Guide to making money off forums

Online forums have become a valuable promotional tool for web-based businesses. Not only do they increase your popularity, they also put you in touch with a large yet focused market. They’re also cheap—it doesn’t cost anything to sign up for a forum and start posting away. Whether you’re launching your own or using existing ones to boost site popularity, there’s always a great marketing advantage to using online forums.

To maximize the benefits of forum posting, it’ important to know how they work and learn some basic forum etiquette. Here’s a basic guide to help you get started.

What are online forums?

Online forums allow users to publish material (usually text, but sometimes media as well) onto a website, so they can discuss specific topics in a common venue. There are forums on just about any subject, and posting is usually free. A forum is sometimes called a message board, and specific discussions are called threads. Users can sometimes post anonymously, but most forums, especially American ones, place great emphasis on user identity and require you to sign up before posting.

Forum content is usually managed by an Administrator or Moderator. Depending on the forum rules, they can censor obscene messages, monitor signups and user behavior, and ban “trolls” (users who deliberately disrupt forum discussions).

Why are online forums important?

On the user end, forums are a great way to get in touch with people who share similar interests. Forum users can find answers to uncommon questions and open up new discussions. Even obscure and niche topics can be discussed in forums; with the large number of online users, there’s sure to be at least a few who are interested. In this sense, the value of forums lies in information access—they have eliminated the need for extensive research or waiting to get access to new information.

How do forums make money?

Forums, like most other websites, make money through advertising. From a marketing point of view, forums make it much easier to find and reach specific audiences. Since it’s presumed that forum users are interested in the topic, they make excellent targets for online advertising. In fact, forums make some of the best advertising venues on the internet—more effective than banners and other mainstream methods.

Forum Marketing

Source: http://web-social-marketing.com/forum-marketing.html

How to use forums to learn anything you need to know as well as position yourself as an expert in your niche

Forums are one of my favorite forms of Web 2.0 marketing, hands down.

It was my participation and the response and traffic I recieved from forum marketing that turned me into the Web 2.0 enthusiast I am today.

Forums not only allow you to interact with others within your niche and ask questions and offer advice but there are some other great benefits as well:

• Get more traffic to your website or blog with forum signatures.
• Get one-way backlinks to your sites with every post you make
• Get conversations going and become a "forum star"
• Learn new things with every visit
• Position yourself as an expert

So how do you do this forum thing the right way?

Well, first of all, you never want to promote anything directly (even if the forum has a "promote your business" section). You should be there strictly to network with others in your industry and to freely give of yourself and your advice. No strings attached.

I know what you're thinking.

How am I supposed to get business from forums if I don't promote?

Well, that's the beauty.

Because of your signature links, they can automatically be directed to more of your wisdom and expertise.

Forum Marketing Tips:

• Always introduce yourself
• Ask questions
• Answer questions in topics that you know about
• Start conversations
• Help people without asking anything in return
• Don't post just for the sake of posting. Post when you actually have something thoughtful to say and useful.
• Always read the forum rules

As you post, you're getting backlinks to your site which helps you in the search engine rankings.

Now, you should already have a nice list of keyword phrases which can ne used for anchor text. Remember, you want to switch your anchor text between a few different keyword phrases. For example, use one phrase in one forum then another in some of the social bookmarks and so on and so forth.

Don't forget to add a friendly picture of yourself and fill out your profile!

If you're a serious marketer, you will make an effort to post often in your favorite forums. Trust me, this works. I have probably gotten at least 50% of my subscribers through forums at least in the beginning before my rankings went up.

Hot Tip: Stay away from negativity. Sometimes you'll find people bashing products, opportunities, or even other marketers. This is the type of thread you do not want to get sucked into. Negativity breeds more negativity and you don't want those kind of people in your business anyway.

Now get out there and start posting!