Excellent Pointers for Using
Online Forums and Forum Boards for Promotion. Each forum or message
board will be different. They'll have different
groups of people and posters, different sets of forum rules,
and different ways of interacting with the other
members of the community. Here are a few tips
to help you get the most of forum boards...
Read the Rules of the Forum
Know them. Respect them. The host
or moderator of the board has the discretion
to remove your posts or ban you entirely.
Creep
When you find a group that interests
you, hang around for a while. Read other people's
posts. See how they interact with one another.
Get a feel for what type of behavior or messages
are appropriate for that particular board. You
may find that you dislike the people who visit
the forum - or the way they interact with each
other. So be it. Find another one where you'll
feel more comfortable.
Contribute
Share information, advice, and
your experiences. Try your best to be helpful
whenever you can. By the way ... when you post
information, focus on providing information
- not a self-promotional message, unless someone
asks you directly about your product or service.
Post a Link
If the forum permits leave your
link, then do it. Come up a catchy headline
that will help to persuade people to click through
to your site. Make sure you leave a tracking
URL! This URL will let you know how many people
are visiting your site from your message board
efforts ... and if you choose, you can even
set up a number of tracking URLs to show you
which one of your posts is drawing the most
interest.
By the way, I know that there
are forums that do not allow links. Ever. Everyone
has an opinion on whether or not these forums
are worth your time. Personally, I may occasionally
drop in and scan the postings for a useful tidbit
or two of information ... but I won't post.
Responding to a post can take an awful lot of
time, and if I'm not permitted to network/make
contacts, then that time - from a business point
of view - has been wasted.
No "cross-posting"
"Cross-posting" refers
to posting the same message on several different
boards. Many people visit a number of forums
regularly, and to see the same message on every
single one of them - well, it's annoying. There
aren't any hard and fast rules as to how many
boards is "acceptable" for you to
post the same questions or comment ... from
my own experiences, it seems like most people
don't mind seeing the occasional cross-posted
message on a couple of different boards.
Don't Initiate Personal Attacks
Sure, you can disagree with someone
... but disagree - respectfully! - with his
or her ideas, opinions, or comments. Don't attack
the person! It's counter-productive and doesn't
do any good. You represent your business. Make
a good impression!
Stick around
Don't enter a forum with the intention
of posting your link and then disappearing.
It's bad manners! Besides, it's also not very
effective. To build credibility, respect, and
trust, you need to become a "regular"
contributing member of a forum.
Be Honest
Some people have tried some really
stupid tricks (sorry, but that's what they are)
in an attempt to drum up business through message
boards. It doesn't work! Don't:
Don’t Spam Message Boards
There are submission services
available that claim to submit your ad to "ad-friendly"
message boards. Stay away! I've seen some pretty
disastrous results from these services (as a
third- party; I've never tried it myself). Many
of the boards they submit to are not ad-friendly.
Avoid Advertising Boards
Don't waste your time with boards
that indicate that clear advertising is permitted.
People visit these groups to post ads, not to
read them.
Starting Your Own Forum Group
Before you run off and start your
own forum group, ask yourself if you're willing
to devote the time and effort needed to promote
it. This includes:
