October 9, 2006 I seem to be in a real «talk about marketing» mood this week. To continue with this theme, I want to take a small amount of time to discuss marketing on forums. Forums, in my opinion, can provide some of the best information. You can ask a question (which is rare because if you have a question, odds are that someone else did too and already asked it) and get an answer from many different sources with many different points of view, providing with a good source of information. Because forums are so convenient and informative, they are everywhere. I am hard pressed to find a topic that is not touched on almost specifically in a forum. Because of these reasons, they seem to gain and retain a loyal following. I have about 5 forums on my Google homepage that I visit more than 3 times a day each. And because of their wide range of topics and visibility, they offer an opportunity to help drive traffic to your site. But there is a right and a wrong way to do this.
The wrong way first. People on forums are there for a reason. To share ideas, help others, provide information, or be in search for ideas, help, or information. The very last thing I want to see when searching my favorite forum (unless it is an appropriate topic) is a shameless plug for someone’s own company. I hate seeing a post for «This has got to be the best site ever» posted by the webmaster of that site. Not only will this likely get the post removed, but you will also risk a ban from the forum, and more importantly, leave a bitter taste in the mouths of an online community, and with the exception of my Fiance, very few things are more dangerous than that. I mentioned «unless it is an appropriate topic.» The forums I visit know of the importance of getting your message out there, and provide categories for such a thing. This not only helps those who want to make use of forums for marketing, but keeps the other topics clean of such annoyances, thus providing a further service. WebPro World does this, and I can see that they probably have and retain more, happier members because of it.
The right way. If you want to make use of a forum to help promote yourself, then you should do so while simultaneously providing a bit of help. A good idea is to go to your favorite search engine, and search for «your topic forums.» This will give you a wide range of forums to choose from. Find one that fits you, and become a member. Be sure to read their rules about posting and signatures. If allowed, make a signature with a link to your site. Then do a search for a topic on something to which you can provide a service. Write an article that will provide information to help others, and politely provide information on your site. Be a little heavier on the information part. Like your website, you main goal should to be to provide a service/product/assistance to the online world. In this environment, you will do this with an offer of free help.
To recap, make use of the avenues provided on the web, but don’t be too pushy. Try to be the car salesman who provides his name, and then waits to offer help. Don’t be that car guy that follows you around, telling you things about a car that you don’t want to know, offering his «assistance» that you don’t want, and promising deals that you don’t care about. I often provide these guys with the best possible location in which they can shove their deals.
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