As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, when I first heard about the nofollow tag I got quite interested in the issue and started to read up on it. What I found was that there are a lot of smart people against its default use on blogs because it hurts the community. But the vast majority of bloggers are unfamiliar with the issue or don’t know that they can do anything about it.

And that is why today I am launching The yesfollow Project .  The main page’s content is written with the intent of concisely explaining the nofollow issue to a blogger and then telling him what he can do about it.There is also a how-to section, which I plan to grow beyond WordPress and Movable Type, a section to show your support, and a page for discussion.

The idea is that if you support disabling the nofollow, you can blog briefly about it, post a link or a button, and send people to http://www.yesfollow.org for a more complete explanation and how-to. So take a look and please let me know what you think. Comments, suggestions, and critiques are appreciated, and more importantly, given credit

That sure got your attention, didn’t it? It’s not that I’m trying to trick you. I did it to illustrate an important point about creating content on the web, one that most bloggers (including myself) overlook, and one that is easily worth more than $500.

That point is that bloggers should learn copywriting.

Most likely, your intent when writing is to get other people to read what you write. To do that, you have to write valuable content, and you have to write it in a way that encourages others to read it. Copywriting is all about that second part. It’s not about long, cheesy sales letters.

So here’s the really valuable part of this post. If you’re new to copywriting like me, then you need a good place to get started. You need a resource that breaks it down without wasting your valuable time. And that resource is Copyblogger. He’s been doing this for 8 years now, and with a background in trial law, you gotta figure he knows how to persuade people.  I especially like his Resources section.

Following in the same link-love vein as the Indie Virus, today I decidedly subscribed to the no nofollow philosophy.  Basically, the “rel=nofollow” tag was intended to fight comment spam (which it hasn’t) but it has instead hurt the blogosphere by not giving search engine credit (ie. Google Juice) to thoughtful commenters...ok, so maybe not all of them are thoughtful, but that’s besides the point.

So I installed the DoFollow plugin to fix the problem.  What this change means for you is that leaving a [thoughtful] comment or pingback on Flee The Cube will contribute to your PageRank.  Ever so slightly.  So you get the Google Juice and I get more comments.  Are you starting to see how this is a win-win situation for bloggers?

And I’m not alone here.  I originally heard about the nofollow issue from John Scott over at v7n, and was ultimately convinced by a brilliant article from Michael Hampton at www.ioerror.us, author of several WordPress plugins including Bad Behavior.

I have more to say about the nofollow tag, but I’m saving it for another venue.  Watch for an update here in the next few days.

Today I caught the Indie Virus from Yaro over at Entrepreneur’s Journey. I have to say, if there were more viruses like this going around, the blogosphere would be a better place. The spike in traffic is nice, but the fascinating part was tracking how the Indie Virus has spread since it started one week ago.

Before I go any further, I’d like to do my part to spread the indie virus. And I’m not gonna be timid about it. I’m keeping my hands in my pockets and sneezing it all over the place. My sneeze is still targeted at relevant entrepreneurship sites, and I tried to point to interesting posts. The first indie virus goes to $1 a Day who managed to launch a niche site about a UK TV show before it aired, and was ranked at the top spot within a week. Way to go! And since you never sneeze just once, the next indie virus goes to Burt’s osCommerce site, who asked if working from home is bad for your health. I’ve definitely been wondering that in the last few weeks, during my lonely days. Another indie virus goes to The Internet Cashflow Guy, who was asking, how many AIS sites is too many? I’ve always been told to go with quality over quantity, but who knows? I also want to give the indie virus to Pesos Per Diem, who recently made his first $100 off of Adsense.  And finally, I’d like to end my sneezing fit by sending the indie virus to John Scott. He’s previously had entrepreneurial success on the web and recently started a great blog. He was probably the initial seed for the indie virus, as you’ll see in the post I point to.

Seriously though, the concept is great. Instead of everyone linking to the same 100 blogs, why not spread the link-love a little bit and lead readers to sites they haven’t visited before. There’s plenty of people creating great content out there that are not in the Technorati Top 100, and the conversations in the blogosphere would be a lot richer by including some of the smaller voices.

And for a final sneeze, I’m sending the indie virus right back to Chris Pearson. He came up with the idea a week ago, and creativity deserves credit. Also, there’s some funny parallels between Chris’s career path thus far and mine. I also went to an “Institute of Technology” and feel that I didn’t get much from the education there (but a lot in terms of personal growth and friendships). I also quit my job (about 3 months ago) and am now jumping into the world of website development and entrepreneurship. And I’m also semi-addicted to selling stuff on eBay. Well Chris, here’s toasting to our success.

Is it just me, or are there a lot of budding entrepreneurs out there?  Perhaps they’re just more visible because of the advent of blogging, or perhaps there really are more of them these days, but in either case, it’s exciting to follow the stories of so many entrepreneurs in the making.  There’s a good 7-10 stories that I keep up with, mostly through blogs.  I thoroughly enjoy Entrepreneur’s Journey and Life of an Internet Entrepreneur.

My opinion is that the web makes it easier to be entrepreneurial, and more importantly, it makes it possible to be entrepreneurial part-time.  I think that’s the clincher right there.  Until recently, the only way to be an entrepreneur part-time was by starting an MLM business, and part-time was a euphemism for “work your ass of in the evening and weekends."  But with internet business models such as monetized content creation, domain parking, niche websites, and affiliate marketing, you really can work at your own pace.  There are few people commitments to worry about, you can learn things on your own time and without being in a hurry, and you can develop content whenever the mood strikes you or when you have a spare half-hour here and there.  You can legitimately work on these business models part time.  That means you can hold down a regular job, and work on your dream without putting too much pressure on yourself.

And that is why I think there are so many more entrepreneurs-in-the-making these days.  I’m one of them, and I’m enjoying it.  My buddy Erik Vossman is one of them, and he’s doing quite well.  I think it’s a great trend, and I’m happy to be jumping on it early on.  (Trust me, it’s still relatively early)  Who knows, maybe in 10 years everyone and their dog will have a passive stream of income arriving via the web.

Following a great example over at The Internet Cashflow Guy, I just added a page that encourages owners of relevant websites to exchange links with Flee the Cube.  As most bloggers know, incoming links are the foundation of building your readership.  They refer new readers to your site, build its reputation, and increase your ranking with the search engines and technorati.

As a blogger just starting out, you quickly learn how hard it is to get other sites to link to yours.  You link to them in hopes that they’ll reciprocate, leave comments, and send friendly emails.  Well, here at Flee the Cube we’re making things easier. 

Get linked from Flee the Cube

Lastly, make sure you visit The Internet Cashflow Guy.  His websites are a great example of someone who is growing a passive stream of income through Adsense.  You get to see what it takes, and pick up some great pointers along the way.

Ok, so it’s not much of a business model, but selling old junk on eBay is definitely a good way to make a quick buck. You put a little elbow grease into cleaning your old junk, take a few pictures, write a good description, and then sit back and watch eBay do it’s magic. If there is even a little demand for your product, chances are it will get bid up to a decent price.

And selling old junk on eBay serves a dual purpose. You not only make a few bucks, but you get rid of all that stuff you didn’t have the heart to just throw out. Think of all the space you’ll have!

This is definitely true in my case. I recently moved into a house where about 5 tenants’ worth of junk had piled up in the garage. Since I had plans to set up an office in the garage, there was no way I was going to let the old junk sit around. I enlisted the help of eBay and Craigslist, and in the last two weeks I’ve gotten rid of old couches, shelves, a fridge, a big box of Playboys (sadly), a microwave, a little TV, a PlayStation, many videos, and some odds and ends. The big stuff of course was sold on Craigslist so I didn’t have to worry about transportation. The rest I’ve been steadily posting on eBay. And guess what; my home office is all set up and ready to go.

So how do you get started selling your old junk on eBay? Well, assuming you have some basic understanding of the mechanics of eBay, here are some tips to help you get the best prices.

1. Clean it up and take some good pictures. It’s common sense, people don’t want to buy grimy plates or tarnished silverware. Spend a little time cleaning your stuff up, and then take some good pictures. To get good pictures of your merchandise, put it against a neutral background (Beiges and wood backgrounds work well. White, black, and bright colors can take away from your product). Also, try to use natural light as opposed to flash in your pictures, and fill as much of the frame as you can with the product. A few pictures are often better than just one.


2. Write an honest, upbeat, and friendly description. Describe your product fully, problems included, but focus on the positives before you list any blemishes. If you’re not a PowerSeller, use this as one of your advantages! Write in your own voice, be friendly, and come across as a person, not some company trying to make a profit.


3. Its junk right? Post it for 99 cents. Often people will try to guesstimate how much their junk is worth and then post that as a minimum bid. This just takes away from the auction process in most cases. If your other alternative is to throw it out, then you’re better off posting it for 99 cents and letting the eBay marketplace do its job. Remember that people like to bid on items that other have already bid on, it’s the herd mentality, so when you post your stuff for 99 cents you’re more likely to get a few early bids that start a bidding war. That’s exactly what you want.


4. Schedule your eBay auctions to start (and end) at prime selling times. Carefully choosing when to start your eBay auctions is important. You want the most people possible to be browsing eBay both when your stuff is first post your auction is about to end. If you use a seven day listing, these are both the same day and time. So when do you schedule your eBay auctions to start? As a rule of thumb, people are tired and slow on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday can be very good or sometimes bad, Thursdays are the best day for sales, Fridays people are antsy to get out for the weekend, and weekends less people are in front of their computers, except maybe in the evenings. For most things, it’s good to post at the end of the workday, but other products sell better in the mornings or evenings.  Browse completed listings (under Advanced Search) to get a feel for best selling times.