Forum Marketing
This is one strategy that we are going to share with you that is a massive word of caution when you are marketing to forums. Like any social networking, but especially with Chat Rooms and Forums, it's very easy to waste a ton of time, get completely lost in the shuffle, and caught up in activities that don't make you money.
That being said, forums are one of the most powerful tools to build relationships on, mostly because if you CHOOSE THE RIGHT FORUMS you are connecting with people of similar interest, goals, and mindset.
Best of all, they are free to join!
Note: Not All Forums are Worth Your Time
Here are some rules to look at when you are looking into joining forums to participate on regularly:
1. Look for forums with at least 1,000 members and 10,000 posts.
Here is a power tip: I always check to see how much traffic that site is generating. You can find out how popular a given forum is by searching for it's traffic rating on Alexa.com. Next. on the bar, type the name of the website. For example. If you type the website: www.wahm.com their Traffic Rank in US: 2,333.
The lower the number, the more popular the board.
Wahm.com is 2,333 and that means they are getting amazing traffic!
Anything under 50,000 is a good site to post of their forum.
This one little trip will save you a lot of time and headaches.
Here is another forum that gets a lot of traffic is:
Their alexa rating is 309 (that is incredible!) If you haven't siged up for this form, do it today.
2. So now that you found a few forums, Make sure the forum gets at least 10-20 new posts on a daily basis. If people are not posting, then it means it's not active.
3. Ignore forums overrun by SPAM.
4. When joining forums online choose one that have your ideal target market for new customers or business partners.
Forum Marketing is all about interaction. The more that you interact on "threads" (online conversations) and posts, the more people will come to get to know who you are. Be positive, follow the content rules (Enlightening, inspiring, entertaining, educational) and don't get involved with inter-forum politics. If someone annoys you on the forum, simply ignore them and move on. People watch what you post and you certainly don't want people to see you upset. People follow leaders and not people that will engage with fighting on forums.
The more value that you add into a forum, the more the readers will view you as a leader, a mentor, a coach, a trainer. This is the type of branding you want associated with you. After a short time and valuable insight, you can create a form of Expert status on each Forum.
One of the biggest things that I love about Forum Marketing and why this can be so powerful is that besides the fact that you're branding youself with each post...every time you comment you leave a signature file behind.
Here's a visual:
* A digital signature follows you everywhere and every time you post on a particular website.
* It's important to link back to your Opt-in lead capture page in order to capture the readers information.
Can this make you money? yes! keep adding your signature line and you will build your list and you may find people that will do business with you in the future.
How do you find forums?
Before working a Site make sure to read all the Policies and Procedures first) Spend a few minutes studying the environment. Read through some of the popular posts and notice what's allowed, what's acceptable behavior, and how people react to different situations. Read the FAQ or posting rule' if they have anye.
Google Different types of Social Networking Sites.
For example:
* Craft Forums
* Realtors Forums
* Work at Home Social Networking Sites
* Home Business Social Networking Sites
* Think of any Hobby or Interest you have and add it in front of Social Networking Site
Start off with only one site to get used to knowing how to work and set them up (they all will be different in ways).
Once you have one down you can add in 2 to 3 more if you want. I usually work about 3. (Once you start seeing results, make sure to work the one that is getting the most results the most)
To look up how popular the site is and the traffic go to www.alexa.com
Once finding the site, Register and set up a Profile. F.Y.I.
You must make your Profile full of information on your opportunity. Also include information about yourself like personal stories, your work at home story, etc. Put plenty of pictures and blogs. Make it colorful and make it stand out from the crowd! The more information the better, it makes others ask more questions and feel more comfortable!
Make sure you set up your signature in each site,Research, Search and Search!
Find the Profiles to send the Friend Invites to! Find the SEARCH area where you can enter in KEYWORDS to find (I will put examples below for keywords) You can also look for Groups, Blogs, Journal Posts, Profiles, etc. KEYWORDS you can use are:
* Looking for Work at Home
* Looking for a Home Business
* Any Work at Home Company
* Work at Home
* Craft Forum
* Work at Home Mom Forums
* Military Pages (share about our military gifts or the opportunity)
Also for GENERAL, you can just enter something that you like or the city you live in and find something in common with the personThe KEY to making this Successful
You MUST work this CONSITENTLY Everyday! Put out at least 50 to 200 friend invites a day or network with that many people. If you have the invites set up, you can copy and paste and this will only take about an hour to two a day once you have it down! If you only send 20 invites it will not be beneficial, you have to work it no matter what, even on the days you feel you are not getting responses, Plug Away Everday!Here is the FUN Part!
You can actually just mess around and Have FUN! Find those with Birthdays, Anniversaries, Newborns, etc. Go to their profiles in their comments and say Happy Birthday or Congrats! Comment on pictures or join discussions and posts that you have an interest in. As long as your profile has tons of info they will come to you!The Reason and Purpose of this is to Set Yourself up for SUCCESS!
Look at this as it is just like your business, you are building and building each day so in the long run it will benefit you. On the way to that long run you are getting lead after lead! By being an Aggressive Marketer the first two years, will let you become a Passive Marketer with out investing by that two years. As your Profiles and Groups build, you will become "Popular" and "Active" on the sites you are on, which will take on a snowball effect!
Here are some sample signatures you can copy and paste and use when you join your favorite forums:
* Gift Baskets up to 30% off (your website)
* Love gift baskets & Flowers? Learn how you can generate income at home (your website)
* Or use any of our ads!
