FreeLunchRoom - The #1 Freebie Trading Forum on the Internet! » Getting Down to Business » Member Tutorials

[md-phillips3]

This is worth a bump back to the top. Lots of good information and advice here for anyone who is new to trading.

[monksmom]

Yeppers, some things just don't change...and for those who've decided to put up a trade thread or are just back after a long vacation elsewhere....well, the rules is still the rules so enjoy, have fun and by all means, keep it real, eh? :)

Originally Posted by monksmom

See if this helps...especially new traders...not a tutorial but a set of guidelines...print them, stick them up on your computer so they'll be readily available.

Simplified Rules for Traders

1. NO INITIAL CONTACT!
Three words but for some reason, not everyone is able to either read them...or comprehend their meaning, so let's clarify...

If you have NOT been contacted by someone without a trade thread FIRST, you may NOT:

A) Send them a friend request (UNLESS they have posted in the "more friends" thread) - NO!

B) Add a perky lil note to their PUBLIC profile page (VM/vistor messages). - NO!

C) Send them a pm (private message). - NO!

D) Send them an instant message of any kind, whether yahoo, hotmail, aim, or ANY other type/kind/name of messenger service! - NO!

E) Send them an upstairs message when in chat room, meaning talk to them OUTSIDE of the chat room public viewed space. - NO!

F) Suggest in any way, shape or form or even intimate a trade - first. - NO!

G) Set up trades in the trade manager before there has been a request for trades or it has been approved or expected by the referral. - NO!

H) Suggest or even imply any intimidation, guilt, coercion, or any method whatsoever to attempt to make ANYONE feel they MUST work with you! - NO!! NO!! NO!!

This is pretty detailed yet am willing to bet someone somewhere will come up with another scenario but the point remains AT ALL TIMES....

IF YOU HAVE NOT FIRST BEEN CONTACTED, DO NOT CONTACT THEM!!!

lol...is that easy or what!

There is a 3 strike policy on spam.

1i) Exception to this rule is wishing folks a Happy Birthday.
Per admin, 11/21, wishing folks not on your friend's list a Happy Birthday is ok, within reason.

Please note the exceptions to the exception...
If the user reports it, it becomes spam and is admonished as such.
If folks do it excessively, it will become a problem and notice taken.
If there is any trade reference or proof that trades were pursued by the poster of the Happy Birthday, well, you got it...that be a no-no:)
And it's got to be their birthday to offer this sentiment.

So we have NO FIRST CONTACT by traders with the exception of wishing folks a Happy Birthday - and ONLY Happy Birthday, exceptions apply.

2. Please note that as of 12/11/08, a new bumping rule is in effect. You now have three (3) trade thread bumps per 24 hour period of time. This means ANY 24 hour period or cycle, to coin Admin:)

There are no longer "friendly" bumps of any kind, however, feel free to now converse within your trade thread if you see fit and by all means, stop by a friend's thread and say "hi" anytime...However, it will no longer count as a bump, meaning it will no longer bring the thread to the top.

Where do you bump from now?



Now, that's handy - it TELLS you how many bumps you have left so there's never a question, never an issue and now one less thing for folks to report! How kewl is that?

Remember the "official" bump only takes the last reply on your thread to the top of the trade area.

You will still need to edit those bumps should you wish it to say something other than what the last post on your thread said or keep your page looking fresh with current date/time stamps or reply to your trade thread, which also brings the post back into live feed view. Have fun with this - post replies to your trade thread or on a friend's without concern about bumping rules:)

2b. ***Traders and Trade Threads!

1. You may NOT bump your thread the same day you create it.

2. You MUST list your sites - NOT your referral links, just your sites AND what you are paying.
(This is how to verify/validate trades in trade manager AND with your referrals!)

3. Do NOT post your referral links in your thread!

4. Do NOT post any links that may be considered in any way to be referral links.

5. As of 12/9/08, you will no longer be allowed to "accidentally" post more than one thread. FYI only.

6. You may have a link in your trade thread for folks to contact you, whether it be PM me link, Reply to this Thread, or both. Both are not required if the Reply to this Thread is used.

3. You may not SPAM or attempt to SCAM ANYONE on the forum. Every one of you know this one already & if you have any questions on it at all, go read marbleeye's great tutorial - Identifying the Scam. A 3 strike policy applies - 3 strikes and you are permanently banned.

Many have already been scammed or even spammed. Yet, if it's happened to you and you've NOT contacted a moderator over it, well...blame yourself when it happens to someone else. My apologies if that sounds harsh and I do totally understand there is a certain level of spam we tolerate or blow off. In that, think to yourself...would someone else be able to "handle" this as I am? If the answer is "no"...well....think about those who will follow you...that's all...

4. You may NOT give your trade links to friends so they can have trades worked in your behalf. That should be common sense. Your "friends" can send those folks looking for those trades to YOU as it is YOUR site.

5. You MUST quote a new member when posting in the Welcome thread. A rule of thumb for what is an "old" post is 6-8 hours since they have posted and/or a use of BEST judgment. NOT definitive, just a go-by when you ask yourself if you should go back through a day or time period.

New--> 5a. Effective 12/14, you MUST multi-quote new folks entering when appropriate. Appropriate means simply that if there are 2 or more new folks you are planning on quoting, you MUST do all of them in one post, not 2 or more individual posts. You should NOT be seen in the welcome with several posts in a row and remember, there is a time indicator on each post so it can easily be tracked.

To Multi-quote:
1. Find first post you wish to include in your reply.
2. Click the "+" sign, bottom right of that post.
3. Continue this process until you have all the posts you wish to reply to.
4. Click the "Quote" to the left of the now "-" sign on that last post.
5. This brings up all you have quoted at one time.
6. Go into Advanced mode to add individual replies or even remove quotes if you are also capturing your prior post. NEVER remove quotes from new users you are responding to.
7. Take just a minute to review before you hit submit by previewing the reply.
8. If you SEE those you quoted and it says "Quote", then you've done good and can go ahead and post it safely.
9. If you do NOT see those you have included by using that "+" sign, then hit your Back button and try again:)
10. If you require further instruction, ASK or please click here.

Also, a reminder that self-promotion in the welcome thread is a ban offense. Please feel free to verify that fact on the Introductions & Welcomes sub-forum - Introductions & Welcomes - Free Lunch Room

6. You may NOT post or reply to anything in the Lunch Theft Forum if you are not directly involved with the alleged offender or the situation. Everyone appreciates trying to help out friends or empathize with folks who have hit a snag, however...the rule remains - you canNOT respond if not part of the problem. You will receive a ban.

7. No SELF-PROMOTION. You may NOT have any type of real or even implied self-promotion outside of your trade thread, your signature block and whatever you place in Location. That would also mean not using "pm me" anywhere else.

That includes:
NOT in status line
NOT in welcome post responses
NOT in replies for help around the forum
NOT in visitor messages
NOT in pms where it is not a communication between actively seeking referral and trader
NOT in emails, ims or any other communication method where it would be considered initial contact.

If in doubt, ASK a mod BEFORE you do it!

8. Check here for anything else. This is the link for the entire set of rules here on FLR to include a variety of other concerns so make sure you've read it - well! Intolerance is growing...rapidly...and there's been enough warnings...haven't there? No worries, no need to be confused...those that have not yet been updated to reflect current rules shown here will be dealt with soon by admin and glad.

9. No use of any scripting, period.

Folks...all of you...all of us...have got to realize that even though there is tons of competition, you do NOT have to stoop low in order to survive...and thrive here!

Realistic expectations are always going to be essential...Keeping a positive, progressive attitude is mandatory...And...Patience can NOT be forgotten, even if'n we wanna...integral part of this forum, from our admins all the way down to the newest member...patience DOES pay!

Above all else, find reasons to smile...put on your best face, be real...don't mimic, don't copy, be yourself and in that, the best YOU you can be! THAT's what's going to move you forward..

Simply...be PREPared to do and be your best...

Patient
Realistic Expectations
Positive attitude...PREPared:)

Good luck to everyone and by all means, safe trading=happy greening!

[dacodemasta]

great post!! made me think more about everything i do :D

[monksmom]

Good for you!!

It's kinda funny...we really have very few rules; almost all of them are plain, old common sense and involve paying attention just a bit....lol...yet folks have the darndest time with them down the road and I sincerely believe much of that is due to...NOT reviewing them and being comfy with them when they start:)

As I mentioned in another response to you, no matter how much time and effort we put into our threads and signatures and such, it means absolutely nothing except for waste if you aren't adhering to such simple rules:) Think twice, post once and you'll do well! :)

[Green]

Great post monksmom saved it to a word doc. :-p Didn't know you can't have people pm you offers anymore..

[monksmom]

Originally Posted by Green

Great post monksmom saved it to a word doc. :-p Didn't know you can't have people pm you offers anymore..

Anymore? lol...been here 2 years next month and we've never been able to do it during that time:)

First contact is a really, really easy concept. IF you are sending folks pm's offering trades and they have NOT contacted you FIRST, then right, it's a no-no.

If you've replied to their trade thread or added a visitor message or even pm'd them first yourself, asking for trades, and they are traders, with trade threads, then that IS first contact by you and they can respond all they like - again, as long as you, the referral, ASK for trades...first:)

[gamegreen]

Originally Posted by monksmom

Anymore? lol...been here 2 years next month and we've never been able to do it during that time:)

First contact is a really, really easy concept. IF you are sending folks pm's offering trades and they have NOT contacted you FIRST, then right, it's a no-no.

If you've replied to their trade thread or added a visitor message or even pm'd them first yourself, asking for trades, and they are traders, with trade threads, then that IS first contact by you and they can respond all they like - again, as long as you, the referral, ASK for trades...first:)

Yeah, it's pretty simple once you 'get it', but I think it can actually be confusing to people before that point as it's not the easiest rule to state accurately in my opinion, and I've seen where people often get it wrong. I remember having to post a thread to clarify when I was new as I had seen so many different variations and interpretations of the rule such as "can't make first contact unless you're new" and such which is not quite the case, and also begs the question of when someone is no longer new.

The way I like to state it is like this: you may not contact someone first unless they have requested that contact, whether in their signature, trade thread etc. The thing to remember is that the rule is designed to prevent people from sending unsolicited trade requests.

For any of us with trade threads or looking to pay referrals, we are all actively soliciting people to contact us by asking for it directly and publicly on the forum. Newbies coming in looking to BE a referral themselves have not requested that contact and so it's a no-no to initiate first contact with someone like that, but really how new someone is is not the issue, it's whether they have posted on the forum asking people to contact them via trade thread or signature.

Gladiator made it really simple for me once, he said: ask yourself "was this contact asked for?" if yes then go for it, if not then don't.

The main thing we want to avoid is having 100 traders PM every new person trying to get a trade.

[monksmom]

LOL...and he's come out of the woodwork, folks!!

Great to see you, Marc!! Stick around for a while...for a change! :)

oops...got excited..on topic, yeppers, Glad's always been able to simplify anything and still does:)