The Cheapest, Fastest Way to Advertise on the Internet: Forum Posting
Posting on forums is one of the cheapest
and fastest ways in which you can advertise affiliates products on the
Internet. However, in order to do this successfully, you must do a number of
things carefully.
Warning! Simply starting a thread
that contains an affiliate link might be a good way to get banned from a
particular forum board, but it will never be a good way to make sales.
The general procedure involves making
multiple posts on a forum board before you even setup a signature file, which
includes a link to your site. Even if the particular forum you are using does
not specifically mandate this, you will want to do this, anyway, as it will
increase your credibility – which is your real goal.
You can start by finding a number of forums
for your particular niche or marketing angle. You can find massive lists of
forums at the following two URLs:
The first resource is currently the largest
forum directory on the Internet. The second resource contains lesser directories,
but includes some that are not listed on Big Boards.
Now, once you have selected a number of
directories that match your specific marketing angle and affiliate product, you
will want to investigate to determine whether or not they have excess rules
regulating signature files.
For instance, some sites do not allow any
links in signature files; others, by contrast, allow links, but do not allow
any commercial links. Make sure you know what the rules are before you post.
Otherwise, you are simply setting yourself up to be banned from the forum.
Next, take the list of forums you have
created – that are both relevant to your topic and allow commercial links – and
begin developing a reputation on those forums. Post regularly, avoid
meaningless fights and flaming, and contribute useful, on-target information to
discussions. In a matter of 1-2 weeks, you will have developed a reputation,
provided that the forum receives a considerable amount of traffic.
Once you have developed a good reputation,
you will want to begin advertising through your forum signature. Ideally, you
will want to include some eye-catching assortment of colors, symbols, and words
in your signature.
This will draw people's attention. You will
then want to link them to something other than an affiliate page – whether it
be a page you created to sell an affiliate product or an autoresponder course
used to capture email addresses.
Remember to repeat this process in all
applicable forums. Look for high traffic forums that allow commercial link
posting in signature files – and that also happen to fit with your specific audience-targeting
and marketing angle goals.
Next, create a reputation.
Last, add your
signature in some attractive way that draws visitors' attention, but is also
likely to convert them into interested clickers. You will find that this form
of advertising pays off considerably – and does so faster than other methods
available.
