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Advertising on Forums

Forum posting for marketing purposes is a GOOD idea if you do it right. When you are inconsiderate and rude though, it is a BAD idea.

Forums, email groups, Blogs, and other online venues can be a very powerful marketing tactic. And because it can be so powerful, some people misuse it. Sometimes they misuse it out of a lack of understanding, and sometimes it is pure rudeness.

Here are the rules:

• Always make sure you understand the rules for that forum. All groups and forums have rules about posting, whether you can post ads, whether you can even use a signature line. As a general rule, a sig line is acceptable almost anywhere, as long as it is not huge and pushy. There are a few exceptions to this though, so read the rules!
• Don't post just to advertise. Participate in a meaningful way. Just give good advice, enjoy the conversation, and let people know who you really are. They are more likely to click your sig link if they feel they know you, and if they have a reason to trust you.
• Build relationships. This is always secondary to marketing. The best business relationships form from associations that develop naturally, not where one person feels like business is all the other person cares about.
• Offer help regardless of financial motives. This is the best way to build solid relationships of trust, and even if it does not get you a paying interaction with that person, it will help you build a good reputation, and it will help you get referrals that are worth their weight in gold.
• Make sure your advice is accurate. That will help you build credibility and establish you as having a firm grasp of your subject. if you are not sure, then shut up.
• Don't bother with forums which exist strictly for the purpose of advertising. Everybody is sending, nobody is reading, and they'll waste your time (see Safelists for more info).

Forum marketing IS powerful. But the reason it is powerful is because it develops relationships. There is no substitute for time and caring. If you are there just to advertise, the whole purpose is subverted. You end up preventing the very thing you are there to do!

Participate in forums where people are likely to need what you know. If you are a web designer, and you participate in a forum for web designers, then you'll not make any headway with marketing. You'll maybe be able to better yourself as a professional, but you'll not get any clients there. On the other hand, if you participate in a forum for people who are building their own websites, or learning how to do that, and you give solid counsel, then those that get overwhelmed are more likely to ask you about needed services, but only if you are helpful and they feel they can trust you. Plus, if you produce info sites on how to do it, then people from the forum are likely to be directly interested in seeking out the information you produce.

So number one on forums - Be a real person. Be kind and helpful in your interactions with others. The marketing power develops as a result of that.