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Five Ways to Kill Your Home Business
Copyright 2005 Craig Friesen I know it is better to be positive than negative. But speaking from experience sometimes you can do things that are bad for your home business without realizing it. You might even think you are doing the right thing...
Hello I'm Flunky Girdle Tushie...Pleased To Meet You
Hello I'm Flunky Girdle Tushie...Pleased To Meet You This is a fun activity that actually promotes networking....if you can stop laughing long enough. It's a fun little "respite" to peg out your giggle meter.... I've tried this in lots of...
Planning a public relations presence online
"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe." -Anatole France Planning for your online public relations presence is an integral part of your overall success. By laying out your plan from...
The 'No Mailing List' Solution To Affiliate Profits
There are lots of excellent affiliate programs out there and even lots more affiliates. But the average guy hardly holds more than 3 sales to his name. All those top ranking marketing courses and ebooks advise you to have your own mailing list-...
Where to Post and Read Articles Online
The internet is one of the best depositories of informative articles especially on business, marketing and writing. These articles can be a very invaluable source of knowledge and information for starting and growing your business. If you are a...
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The Hidden (and Powerful) Benefits of Frequenting Forums
Copyright 2005 Diane Hughes
While most people understand the benefits of forums from a "gathering information" perspective, many don’t think about the hidden benefits of forums. The most common reason for visiting is to ask questions or get advice. That's a good enough reason to go, but there are other - more beneficial - reasons to become a forum frequenter.
Besides providing a wealth of quality information, forums can also be powerful promotional tools. There are three distinct ways forums can benefit you. And all it takes is a few minutes a day to help others in need.
Link Popularity
I think you’re probably familiar with the term "link popularity" by now. In case you’re not, it refers to the number of incoming links pointing to your site from other sites. Forums can serve as excellent link popularity boosters.
Each time you post a question or response on a forum that’s spidered by the engines, you get one extra link back to your site. Every time your signature (along with the link in it) appears, it counts as an additional link. Since Google puts a lot of weight on link popularity, posting to forums can give your rankings quite a boost!
ACTION STEP ONE: Create a powerful signature line to use in your forum posts that includes benefits to the reader and your URL.
Establishing Yourself as an Expert
In addition to the extra help with your site’s search engine rankings, forums also give you an outlet to establish yourself as an expert.
Countless people flood to forums in search of free advice. Give it to them! If you have the answer to a forum visitor’s problem ... tell him/her the answer. (Even if this is something you would normally charge a fee for.) By doing so, you show the others reading your post that you know your
stuff.
People love to be in the company of an expert, and they also love to do business with an expert they trust.
ACTION STEP TWO: Be prepared to give away some free, quality advice. Don’t skirt the issue. You won’t be able to establish yourself as an expert unless you "prove" to others that you know what you’re talking about.
Getting Referrals and Leads
Forums have started coming into their own in the area of referral and lead generation. Because "lurkers" can quietly click through forums to see who has said what, they have the opportunity to get to know you "behind the scenes."
Be careful what you post on forums. You never know who’s watching! Be friendly, professional, and on guard. There are hundreds (even thousands) of prospective customers out there watching your every move.
However, this is truly a good thing. When you actively post quality information in forums, you leave a legacy that shows the world you’re good at what you do. Anytime this happens, referrals and leads are bound to come your way.
ACTION STEP THREE: Find one or two quality forums that attract those you’d like to do business with. Then put your best foot forward. Don’t downgrade your competition. Be professional, friendly, and helpful.
The next time you think you don’t have a few extra minutes to "fool around" in a forum, think again. You’ll be doing yourself a favor by making the time. From simply sharing your knowledge and experience with others, you could very well end up with stronger search engine rankings and more clients!
About the Author
Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com
FREE Report: Amazingly Simple (Yet Super Powerful) Ways To Skyrocket Your Sales And Build Your Business Into A Tower of Profits! ==>> http://madmarketer.com/diane
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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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