How to Use Forum Advertising ~ The Right Way

I have been looking through all of the articles, ebooks and reports provided in the Greedy Giveaway (only a few more days to get them if you haven’t already). I came across one particular report that made me take notice. It stated I could make 2000$ in 10 days just following this simple process. It wouldn’t cost me anything, I just had to do these few things and I would be “raking in the cash”.

I must admit, I was sucked in. In my heart I know there is no such thing as a fast buck, that it takes due diligence to make a good stable income online, but a huge influx of cash is always a welcome thing. I thought I would run a test, try his method for a week and then come back and talk to you guys about how it went. Recommend the product or not.

It did not take me a week or even 30 minutes for that matter to realize what the deal was, and to have the information I needed to come back and talk to you guys.

Here’s the deal. His suggestion was to find a product from clickbank, then go out and find as many forums as you can that relate to the product. Join, make a signature, not just a small sig file, but 14 point font, red signature, go in to the forum, and post. Even if you are just posting great idea, or I was wondering the same thing. That was the plan. This is a stupid plan for forum advertising.

He mentioned numerous times it was so simple it was stupid. Well he got that right. It’s a stupid idea.

Here’s what I found when I went to the forums he recommended. (which are really cool forums and we’ll talk about how to use them correctly in a sec). Huge messages in the terms of service about no longer being able to use affiliate links in your sig file, no longer being able to use large font/color in sig files, and more and more explanations about posting in a forum only when and if you have something of value to share, and if you have nothing of value to contribute it’s considered spamming just to post to get your sig file link shown. It was mentioned a number of times on different forums about people being taught to come and basically spam the forum with their affiliate link and how it wouldn’t be tolerated and your account will be deleted. (as it should be)

Basically this report has led people, who really just wanted to make some money and were following directions, to become pariah on these forums, in addition there were many hostile messages from regular users toward these people and in fact one forum went so far as to report some people and get their affiliate accounts with clickbank revoked.

Please, please, please, don’t do this. This is not the way to use a forum to market yourself and your products.

Now that we know what we are NOT supposed to do, let’s talk about the way you CAN use forums to market.

First of all I would suggest instead of finding forums about what you are trying to sell, you find forums about something that interests and excites you. (seems a little crazy eh?) Look for forums that you will have fun and will want to post in, forums you have knowledge about so you can be a beneficial member of the community.

Go and get involved. Be part of the community. Spend time regularly in the community talking, and conversing with others.

Use a sig file. Signature files are important, and are a wonderful way to lead people to what you offer. Make a simple signature maybe in the form of a question. I try to lead people to my homepage, or a page that has a lot to offer, not only to buy, but information about me, and about the things I am interested in. Here’s an example of one of my sig files: Who is that Jackie Lee anyway? I will link it to my PI page, which is my home online. I do love to learn and talk about internet marketing so in an internet marketing forum I would use a sig file like “Free internet marketing tips and tricks” and link it to this blog. I do not use a link to an affiliate product. I have affiliate products in both of those places, but it is also original content, with the option to check out affiliate stuff that might be helpful.

That’s it. Be part of the community. Make meaningful posts. Get into conversation. Get to know people, and let them get to know you. It sounds simple, and it is. People will get to know you. They will get to like and trust you and they will at some point probably click your sig file to learn more about you. This may lead to the sale of an affiliate product or an inquiry for a network marketing or other kind of business, or it may not, and that’s ok too. Not every opportunity/product is right for everyone. The people that it is right for will find you, and you will be better off not dragging people along who don’t want to be there. Meanwhile you are making new friends and learning and having fun. It’s a win/win/win!

I have used forum advertising for many years. In fact I forget about it being part of my marketing, because to me it is just playing with my friends at this point. I forget new people join all the time and I then I have another opportunity to not only make a sale, but more importantly, make a friend. You never know what kind of list these people have, or who they know. Friends love to help out and recommend friends. When you go out and meaningfully get into relationship with others, magic can happen.

Forums can be an excellent way to drive traffic to your blog, and each time you make a post your signature will be displayed with your post. This signature will also count as a backlink to your site. The more backlinks you create the better your site will do in the search engines. If you’re looking for more ways to create backlinks to your site check out this post: Everything you ever wanted to know about backlinking.

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