A Squidoo lens is designed to be a highly focused window to other directly related resources - blog posts, websites, Flickr photos, YouTube videos, web-based articles or e-books. Hence a lens is not an end in itself but a means to an end - a window on other information about a topic, issue, problem, product or service of interest to the reader. Each Squidoo lens you create has a unique URL.

There is no limit to the number of free Squidoo lenses you can create. At the time of writing this article, I have in excess of 50 Squidoo lenses which are catalogued in my "lensography".

Each lens has AdSense ads and other ads that generate revenue for Squidoo, charities supported by Squidoo and the lensmaster (lens creator). The lensmaster can choose to give all or some of their share of this direct revenue to charity.

Squidoo lenses can be used for endless applications, for example, to promote a cause, support a charity, educate, showcase an artist or photographer or generate affiliate income.

Each Squidoo lens is made up of modules and widgets (like WordPress blogs) that can be accessed by a unique point-and-click technology. You don't even have to know HTML to create and market your Squidoo lenses. There are even lenses on basic HTML and advanced HTML if you want to be creative. The design of each lens is limited only by your imagination.

In a very real sense a Squidoo lens can integrate many elements of Web 2.0 technology - blogging, Flickr, FaceBook, YouTube, RSS feeds and Twitter. Fundamental to Squidoo is the connections it creates - between people, between lenses, between resources and between social networks.

Squidoo enables you to contribute to Squidoo charities as a by-product of lens creation. You can also promote a charity of your choice, a location and community, a local artist or a local business.
You can recruit people to your favorite hobby such as scrapbooking, model trains, electronic toys, photography, model planes or stamp collecting.

You can even create a Squidoo Group, or join an existing group, to link to people who share your interests and passions.

What also appeals to me personally is the opportunity to be creative and extend my "learning edge" or "push the envelope". The numerous Squidoo lens templates, modules and widgets provide endless opportunities to be creative and to develop different lenses for different purposes. For example, I have created a photographic exhibition, a simulated tropical rainforest walk and my e-portfolio.

Squidoo can tap your creativity, build your income, grow your connections and enhance your Internet presence. You learn Squidoo by building lenses - but beware, Squidoo is addictive!