When is work not really work? When it's fun!

Using online forums, also called message boards, can be a fun way to promote your business in a low key way.

Benefits:

You cultivate relationships with others

You learn about all kinds of topics

Your marketing message is presented without screaming advertisement

By answering questions related to your topic, you are positioned as an expert in your field

How to Use a Forum for Promotion:

First, find a forum that is of interest to you and frequented by people in your target market. A great place to start is to go to ezboard.com and search for forums by keywords that reflect your target market.

Next, I suggest you "lurk" or just watch the activity for a few days to get a feel for the tone of the forum. When you feel confident this is an appropriate place to represent your business, introduce yourself. Often message boards have a 'New Members' type place to post your first message.

After you have been welcomed, scan through the topics and post answers to questions others may have about your area of expertise. Repeat daily or weekly.

Tips:

Of utmost importance is to have a signature line that is added to the end of each message you post. This is like your calling card, and is what makes this method so subtle. You may be posting a famous recipe, but everyone who checks it out will see your business name. Most forums have an account setting or options area where you can set up an automatic signature or you can cut and paste your signature each time, but this is much more cumbersome.

Don't spam boards by visiting once and posting an advert everywhere. It will give you a bad reputation - not what you need to increase sales.

Check the regulations of the board to be sure signature lines are allowed. Some forums strictly prohibit marketing of any type.

Revisit your posting frequently to address any replies. Also, add new postings of interest every few days to keep your business in the message board's eye.

Message boards and forums can be a very valuable marketing tool. While you're at it, be sure to check out the fun topics, too!

About The Author

Megan Corwin is a personal coach who enjoys helping work at home professionals grow their businesses while maintaining an organized household. Download Megan's free ebook "How to Market Your Small Business Online for FREE": http://marketonlinefree.wahwoman.com

RELATED ARTICLES 3 Reasons Why PHP Message Boards Rock If you are web designer, chances are you include forums on at least some of the sites you manage. If you haven't explored PHPBB2 you are missing out as this type of message board offers to designers a forum that is well supported, easy to manage, and above all else: free! Let's see why PHPBB2 is a hit with so many web designers. Chat Forums and Blogs: The Unofficial Internet Posting Rules Have you been hanging around in internet forums and/or making blog comments lately? Public posting is growing ever-popular. One thing I've noticed, is that if you use it for business purposes and you accidentally blurt the wrong thing, it can get ugly pretty quick. Business Forums Forums are a community where a group of webmasters can post a discussion on different topics, like running an online business, web promotion, marketing, web design, etc. You can post questions asking for advice and learn a great deal of knowledge from others who participate. Intro to Health Forums Health forums are great for gathering information, resources, advice, tips and tricks, business names/information, product reviews, expert advice and much more. Many forums have experts on health subjects that are monitoring the forums 24/7 and are very quick to reply to your post(question). Whats The Deal With Discussion Lists for Writers? (Part Two) What Are the Advantages and/or Drawbacks of Subscribing to Discussion Lists? "I learn a lot about publishing houses, editors, etc., and we're like one big happy family," says Dotti Enderle, who belongs to several lists - the biggest being the Children's Writers List. Some Quick Tips to Easily Improve the Success of Your Forum! It is difficult to define a 'successful forum'. However, all forums deal with information and so the amount of information that is transferred across a forum is an indication of its success. 8 Tips for Starting and Maintaining a Successful Online Forum Nothing promotes a business online better than staying in touch with prospects. The more interactive the continued contact, the more of a relationship that is built with a potential client. Join A Songwriting Forum - Its A Good Idea! If you are a songwriter looking to get "plugged-in" to where the action is, consider joining a songwriting forum. This is a great way to meet other songwriters, share your ideas, promote your songs and/or lyrics, find resources and much more! As the Good Book says:"iron sharpens iron," which simply means that we grow and learn from the exchange of new ideas with others. Search for Business Partners Effortlessly With the internet revolution ushering in new modes of communication everyday, building contacts is no longer an arduous, time consuming job. In fact, if you are looking for effective and easy ways to search for business partners, the internet provides a ready answer. Forum Software 101 - Why It is Vitally Important to Choose the Best Software to Run your Forum When you go through all of the work and trouble to set up your own forum, you don't want anything to get in the way of its success.. Seven Must Follow Rules While Participating In Message Boards Participating in message boards (forums) discussions is a great way of self promotion. It costs you nothing. The Demise of EZBoard For years, EZBoard was a community that offered relatively cheap and easy to maintain forums for managers. Virtually anyone could register, design, and layout a site and invite their friends to participate. How to Sell Your Product on the Forums? 1. Your signature file:Most of the forums allow you to carry a 4 - 6 lines of signature files with your name. The Benefits of Hiring Forum Posters There are many business benefits to be realized by including a forum on your website. A forum is an area where individuals can converse on a regular basis about different topics and ideas as well as discuss your services and products. Internet Forums - Six Ways To Avoid Disaster Internet Forums are highly popular, they cater for all tastes and deal with every topic imaginable. People visit Internet forums for a variety of reasons, the most common being the search for information or entertainment. Using Forums To Network Successfully According to one of the entries found at dictionary.com the definition of the word network is as follows: Something resembling an openwork fabric or structure in form or concept, especially: An extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support. Forum Signatures to Build Back Links - Helping Your Search Rankings Building Backlinks! There are several ways to build backlinks. We have discussed Directory Submissions, Article Submission, & Press Releases. Forum - A Free Way to Get Traffic Forum is a gathering of people normally have a common interest on certain topic like investing, health etc.People in forum can share ideas, ask questions, socializeget help and give advice. Forum Traffic - How to Get More Members on Your Forum Getting more traffic on your forum can be hard. But don't get discouraged yet! Here are some ways that you can increase traffic, or better yet, keep the people who are already going through your forum from closing out their window. 5 Proven Techniques to Build a Profitable Web Forum You may have heard that having a web community is a great way to increase sales, customer loyalty and word of mouth for your web business. In fact a web community itself, if large enough and targeting an affluent demographic (or one that advertisers like to target), has the potential to bring in revenue.