I’m not obsessing too much about SEO for the new site. I’m just doing all the basic blocking and tackling, and focusing on the customer experience for now.

That said, Aaron Wall’s new SEO toolbar is pretty damn useful. I really like the integrations with all the other services. It seems to do a really good job pulling all this disparate information together.

Plus, it doesn’t phone home. That would have been a deal-breaker.

We’re getting closer!

I’ve learned a ton from the private alpha I’ve been running for the past month or so. Now, it’s time to take those learnings and incorporate them in the product. I also need to go through and make it a bit more robust. There’s a lot of baling wire and duct tape keeping it together right now.

I should be able to get to the public alpha in the next few weeks. Woo Hoo!

Just need to make sure the baby doesn’t get sick any more…

I’m racing to alpha, so things have been a little quiet here on the blog. Sorry ’bout that. I have a few items in the can, but they’re waiting until people can actually see the site.

While working on the site, I came across a post from Steve Outing pointing to the winners from a contest on how to reinvent classifieds in the newspaper world. This was my world a couple of years ago, so it’s very interesting reading.

I’m intrigued by the consignment method. It’s a little like running eBay postings in the paper. I wonder if that would be an interesting upsell for eBay…

I am, as you might predict, @serendeputy on twitter. If you’re interested in this little project, please give it a follow.

As I’m going into alpha, I want to make sure everyone can get ahold of me. If it works best to hold conversations in public, I’m more than happy to.