subject: Use Website Forums to Promote Your Online Business Opportunity [print this page] Use Website Forums to Promote Your Online Business Opportunity
Many active websites today utilize a social interaction system known as forums. It allows the visitors and or members of the site to interact with other members and discuss a variety of topics. These topics will range from the weather to what's happening in their lives to conversations about the website's main focus.
Members start a line of discussion called a thread that you can read and reply to. As you make a reply, your comment will go next in line at the bottom of the list of replies so that others may read it. If you want to respond to a particular part of the post you can quote it for inclusion in your reply, or you can just supply a answer to the threads main topic. As with most items discussed in this article, there is a certain amount of variance from one forum to the next.
Read the Terms and Conditions
Not all forums are created equally. They have rules set up by the website owner or in some cases those who serve as moderators of the forum. If you abide by them, you are allowed to remain a part of the community. If not then you may find yourself blacklisted and possibly have your account suspended or deleted.
Some things to be aware of in terms and conditions are, do they allow you to have a signature (see below)? Do they allow a certain amount of self promotion? Most sites will allow some, but they typically are careful on how this is handled. Often times you can only use links in certain areas of the forum. Sometimes you have to reach a certain level before some privileges are granted. Whatever the case, find out what these terms and conditions are and then work within them.
Signature
For those new to forums, a signature is a body of text or in some cases images that is automatically attached to the end of your posts in a forum. Again, some sites allow these and some don't. Others require you to be a regular poster before you can have one. There is also a variety in the types of signatures allowed depending on the website. Some allow full html, others won't allow images, and many limit your signature to a specified amount of lines.
In any case, the signature is typically where you are allowed to put your links to your website, product pages or whatever else you want to say about what it is that you are passionate about. Be creative and grab the attention of your post readers so that they will follow you through your links to where you are trying to lead them.
Advertise Your Business
This one's a bit tricky. Many sites just won't allow you to blatantly advertise your particular business without paying them for it (see below). But some, like the WAHM forum, allow members to post to a special section just for advertising your business. There are still restrictions that they may have, such as no income claims or only posting one thread per page, but it is far better than what many sites will have available.
Classifieds
Just like it sounds, classifieds are areas of the forum where you can post any type of ad that meets the guidelines set out by the site. Sometimes these are free, but more often then not there will be a cost associated with them. You have to decide what kind of traffic will you be able to generate vs. the cost of the ad, and will that be worth it to you. One good indicator is to look at the existing ads. What are the amount of views, usually in the far right column, that each ad or thread is receiving? This might give you some indication as to what you could expect, not in click thrus, but at least in views of your ad.
PM
PM or Personal Message is a way to directly contact a particular member of the forum. Sometimes you may want to contact site admin or a moderator with a forum related question, or perhaps you want to discuss something you read from a particular poster without having it seen by the community as a whole. Be careful here. Most sites frown on using PM's to approach or spam members with your pitch. Develop a relationship with the members, offer something useful to them, and then perhaps you can discuss your business. If you get labeled as a PM spammer, you're in for a short ride on that forum.
Display Ads
Again as with classifieds, display ads in the form of text, banners, or video can be purchased from many sites. Look at the placement on the site, ask admin what kind of traffic they generate, and then of course compare that to the cost to see if this is a viable option for your site or business promotion.
How Will This Help
Good question. In the short term it is quite likely that you will see some activity directly from your signature links or your posts. People are inquisitive, so if you have a well written bit of verse they may click through to learn more. In the longer view, the links you have on these forums will keep working for you. You may receive hits from forum posts made months ago. Plus all those links on all those related websites help in your search engine page ranking and that translates to more traffic!
Website forums have been and will continue to be an excellent way to promote your online business. As with any vehicle to promoting your business, you need to exercise caution in its use and understand the ground rules. Abiding by these will allow you to have a long and fruitful relationship with the website in question and the individual forum members with whom you will be interacting.
