Forum Marketing Resources

Category: Viral Marketing, Social Media

Summary & Overview

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site. It originated as the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system. From a technological standpoint, forums or boards are web applications managing user-generated content.

People participating in an Internet forum may cultivate social bonds and interest groups for a topic may form from the discussions.
Early Internet forums could be described as a web version of a newsgroup or electronic mailing list (many of which were commonly called Usenet); allowing people to post messages and comment on other messages. Later developments emulated the different newsgroups or individual lists, providing more than one forum, dedicated to a particular topic.

Internet forums are prevalent in several developed countries. In terms of countable posts, Japan is far in the lead with over two million posts per day on their largest forum, 2channel. China also has many millions of posts on forums such as Tianya Club. The United States does not have any one large forum, but instead several hundred thousand smaller forums, the largest of which are Gaia Online, IGN and GameFAQs. China, the Netherlands, and France are also home to hundreds of independent forums.

Forums perform a function similar to that of dial-up bulletin board systems and Usenet networks that were common from the late 1970s to the 1990s. Early web-based forums date back as far as 1996. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users. Technology, computer games and/or video games, sports, music, fashion, religion, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of topics. Internet slang and image macros popular across the Internet are abundant and widely used in Internet forums.

Several other web applications, such as weblog software, also incorporate forum features. Wordpress comments at the bottom of a blog post allow for a single-threaded discussion of any given blog post.

Forums are governed by a set of individuals, collectively referred to as staff, made up of administrators and moderators, which are responsible for the forums' conception, technical maintenance, and policies (creation and enforcing). Most forums have a list of rules detailing the wishes, aim and guidelines of the forums creators. There is usually also a FAQ section contain basic information for new members and people not yet familiar with the use and principles of a forum (generally tailored for specific forum software).

Rules on forums usually apply to the entire user body and often have preset exceptions, most commonly designating a section as an exception. For example, in an IT forum any discussion regarding anything but computer programming languages may be against the rules, with the exception of a general chat section.

Setup Time
Less than 1 Hour.

Ongoing Maintenance
Forum marketing is only effective if you’re spending time engaged in meaningful discussions on the forum. Plan to spend 15 minutes every day keeping current on your forums.

Cost
Free.

Speed of Results
Moderate to Long-term.

Basic Use
Forum marketing is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to establish yourself as an online authority. If you can make connections online, people are much more inclined to like and trust you and people tend to BUY from people they like and trust. All you have to do to be effective is participate and add value to conversations that interest you. THAT IS IT! You can start a new thread or just respond to a thread that is currently active. While most forums will require you to register, setting up an account is simple.

When participating in forums make sure you are contributing valuable content and insight. Do not pitch your business in your forum discussions as you account will be frozen and you may even be banned. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the rules for each forum. Most have a FAQ section that’s worth looking over before participating.

Remember, the more valuable content you provide to other forum members the more they will be inclined to work with you!

Basic Action Steps

Update Your Forum Profile
Write Your First Post

Basic Tips & Tricks
• You can create a new thread, or reply to a current thread. Remember that forums are not a place for a blatant sales pitch. This is a huge turn-off and will get your account frozen and may possible get you banned.
• Join in the conversation and provide helpful insight to other forum members! The more you give to other people the more credibility you will earn from other forum members. Remember, your intent is to cultivate relationships and gain the trust of other forum members with the hopes that they will check out your signature and website.
• Be the student! Who knows … you might actually learn something too!

Intermediate Strategies
Register for and participate on additional forums. See the list in the next section.

Intermediate Action Steps
In addition to the Warrior Forum mentioned above, here are some additional RECOMMENDED FORUMS:

CYN Forum- You receive add credits based on activity.
The ads are displayed on the forum. Has not been very active recently.
http://conqueryourniche.com

Better Networker
http://betternetworker.com

Work-At-Home-Moms Forum- As the name implies,
it's primarily for women but men are welcome too.
http://wahm.com/forum/

WhyDoWork Forum- Good traffic, often shows up
on search engines.
http://www.whydowork.com/forums/

Work-At-Home-Forum- Well managed forum with
a crisp, clean format.
http://work-at-home-forum.com

com- Strict rules, e.g., no sig files allowed;

antiquated forum software; sometimes inconsistent
moderation. But a lot of experienced and successful
network marketers hang out here. Note that there
are three forums: General, Companies, and Party
Plan. You can be a little more promotional in the
Companies forum but be sure to read the rules.
http://mlm.com/mlm/user/listthreads?forum=4

Site Reference Forums - Part of the Site Reference site, which has an Alexa rank of 12k (which is very good). Site Reference is an Internet marketing site that features articles, blogs, resources, etc. The Forum does require that you post 20 times before you can have a sig file, which in a way is good because it means they are serious about preventing forum spam.
http://forums.site-reference.com/

Intermediate Tips & Tricks
Join additional forums and participate in those discussions too. Remember, you are not limited to only the internet marketing and home business forums, join forums that represent your particular hobbies and interests.

One word of caution when it comes to forums: you can find forums that discuss just about anything, including forums that are filled with disgruntled network marketers and haters of certain organizations. Resist the urge to engage or defend in these negative forums. If you do you run the risk of drawing attention to the negativity as the increased traffic will push those threads up in the search engines. Its also just a downer to read posts by people who enjoy complaining about their woes in life and looking for someone else to blame. With that said, have fun with the forums!

Additional Tips:

When you register for the forum, use your real name as

your Username. For example, instead of registering as
“supernetworker935” set up your Username as “John_Doe.”
Some forums allow a space between words. If not, use an
underscore.

You want people to get to know you and begin to recognize
your name.

Read the forum rules! As a moderator of a couple of

forums, I'm still surprised how many new members (and a few
old ones!) don't read the rules.

You look stupid when you break the rules. Don't do it.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. If you try to sound

like an expert all the time you'll seem fake… because you

No one knows everything and you can learn as much as you
would in a $200 course by asking a few good questions.

When you know an answer to a question, post it. It builds

your credibility, gives your sig file more exposure, builds
your karma, and helps you to make more friends or contacts.

Sig what? A sig file is geek-speak for “signature”- a

few lines of text at the bottom of your post in which you
can usually put a link or two along with some “attract the
click” copy.

You usually set up your sig file in your Profile. Make sure
you know what the forums rules are about signatures. Look at
experienced members' sig files.

Write your signature as if it were a PPC (Pay Per Click)

or classified ad with a strong headline, persuasive copy,
including a “call to action,” and a link to one of your web
sites.

Example of an Ineffective Signature:

Get this free report that will help you work full time from
home:workfromhomefreereport.com

Flaws: No headline; anemic prose; no “call to action”
(that is a fake URL, by the way)

Example of an Effective Signature:

M L M - W A R N I N G!
Breakthrough New REPORT Reveals
The Cold, Hard Truth About M L M …
Click Here to Access Your Free Copy

Strengths: Strong headline; emphasizes that
the report is free; compelling copy; call to
action; tracking link to measure
effectiveness.

Disclaimer: Michael Wyrosdick is committed to providing you with the highest quality tools and resources to support your business. You should, however, conduct your own due diligence before purchasing any products or outsourcing any projects as Michael Wyrosdick cannot guarantee the services or products as provided by third party vendors.

Related Marketing Strategies
• Blogging

Questions, Comments, Feedback & Suggestions
For questions about Forum Marketing, please send an email to resources@michaelwyrosdick.com with “Forum Marketing” in your subject line.