Five years ago, I would have said NO WAY to meeting someone on MySpace or Facebook, but these days it’s a pretty common thing.  And, since I met my fiancee on MySpace I can’t say anything negative about it. However, if you have read my other posts, you will see why you still have to follow the rules when you are meeting and dating someone you meet on the Net.

1. Talk to the person for awhile, get to know them before you ever go out with them-The bonus of meeting people on the internet is you get to actually talk to them and get to know them without having to meet them and go through all the criticisms that follow on a face to face date.  Ask them questions about their lives, what are they interested in, what do they do for work, for fun, etc.. See if your lives are even compatible. There are a lot of “players” on the internet,so be careful. Don’t get attached too quickly, because chances are they are talking to 10 other girls at the same time.

2. When you meet up with them, make sure its a public place.  Don’t go to someone’s house you don’t know. Come on guys, you have seen Dateline..  Go to a dinner, so you can talk and do more getting to know one another.  Girls, make sure to follow the rules I have posted on how to act on a first date.

3. Don’t have sex on the first date-no matter how much you think you know them, bc you have talked with them for weeks so it feels like the 10th date. Don’t do it. Girls, it will make you look easy, and guys don’t try it bc it will make you look like that is all you want.  A kiss is OK, but again, don’t even put yourself in the situation where it could happen. Don’t go to his house, your house, parking in an abandoned lot, meeting over at another one of his or your friends homes etc..

4. Do something fun and interactive, since you have already done a lot of talking on the net, go miniature golfing or bowling or if you live in Texas go to Davenbusters or play laser tag at Main Event and play games.  It will let the other person know you like to have fun and will show a good side of you. Plus it shows you can be a kid again, and men like that. Plus at Main Event for those of you in TX, or Davenbusters, its like a place for kids but you can drink as well!!! Just remember, dont drink too much!!

5.Remember my rules on what to wear, what not to talk about, how to act..etc from my blog Ask Kirsten’s First Date Rules!!

6. If you are Christian or Catholic I know for sure there are dating websites out there for just people in your religion. I’m pretty sure there is one for every other religion as well. So if you feel more comfortable going out with someone that is of your belief system, then go for that. Because off the bat you have one thing in common!!

7. Make sure you look at that persons page in detail. Make certain they aren’t just putting what they want people to think about them on their pages. For instance, on Myspace people tend to put older pics of them when they were skinnier, in better shape etc.. Also make sure the page isn’t a fake. I can’t tell you how many times girls have stolen my pics of my Myspace and gave themselves a new name, etc.. It was pretty creepy!! So watch out for that kind of stuff.  If he only has like 2 friends on their, you might want to worry. Whatever you feel, go with your gut. Its usually always right!!

If you have any additional questions, email ask kirsten at kirsten@mercenaryx.com.

If you need any more advice from me, especially detailed advice regarding dating, relationships, kids, marriage, or whatever it may be I would love to help! You can sign up by month, quarterly, annually or lifetime memberships at the bottom of the page in the middle column at www.askkirsten.com What this means is that you can ask as MANY questions as you want during that time period, and allow for around a 1-2 hour turnaround time, but I do get about 30 emails a day, so at the very latest I guarantee a 24 turnaround time, but it never ends up taking that long.  **Just a little more to explain the membership fee, for example if you buy the yearly membership you can ask me as many questions as you would like within that year.  Even if it’s 10 questions a day, it doesn’t matter, and all of the will be answered in the guarantee period. ** I look forward to all of your questions!

Happy Dating,

-Ask Kirsten

There are 13 more cause to disable by admin in Facebook a great social community site.

Here are the things that (supposedly) will get you kicked off Facebook:

1. You didn’t use your real name

Don’t try to use a nickname (or initials)in lieu of the name on your birth certificate, because Facebook will find you and spit you out.

2. You joined too many groups

Remember that the maximum limit is 200 groups per user. More than that just looks desperate, don’t you think?

3. You posted too many messages on a wall or in a group

Even Guy Kawasaki had his account disabled–in his case for “excessive evangelism.”

4. You posted in too many groups, too many user’s walls

You may be axed for being too verbose in too many places. That’s what spammers do, silly. On Facebook it is better–or at least safer–to be seen than heard.

5. You friended too many people

Not so long ago this was a prime cause of disabled accounts, but Facebook has instituted a maximum of 5000 friends that should protect you from yourself.

6. Your school/organization affiliation is doubtful

The overlords are sometimes not very trusting, and they may accuse you of not graduating from Harvard (or Plum Senior High School). The impertinence! Better have your diploma ready.

7. You’re poking too many people

We’ve heard this from multiple sources, and it’s easy enough to avoid. Save the pokes for people you *really* like, as mum always said. But beware the odd FB app that pokes on your behalf.

8. For advertising your app on wall posts

The line between spam and self-promotion is a thin one, but let it be known that pimping your shiny new Facebook app is definitely considered SPAM.

9. Using duplicate text in multiple messages

Some people paste a generic welcome message into friend requests to save time. DON’T DO THIS! It makes you look like a spammer. (Ironically, pro spammers are probably randomizing their messages to avoid this trap)

10. You are a cow, dog, or library

Being a real person is not enough, you must be a homo sapien. Accounts have been deleted for cows, dogs and libraries.

11. You are under eighteen years old

According to one report a user’s account was suspended when they suspected her of being under 18. She was required to enter a work email address to prove her maturity, at which point her account was reinstated. [note: other users have pointed out that being under 18 is fine if you're part of a High School group, though underage home schoolers have been told to bugger off]

12. You wrote offensive content

Reports of “sudden death” on accounts have been reported by users who were told they had posted offensive content, but were not provided details of the offense.

13. You scraped information off Facebook

They have a zero tolerance policy for page scraping (i.e. pulling content off their web pages via a script). Unfortunately, they don’t have a reliable way of proving it’s you who’s doing the scraping (IP matching is probably as good as they can get), so you may find this a difficult charge to defend yourself against.

Finally, you may be disabled for no clear reason at all. One Australian member reported this staggering experience:

“I was blocked for a little while because I was ‘misusing certain features of the site’ Naturally I closely examined their conditions of use etc for some insight as to what I must have done wrong. I couldn’t for the life of me find anything…

“Upon request for clarification I was told that they were not at liberty to divulge which features or of course any thresholds of use. Then they warned me not to do it again or I would be banned permanently without recourse to reinstatement.”

You have been warned. Remember that the hand of justice is swift and merciless.

Solution : Go to the site



Thanks

Facebook first introduced the Marketplace application in mid 2007 as a way for people to post classified listings on the site. Now Facebook has launched its new, updated Marketplace. This time the Marketplace is powered by a company with a funny name, Oodle. Despite the name they are a big online classifieds company founded by former Excite and eBay executives. Oodle has built a completely new version of the Marketplace focused on giving people a place to buy, sell or give things away to the people they know.



This Facebook Marketplace Guide is a practical Step-By-Step Guide for all of you who want to learn how to sell your items effectively on the new Facebook Marketplace.

Using the Facebook Marketplace you can sell, give away, buy, ask or search for anything you want. You can also use the Marketplace to support your favourite charities by selling your unwanted goods for a good cause. Additionally, you can see what your friends are buying and/or selling. Facebook users can post their Marketplace listings free of charge. Your listings will be viewable to millions of Facebook Marketplace users worldwide. If you have previously used the old Facebook Marketplace, you should see it bookmarked in the lower left hand corner of your monitor. And, if you had active listings in the old Marketplace, you should be given the option to transfer them to the new Facebook Marketplace. If you have not used the Facebook Marketplace application before, you can find it here: facebook.com/marketplace.

Ok, let’s get down to business. As I mentioned, this is a

Step-By-Step Guide how to sell in the Facebook Marketplace effectively

So, here we go:

Step 1 – Take a Photo

Grab your digital camera and take a nice close-up picture of the item that you wish to sell. It is best to shoot against a light, solid background. Transfer your photo to your computer as a JPG-file. If your item is something that can’t be presented with a photo, don’t worry, you can still get it listed.

Step 2 – Log On

Log on to your Facebook account and fire up the Marketplace application. Just click the Applications menu in the lower left hand corner of your screen and choose Marketplace. You are greeted with the Marketplace welcome screen.

You have four main options at your disposal:

Sell It Sell for a Cause

Give It Away and

Ask for It



In this guide we are concentrating on the Selling-for-Money side of things, so you may leave the screen as it is and write a short description of your item in the box where it says “Sell something to make extra cash.” When you click the box it will change into “Yourname” is selling..?. Write your main headline for the listing here. After writing your headline description, click the blue Post-button.

Step 3 – Write Your Advertisement

After you have written your headline for the listing you are presented with a new screen with more options related to your listing. Write a punch line type of a description in the box “Why are you selling it”?. You could write “I need money to buy more stuff.” but, even though it might be the case, I don’t think it would get your listing noticed. Consider this space as your sub headline for the ad. Write this description like you were working in an advertising company. Or, if you feel more conservative, just describe your item as funky as possible. You have two lines to hit the point.

Next, state your asking price in the Price-box. You know what its worth.

Write your location. This is a must. Just write in your city.

Choose a category for your item. At the time of writing this book, there are only the following 13 categories available:

Baby & Kid Stuff

Books & Magazines

Cars & Vehicles

Clothes & Accessories

Collectibles

Computers & Accessories

Electronics

Furniture

Home and Garden

Musical Instruments

Sporting Goods, Bicycles & Equipment

Tickets

Everything Else



If you can’t find a suitable category for your item, you can always choose Everything Else, however it is not a very good category to be listed under.

In the next box you can provide a wider description of your item. Here you have more room than just two lines. Describe your item with as much detail as you can. You know, size, colour, condition,.. those sort of things. But, don’t stress yourself too much with this; you can always change it later. Once you have created the best advertising text ever, hit the Browse-button to locate your photo from your computer, USB stick or where ever you think you saved it in Step 1. Yes, I know, … I can never find my images either. Don’t panic though, you have time to locate it; the screen isn’t going anywhere.

You found it? Good! Actually, you can upload two photos if you wish. For instance if you are selling a book, it is a good idea to upload both front and back covers. You can upload even more images later on, but for the sake of this exercise, one is enough.

Tick the Terms of Use-box and click the Submit-button.

Step 4 – Rather Unnecessary Step

The next screen has your details on it and your only option is to click the Continue-button. I really don’t know why this screen exists, but since it does all we can do is click the button.

Step 5 – Publishing

Next you will get a screen asking if you want to publish this listing in your own Facebook profile. This is a good idea. You will get a choice for a Full, Short or a One Line description. I would recommend you’d choose the Short-option. You may tick the Always do this for Marketplace-box if you wish to use this same option every time you list something. So, if you wish to publish this listing on your profile, click the Publish-button, but if you only want it to appear in the Facebook Marketplace, choose the No, Thanks-button.

Step 6 – Promotion

This step is your first chance to advertise your new listing. This is also a good idea. You can Recruit Friends to Promote your Listing in their News Feed. You can add up to 5 of your friends by clicking on their pictures. You can also choose them by writing their names in the Find Friends-box. Once you have chosen your friends who might be interested in promoting your listing, click the Send Request-button; or if you don’t want to bother your friends this time, choose Skip.

Step 7 – Personal Marketing Message

You will be presented a confirmation screen with your details. You can add a personal message to this post by clicking the blue Add Personal Message-hotlink. If you don’t want to add your personal message, just click the Send-button. You also can cancel this message altogether by clicking Cancel.

Step 8 – Done!

Congratulations! You have listed your first item on the Facebook Marketplace. Listings take approximately 30 minutes to be included in the search index.

You will be presented with the screen titled “Manage My Listing: Active”. Here you can review your listing and, if you wish to make any changes click the Edit Details-hotlink in the light green bar. You can also delete your listing as well as promote your listing with a Facebook Ad. I will not get into details how to produce Facebook Ads in this book. That topic, among many other good ones, will be fully covered in my Facebook Advertising Guide.

That’s it, you’ve done it! Good work! Thank you for reading so far.

Additional, good to know stuff:

Editing Your Listing

You can easily edit your listings after you have published them. Just click the Edit Details-hotlink on the screen mentioned in the Manag
e My Listing -page, and you will get pretty much the same screen as when you were writing the listing in the first place. You can change every detail of your listing here as well as upload more images if you wish. It is a good idea to show as many images as you can.

After you have made your changes in this panel click the Submit-button to get your listing updated. You will again be presented with a useless confirmation screen as seen. Just ignore it, and click the Continue-button.

Next, you will be asked if you wish to publish this updated listing on your Facebook profile as in Step 6. You may choose to publish again, or you may just click the No, Thanks-button.

Finally, you will see your updated listing on the “Manage My Listing”- screen.

Managing Your Facebook Marketplace Listings

You can easily manage all of your Facebook Marketplace listings in one convenient location. If you click the My Listings-hotlink in the Marketplace menu, you will see your current listings. This is your place to manage all your listings. You can add more listings, edit them and after you have sold your items you can delete them.

As I mentioned earlier, you can also sell your items for a cause or you can give them away for free (don’t know why, but you can). You can also find something you need for yourself. These functions are not covered in this book, but I’m sure you’ll manage them with the principles covered here.

Ok, I hope you enjoyed this Facebook Marketplace Guide. I wish you luck in selling your stuff through Facebook. I sold my first item, an awesome Jimi Hendrix Wah-Wah guitar pedal in just 3 days.

Best regards,

Kris Olin, MscBa, marketing

This Facebook Marketplace Guide is also available as a fully illustrated PDF-version.

You can download it FREE: www.facebook-advertising-marketing.com