Lately, I’ve taken one of the Captain’s constant themes to heart and have been creating lenses that are branches off of others. So I now have the entire iCarly cast - I started with the star, Miranda Cosgrove, some time ago - and am considering a lens about the show because the one out there isn’t that great. But there’s a lot of competition in the space for iCarly right now, so I’m still debating with myself whether it’s worth it. But it would complete the set. 
I’ve completed more than 50 lyrics lenses in my other account. It was fun, I’m seeing a tiny bit of traffic on some of them already, but I think I’m burned out now. I’m sure I’ll get in the mood again later and do more. Or go back and add ringtones to each. Didn’t think about it the first time through. But I ended up doing quite a bit of branching there as well as I did my keyword research. So I have a string of Elton John, Tim McGraw, Madonna, Carrie Underwood, Bee Gees and Wham songs. Chosen because people were actually looking for them, so I’m feeling pretty good about their chances overall.
My other branching of late has been on the store front, mostly to avoid creating an overwhelming experience for the shopper. So I broke out two more cycling jersey lenses, so I have four now. Then, after I started my LittleMissMatched lens, I realized that I could break out the furniture line separately, so that’s done now. And I finally broke up my Skelanimals lens and started a shop with just apparel and accessories. More lenses to manage, yes, but the more frequently changed items are off on their own, which makes it easier to keep up with them in general. So instead of just three shops, I’ve gotten eight lenses out of this batch and eight opportunities to make a sale.
In fact, five of my seven WIP lenses right now are branches of current lenses. It’s an easy way to come up with a new lens idea and establish yourself in a niche of some sort.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:47 am
I love Elton John and Tim McGraw.
Saw Elton John play at Notre Dame about 7 years ago. He did a solo show - just him and the piano - and 2 1/2 hours! it was amazing.
I saw Tim McGraw when he was just starting out in South Bend. He had “Don’t Take The Girl” in the charts. Also saw him several times more at Straitfest in Chicago at Soldier Field - before they tore it down and remodelled it. Had a skybox the second time around - it was awesome!
I created 1 Elton John lens - for “Your Song”. I couldn’t find a clash at the time, but I am sure there is. I rejected several other songs of his since there were already lenses. So many lyrics lenses, but so many great songs to still choose from as well. I am trying to pick something a little different, but still popular - otherwise it’s a waste of time.
Branchig out is a great idea - sometimes a topic just becomes too large in itself. It’s like writing a monster book with only 1 chapter. You just DON’T! Looking forward to seeing the new lenses…
June 26th, 2008 at 9:21 am
I did one on “Your Song” so yes, there is a clash. Funny how hard it is to find those. I saw that someone had done Bohemian Rhapsody right after JustBon did hers, but they weren’t following Glen’s directions related to naming conventions, so it was easy to do. I think if his group ever gets fixed, it will be easier to keep track of what’s been done already.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Pretty cool! I’m starting to go a similar route for my rubber ducky lens. It’s already looong, and there are lots of rubber duckies out there, so I created a separate ducky shop. However, since there’s a glut of devil duckies and other types of ducks, I might need to break it down even more… this kind of thing can get addicting.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I did that with my menopause lenses…now to brainstorming to do this more often. Great pointers…thanks.
June 29th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
@Victoria When you mentioned the duckies, the first thing that popped into my mind was something with evil duckies.
So devils, Darth Vader, etc. Sounds like fun.