How to Market on Forums and Message Boards Without Upsetting Anyone

Believe it or not, you can market on forums and message boards without pissing anyone off. In fact, not only can you market this way, you SHOULD market this way, and I'll tell you why later in this article. But for now, I'd like to point out that the reason I'm writing this article is because someone on an affiliate forum that I frequent got kicked out of an affiliate program for spamming a message board community. He'd posted his opinion of the affiliate product in the "personal opinions" section of the board, and the moderator of the community reported him to the merchant, who then kicked him out of the affiliate program.

There's a big difference between expressing your opinion and marketing a product. Often the difference can be discerned as easily as discerning the tracking code in an affiliate URL for a product. I moderate at several forums online, and I despise dealing with spammers who think it's okay to blatantly market to my readers without contributing anything of value to my community. So here are my rules for marketing on forums without pissing anyone off.

1- Participate in a forum that allows links to your website in your signature. If the discussion board doesn't allow links in your signature, go find one that does.

2- PARTICIPATE in the forum. Ask pertinent questions. Make pithy observations. Answer others' questions if you know the correct answers. Try to post something daily, maybe more often. Just be sure that you're not just participating to get your link in front of people; participate in the forum in order to add value to the members' experiences there. The rewards in terms of higher click-through's and conversions are well worth it.

3- Include a link to your website in your signature file in a normal sized font.

That's it. That's all there is to it. How does this help your marketing? Well, you should be participating in forums at least partially related or of interest to the people who hang out in a forum. So some of them will click on your signature link just out of interest. And, if you post intelligently and often, you will gradually become recognized as an expert in that area. And that will make you more attractive. You'll begin to get link exchange requests, links, and requests for help from indviduals on the forums. This is when you know your strategy is working.

Marketing on forums and message boards isn't for the faint of heart, or for the lazy spammer. But if you're willing to make appropriate effort, you'll get appropriate returns.

The author is a full time affiliate webmaster who manages and promotes several sites in several industries. You can read more about his exploits at his Affiliate Marketing Programs Blog and see an example of one of his sites at Major Millions Jackpot

---

Search for Business Partners Effortlessly

With the internet revolution ushering in new modes of communication everyday, building contacts is no longer an arduous, time consuming job. In fact, if you are looking... Read More

Milton Keynes - A City For The Future?

The two main features of Milton Keynes which distinguish it from older towns are:1)The town was built with motor vehicles in mind and so has a structured... Read More

Chat Forums and Blogs: The Unofficial Internet Posting Rules

Have you been hanging around in internet forums and/or making blog comments lately? Public posting is growing ever-popular. One thing I've noticed, is that if you use... Read More

How to Market on Forums and Message Boards Without Upsetting Anyone

Believe it or not, you can market on forums and message boards without pissing anyone off. In fact, not only can you market this way, you SHOULD... Read More

Dont Over Accesorize Your Forums; Give it Community Content

Have you been to those forums where when it opens up you are blasted off your seat by the stunning colors? Sure you have. We all have.... Read More

Intro to Health Forums

Health forums are great for gathering information, resources, advice, tips and tricks, business names/information, product reviews, expert advice and much more. Many forums have experts on health... Read More

Forum - A Free Way to Get Traffic

Forum is a gathering of people normally have a common interest on certain topic like investing, health etc. People in forum can share ideas, ask questions, socialize... Read More

Some Quick Tips to Easily Improve the Success of Your Forum!

It is difficult to define a 'successful forum'. However, all forums deal with information and so the amount of information that is transferred across a forum is... Read More

Marketing Via Messageboards & E-mail Discussion Lists - An Alternative View

One of the most suggested means of getting traffic to a site in the early stages is to get involved in messageboard and e-mail discussions on your... Read More

11 Ways To Increase Forums Activities

Getting people to post in your forum is probably the hardest thing to do. First, not all of your readers will post messages. In fact, only a... Read More

Why You Should Use (Not Abuse) Forums to Increase Your Traffic

There are dozens of reasons why you should look up the forums that are related to your market and post to them often. Here are 3 to... Read More

6 Forum Management Essentials

If you are tasked with managing a forum, congratulations to you. If you find yourself weighed down by mundane management tasks, you are not alone. Let's examine... Read More

Using Online Marketing Forums to Jumpstart Your Home Business

One of the most wonderful things that I have discovered about the network-marketing world during the past few months are online forums. These forums offer so much... Read More

5 Proven Techniques to Build a Profitable Web Forum

You may have heard that having a web community is a great way to increase sales, customer loyalty and word of mouth for your web business. In... Read More

Reward Your Forum Moderators

If you are a forum administrator and you have moderators on your site who are doing a stellar job, consider rewarding them for their assistance. No, I... Read More

Make Money From Forums

If you have a website about a topic you enjoy, you can make money from discussion forums. Talk, post links to your site, get traffic. Traffic means... Read More

Seven Must Follow Rules While Participating In Message Boards

Participating in message boards (forums) discussions is a great way of self promotion. It costs you nothing. Not even a penny. All you have to do is... Read More

Whats The Deal With Discussion Lists For Writers? (Part One)

Are they really free? Are they actually helpful? Why do writers subscribe to these lists? Why do people start lists for writers? While there's no definite answers... Read More

5 Reasons Why Participating in Forums can Benefit Your Business

Did you know that by simply participating in various forums and posting your various views and ideas, can potentially bring new growth and life to your online... Read More

Forum Traffic - How to Get More Members on Your Forum

Getting more traffic on your forum can be hard. But don't get discouraged yet! Here are some ways that you can increase traffic, or better yet, keep... Read More

Whats The Deal With Discussion Lists for Writers? (Part Two)

What Are the Advantages and/or Drawbacks of Subscribing to Discussion Lists? "I learn a lot about publishing houses, editors, etc., and we're like one big happy family,"... Read More

Business Forums

Forums are a community where a group of webmasters can post a discussion on different topics, like running an online business, web promotion, marketing, web design, etc.... Read More

8 Tips for Starting and Maintaining a Successful Online Forum

Nothing promotes a business online better than staying in touch with prospects. The more interactive the continued contact, the more of a relationship that is built with... Read More

The Benefits of Hiring Forum Posters

There are many business benefits to be realized by including a forum on your website. A forum is an area where individuals can converse on a regular... Read More

Should You Add A Forum To Your Site?

I was recently reading a message board thread on a popular SEO site and the question came up whether this particular person should add a forum to... Read More

How to Build a Forum That Doesnt Fall Apart Two Months Later, Part 1

If you can get a big enough following from customer lists and newsletters you might want to start your own forum. But I always see people trying... Read More