Critique Competition for Article Writers in the SquidU Forum

I am running a contest over in http://squidu.yuku.com/ for the most best and awesome critique-giving person.

I am bribing people with prizes.

Basically, I want you to go critique three or more articles/pages/lenses/leafs/hubs and/or post your own stuff up for other people to critique and/or nominate (via a private message on the forum to me) your top picks.

You can get an overview of the forum here on this lens I wrote about it, and you can follow the thread with the full rules and discussion here.

Whether or not you're interested in taking part, this is a great chance to get your stuff critiqued if you're looking for useful feedback. There are prizes for the top two critiquers, and a random draw prizes for somebody who sends in a nomination.

Prizes are funded entirely from my art commissions, so thank all those nice people that have commissioned me at some point.

When Should You Link To Other Sites When Writing Online?

Slightly random thoughts on external links and content when writing lenses, blogposts, etcetera.
 (This was an email to a friend, and then I realised it was worth tidying a little and posting. I gave up on the 'tidying' part, because my hands are cold.)

On linking to other sites and stuff, shuld one do it? Yes, if it's valuable/helps the reader, but my (acquisitive and greedy? XD ) policy is to try and link to other places that benefit me - e.g. Squidoo, within blogs. Which also means I can vouch for the quality at the other end. Can't always do this, of course, but very often you can recreate a similar resource to link to - such as a new Squidoo lens. The more you write, you'll realise that you'll be referring to the same awards, topics or genres or author or something else, so it makes sense to create an overview/index page about it. These may end up being more valuable than the original posts and lenses, in their way, either for the navigational aspect, or because people really really want a nice guide to that topic. 

Basically:

1. Don't let people leave unless it's via an Amazon or other link that you WANT them to go to.

2. Make people want to return, so if another link adds value, it cancels out the above. So (good, reliable and useful) links means that people will come back to see what you post, even though they leave to visit each link. And that improves their opinion of the site itself.

3. Google does look at what you link to and who links to you, but if you're following the above rules it should even out (basically, on topic and quality. Links from other good sites means your site is obviously good. Roughly. So links from lenses and stuff = good).

4. When considering whether to write about something yourself instead of linking, consider: 

a) can you add something, bring something of your own to it? (if yes = awesome new content, if not = are you just regurgitating existing content? If so, is it worth it for the internal navigation/organisation benefit (e.g. a list of books by an author with links to your reviews) and when expecting no other traffic other than within your blog/portfolio)?)

b) And of course, is it on topic? If it's not then it will probably be a bit too random. Might work very well on a separate site or a Squidoo lens though (you could write it and decide where to stick it later).

So in summary, don't link out, write new stuff instead, unless it is to a better resource that people will want to visit that you cannot recreate and improve without simply copying which is pointless unless it helps you organise your site better AND is very relevant and on-topic.

How To Persuade Your Mother To Write For Squidoo

If your mother is perhaps a little bored, out of work - or not in enough work, or wanting to learn about the weird world of technology, then perhaps she'll enjoy Squidoo. But how to persuade her onto there? Squidoo may want her content, but it can still be daunting, and it's very slow to get started with.

1. Sign up yourself and start earning money. This also allows you to be in a good position to explain the site to her. It also allows you to avoid having to set up new Paypal/email/lensmaster accounts as they can just use yours until they are sure they want to DO this thing.

2. Figure out what she's currently really interested in and would like to show off. In my mother's case - her travel photos. I already knew she could write, so that helped! (I think she's smarter than I am :D )

3. Make the first lens or two for her - raise the stakes each time. So for the first one, do most of the work, but using her writing and/or photos, so it is hers. For the second or third, start it on a topic that interests them, then leave them to finish it.

4. Sit back and let them wander off again, unless they get really into it straight away. Squidoo won't pay them anything for a few months anyway, unless they are really lucky/amazing at writing for the web straight off the bat.
4b. Downplay their expectations as much as possible - Squidoo and Zazzle really don't pay much intiially, especially if you are a reluctant dabbler.
4c. And when their first lens shoots into the first tier and their Zazzle store makes more sales for Christmas than yours, be suitably impressed!

5. As soon as matters seem to be going smoothly, if they're still interested, get her to set up a Paypal, spare email account, Zazzle and anything else she may need or be interested in.

6. Introduce the concept of usernames. Gently. Be prepared to change it several times once they realise that they can call themselves anything and start brainstorming.

7. Give them something useful and related for Christmas that they will enjoy. For example, a book on Gaudi and the Lonely Planet guide to Travel Writing. Sit back and laugh evilly as your sister decides that the latter book must be for her, attempts to persuade your mother of this, fails, and only increases your mother's determination to Use It To Be Famous.

8. Sit back and wait for them to settle on their final-but-one username.

9. A year later, move on to your next victim.

A Story Concept: The Abandoned AI

A spaceship has been floating in space. It's derelict - a survey ship. The crew is long dead, and all that remains is the AI. The AI ran the ship and is basically a self-aware computer system. She now thinks she is human, through long loneliness, and because the crew interacted with her as a real person.

A large ship finds it, and sends people to look it over. They find the AI.

She can project some form of avatar out to interact with the boarders. Do they recognise her as an AI immediately? Do they slowly realise? Or does she manage to pretend to be human, stranded there?

How do they react to her? As a person to be rescued, an inconvenience, a tool, a danger?

What form does her avatar take? Holographic images? Some form of solid hologram? A robot with a computer brain that connects to the ship? Electrical illusions induced in the viewer's mind? A synthorganic lifeform created for that purpose, or grown by the AI? Can her appearance change?

What happens when she is touched? Is she tangible? Can she feel? Eat? Speak normally? Have sex? Lift things? Escape from the 'body'? Does it interfere with her integration and management of the ship's main systems?

Is she insane or normal, or smart or just a bit weird? Is she curious or afraid? Grateful to be rescued or angry at being invaded?

How long has she been floating? Is she eons out of date, or high-tech and advanced? How does this affect what the people who find her can interact with or detect her?

How did her 'people' die? Disaster? Disease? How many were there? How close was she to them? Does she remember them?

Best Reviewer : A Bucket List Article Backlink Site

SheToldMe is the only place I've ever earnt any AdSense money - about $1.20! (not that I use it much). It's a good site to get extra linkage, and often the STM link will appear in Google when my actual link doesn't.The internal search is pretty screwed, though. SheToldMe gives you certain ads on the page, and you just hope those are the ones people click on. I still use it, it's a pretty solid site, and very tightly focused.

Anyway, the same guy who created SheToldMe has also created the very new Best Reviewer which gives you 100% of adsense earnings from one ad. I also like the concept of it - rather than just a blurb and a link, you write a 'Best Of..." list and fill in with links. So niche writers should do well here!

...It is very new, I must stress this, and I stress this for two reasons. Firstly, it's untested, although based on SheToldMe, it is both safe and fairly solid, although not necessarily a huge earner. Secondly, the Top 100 list only has about fifty articles written!

Here's my first attempt, if you're curious: Best Review - Top 10 Portal Memes and Characters

EDIT: and it's actually quite fun!
Best Review - Top 5 Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel T-Shirts from Amazon
Best Review - Top 18 Famous and Obscure Real Gays and Lesbians
Best Review - Top 5 Sexy Cartoon Females
Best Review - Top 10 LGBTQ Entertainment Resources

Best Review - Top 20 Terry Pratchett Articles