A forum is an online message board where people love spending time discussing, analyzing, criticizing and contemplating different ideas, topics and problems.

Forums have become the place to ‘hangout’ online. Forums exist as places to spend time talking about various hobbies and events, but they also have become the best place to find information and help with various products and services.

This is exactly why they have become the perfect place to promote your affiliate product. You should be careful though, as advertising is generally banned on forums, you need to do your promotions slyly.

Similar to blogs, most online companies find it imperative to create forums for their products to alleviate the burden of customer support.

Along with blogs, consumers are increasingly using forums to research new purchases and evaluate between options.

Forums are the virtual marketplaces that you need to market your products. When done correctly, they can be vital to your success.

The more popular forums will see new posts every minute or two and hundreds of readers an hour. Your goal should be to capture a portion of that traffic.

There are forums on almost every topic you can think of. Anything from cars to cards to carpets. If there is a niche market you can think of, chances are, there is a forum on it.

Who reads forums?

While it used to be the case, forums are no longer just the place for techies to hangout. These days, just about anyone who is looking for an opportunity, advantage or just information can be seen sitting at work and filing through a forum.

When I was starting to promote a product that centered around making money quickly, I ran a Google search for “internet marketing forums”.

I decided that one of the best markets for selling this product would be on home business related sites, especially since there are hundreds of them, but I could have probably just as easily performed a search for “making money forums”, “newbie marketing forums”, or “financial help forum”. Each of these searches produced numerous forums to post to.

Don’t overlook any niche or forum because there doesn’t seem to be a lot of activity. Don’t forget that most forums you encounter will have their forum pages crawled by search engine spiders, so any new post you create will probably show up on the different search rankings. Every post can help.

How do I know which forum I should join?

This is actually a trick question. You should join every single forum you can find that deals with your subject matter.

With most products, you can probably break the niche down into so many different sub-niche markets that you should be able to find hundreds of different forums to work your marketing magic on.

What is the best way to post to a forum

Posting to a forum must be done correctly for it to be effective. Herein lays the secret to producing results using forums.

Never, ever post about the product you are promoting. Let me repeat. Don’t ever post about your product. Aside from the fact that almost every forum will ban you for an illegal advertisement, readers will simply tune your post out.

Save your promotion for your signature line.

When you register for a new account on each forum, you’ll be given an opportunity to set you profile signature. At that time, use a signature ad to hock your wares. You might be surprised, but they are incredibly effective.

Once you’ve created your profile signature, the rest is easy. All you have to do is become an active member of the forum.

Forums are more than just an information resource, each forum contains its own private community. The goal to effective forum marketing is to let other members become familiar with you and your posts. Once they see that you are member of their world, they’ll start clicking on your signature ad.

The best way to establish this bond with the forum members is to answer posts with topical and useful solutions, comments or questions. Immerse yourself in their world, discuss the popular topics that they are discussing. Ask questions and have people help you. Become one of them. It can be a tricky process, but if it’s a topic that you have some knowledge about, it should be easy.

What is the most effective way to advertise on a forum?

Once you’ve created your profile with your signature ad, you will want to start surfing the forum. You’ll see a variety of different topics or ‘threads’. Most of these threads will be started by either a question or a comment. Find the popular topics that are generating a lot of responses and are causing a lot of commotion.

You should participate in these threads in one of two ways.

1) Either agree with the assumption or support the question,
Or
2) Disagree with the assumption or propose an answer to the question.

Either way, you should take a stand and make your opinion heard. If you do this enough, you’ll start feeling the love of the community. Not everyone will agree with you, but if you stay within the boundaries of the community, they will respect you.

What is the proper forum posting etiquette and will I get banned?

Unfortunately, forums are generally chock full of rules, requirements and etiquette codes that need to be followed very closely. Forums are not free-for-alls and are generally policed stringently by the administrators.

Because of this, make sure you read the terms and regulations of each forum before posting. You don’t want to get yourself banned.

Since each forum is run by its own set of rules, it’s hard to establish a consistent set of etiquette, but the following is an example of the rules you will run into and need to be aware of.

1) Never post an advertisement of any kind in a post.
2) Never include your affiliate link in the body of the post.
3) Never post a reply without reading the question or comment.
4) Never badmouth another person, especially if you are new to the forum.
5) Never get involved in verbal fights.
6) Never get in the middle of someone else’s fight.
7) Never say “look at my signature”.
8) Never curse or use derogatory language or images.
9) It’s also a good idea not to post to any topic that has over a month of inactivity.
10) Before posting your question, search the forum. Your question or comment may have already been discussed, answered, or resolved. You don’t want to seem like a person who hasn’t read the forum before.
11) Only post a particular topic or reply once. If no one responds, move on.

What exactly is a Signature Ad and how do I use it?

A signature ad is really nothing more than a sentence or two under your name that advertises your website or product or service.

Signature ads are almost always allowed in forums as long as they aren’t too aggressive.

Some forums allow any type of Signature ad and some limit you to only 1 or 2 lines. Again, read each forum’s TOS to determine what you are allowed to do.

Forum marketing isn’t nearly as complicated as you thought it was, huh? Follow these suggestions and you will soon see the fruits of your labor.