

Many lensmasters use the “Tweet Your Update” button that appears in the workshop after publishing a lens. It’s handy if you want to get your lens out there without logging in to Twitter, but is it the best way?

When you tweet your update, the message that appears in your Twitter profile is generic: “I’ve just updated my Squidoo page…” It tells your followers what you’re doing, but it doesn’t give much incentive to visit your lens.

To really advertise your work, sending a customized Tweet is essential. You can copy your lens URL, or use the Twitter button when viewing your lens, and write a blurb about your updates to invite your friends and followers to see what you’ve added.

“I’ve just updated my lens” can become “I’ve just added a new Design Direction Duel” or “Add your gardening lens to the new plexo!” or perhaps “Don’t miss my Mother’s Day gift ideas!”

Using keywords in your Tweets is a good idea, because it will allow your lens Tweets to show up in searches and Tweetfeeds.

"Red Face, Blue Bird"

Proving Me Wrong and Stuff

A while back, I was in the mood to rant, and I listed My Top 5 Most Annoying Lensmaster Mistakes. I say my top five, and not the top five, because what is considered good behavior can vary from Squid to Squid. Anyone who spends a lot of time over at SquidU knows that there are all kinds of opinions on things such as adding guestbooks, leaving star ratings, and all of the things that Squids can choose to do during their day.

One of the things that bugs me most about hastily published lenses is the default module title. A close runner up is the only slightly different module title. As I've said before, the word "stuff" does not belong in a headline, or title.

Well, according to Susan52, that's exactly where it goes! Recently on I Squidoo, Do You? she explained that one of her lenses actually dropped in lensrank when she removed the word stuff from the title. This is a great example of why having a lens title that appeals to your target audience is ideal. If possible, it's probably a great idea to use the exact phrase that your reader would type into Google.

I think it might be time to go and have a look at some of my titles, and see if anything needs a good tweaking. And stuff.