7 Reasons to Participate in Internet Marketing Forums

September 1st, 2007 | 17 comments

I’ve been participating in forums ever since I’ve been online. I can safely say that I’ve made thousands of dollars, in one way or another, as a result of participating in them. Obviously there are many reasons why you should as well. The following are 7 of the best off the top of my head:

1. Name Branding - By helping people out and providing good information, you gain a reputation. With a good reputation comes a following. Whether your “following” is in the form of subscribers, site viewers or blog readers, these guys and gals know what your talking and they won’t be one time viewers. They’ll continue to come back to learn more from you. Being known as the go to guy or gal in your niche or sub niche will bring in repeat customers as well.

2. Link Popularity - Although the links in forums are normally of low weight in the SE’s, they are links and if your site is IM related, they are targeted. If you have hundreds or even thousands of posts, that’s a bunch of targeted links pointing to your site.

3. Special Offers - Many forums, such as the Warrior Forum, have special sections just for special offers. I made several thousand dollars last year just by writing small, informative reports and offering them as special offers on forums.

4. JV Opportunities - If you know your shit it will be noticed in forums. With informative posts and name branding comes Joint Venture proposals. JV’s can be in the form of a simple link exchange or they could be big promotions that bring in thousands!! Whatever the type, forums are a great place for JV’s and if you’re constantly spewing good info, you won’t even have to look.

5. Ideas - Whether you need a good topic for a blog post, or you need to fire up your auto-responder, forums contain thousands upon thousands of topics. The great thing is you can see the number of replies to find out what topics are really hot.

6. - I initially had knowledge as #6. However, this post was written at a time when I didn’t realize the volume of horrible advice being given out in forums.

7. List Building - Whether you offer a free report in the appropriate sections that requires opt-in, or you link a squeeze page to your signature, forums are a great way to build a list targeting like minded people.

So there you have it. Go join the following forums if you haven’t already:

http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/
http://www.whydowork.com/forums/
http://www.conqueryourniche.com/forum/
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/
http://www.webmasterworld.com/
http://forum.weblamp.net/index.php

Popularity: 100% [?]

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17 comments

Courtney Ramirez (17 comments.)
4th September, 2007 at 6:28 am

Great list! And great blog too Josh! I can’t believe I hadn’t found it yet. Thanks for the list of forums….there are some that I hadn’t been to yet!
Josh Spaulding
4th September, 2007 at 6:39 am

Hi Courtney, it’s great to see you stop by. The Warrior Forum is obviously the main one I take part in but I make it a habit to at least lurk in all of them on a weekly basis.

btw, I just replied to the Ghostwriter thread on the Warriors. You didn’t even recommend yourself
Camilo
10th September, 2007 at 5:29 am

Hi Josh great blogs.. I like I hope you can help me promote my Blogs at [removed] .. Thanks…. God Bless.
Josh Spaulding
10th September, 2007 at 5:41 am

Hi Camilo, I always enjoy helping people out when I can, but not when they spam my blog.
Sean (7 comments.)
10th September, 2007 at 11:35 pm

I also use forum to get link to my blog. My favorite forum is probably Warrior Forum also, but I usually lurk around there reading.

Yes you can get decent amount of visitor from forum if you use attractive sig.
How I Made my First Money Online
12th September, 2007 at 6:39 am

[...] If it’s not an option don’t worry, there are other ways that are effective as well. Go to each of the Internet Marketing forums in my post titled 7 Reasons to Participate in Internet Marketing Forums [...]
Okoji
9th January, 2008 at 11:29 pm

Yes, a very good articles. This is a must read for everyone.
Cheerss.
titan (2 comments.)
3rd March, 2008 at 2:56 pm

I need to agree that forum marketing is really good idea to make money. We also can earn many thing from forum marketing. Its help me a lots!
Internet Marketing Guru
8th March, 2008 at 11:10 am

Yes,

I agree with each and every point what you have mentioned here in this blog. The 7 reasons that you have mentioned are very much true…

Thanks for the wonderful post…
Case @ Internet Marketing Blog (1 comments.)
12th March, 2008 at 8:21 am

Great post.
Everyone should use forums for website promotion.

Although I’m not an avid public forum poster, I generate enough contacts for my network to have an impact on my sites and to strike great JV’s.

If you see these contacts back in private forums, you’ve made it -they already know you- as they tend to be more open there.

If used the right way, public forums can even generate a real traffic surge.
Kevin (4 comments.)
6th July, 2008 at 2:32 pm

Great list! I have to say that I agree with all your choices. I am an avid DPer, and I find it great for building link popularity through link exchanges and having a link in your sig.

Also, I think you should consider adding Sitepoint to your forum list. Their marketplace is great for linking opportunities and selling websites.
Dennis Grubbs (26 comments.)
14th December, 2008 at 5:33 pm

Getting ideas for blog posts from a forum, I have used before. I started writing a great post in response to a thread… but decided i was such a good post I would add to my blog instead. That post gets a lot of views even though it is quite old at this point.

I get a ton of traffic to my blog from my signature link. I never even considered linking directly to a squeeze page.
Rick Imby (8 comments.)
3rd January, 2009 at 6:49 pm

Forums are a great place to get ideas and some knowledge but it is really easy to go overboard. Building product and your own pages is way more important.

Rick
Dennis Grubbs (26 comments.)
3rd January, 2009 at 8:30 pm

I have to agree. If you don’t at least have a site setup, even if only for adsense… then spending a lot ot time on forums is a waste. Best course of action is to at a minimum try to setup a new site each and every week. This way you can build an empire of niches.

Then you can succeed to by having quantity. Quality is important, but quantity has its advantages as well particularly for the set it and forget it style of sites. If a site makes only $50 per month…. add 10 more sites like that, and you have $500 per month.
Mike (2 comments.)
24th January, 2009 at 2:35 am

You got it right Josh.Niche forum is the best place to get a stream of targeted visitors.

Though it takes a long time for someone to trust you and use your services. But you will get a “strong” following like what you mentioned.

Anyway, I laugh out loud when I strolled down to your related links and saw this title : ” Internet Marketing Forums are Counterproductive! ”

Are you editing this thread soon?
Juhani Tontti (11 comments.)
28th May, 2009 at 5:08 am

My favorite forum is Warriorforum.com, because I started with PIPS program and they recommended that one. Fact is that forum writing takes a lot of time, but it is a great place to get the latest information and to build brand. The brand building requires a plan, because you just cannot be expert in everything, you just have to have USP.
Ecommerce Help - Tyrone Shum (2 comments.)
6th June, 2009 at 9:50 am

I visit forums from time to time and sometimes I even make it a point to post something helpful for my co-members. Like blogs, I think it would be of great help to make yourself join in a forum since it offers you a wide range of oppurtunities and eventually exchange ideas with its other members. Apart from this, it is also used as a strategy in online marketing especially when you are after traffic. Forums allows you to interact with other people that may or may not share the ideas that you possess but all the while can help you grow your business.