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Affiliate Program Scams To Watch Out For
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Marketing To Forums: Part 1
Forums are a great way to advertise just about anything without any cost at all. *Lots* of people will read what you write there. And they're exactly your target audience. Or are they?
First of all, you can't just assume that people will read what you post. And second, they aren't necessarily the people you want reading your advertisement. Here's what you can do to make sure the *right* people are actually *reading* your post.
The first thing you need to do is get people to open your message. Until they open it, all they know about it is what the title says. The title has to draw them in.
---------- Let me pause for a moment to clarify a couple of things. There are typically two types of forums. Some will list every person's message in a list on the page. And the messages will be grouped together as threads (a thread is a topic). In this case, each person can put a unique title on their message. An example of this is at http://www.dave-brown.com/howtoforum.html
The second type of forum you'll see will only list the different threads, but not the individual messages within each thread. In this case, whoever started the thread decided on the title, and that's what everyone sees. An example of this is any of the forums listed at http://associateprograms.com/discus
What I'm about to say regarding titles is only relevant to the first type of forum. ----------
Make sure that the title of your message is going to make people want to read it. The default title is usually just the original title preceded by "Re:". Don't use that. Give your message an original title.
But just using an original title is not enough. It needs to make people want more. You don't need to hype it up. You just need to make it interesting. Here are some examples:
The best one I've found Just be careful about... Two things you should know
These are examples of titles you might use if you were responding to someone else's post. Your message would then make a comment on the original post. So the title of the original message would lead into yours.
If you're starting a brand new thread, then you would need a different kind of title. Some examples:
Great new resource I found Important information about Google Any cheap web hosts?
All of these titles give you a
clue as to what the message is about. If it's too generic, then people may not be intrigued enough to read the message.
But once someone opens your message, you still have work to do if you're going to get them click on your ad.
Most importantly, only put an ad in your signature. Don't make your whole message an ad. That will be frowned upon.
So if the ad is only in your signature, then you're once again in a position where you need a title that will get people to click. The same rules that apply to the title of your post apply to the signature.
But let's get back to a point I mentioned above. You need to make sure that the people that see your ad are the right people. The kind of people that buy whatever you're advertising. The way to do this is to advertise something that is relevant to the topic of your message.
For example, when I respond to a question about web hosting, I include an ad for my web host guide.
At the very least, make sure that whatever you're advertising is something that the people on the forum are likely to be interested in. A lot of people make the mistake of advertising something completely off topic.
If you're posting a message to one of the two forums I mentioned above, then you know the people there are generally interested in the internet and ways to make some cash.
So if you include an ad for an online pharmacy or health supplements, you're targeting the wrong audience. There *might* be some people there who are interested in those things. But there are probably a lot *more* people there who are interested in things like list building and getting traffic to their web sites.
You're more likely to get clicks if you target the ad to the audience.
Just common sense advice. But sometimes common sense gets lost when we think too much.
If you'd like more tips on posting to forums, then Harvey Segal has a great ebook you can download (no charge) at http://www.supertips.com/forums
P.S. Forums can be a great place to learn, and they only cost you your time.
About the Author
Dave Brown is a self-taught marketer and software developer. He also publishes the uncommon and uniquely original newsletter on making the most of your life - A Fresh Perspective. You can learn more at http://www.dave-brown.com
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Gentoo Forums :: Index |
Discussion forums for topics around the distribution, Linux applications, installation, administration, portage, frequently asked questions. |
forums.gentoo.org |
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Readers' Opinions - New York Times |
Books Reading Group. Readers are discussing “All Aunt Hagar’s Children,” Edward P. Jones’s new short story collection. More Books Forums ... |
www.nytimes.com |
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Ubuntu Forums |
This is a discussion help and support forum for Ubuntu Linux. |
ubuntuforums.org |
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Joomla! Community Forum - Index |
Joomla! Forum - The Joomla Community. Support, discussion and interaction with the Core Team. |
forum.joomla.org |
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Internet forum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
A typical Internet forum discussion, with common elements such as emoticons, ... Like other forms of online communication, Internet forums are home to many ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Java Technology Forums |
Online discussion forums offering help for users in solving issues. Includes FAQs, and links to other Sun technical databases. |
supportforum.sun.com |
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Adobe - Forums |
Share questions, suggestions, and information about Adobe graphics products. |
www.adobe.com |
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WoW Forums -> Forum Index |
Read our Introduction to the Forums. This includes information about getting ... blizzard provides the World of Warcraft community forums for its players to ... |
forums.worldofwarcraft.com |
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MySQL AB :: MySQL Forums |
Forum to discuss the sample database included with MySQL ... The main discussion forum for MySQL. Please use specialized forums for specific topics. ... |
forums.mysql.com |
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SitePoint Forums: Resources, Design, HTML, CSS, PHP, ASP, MySQL ... |
Webmaster Forums for Design, CSS, XHTML, PHP, Ruby, JavaScript, Affiliate Marketing, ASP.NET, Promotion. |
www.sitepoint.com |
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Delphi Forums |
Offers free and paid forum hosting. The paid offer is ad-free. |
www.delphiforums.com |
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Home - MozillaZine Forums |
Search the forums for others who may be having the same issues you are. You can also browse the sticky'd posts at the top of the forum for the product ... |
forums.mozillazine.org |
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Web Hosting, Free Web Hosting and Web Tools from Bravenet.com. |
Maintain a direct mailing list. Message Forum Host your own online discussions. Vote Caster Perform a multi-question poll. Web Poll Perform a quick poll. ... |
www.bravenet.com |
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Forums | NewsTalk |
The Detroit News Online does not tolerate offensive language in its forums. The News will kill offensive posts. Participants can and will be denied access ... |
info.detnews.com |
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osCommerce Community Support Forums |
Official community support forums for the osCommerce project. |
forums.oscommerce.com |
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The GardenWeb Forums - GardenWeb |
The GardenWeb Forums comprise the largest community of gardeners on the Internet. ... If this is your first visit to the forums, you might want to visit our ... |
forums.gardenweb.com |
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AnandTech |
Is server configuration a pain? DSL or Cable Modem giving you fits? Get your questions answered and your topics discussed in the AnandTech Networking Forum. ... |
forums.anandtech.com |
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Chronicle Forums - Index |
Chronicle Forums - Index. ... Talk online about graduate-school life in our new forum. ... Forum Stats, 220919 Posts in 17109 Topics by 3306 Members. ... |
chronicle.com |
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Forums | drupal.org |
Try searching the forums first or a specific project's bug reports. Pre installation questions. Is Drupal a viable solution for my website? ... |
drupal.org |
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Dev Shed Forums - Open Source web development |
Dev Shed Forums - over 195246 members on our Dev Shed forums. |
forums.devshed.com |
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