It's hard to believe that a few short years ago, nobody had heard of terms like eBay or MySpace. Now they are household words that are often used in the same sentence. In a previous column, I introduced several eBay sellers who are using MySpace to promote their eBay Stores and auctions to a wider audience (http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y206/m08/abu0172/s03). In today's column I invite you to get on the bandwagon by answering questions such as: "How do I get started? How long does it take? What do I need?"

It's no accident that MySpace is so popular. Here are two of the biggest selling points:

• There is no charge to set up a space, join groups, make "friends," and exchange messages with other members through MySpace's messaging system.
• It doesn't take more than a few minutes to create a basic profile.

Like many sites, including eBay itself, the process of creating content is mostly a matter of filling out a series of online forms. The key word here is mostly. If you want to go beyond the most basic of Web pages, you need to either know a little HTML or have access to a Web editing program such as Mozilla Composer, Microsoft FrontPage, or Adobe Dreamweaver. If you are creating a MySpace profile and blog to promote your eBay business, you should take some care with your presentation. But luckily even a little preparation work will result in a professional appearance.

As a precautionary measure, I suggest that you begin by reading the Wikipedia article on MySpace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace). You'll learn by the mistakes of others whose content slows servers down and makes their Web pages more difficult to read. Even worse, you can hiss and boo at accounts of MySpace content "gone bad" by being inappropriate in one way or another.

Once you have a basic knowledge of MySpace under your belt, spend a few minutes getting some preliminary content ready for your site. Most people create their MySpace sites "on the fly" in a matter of minutes, following an impulse to promote themselves or connect with others. But remember that you're going on MySpace to develop content for your business. So take a little extra time to follow a few easy steps:

1. Pull together some photos you want to use. The first thing you are asked to do when you start creating your space, in fact, is to upload photos - this seemed odd to me, and I skipped this step intending to come back to it later. Unfortunately, I am now unable to display my photo on my MySpace home page. My photo appears on my blog, but I haven't yet figured out how to move it onto my profile. (It's one of several aspects of MySpace's web creation system that I found to be less than intuitive.) So have your photo ready when you begin, as well as your store logo if you want to use it as well.
2. Take some time to write text that describes your business. Include qualifications that set you apart from your competition, such as how long you've been doing this; how many transactions you have completed; how long you've been on eBay; your feedback rating; and any honors, awards, or memberships that are relevant.
3. Choose words and a writing style that isn't overtly commercial or a trite advertisement, but rather, lets people know you are a reputable businessperson who is worthy of their trust. You'll need to elaborate on your message when you create your blog.
4. Create a user account with a password, if you don't have one ready. When you're done, you immediately start creating your profile. (If you don't come up with the perfect text the first time, remember that you can edit it later on.)
5. When you're done with your profile, click Manage Blog and begin to create your blog. This is where having a Web editor handy or knowing some HTML will serve you well. I found the process of formatting text to be cumbersome when I tried to use MySpace's form. Generate the page the way you want in a Web editor, copy the HTML, and paste it into the form provided.
6. At the end of your blog entry, you may want to add your eBay Store logo or your Web site logo if you have one. It's a subtle way to let people know that this is a business-related space on MySpace.

The next thing is to invite "Friends." If you don't have any friends to begin with, who can you invite? At this point, networking on MySpace pretty much resembles the same kind of process that you're familiar with on eBay: join some groups that are relevant to you and your business. You participate in discussions; you post helpful messages; you answer questions; you make yourself a useful resource, in other words.

The last step in the process is perhaps the hardest: caring for and maintaining your profile and your blog. You have to keep returning to your site to make new blog entries. You should also spruce up your pages to keep them fresh and attractive.

There are some potential downsides to MySpace: Recent service outages have knocked millions of blogs offline; MySpace gives you new chances to accumulate spam email; you need to be careful with your personal information lest you have your privacy invaded.

On the whole, the ease with which blogs can be created and the chance to reach a potential audience of millions outweigh the pitfalls.