thefluffanutta’s burps

With Christmas approaching all too fast, there’s still a little time here and there for me to update a few of the lenses about my favorite topic – games for the Wii:

• Top 10 Wii Games from 2009 – a list of the top rated games released this year, recently updated to include 2 new ones. I’m going to be very busy next year, as I’ll need to rewrite this for 2010.
• Best Wii RPG Games – featuring the best Role Playing Games for the Wii, yet still being shunned by Google. I submitted it to Digg this week, in the hope that send some more traffic.
• Top Wii Accessories – formerly a Group, this was built with content, products and lenses. This one gets a decent amount of traffic each week, which is nice.

Back in June, Squidoo added themes for lenses. This week, they’ve added 2 more! Perfect for any Christmas lenses.

You can preview these themes using the Squidoo Toolbar or the Theme Switcher lens.

Christmas Theme

Winter Holiday Theme

During October I spent some time updating my Wii lenses, ready for the Christmas shopping season. I have 10 of them now, and half of them are showing some promising stats so far. Here’s an overview of some of the things I’ve been doing to improve them:

I took one of my older lenses from 2007, titled Nintendo Wii – Top Games, and completely rewrote it from scratch with fresh content. It features 10 top games that have been released this year, using aggregated ratings from Metracritic.com. I used an Amazon Spotlight for each of the games, and used color to bring out the reviews.

One of my newest creations, published at the beginning of October, was Top Wii Games for Children. This lens showcases over 40 games for kids, using mostly the Amazon module, categorised by age. Again, I’ve used colour to highlight the reviews of each of the games.

A more tightly focused niche is MySims Wii Games – there are now 5 different games based on this title, and this lens has a review, a video and customer comments for each of them. As the titles were released, I added them to the lens, so it has been growing with time.

Currently, I’m working on rewriting my Top Wii Games lens, replacing some of the Amazon feeds with static modules. While this means I will have to regularly update this lens myself, search engines will get to see this and will hopefully rank it higher. Still got a lot of work to do on this one.

What have you been doing to get ready for the Christmas shopping season?

Squidoo is great because you can sell Amazon products without needing to sign up as an affiliate. There are 6 great Amazon modules that you can add to your lens. Squidoo collects the revenue from any sales made and splits the revenue with you 50/50. This is ideal for Lensmasters who are new to affiliate marketing, and teaches them the basics.

If you’re an Amazon Associate, you can put your own affiliate links on Squidoo, and potentially earn more revenue. While the starting commission rate is only 4%, if you can sell just 7 items in a month, you commission will go up to 6%! The more items you can sell, the more revenue you will make.

…and Christmas is just around the corner – now is the time to start building commercial lenses focused on seasonal gifts…

However, you can’t put any of Amazon’s widgets on to a lens, because Squidoo don’t allow you to use any HTML that has <iframe> or <script> tags. Instead you need to use the Amazon Link Generator, which will create static HTML that you can put on your lenses. This links include images, prices and a friendly ‘Buy Now’ button.

This can also be used to put UK links with sterling prices on to a lens – great if your target audience come from Britain.

More information about this tool can be found on the Amazon Links lens, and there is also another tool for dynamic Amazon RSS Feeds.

thefluffanutta

Some of my older lenses about Harry Potter have seen increased traffic this month, thanks to the release of the latest movie at cinemas worldwide. It’s really nice to see all the Harry Potter Books getting some decent attention at last.

In other news: This month also saw the release of a new “Potter Puppet Pals” video: Snape’s Diary, where Harry Potter steals Professor Snape’s secret diary. Visit the lens to see this and all the other hilarous videos.

PS: If you could vote for these lenses in July’s Carnival of Squid, that would be lovely.

Here are 4 lenses that I’ve recently created for a local screen printing company:

• T-Shirt Design Contest
• Top 10 T-Shirt Design Ideas
• T-Shirt Design Questions and Answers
• My top 10 favorite things about screen printing

Here’s a quick recap of some of the new tools and modules that have been recently created for Squidoo Lensmasters:

• 3 new modules, allowing you to add star ratings, bookmarks and ClickBank Ads to your lens.
• The browser toolbar now has easy access to these modules (it will update automatically)
• The Lens Workshop Addon for Firefox has also been updated (if you already have it, install the latest version)
• Squidoo HQ release a new Twitter mashup: TwttrList – see my example collection of space tweets.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the SquidUtils blog and follow me on twitter for the latest toys for Lensmasters.

thefluffanutta

The Kindle 2 is the newest hand-held e-book reader from Amazon. It uses an electronic paper display and downloads content over the free wireless network ‘Whispernet’. Featuring improved battery life, an even more streamlined design, more storage, a sharper display and a new Text-to-Speech feature, the Amazon Kindle is better than ever!

The Kindle 2 will be available on February 24th 2009.

Read more about the Amazon Kindle 2 »

Deciding on The Best Wii Game is perhaps an impossible one, but I’m sure you have a favorite in your collection. Come join the discussion on this new TwttrStrm, and share with everyone the #1 Wii game that you feel is the best of the bunch.

> www.squidoo.com/the-best-wii-game

If you’re looking for support, answers or just a place to swap ideas, come to the Squidoo Chat Room.

Hosted by Captain Squid, this is an ideal location to meet and interact with other Lensmasters. You don’t need any software, and you don’t need to sign up for anything – just enter your Lensmaster name and dive right in!

After building a number of lenses featuring top Wii games and wireless controllers, I decided it was time to build a group. I put together one for Top Wii Accessories because there didn’t seem to be one on Squidoo yet.

What is perhaps different about this group is the focus on content – the main body of the headquarters page is built around an article, with Featured lenses and affiliate products inserted at appropriate points. I hoping that will be considered to be good keyword fodder by the search engines, and bring some traffic to the group and the lenses that are featured.

(Now that the tag pages aren’t indexed, groups are now vitally important for getting relevant links within Squidoo.)

Affiliate Product Feeds allow you display products on your lens, so that they are always up-to-date. All you need to do is add a RSS module to your lens, and then generate of the feed using one of the tools featured on this lens. These RSS Feeds are optimised so that they look their best on your lens.

• Amazon - 3 different types, and 4 styles, for US and UK
• eBay - easy to build feeds, and for many countries
• eCrater - a simple pipe that improved the look of their feeds

There will be more affiliate programs added to the list soon, with new tools to generate the feeds for you. If there’s a particular program you’d like to see supported, please let me know.

» www.squidoo.com/Affiliate-RSS-Feeds

It’s been a while since I’ve created a lens, but I did manage to put one together yesterday. It is a simple lens about a very specific item – the Wireless Nunchuk for the Wii. Notice how I focus on just this one product, without any other Wii games or accessories or affiliate programs.

» http://www.squidoo.com/Wireless-Nunchuck

A contrast to many lenses I have seen created by new Lensmasters…

I’ve just completed building a series of lenses for a client, based on articles they wrote about finding jobs in information technology:

• Top 10 IT Jobs and Salaries
• The Effect of Gas Prices on the Tech Job Market
• The Changing Job Market IT Opportunities
• Downsizing – How to position yourself for new or existing IT Jobs
• Building a Resume

I also built some hubs on the same topics for them.

I have updated How To Monetize Your Website to include a new eBook and a new affiliate program, both of which I personally recommend.

Also, don’t forget that the Thirty Day Challenge starts at the beginning of August – this free course will teach you how to start your own online business, and make your first $10.

So, you have a Wii and you’re thinking: “Ok, I got a Wii and I’m getting bored with Wii Sports, but I love playing the Wii… What are the best games I should own and am missing out on right now?”

Well here is the ultimate list of the 40 games for Wii that were made for Wii.

» Top 40 Games for the Wii

You know Joss Whedon? Writer/Producer/Director chap? Well, if you’re a fan of Buffy or Firefly, you’ll know of his excellent work. Anyway, next week his is showcasing something called Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. On the Internet. For free! But only for 6 days, and then it’ll be gone.

I won’t tell you any more about it here – for more about this mini-epic, visit this lens. Be sure to tell all your friends about it too.

If you’re on any of the following networks, a vote or two would be really appreciated:
- Lensroll : Mixx : ShoutWire : StumbleUpon

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I have just released a bunch of new tools for Lensmasters:

• • Lens Health-Check Tool (read these excellent tips on how to use it)
  • Amazon RSS Feeds (tool updated, and easier to use)
  • Fanclub Widget (show off how many fans you have)
  • Table Generator (the easy way to make tables for your lenses)
  • Squidoo Enhanced (addon for Firefox that improves the Lens Workshop)

For the full details, read » New Tools for Lensmasters.

New Lens: Best Wii Games Ever!

If you own a Nintendo Wii, then there’s a good chance that you’ll be looking for the best games to buy for it. Here is are just a few of them, compiled by some keen gamers.

Featuring: 40 Best Wii Games, Best of the Best, Best Hardcore Games, Best Family Games and Best Sporting Games.

If you know of a game for the Wii that you think really is the best game ever, then submit it to the list at the bottom.

Also, check out My Top Wii Games - my own reviews of some of my favourite games.

Even though I don’t actually own a Xbox 360, I have handful of lenses about the console and the games and accessories you can get for it. Some do better than others, and they could all do with a bit of a boost, so I’m listing them here (in no particular order):

Xbox 360 Accessories and Addons

If you are an Xbox owner and love playing your games then you probably know that customizing your Xbox can be a fun activity. Not only is it fun but also it makes your Xbox stand out more, giving you more satisfaction from the overall look of your games console.

Xbox 360 Mod Chip

As a serious gamer myself, I love to see games before they hit our shores here in North America. But more than that, I am always looking for the hottest and most unique games I can get my hands on.

Top 10 Xbox 360 Games for Teens

When the Xbox 360 was first released there were a large number of individuals who waited for hours in hopes of being able to purchase one. In fact, Xbox 360s are so popular that is likely that you have one inside your home right now.

Top Accessories for Xbox 360

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in one of the worlds leading and best gaming device available in the market today. The quality of the Xbox games is really amazing but it is made even better with the accessories that Xbox has brought in as add ons.

About the Xbox 360 Games Console

Learn about the Xbox 360, and get the most out of the games you play. Each week there will be new articles posted here that will provide tips and advice for gamers.

Get your daily dose of Dilbert, with a fresh comic strip shown every day!

Updated: New Doctor Who on TV and Doctor Who Toys

These days, HD Video Cameras are dominating the market. They are relatively new and quickly catching on, giving you so much you can do with your camera. Unlike the past, cameras are now capable of capturing full videos as well, proving that they are indeed capable of capturing any memory you can possibly imagine.

The Panasonic AG-HVX200 is a handheld HD P2 camera recorder that’s designed to meet the emerging needs needs in HD content production. The camera debuts and remains Panasonic’s first HD video product to use P2, the cutting edge memory recording device that has the potential to revolutionize the entire production paradigm.

Read Guide to Buying a Camera Bag for tips, reviews and recommended brands.