Lessons in Forum Marketing

You're excited...and you have finally completed your website and you need to start marketing!

Where do you promote it and how do you promote it?

There are lots of free marketing techniques out there for the taking. But I wanted to focus on "Forum Marketing."

Forum marketing is an effective promotion tool that is getting more and more popular. It is also a free promotion tool. There are message forums everywhere. The various types of message forums range from work at home, home business, affiliate programs, webmasters, articles, and many more.

With the vast array of message forums out there, which ones do you market your website on?

Well, this will depend on what your website is focused on. Is it focused on working at home? Is it focused on home business? You will need to base your promotion around what your website is all about. This way, you will reach your target audience.

Let's say...your website is focused on "work at home." You will want to join various forums about working at home.

So...now, you've joined some forums that are related to your website, what is the next step?

Here is a simple step-by-step forum marketing plan:

1) The very first thing you will need to do is find the "Introduction" folder. Make your first post, introducing yourself to the community and share a few things about yourself. Important...NO ADS in this post! If you post an ad here, it will most likely get deleted, and very quickly.

2) Browse the forum and get aquainted with the community. Take this time to carefully read through a few topics and get a feel for what the forum is focused on and what it has to offer.

3) IMPORTANT!--Check out the Forum Posting Rules. On most forums, this is usually found fairly close to the "Introduction" folder. Make for sure you fully understand the forum rules and follow them carefully.

4) Post in a few threads that you are interested in or share some friendly advice. Try and make your posts consist of as much good quality as you can...not just, "I agree" or "nice post" or "thank you." Forum members usually just scroll on down through these type of short and sweet messages and don't even bother to look and find out what YOU have to offer the community. These type of postings are a complete waste of time on your part. Remember...you want to leave a good impression on the community so that the members will want to know more about you and your business.

5) Carefully read through the forum signature rules...there is usually a character limit. Then, create your signature. A signature is a block of text that displays your name (if you care to share that information), and links to your website or affiliate programs. Always include your signature in all future posts. If you are unsure of how to create your signature, click on the FAQ link, (usually found at the top of the forum).

6) Post your ads ONLY in the advertising section. If you post your ads elsewhere, you run the risk of losing your forum account. IMPORTANT, always read the rules of this section!

7) Get to know the other forum members...have fun and make new friends. Share your work at home experiences with them and any knowledgeable advice and tips. Be friendly. Ask questions on areas you need knowledge about.

The idea here is to establish a good reputation for yourself and gain trust and loyalty from the community. Try and make a good impression instead of spamming. You will quickly discover that you will bring in far more traffic to your business or website by doing this rather than spamming ads in the advertising section of the forum and NOT participating in good quality work at home conversations.

Something that most forum spammers are not aware of...most members do not even read the advertising section anyway. Most of them are there for searching for knowledgeable marketing techniques and related business resources. So, it is much more beneficial for YOU, as a trusted-loyal forum member, if you utilize the message forum for what it is really intended for...NOT for spamming your ads and then leaving.

The community will get to know you and grow curious about what your signature links have to offer. The end result...they will be much more inclined to sign up for a business opportunity that you represent if they grow to trust you by conversing with you daily in a friendly forum atmosphere. Now, isn't this what message forums are all about? This is called "Proper Forum Networking."

If done properly, you will soon discover a significant amount of website traffic, and hopefully some business sales to boot. Try it, you will love the results and also gain a world of knowledge.