Am I the only person who can't wear flip flops?

Every where I go, it seems like the footwear of choice is the flip flip (or thong, if you prefer). Every one has them on. Unfortunately, they seem to all be wearing the thick soled functional type or the public-shower kind. Why, when there are so many cute styles out there? They can't be that much more comfortable, can they? And you can't say that the Crocs Capri I talked about earlier wouldn't be cute and comfortable.

Not that I would know. I seem to be cursed with the inability to wear shoes that go between my toes. The skin there just never seems to be able to toughen up enough to handle all the extra rubbing. Which has left me out of this particular trend. Given the ugly styles you see roaming the malls these days, maybe that's not such a bad thing.

But there are some cute flip-flops out there (like the ones I've featured here). So what's a girl to do? Suffer? No I say!! (How's that for authoritative. :-)

I have a lot of issues with shoes in general, so there are two tricks I've found that help with any particular types of rubbing issues you might encounter. The first is Bodyglide Anti Blister and Chafing Stick, which you apply kind of like deodorant to the places where your shoes (or other items) chafe. It creates a barrier between you and the item to reduce irritation. Item two is clear first aid tape. Yep. It sounds weird, but it's meant for use on your skin, so it will stick without irritating you. It's flexible, so it can go around all your weird body angles. And it's clear, so it's not that noticeable when you've got it on your heel under a slingback strap.

(All these cute shoes I featured here are available at Shoebuy.com, where you can get free shipping and free returns.)

No, your socks don't have to match

I first learned about LittleMissMatched thanks to Seth Godin's blog. They're just the coolest little company who took what is usually a problem - missing socks - and figured out a solution. After all, if your socks never come in matching pairs, losing one isn't that big of a deal, right? Seth wrote about them again recently, which reminded me that I wanted to do a lens with the LittleMissMatched products. I gave some to my nieces last year for Christmas and was aunt of the year (again). Seriously, how often does anyone get excited about getting socks for Christmas?

Of course, the company has grown a lot in the last few years. They not only have socks, but also pajamas, swimsuits, books, accessories and more. And among the more is bedroom items including cool bedding and furniture. So of course, that got it's own lens because there was so much cool stuff there. One set is designed as a gigantic whiteboard that you can design yourself, while the other set allows you to change the fronts of all the drawers to different colors and patterns. Way cool!!

Trends I saw doing "market research" at the mall

So I was spending sometime at the mall recently. Not my usual hang-out, but it does allow for some good market research. So what was I seeing in the stores?

Lots and lots of scarves. On mannequins, mind. It's 100 degrees right now in Texas, so no one's actually wearing these right now. We're into tank tops and flip flops at the moment. But still, scarves like this green-fringed number in the picture were everywhere. Which just cracks me up because wasn't this the same type of scarf that created such a stink for Rachel Ray in that Dunkin' Donuts commercial? Was it just because hers was black and white? Cause they're everywhere right now. We're all terrorist sympathizers, apparently. Anyway, scarves are apparently the new necklace, and if you can pull it off without suddenly making your neck look like it's 40 inches around, more power to you. They just add too much weight to my top and cover up the necklines I choose so carefully.

One of the other things I saw in store after store were huge, brightly colored tote-style handbags like the Big Buddha Sunset Bag pictured here. They look like just a lot of fun, and can certainly handle just about anything you'd want to put in them. But how to choose a color? Would you get tired of the same pink/turquoise/orange color after a while? Could you really get enough use out of such a thing? Help me out here. Inquiring minds want to know. They'll have to buy Christmas presents for trendy relatives soon.

I mention these in the context of this blog because trend-spotting is a key way to discover lens and niche topics. I don't really have any fashion-related lenses, but I could definitely see creating a scarf shop. So what trends are you seeing that you could develop into a money-making idea?

Kung Fu Panda ... body spray?

I've been searching, searching, searching for new Kung Fu Panda stuff. I would have thought by now that there would be shirts and bedding and lots of that kind of stuff. But no. What do we get? Kids Designer body spray for boys. Yep. Just what every little boy is wanting. Not a Kung Fu Panda punching bag. Not a bedspread. Not a shirt. Nope. Body spray. And at $45? What on earth are they thinking? Oh, there's one for girls too in case you really want to splurge.

(That said, I do have shirts and toys and stuff over on the Kung Fu Panda page. But the only shirts I can find are on eBay. And there's nary a thing for a room as yet. Sigh.)

Donated my Crocs!!

Well, I am now Crocs-less. I fulfilled my pledge to donate my Crocs yesterday, taking them to the Crocs store at the Dallas Galleria. Bye-bye, my well-traveled shoes! I hope they get to go back to Africa.

Just to fill in those of you who might not know, Crocs has a program called Soles United where you can recycle your old Crocs. The old shoes are ground up to make material for new shoes, which are then sent around the world to places where people need them. Just take your Crocs to a retailer that's taking them and get ready to buy a new pair! They just stuffed mine down into a special Soles United bag - which I'm delighted to say was already almost full! - and that was it.

One of the nice things about taking my shoes to the Crocs store (well, booth, actually) was that I got to see some of the new models in person. Back when I bought my baby blue Beach model, there were no men's/women's and like two or three styles. And one of those was the boot. The big news was that they were going to be coming out with a flip-flop soon! Now, there are so many models, it's a little overwhelming. But the good news is that you can get the fabulous comfort and anti-bacterial protection in something with a little more flair.

Let's start with what I thought was the cutest new style - the Capri Canvas flip-flop. Just adorable. They come in four different colors - brown, black, coral (Pulse) and orange (Mango). These are probably the best option for people wanting the comfort but not the "Croc" look.

One of the ones I really wanted to see in person was the Sassari wedge. It looks cute in the picture, but I just wasn't really sure about how it would play in person. It's actually not bad, although I think it would be best in the colors other than black to keep it fun. Just looks too heavy otherwise. Comes in sea foam, celery, red, brown, black and pink.

Continuing the canvas theme, there's a new model called the Santa Cruz, which is a canvas slip on with the Crosslite sole. They had a blue toile print one at the stand, but they do come in solid colors as well. This is another case where there's a change in that there's a mens and a womens version. (These are the guys in the picture. I think I could get my hubby to wear those.)

My only warnings after seeing the new shoes would be to order the new heels or ballerina slippers with care. Not attractive in certain colors.

So now I just have to decide what I want and a color. This is going to be a tough one!! Stay tuned.

How's the Lone Star State group doing?

Well, it's been almost a month since I took over the Lone Star State group. I've done a lot to the group page and worked hard at getting people to join the group. Most of the success in doing so has come via invitations to people who had existing lenses. Now I just need to start really promoting this thing.

So I said I'd check in to see how I was progressing since I first took the group. And we've made some significant improvement. As of today, our stats:

• #11,995 overall (We made it up into the 8,000s shortly after I first took over and have settled in nicely in this range.)
• #64 in Local
• 21 members, 57 lenses

So, next steps here. How to get more traffic to this group? And what else do I need/want in terms of lenses? How can I convince people to make them and then join the group?

Oh, so maybe you want to make a lens for the group? I have a short wishlist going on the page, but certainly there's lots of room for history, people, music and literature lenses. Anything Texas is welcome, although I'm being pretty specific about what I feature. If you aren't already a Squidoo member, just head here to join up and then make a lens for the Texas group. Just make it good, right? We don't want any junk in Texas!!

Miraculous find!

Well, I mentioned previously about how difficult it was to find an Abby Cadabby costume. (Not for me. For your child.) I had even put ideas for creating your own on my Abby Cadabby page.

Well, there's a new costume out now! It's a little different from the old one in that the skirt has some purple and the turquoise in general is darker, but it's Abby! So if you're looking for a costume, you're in luck. (Until this one goes out of stock.) Just click the picture to go directly to the source or hit the link above to head to Abby's page and check out all the other stuff you can find for Abby. She's really just the cutest thing to happen to Sesame Street ever.

Passed the 100 mark!

I've done it! Finally made it past the 100-mark in lenses. Hooray for me! So I can officially submit myself for the 100 Club over at Squidoo. What does that mean? Haven't a clue. But it's something special, so I want it. Besides, couldn't let Victoria get in there without me.

Mostly, I'm just pleased at the steady progress I'm making over at Squidoo. I've broken into the Top 100, had a lens of the day and am starting to see a steady trickle of money coming in. And I've met my next goal now of 100 lenses. Accomplishments are good.

So let's see, next set of goals? How about get to 125 lenses, start seeing $200 a month in affiliate income and get through the 30 Day Challenge without going insane? Also want to keep steady on the posting here (I recently passed 100 posts here as well) and my other blogs. Feeling good about my chances. Oh, it's not a goal until I have a deadline. So how about by Labor Day weekend? I think I can do it!!

I'm in, I'm out - doing the Google dance

Well, I was all excited a couple of days ago because my novelty cycling jerseys lens had started showing up in Google searches again. I get a good 30 hits a day or so when I'm feeling the Google love. Spoke too soon, apparently, though, as we're on the outs again.

That made the decision for me on something I had been pondering. I had just put up a poll on the lens, actually, to let shoppers choose. But, given that they aren't coming thanks to the Google dance ... .

So I finally broke down and just broke the lens out into a series with a couple more. I had wanted to add more jerseys to the college section anyway, but there were like 100 of them!! So now I have two new lenses, one with college cycling jerseys and the other with beer logo cycling jerseys. Surely between the four cycling jersey lenses, at least one will be in Google's good graces at any given point in time, thus bringing traffic to all of them. I hope.

Trying to be "do follow"

I'm trying to allow following for links left in my comments. Followed all the directions and have removed all reference to nofollow in my template. But SEOBook is still showing comment links as nofollow. Surely old comments would have to follow the new style as dictated by the template, right? Anyway, I'm trying to make it worth your while to comment by sharing what love I have as much as possible. And I do encourage relevant links to be left in comments. But if anyone has any tips for what else I might need to do, let's hear it.

Glasses have arrived and looking good!

Well, my new glasses have arrived from Zenni, and I'm quite pleased. The blue ones are a bit brighter in person than in the picture on Zenni's website, but I still like them. Kind of hard to really tell in my picture, but the eye pieces and right at the hinges have these bright baby blue color that really stand out. And my new dressy glasses add quite a bit of drama. They don't blend back into my face like the other pairs I own. You notice these guys!

(Should have taken pictures on a day I was wearing makeup. And I have got to go get my eyebrows done. Uggh!)

Tacky or totally cool?

Some lenses just don't take that much effort and they're kind of fun. With that, I'd like to introduce you to an idea whose time has come - Toilet Tattoos. They're vinyl cling decals that go on your toilet seat to add a little flair. What do you think? Tacky?

I'm totally a "leave the toilet alone" kind of gal, but not everyone feels that way. In fact, I have friends who are into decorating for every holiday there is. And there are toilet tattoos for each season, so they can have some fun.

I still need to add some eBay feeds as there's a line called Toilet Skinz that have some cool designs like Andy Warhol and Skelanimals. (Which is how I found these in the first place - doing an eBay search for Skelanimals stuff.)

The power of an adjective

Saw a container of peanuts at Whole Foods as I was checking out with dinner tonight. Labeled as "Virginia" peanuts. Which seems to suddenly make them twice as expensive as regular old peanuts from such ordinary states like Georgia.

The adjective doesn't add any value in and of itself really. But there's the perception that it does. Where can we add adjectives to bring the perception of value to our lenses? What about our lives?

Learning to let go

I have a problem.

I tend to fall in love with ideas. Ideas that aren't bad necessarily, but ones that may or may not pan out based on my goals. But I hate to let go of them. I don't want to let go. They're my ideas. I love them.

But I've signed up for the 30-Day Challenge. We're just in the pre-season right now, but I've already learned a lot about how to test an idea to make sure it'll fly. Not test the quality of the idea, but test its potential online market. This means making sure people are looking for it, there aren't already too many pages out there on the topic, and that there's room for growth.

What I'm finding is the reason why so many of my beautiful, well-done lenses aren't necessarily catching on. There was never a market for them in the first place. Nobody cares about that particular topic and/or there's already a market saturation.

But it's a great idea or I've already put a lot of time into the lens or ... .

Enough excuses. I have to learn to let go, to focus my energies on the places that will yield the most for the effort. There will still be room for things I do just because I want to (surprisingly they are sometimes the most successful), but when it comes to the online activity I want to make me money, I must be more cold-hearted about my ideas. That means cutting loose or neglecting some lenses that are never going fly and giving the worms (time and energy) to the other birds in the nest. I can't feed them all.

Whew! What a day!!

Cheers to me!! (It's my blog, I'm allowed to brag.) This has been a Squidoo day for the books.

Woke up this morning to discover Kung Fu Panda had broken through to become #1 not only at the box office this past weekend, but the #1 lens in Movies & TV!! Something even Indy wasn't able to do. Whee!! (Which is good since it and Digg are the only sources of traffic for my Kung Fu Panda party lens!)

Surprise number two came later in the day when I went to check comments. Since I put up a duel module on Kung Fu Panda, I've been getting regular reviews from people who've been to see the movie. There were a ton of comments - but from my Soles United lens. Which had been named Lens of the Day!! Talk about a surprise. I've never nominated any of my lenses for the honor, so I never really expected to ever get it. Wow! (And Megan calls me gracious and upbeat. Ha!!)

Then, I get an email from Robin that my hair donation lens (which has currently ceded the top spot on my list to the panda) was selected to be featured at the Giant Squid Showcase blog. She had some lovely things to say about it. Just the strawberries to go with the champagne.

(Oh, and there was actually some money in my dashboard this morning. Just couldn't have gotten any better!)

Deal of the Day

20% Off at eBags.com
Wednesday June 11th Only!

Things I don't understand

(This might end up a regular series - cause there's lots I don't get about the world around me.)

Why do people argue that God is a woman? There certainly were (are) gods that were (are) female, but the God of the Bible? Not so much. That particular god is revealed through the Bible and isn't female. But then, I'd also argue that God isn't male, either. Two reasons for my thinking:

1. God created man and woman in his likeness. (Sorry, have to use some pronoun here and male just comes naturally). So whatever God is, it's either both male and female or neither in order for both sexes to be made in his likeness. (Not getting into exactly what that means here.)
2. Scripture tells us that God is a spirit and we worship him in spirit and truth. Last time I checked, spirits had no sex. They're neither male or female. Gender is part of the tangible world in which they have no part.

Now, I've been looking around because I'm trying to figure out why people want to say God is female and where they make their case from. Not having any luck, but surely there's something just beyond a desire for it to be so? The only Bible reference I can think of where God takes on a female persona is in the Old Testament when he's referred to as a hen taking her children under her wings. But that hardly balances out the jillions of references to being father.

Help me out here, folks. I hang with a lot of earth mother types and I'm trying to understand where this comes from. Is there something out there that makes the case for the God of the Bible being female? Or are they referring to a different god when they make such statements?

How many kinds of bear can you name?

So, did you realize there were eight kinds of bears? I'm not sure I ever knew the actual number, but apparently that's all the kinds there are. Kind of makes you wonder what God was thinking, huh? "I think 2 billion kinds of bugs is a good number, but bears. Ehh, eight is enough." Anyway, I tried naming them all off the top of my head and failed miserably, mostly because I kept naming all the different kinds of brown bears rather than kinds of bears in general. Of course, I could name the panda, and that's where I'm going with this. Kung Fu Panda is now part of the Save our Bears group over on Squidoo. Lensmaster Frankster (who has the world's best page on polar bears ever) started the group as a way to raise awareness about the plight of our bears. Now, I thought that KFP was a little flighty for inclusion, but she disagreed. So Po is in with the rest of his real kin. Head on over and check out the rest of the bears!!

Kung Fu Panda time is here!!

Oh, yeah! Just another day and Kung Fu Panda hits the theater!! Been looking forward to this for months and I think my lens on the movie shows it. I've been adding products left and right, but also movie reviews, which are mostly very positive. I love all the party items that have come out, and there's a watch now! I have a lot of eBay feeds on the page, because there seem to be items out there already that you can't get at Amazon yet. Like t-shirts. Why? Happy Meal toys arrive Friday to coincide with the movie kick-off, so get your Speed Racer stuff if you haven't yet!

Setting myself up for a fight

OK. I've done it. Published my first MonkeyBrain, that is. I've been working on this one for quite a while. Or at least stressing over whether I'd actually stuck to and made my point. I think I've done it. Haven't embarrassed myself. And it's a great topic for picking a fight. :-) Not all people are created equal. (I'll post more about it later.)

Do you know a butterfly lover?

So who's the butterfly lover in your life? Come on, we all know one. For me, it's my mom. And with her in mind, I started to work on a lens with great gift ideas for the butterfly lover. It kind of grew out of control. As usual. :-)

So, I ended up with another series of lenses, each a slightly different shop focused on a different type of item. I still have a lot of things I could add - like cell phone covers! - but I'm holding off until I can better gauge the audience/desire/ROI on this particular niche. I might be better off in the long run getting more focused on one type of item or maybe just dropping a few of the stores all together. (See, this is where being more rational about choosing things based on keyword popularity would be good. But no, I get all emotional and excited and just run off in all kinds of directions.) Pondering that point.

Here are the shops:

• General butterfly gifts - this is the main site I started with and there are still a few things on it
• Butterfly jewelry
• Butterflies for the car
• Outdoor decor
• Indoor decor
• Lighting

Taking a spin with women's cycling jerseys

As a spin off from my novelty cycling jerseys lens, I've put together a shop with stylish cycling jerseys for women. No need for a childish novelty design. No need for boring or blocky either. There are actually quite a few lovely designs out there. My challenge now is whether I should rearrange the shop by color. (Thoughts?) Many of the searches coming in are looking for a specific color jersey. I feel it's easy enough as it stands to just scan through and find a specific color - the images are large -but am I meeting their needs? Time for a poll!! Of course, right now, I'm not getting a huge amount of traffic, but am hoping this one takes off.