 | Archive - June 2006 eBay Blog newsPosted Jun-26-06 17:28:32 PDT  If you haven't seen the announcement, here's the announcement for eBay Blogs. This is the follow on to the original overview given during eBay Live in Rachel Makool's announcement about other great products we've put out recently for the eBay Community like the eBay Wiki. More soon... Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs!
"I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." Blogging for BusinessPosted Jun-19-06 23:19:59 PDT Updated Jul-14-06 12:42:12 PDT 
Here’s an example. I was going to write about an Aimee Mann concert I went to in San Francisco over the last weekend. I expected it to be cold up in the City, and it wasn't. In fact it was surprisingly warm and I wanted to write about that using the famous quote, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Now I thought for sure it was Mark Twain that said that, but before I wrote it in my blog I thought I ought to fact check. (Note: if you want to establish credibility make a serious effort to fact check (and spell check for that matter!) The more reliable your blog is, the more people will come to trust it. Anyway, I found several sources1,2,3 that assert that claimed that no one can actually proof that Mark Twain ever said or wrote that quote—yet you can also find hundreds of places that incorrectly attributed the quote to him. What's the point? In the process of looking that quote up for my blog, I took the opportunity to learn something myself! Another example is my garage door's torsion spring broke when I got home today and the first thing I did is look for a blog that could help me understand what I should be aware of when I find someone to fix it, assuming I can't fix it myself. I also wanted to know why my local Home Depot, Lowes, and Orchard Supply stores didn't have the parts. Now this is a very niche topic to be sure. What do you think the chances are that I'd find such an article? Well, the link probably gave away the fact that I found an article. No, I take that back I found the perfect article! Richard J. Kinch had a problem—a broken garage. He did a lot of research, found suppliers for parts, and decided to share what he learned. This is what blogs (and the web) at their best. Now right now I'm not looking for a PhD who does Linux consulting but if I was, who do you think I'd call first? Blogs are not just for fun anymore… they can be good for your business as well. Footnotes
Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." Customize your eBay Blog!Posted Jun-19-06 18:32:37 PDT Updated Jun-19-06 19:33:28 PDT Wow! A lot has happened in a week. I am still way behind on my blogging because eBay Live kept me so busy. I will do what I can to catch up, but in the meantime, I had to share the news that someone has already created a great tool for customizing your eBay Blog! The eBay Blog Styler seems to produce some nice stylesheets for those that need a little extra help customizing your blog. Check it out! Update2: I just discovered the shipscript's eBay blog. This too will be worth reading. Update1: Another great tutorial for those new to eBay Blogs is "How can I start an eBay blog for my eBay store?" by Dave Taylor. Both have done a fantastic job helping the Community get a leg up on eBay Blogs. If you haven't seen these, don't miss out. Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." Live from eBay Live, but It's not About Me...its about the Attendees!Posted Jun-13-06 03:16:22 PDT  Well, I arrived in Las Vegas this morning for eBay Live, just fine. Wait, since it is 3am, make that, "I arrived in Las Vegas yesterday morning for eBay Live, just fine." The flight was nice and uneventful and I had some nice conversation with other eBay employees on their way to Vegas. I won't say how we spent the day getting ready for attendees, but suffice to say there was an amazing amount of activity that goes on to get everything ready for 15,000 attendees. This is my first ebay Live and it promises to be an impressive conference and I say that having attended and worked similar events like Sun's JavaOne conference several years running. I will also add that the preparation was far better than I've had when I worked at events of similar size. One of the things I was excited about today was the signage. Everything is well labeled and should make things easy for everyone to find. For some reason the sign to the right really caught my eye. By the way, in case you can't tell, this was part of a schedule that was probably about 20' x 10'. WOW! Not quite pocket size! Actually every attendee will also have a pocketsized version of the schedule right in their badge holder. Nice. My session is in the computer labs on Wenesday morning. The room looks like it holds about 150. Gulp! I hope that there are a few people who are interested in learning about eBay Blogs. I'd hate to run down to present to an empty room full of computers. Well it is going to be a long week so I suppose I really should get some sleep. Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." Getting ready for eBay Live...am I up to the Airport challenge?Posted Jun-09-06 19:39:34 PDT So I am getting ready to go to eBay Live and I came accross this story about Jim Harper, a member of the Department of Homeland Security's privacy advisory committee who took a dare to try to fly without photo ID. He was successful, and I admire what he did, and why he did it, but I am not sure I want to risk it— at least not on this trip! I am really excited about going to my first eBay Live and I look forward to meeting so many of the people who make eBay what it is. You know who you are! Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." My Goal: A reader in every US state and then...the world!Posted Jun-08-06 11:18:19 PDT Updated Jun-20-06 20:52:12 PDT Okay, here's my new goal. I started off thinking I'd like to have at least one person read my blog from every state in the US by the end of this year. But you know, that just seems like an inadequite goal so I'd like to set the bar higher. I'd also like to have someone from every country read my blog! So you you see this, leave a comment with your state or country. From time to time I'll provide updates on how it is going.
Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." tip #5 Adding a traffic counter to your blogPosted Jun-07-06 23:32:53 PDT There are several companies that provide site statistics for free, free, or both. One of them is Sitemeter. Sitemeter offers both a free service and additioanl services for a fee. They provide a nice set of instructions for adding a counter to your site (in this case your eBay Blog.) Now since eBay Blogs are new they don't list specific instructions yet, but you'll want to look for a non JavaScript version of the instructions because eBay Blogs don't allow JavaScript within a blog. I'm not endorsing Sitemeter, I am just giving them a try and we'll see how it goes. Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." tip #4 Adding links to photos in your blogPosted Jun-07-06 23:06:57 PDT Updated Jun-07-06 23:15:48 PDT Blogs are a new feature on eBay and I'm guessing some people may want a couple of tips here and there to make the most of their blog. This example shows how to link an image to another page—for example you could link from your store icon in your blog to your eBay store or listings. If you look at the preceeding blog entry there's a picture with a link to another site. To add a link to a picture:
 Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos...Posted Jun-07-06 19:31:41 PDT Updated Jun-07-06 19:57:42 PDT What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It's amazing and completely insane! Click on the image below to see the video or listen to the interview on NPR. Did I mention I am a huge Diet Coke fan. Especially since joining eBay because there's always plenty of soda around.
Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." New to eBay Blogs?Posted Jun-07-06 17:45:09 PDT Updated Jun-08-06 08:39:43 PDT Well, I have set up another blog to discuss eBay Blogs and blogging in generaly—you'll find it at theeBayBlogsblog..
This blog will mostly be for my personal activities and theeBayBlogsblog. will be where I discuss eBay Blogs and things that eBay would prefer I didn't discuss here. Happy reading! Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs!
"I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." tip #3 Adding photos to your blogPosted Jun-07-06 09:44:06 PDT Updated Jun-08-06 08:40:36 PDT
How can I add pictures to my eBay Blog? Want to include pictures in your blog? You will find all of this in the eBay Blog FAQ: You can add pictures that are hosted somewhere else several ways. One is to use the HTML mode in eBay Blogs.
http://www2.freefoto.com//images_d/01/12/01_12_61_web.jpg?&k=Foal so the HTML is
aligns an image: left, right, center; bottom, top, middle sets size of border around an image You will find more information at the How to post images, links and simple HTML commands. Is this helpful? Leave me a comment and let me know any thoughts, suggestions, etc! Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs!
"I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." tip #2 shortcut to your blogPosted Jun-07-06 08:53:31 PDT In addition to blogs.ebay.com/[userid] you can always click on the  button which will take you right to your own blog!
Whatever you do, write about
it on eBay Blogs!
"I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." Who is going to eBay Live?Posted Jun-07-06 07:05:33 PDT Updated Jun-08-06 08:39:12 PDT I hope to meet many of you at eBay Live in Las Vegas and that you'll find the time for my class, "It's not About Me, it's eBay Blogs". I'm really looking forward to the event—it will be my first time at eBay Live and you can be sure I'll blog about it! Hope you will too.
Whatever you do, write about
it on eBay Blogs!
"I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." Tip #1 finding eBay BlogsPosted Jun-07-06 06:54:09 PDT Updated Jun-07-06 07:00:27 PDT You will find every member's blog at http://blogs.ebay.com/[memberID]. Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." Blogging taking root on eBay!Posted Jun-07-06 00:20:12 PDT Updated Jun-07-06 06:59:18 PDT It is so nice to see the interest in blogs taking off! It has just been a few hours and already we have a lot of blogs and some really great content! Like this quote from thebetterbaglady “I am so excited that eBay has introduced blogging. “What an honor it is to be one of the first. “I can't wait to show you all pictures of my inventory. I have enough socks for a small town!” By the way, make sure you try customizing your blog. Just click on the Customize link and choose one of the themes! Whatever you do, write about it on eBay Blogs! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." New to eBay Blogs?Posted Jun-06-06 22:04:19 PDT Updated Jun-07-06 17:44:11 PDT Well, I have set up another blog to discuss eBay Blogs and blogging in generaly—you'll find it at theeBayBlogsblog.. This blog will mostly be for my personal activities and theeBayBlogsblog. will be where I discuss eBay Blogs. Happy reading! "I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." My Weekend good deedPosted Jun-04-06 12:47:09 PDT Updated Jun-07-06 08:25:40 PDT Today and yesterday I spent some time building a house that will be shipped from San Luis Obispo to Louisiana to help Katrina survivors. This project was run through Habitat for Humanity and it was pretty neat. Yesterday we completed the framing for the house, complete with a porch. Today we took it all apart and packed it into a truck trailer for delivery next week. The building took place in front of the Madona Inn.
It felt great knowing that someone will have a home again, with help from a bunch of us who will probably never even meet the recipients.
Whatever you do, write about
it on eBay Blogs!
"I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." Welcome to eBay Blogs!Posted Jun-03-06 12:32:22 PDT Updated Jun-07-06 08:27:41 PDT Hello! Welcome to my blog. My name is Michael Bierman and I am the Product Manager for eBay Blogs. Before I go on, let me remind you that I'm an eBay employee, and the things that I write are truly just my own opinion and have nothing to do with my employer. More soon!
Whatever you do, write about
it on eBay Blogs!
"I am an eBay employee. The opinions expressed in my blog are my own, and not eBay's." |
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