a company that works with sites like BlackPlanet.com and Quepasa.com to help them profit from virtual goods, there are three basic reasons that people buy these products. 1. To gain an advantage . Users purchase virtual goods to compete with friends or to get ahead of other players and opponents, says Balfour. The role-playing game World of Warcraft, for example, allows users to purchase different levels of battle armor and weapons for their characters. This also applies to the online dating space, Balfour says. "It's the typical scenario of a bunch of guys finding ways to stand out of the crowd and get the hot girl," he says. 2. To communicate . All of these social products are simply about communication with other users, Balfour says. "There's a huge desire to visually communicate with people the same way we do in the real world," he says of the gifts that users can send one another on Facebook, for example. 3. To be unique . Many people buy virtual goods in the online space for the same reason they do in the physical world -- to differentiate themselves from other people, much like shopping for clothes at the mall or getting a new hairstyle. "There's a really big need for people to want to express themselves and make their avatars or social networking page unique," Balfour says. How to Create a Virtual Goods Market: The Do's and Don'ts of Setting Up Your Market Once you've figured out how to shape your