Using Forums For Marketing

Forum marketing sometimes comes across has a kind of free, organic, viral marketing technique. Because so many people go into forums with the only intention of marketing products or services, their actions and attitude causes the exact opposite effect to happen.

Forums aren’t marketplaces but when used as such, the "marketers" actions become offensive and will only inspire the wrath of fellow members, not to mention moderators who can ban them with the click of a mouse.

In order to be effective, Forum "marketing" carries a certain level of commitment, responsibility and respect.

The first thing to keep in mind, is that one should have a personal interest in the main topic of the forum. Not only does that mean visiting it regularly, but it also means developing a good relationship with both members and moderators, as well as taking an active interest in helping others. Of course, it also means playing by the rules that exist. By doing this, one can develop a reputation and, since it is human nature to work with a trusted colleague, business will naturally develop from your "good posts".

A simple thing i like to do after someone leaves a nice reply to one of my posts, it's visiting their site. Even if the general topic or the products being offered are not something I'm usually interested in, good chances are I'll find something interesting or I'll learn something... and I'll leave a comment, subscribe to the feed or give a bit of AdSense love.

This type of "marketing" has already suffered some abuse and because of this, many forums have recently developed stringent rules designed to protect their members from abusive or overly-aggressive marketing tactics.

Members must respect that the main purpose of a forum is to be a platform to exchange ideas on a given topic. It is not there to advertise products and services. By focusing on the topic, posting questions and answers, a member’s reputation will grow and this will create the potential for sales naturally.

Forums For All

Ken Evoy's 5 Pillar Affiliate Forum
Sign up to the FREE 5 Pillar Affiliate Program and not only will you be part of what is considered The Best Affiliate Program by some of the best Super Affiliates in the world but you will have access to the Members Only Forum, which is like nothing you've seen on the net before.

http://www.small-business-forum.com/index.php
Lynn Terry's http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/forum/index.php
http://www.google.com/Top/News/Chats_and_Forums/
http://www.wahm.com/forum
http://www.whydowork.com/forums/
http://www.smallbusinessbrief.com/forum/
http://boardreader.com/
http://lists.topica.com/
http://directory.big-boards.com/
http://www.phpbbnow.com/directory.php
http://www.worldforumdirectory.com/
http://www.forumzilla.com/
http://www.forumshowcase.com/
http://www.forumdirectory.net/
http://www.forumsindex.net/
http://www.forumdirectory.biz/