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.

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

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

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.)

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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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.

New: A Buyers Guide to Digital LCD TV.

For home entertainment purposes, most people are especially interested in LCD televisions. When LCD technology was first introduced, the prices of these TVs were typically very high. But in the past few years, LCD TV prices have dropped as the technology became widespread and affordable.

The revolutionary new Eye-Fi Card looks and works just like a standard 2GB SD card except it has a tiny secret: Wi-Fi is built in. Now, docking your digital camera, connecting cables, and fumbling with card readers are a thing of the past. The Eye-Fi card will wirelessly upload your photos from your camera onto your computer and the web.

I’m attempting to revitalise my lens on Printing Digital Photographs with some fresh content…

The longest running science fiction TV series ever, is back. Over 26 years we have seen the Time Lord regenerate multiple times, and after a long vacation in the outer reaches of time and space, he’s returned for more adventures…

The 4th new series is being broadcast at the moment on British TV.

» Doctor Who – New TV Series

Having a flat screen television is the ultimate gadget to have in your living room. You get a large picture, but it doesn’t take up a whole lot of room. You can even hang it on the wall.

» Tips on Choosing a Flat Screen TV

This was a very popular lens last Christmas, and I’m hoping I can keep some of it’s momentum…

» Transformers Action Figures and Toys