You gotta love it. Seth Godin and the smart crew he’s assembled have
torn a page directly out of Seth’s books to soft-launch his new online
company, Squidoo. No traditional PR, no advertising,
just viral blogging via his new e-book, Everyone Is An Expert [31-page PDF]. The e-book explains (sort of) what the service does. I was lucky enough to get a copy from his Editor-in-Chief Megan Casey, when she emailed it out last week.
In the e-book Seth talks about creating “meaning” out of the mess of information you get when you search for something on the Web. Squidoo is all about finding what you’re really looking for. Because an expert has compiled information for you in a way that makes sense and is immediately useful.
And who are these experts? Well, as the e-book explains, anybody can be an expert. Squidoo’s Web 2.0 platform enables anyone to create a “lens” – a special kind of Web page that points to links and information about your expertise. (A Squidoo lens page also enables you to make money.) But it’s not just links. That doesn’t describe it properly. It’s RSS feeds and other stuff…
that automatically update your lens page for you.
(And it’s Web 2.0… as I understand it, because Seth & co. are building it from other apps or services or databases already out there.)
Here’s the clearest explanation thus far, from the Squidoo blog, of how a lens works:
It’s a guide (like about.com) and a reference (like wikipedia.com).
It’s a place for personal expression (like typepad.com) and an open
platform for real people (like del.ico.us).
Tantalizingly, the e-book closes with a list of URLs that link to sample lenses. But they don’t go live until Oct. 18th!
Here are two of them:
I have high hopes for Squidoo. Check out the post on my site (www.radiantmarketinggroup.com) to read my thoughts.
Comment by Paul Chaney — October 14, 2005 @ 6:29 am
Seth Godin has the most creative marketing insights that business has seen today. He shares so much of that information in his print books, e-books, blogs…there’s almost not enough time to read them all! He will be the featured speaker in central New Jersey (40 min from NYC) November 17, 2005. Visit Move Ahead 1 for more information.
Comment by Caryl Felicetta — October 14, 2005 @ 9:46 am