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   What is a forum?

    Forum is a special kind of site where the people with similar interest get together and discuss about the topic and also help each other by providing information about the topic or problem.There are millions of forum online and there is one common thing  among all the forum is you must be registered member to discuss and participate in a forum.

Internet forum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Internet forum software package
Another Internet forum software package

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site. It originated as the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system. From a technological standpoint, forums or boards are web applications managing user-generated content.

People participating in an Internet forum may cultivate social bonds and interest groups for a topic made from the discussions.

History

Early Internet forums could be described as a web version of a newsgroup or electronic mailing list (many of which were commonly called Usenet); allowing people to post messages and comment on other messages. Later developments emulated the different newsgroups or individual lists, providing more than one forum, dedicated to a particular topic.

Internet forums are prevalent in several developed countries. In terms of countable posts, Japan is far in the lead with over two million posts per day on their largest forum, 2channel. China also has many millions of posts on forums such as Tianya Club.

Forums perform a function similar to that of dial-up bulletin board systems and Usenet networks that were common from the late 1970s to the 1990s. Early web-based forums date back as far as 1996. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users. Technology, computer games and/or video games, sports, music, fashion, religion, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of topics. Internet slang and image macros popular across the Internet are abundant and widely used in Internet forums.

Forum software packages are widely available on the Internet and are written in a variety of programming languages, such as PHP, Perl, Java and ASP. The configuration and records of posts can be stored in text files or in a database. Each package offers different features, from the most basic, providing text-only postings, to more advanced packages, offering multimedia support and formatting code (usually known as BBCode). Many packages can be integrated easily into an existing website to allow visitors to post comments on articles.

Several other web applications, such as weblog software, also incorporate forum features. Wordpress comments at the bottom of a blog post allow for a single-threaded discussion of any given blog post. Slashcode, on the other hand, is far more complicated, allowing fully threaded discussions and incorporating a robust moderation and meta-moderation system as well as many of the profile features available to forum users.

 Registration or anonymity


In the United States and some parts of Europe, most Internet forums require registration to post. Registered users of the site are referred to as members and are allowed to submit or send electronic messages through the web application. The process of registration involves verification of one's age (typically over 12 is required so as to meet COPPA requirements of American forum software) followed by a declaration of the terms of service (other documents may also be present) and a request for agreement to said terms. Subsequently, if all goes well, the candidate is presented with a web form to fill requesting at the very least: a user name (an alias), password, email and validation of a CAPTCHA code.

While simply completing the registration web form is generally enough to generate an account the status label Inactive is commonly given by default until the registered user confirms the email address given while registering indeed belongs to him. Until that time, the registered can log in to his new account but may not use the forum for communication (posts, threads, private messages).

  Internet Forums are used frequently in conjunction with multi player online game sites.

Sometimes a referrer system is implemented. A referrer is someone who introduced or otherwise "helped someone" with the decision to join the site (similarly how a HTTP referrer is the site who linked one to another site). Usually, referrers are other forum members,and members are usually rewarded for referrals. The referrer system is also sometimes implemented so that if a visitor visits the forum though a link such as referrer id=300, the user with the id number (in this example, 300) would receive referral credit if the visitor registers. The purpose is commonly just to give credit (sometimes rewards are implied) to those who help the community grow.

In areas such as China and Japan, registration is frequently optional and anonymity is sometimes even encouraged. On these forums, a trip code system may be used to allow verification of an identity without the need for formal registration.
Rules and policies on forums

Forums are governed by a set of individuals, collectively referred to as staff, made up of administrators and moderators, which are responsible for the forums' conception, technical maintenance, and policies (creation and enforcing). Most forums have a list of rules detailing the wishes, aim and guidelines of the forums creators. There is usually also a FAQ section contain basic information for new members and people not yet familiar with the use and principles of a forum (generally tailored for specific forum software).

Rules on forums usually apply to the entire user body and often have preset exceptions, most commonly designating a section as an exception. For example, in an IT forum any discussion regarding anything but computer programming languages may be against the rules, with the exception of a general chat section.

Forum rules are maintained and enforced by the moderation team, but users are allowed to help out via what is known as a report system. Most American forum software contains such a system. It consists of a small function applicable to each post (including one's own). Using it will notify all currently available moderators of its location, and subsequent action or judgment can be carried out immediately, which is particularly desirable in large or very developed boards. Generally, moderators encourage members to also use the private message system if they wish to report behavior. Moderators will generally frown upon attempts of moderation by non-moderators, especially when the would-be moderators do not even issue a report. Messages from non-moderators acting as moderators generally declare a post as against the rules, or predict punishment. While not harmful, statements which attempt to enforce the rules are discouraged.

When rules are broken several steps are commonly taken. First a warning is usually given; this is commonly in the form of a private message but recent development has made it possible for it to be integrated into the software. Subsequently, if the act is ignored and warnings do not work, the member is – usually – first exiled from the forum for a number of days. Denying someone access to the site is called a ban. Bans can mean the person can no longer log in or even view the site anymore. If the offender, after the warning sentence, repeats the offense, another ban is given, usually this time a longer one. Continuous harassment of the site eventually leads to a permanent ban. However, in most cases this simply means the account is locked. In extreme cases where the offender – after being permanently banned – creates another account and continues to harass the site, administrators will apply an IP ban (this can also be applied at the server level): if the IP is static, the machine of the offender is prevented from accessing the site. In some extreme circumstances, IP range bans or country bans can be applied; however, this is usually for political, licensing or other reasons. See also: Block (internet), IP blocking, Internet censorship.

Offending content is usually deleted. Sometimes if the topic is considered the source of the problem, it is locked; often a poster may request a topic expected to draw problems to be locked as well, although the moderators decide whether to grant it. In a locked thread, members cannot post anymore. In cases where the topic is considered a breach of rules it – with all of its posts – may be deleted.
 
         Troll (Internet)

Forum trolls are users that repeatedly and deliberately breach the netiquette of an established online community, posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages to bait or excite users into responding or to test the forum rules and policies, and with that the patience of the forum staff. Their provocative behavior may potentially start flame wars (see below) or other disturbances. Responding to a troll's provocations is commonly known as 'feeding the troll' and is generally discouraged, as it can encourage their disruptive behavior.
 
         Sockpuppet (Internet)

The term sock puppet refers to someone who is simultaneously registered under different pseudonyms on a particular message board or forum. The analogy of a sock puppet is of a puppeteer holding up both hands and supplying dialogue to both puppets simultaneously. A sock puppet will create multiple accounts over a period of time, using each user to debate or agree with each other on a forum. Sock puppets are usually found when an IP check is done on the accounts in forums.
 
          Forum spam

Forum spamming is a breach of netiquette where users repeat the same word or phrase over and over, but differs from multiple posting in that spamming is usually a willful act which sometimes has malicious intent. This is a common trolling technique. It can also be traditional spam, unpaid advertisements that are in breach of the forum's rules. Spammers utilize a number of illicit techniques to post their spam, including the use of botnets.

Some forums consider concise, comment-oriented posts spam, for example Thank you or I love it.

          Double posting

One common faux pas on Internet forums is to post the same message twice. Users sometimes post versions of a message that are only slightly different, especially in forums where they are not allowed to edit their earlier posts. Multiple posting instead of editing prior posts can artificially inflate a user's post count. Multiple posting can be unintentional; a user's browser might display an error message even though the post has been transmitted or a user of a slow forum might become impatient and repeatedly hit the submit button. Multiple posting can also be used as a method of trolling or spreading forum spam. A user may also send the same post to several forums, which is termed cross posting. The term derives from Usenet, where cross posting was an accepted practice; however, it causes problems in web forums, which lack the ability to link such posts, so replies in one forum are not visible to people reading the post in other forums.

           Word censor

           Scunthorpe problem

A word censoring system is commonly included in the forum software package. The system will pick up words in the body of the post or some other user editable forum element (like user titles) and if they partially match a certain keyword (commonly no case sensitivity) they will be censored. The most common censoring is letter replacement with an asterisk character; for example: in the user title it is deemed inappropriate for users to use words such as "admin", "moderator", "leader" and so on, if the censoring system is implemented a title such as "forum leader" may be filtered to "forum ******". Rude or vulgar words are common targets for the censoring system. But such auto-censors can make mistakes, for example censoring "wristwatch" to "wris****ch", "Scunthorpe" to "S****horpe", or "shitaki" to "****aki."

          Forum structure

A forum consists of a tree like directory structure containing at the lowest end topics (commonly called threads) and inside them posts. Logically forums are organised into a finite set of generic topics (usually with one main topic) driven and updated by a group known as members, and governed by a group known as moderators.

          User groups

Internally, Western-style forums organise visitors and logged in members into user groups. Privileges and rights are given based on these groups. A user of the forum can automatically be promoted to a more privileged user group based on criteria set by the administrator. A person viewing a closed thread as a member will see a box saying he does not have the right to submit messages there, but a moderator will likely see the same box granting him access to more than just posting messages.

An unregistered user of the site is commonly known as a guest or visitor. Guests are typically granted access to all functions that do not require database alterations or breach privacy. A guest can usually view the contents of the forum or use such features as read marking, but occasionally an administrator will disallow visitors to read their forum as an incentive to become a registered member. A person who is a very frequent visitor of the forum, a section or even a thread is referred to as a lurker and the habit is referred to as lurking. Registered members often will refer to themselves as lurking in a particular location, which is to say they have no intention of participating in that section but enjoy reading the contributions to it.

          Moderator

The moderators (short singular form: "mod") are users (or employees) of the forum who are granted access to the posts and threads of all members for the purpose of moderating discussion (similar to arbitration) and also keeping the forum clean (neutralizing spam and spambots etc). Because they have access to all posts and threads in their area of responsibility, it is common for a friend of the site owner to be promoted to moderator for such a task. Moderators also answer users' concerns about the forum, general questions, as well as respond to specific complaints. They also can do anything to lend a helping hand to a user in need. Moderators themselves may have ranks: some may be given mod privileges over only a particular topic or section, while others (called 'global' or 'super') may be allowed access anywhere. Common privileges of moderators include: deleting, merging, moving, and splitting of posts and threads, locking, renaming, stickying of threads, banning, suspending, unsuspending, unbanning, warning the members, or adding, editing, removing the polls of threads.

Essentially, it is the duty of the moderator to manage the day-to-day affairs of a forum or board as it applies to the stream of user contributions and interactions. The relative effectiveness of this user management directly impacts the quality of a forum in general, its appeal, and its usefulness as a community of interrelated users.

          Administrator

The administrators (short form: "admin") manage the technical details required for running the site. As such, they may promote (and demote) members to moderators, manage the rules, create sections and sub-sections, as well as perform any database operations (database backup etc). Administrators often also act as moderators. Administrators may also make forum-wide announcements, or change the appearance (known as the skin) of a forum.[18]

The term prune used extensively in administration panels is synonymous with delete or remove. The term comes from pruning, the practice of removing diseased, non-productive, or otherwise unwanted portions from a plant.

          Post

A post is a user submitted message enclosed into a block containing the user's details and the date and time it was submitted. Members are usually allowed to edit or delete their own posts. Posts are contained in threads, where they appear as boxes one after another. The first post starts the thread; this may be called the TS (thread starter) or OP (original post). Posts that follow in the thread are meant to continue discussion about that post, or respond to other replies; it is not uncommon for discussions to be derailed.

On Western forums, the classic way to show a member's own details (such as name and avatar) has been on the left side of the post, in a narrow column of fixed width, with the post controls located on the right, at the bottom of the main body, above the signature block. In more recent forum software implementations the Asian style of displaying the members' details above the post has been copied.

Posts have an internal limit usually measured in characters. Often one is required to have a message of minimum length of 10 characters. There is always an upper limit but it is rarely reached – most boards have it at either 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 or 50,000 characters.

Most forums keep track of a user's post count. The postcount is a measurement of how many posts a certain user has made.[19] Users with higher postcounts are often considered more reputable than users with lower postcounts. However, some forums have disabled postcounts in the hopes that doing so will reduce the emphasis on quantity over quality of information.

          Thread

A thread (sometimes called a topic) is a collection of posts, usually displayed – by default – from oldest to latest, although this is typically configurable: options for newest to oldest and for a threaded view (a tree-like view applying logical reply structure before chronological order) can be available. A thread is defined by a title, an additional description that may summaries the intended discussion, and an opening or original post (common abbreviation 'OP', which can also mean original poster) which opens whatever dialogue or makes whatever announcement the poster wished. A thread can contain any number of posts, including multiple posts from the same members, even if they are one after the other.

A thread is contained in a forum, and may have an associated date which is taken as the date of the last post (options to order threads by other criteria are generally available). When a member posts in a thread it will jump to the top since it is the latest updated thread. Similarly, other threads will jump in front of it when they receive posts. When a member posts in a thread for no reason but to have it go to the top, it is referred to as a bump or bumping. Threads which are important but rarely receive posts are stickyed (or, in some software, 'pinned'). A sticky thread will always appear in front of normal threads, often in its own section.

A thread's popularity is measured on forums in reply (total posts minus one – the opening post) counts. Some forums also track page views. Threads meeting a set number of posts or a set number of views may receive a designation such as "hot thread" and be displayed with a different icon compared to others threads. This icon may stand out more to emphasize the thread.
Thread (viewing as moderator)

Thread (viewing as moderator)
Forum (viewing as moderator)


         Discussion

Forums prefer a premise of open and free discussion and often adopt de facto standards. Most common topics on forums include questions, comparisons, polls of opinion as well as debates. Because of their volatile and random behavior it is not uncommon for nonsense or unsocial behavior to sprout as people lose temper, especially if the topic is controversial. Poor understanding of differences in values of the participants is a common problem on forums. Because replies to a topic are often wording aimed at someone's point of view, discussion will usually go slightly off into several directions as people question each others validity, sources and so on. Circular discussion and ambiguity in replies can carry out arguments for several tens of posts of a thread eventually ending when everyone gives up or another similar debate takes it over. It is not uncommon for a style over substance or ad hominem debates to be the ones to take it over.


         Flame wars

        Flaming (Internet)

When a thread—or in some cases an entire forum—becomes unstable the result is usually uncontrolled spam in the form of one-line complaints, image macros or abuse of the report system. When the discussion becomes heated and sides do nothing more than complain and not accept each other's differences in point of view, the discussion degenerates into what is called a flame war. To flame someone means to go off-topic and attack the person rather than their opinion. Likely candidates for flame wars are usually religion and socio-political topics, or topics that discuss pre-existing rivalries outside the forum (eg: rivalry between games console systems, car manufacturers, nationalities, etc.)

When a topic that has degenerated into a flame war is considered akin to that of the forum (be it a section or the entire board), spam and flames have a chance of spreading outside the topic and causing trouble, usually in the form of vandalism. Some forums (commonly game forums) have suffered from forum-wide flame wars almost immediately after their conception, because of a pre-existing flame war element in the online community. Many forums have created devoted areas strictly for discussion of potential flame war topics that are moderated like normal.


         Common features

By default to be an Internet forum, the web application needs an ability to submit threads and replies. Forum software may sometimes allow categories or subforums. The chronological older-to-newer view is generally associated with forums (the newer to older being associated more akin to blogs).


         Tripcodes and capcodes


           Tripcode

In a tripcode system, a secret password is added to the user's name following a separator character (often a number sign). This password, or tripcode, is hashed into a special key, or trip, distinguishable from the name by HTML styles. Tripcodes cannot be faked but on some types of forum software they are insecure and can be guessed.

Moderators and administrators will frequently assign themselves capcodes, or tripcodes where the guessable trip is replaced with a special notice (such as "# Administrator"), or cap.
 message


         Personal message

A private message, or PM for short, is a message sent in private from a member to one or more other members. The ability to send so-called carbon copies is sometimes available. When sending a carbon copy (cc), the users to whom the message is sent directly will not be aware of the recipients of the carbon copy or even if one was sent in the first place.

Private messages are generally used for personal conversations. They can also be used with tripcodes—a message is addressed to a public trip and can be picked up by typing in the tripcode.


         Attachment

An attachment can be almost any file. When someone attaches a file to a post they are uploading the file to the forums' server. Forums usually have very strict limit on what can be attached and what cannot (among which the size of the files in question).


         BBCode and HTML


            BBCode

HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is sometimes allowed but usually its use is discouraged or when allowed it is extensively filtered. When HTML is disabled Bulletin Board Code (BBCode) is the most common preferred alternative. BBCode usually consists of a tag, similar to HTML only instead of < and > the tagname is enclosed within square brackets (meaning: [ and ]). Commonly [i] is used for italic type, [b] is used for bold, [u] for underline, [color="value"] for color and [list] for lists, as well as [img] for images and [url] for links.

The following example BBCode: [b]This[/b] is [i]clever[/i] [b] [i]text[/i] [/b] when the post is viewed the code is rendered to HTML and will appear as: This is clever text.

Many Forum hosts offer Custom BBCodes, where the Administrator of the Board can create complex BBCodes to allow the use of javascript or iframe functions in posts, for example embedding a YouTube or Google Video complete with viewer directly into a post.


         Emoticon


Emoticon or smiley is a symbol or combination of symbols used to convey emotional content in written or message form. Forums implement a system through which some of the text representations of an emoticons (e.g. XD, :p) are rendered as a small image. Depending on part the world the forum's topic originates (since most forums are international) smiles can be replaced by other forms of similar graphics, an example would be kaoani (e.g. *(^O^)*, (^-^)b).


         Poll

Most forums implement an opinion poll system for threads. Most implementations allow for single-choice or multi-choice (sometimes limited to a certain number) when selecting options as well as private or public display of voters. Polls can be set to expire after a certain date or in some cases after a number of days from its creation. Members vote in a poll and a statistic is displayed graphically.


         RSS and ATOM


            Web feed

RSS and ATOM feeds allow a minimalistic means of subscribing to the forum. Common implementations only allow RSS feeds listing the last few threads updated for the forum index and the last posts in a thread.


         Other forum features

An ignore list allows members to hide posts of other members that they do not want to see or have a problem with. In most implementations they are referred to as foe list or ignore list. Usually the posts are not hidden, but minimized with only a small bar indication a post from the user on the ignore list is there. Internet forums include a member list, present in almost all forums it allows display of all forum members, with integrated search feature. Some forums will not list members with 0 posts, even if they have activated their accounts.

Common on forums, a subscription is a form of automated notification integrated into the software of most forums. It usually notifies either by email or on the site when the member returns. The option to subscribe is available for every thread while logged in. Subscriptions work with read marking, namely the property of unread which is given to the content never served to the user by the software.

Recent development in some popular implementations of forum software has brought social network features and functionality. Such features include personal galleries, pages as well as a social network like chat systems.


         Comparison with other Web applications

One significant difference between forums and electronic mailing lists is that mailing lists automatically deliver new messages to the subscriber, while forums require the member to visit the website and check for new posts. Because members may miss replies in threads they are interested in, many modern forums offer an "e-mail notification" feature, whereby members can choose to be notified of new posts in a thread, and web feeds that allow members to see a summary of the new posts using aggregator software. The main difference between newsgroups and forums is that additional software, a newsreader, is required to participate in newsgroups. Visiting and participating in forums normally requires no additional software beyond the web browser.

Wikis, unlike conventional forums, typically allow all users to edit all content, including each other's messages. This level of content manipulation is reserved for moderators or administrators on most forums. Wikis also allow the creation of other content outside the talk pages. On the other hand, weblogs and generic content management systems tend to be locked down to the point where only a few select users can post blog entries, although many allow other users to comment upon them.

Forums differ from chat rooms and instant messaging in that forum participants do not have to be online simultaneously to receive or send messages. Messages posted to a forum or Usenet are publicly available for some time, which is uncommon in chat rooms that maintain frequent activity.

One rarity among forums is the ability to create your own picture album. Forum participants can upload personal pictures onto the site, add descriptions to the pictures, and choose album covers. Pictures are in the same format as posting threads, and contain the same options such as "Report Post" and "Reply to Post".

         How To Use Forums To Make Money Online

 A forum is a special website where people can get together and discus the topics allowed in the forum. Memebers can help oneanother about the allowed topics. Generally each and every forum is built on a common topics e.g. webmaster forum,net marketing forum etc and as a forum member you can discuss the topics allowed by forum moderator or administrator and not anything you want. Yeah you can always find a forum about a topic that interest you. There are thousands of forums running online. If you don't know then let me say this: A forum is a very great source for free traffic and free advertising. As a member you can strat a new post on the allowed topic,discuss that with other member and even can ask for help. Helping oneanother that is the main goal of a forum.

 Each and every forum has its on rules,terms and conditions and you must obey them to use the forum.

 You can help others if you are knowledgeable about the topic discussed and can ask questions and can ask for help from the other member at the same time you can leverage your presence in the forum to make money.

1. When you have knowledge about the topic discussed and/or if when someone ask for help,you can just provide information but remember  you should provide accurate information and insightful information that other can understand easily and the information should be helpful to others. When you post this info in the end you can insert a link to your site and thus you get free traffic and a valuable backlink from the point of SEO.

2. 2nd way you can generate free advertising and  traffic is you can permanently insert a clickable link to your site by inserting it in your forum signature. Again free traffic + backlinks advantage.

3. 3rd way is by including your affiliate link in the post. How can you do that?If a topic discussed is about a product you are affiliated with then when you reply or post a solution,you can directly insert your affiliate link instead of your site link and when some one click your affiliate link and buy that product,you will earn commission.

4. If you are an affiliate marketer and promoting multiple product then you can join different forums for each product. I mean to say you can join a forum related to product one and target that product at that forum only and you can join another forum 2 which is related to your product no2 and targeted that product 2 at only at forum 2 and so on..........In short use the forum related to your product for promotion.

5. If you are not getting clicks on your URL means other members do not trust you and believe that you are there to only promote your product. So what should you do in this situation is 1st post at least15-20 reply without putting any website link and gain their trust. You will find out from the responses you receive to your post.  

 If you keep these simple point in mind you will on your ways to generate free traffic and free advertising and lastly make money.

  Do keep in mind never join any forum but join only forums related to your niche,business or products. They are your targeted audience and there is no use in trying to sell a traveling guide to the people who is there to discuss gardening. You can easily find out the forums related to your niche with help of search engine. Use the forum actively and you will receive free advertising and free traffic and lastly make money.

         How to start with any forum?

  On the last page I have shown you how can you generate free advertising and free traffic and lasty make money but then I a thought came into my mind :Suppose you are a newbie and so I decided to write on this topic.

  First of all keep in mind that most forum have almost same functionality and registration process so what I write here will help you for any forum.

 To use any type of forum the 1st thing you will have to do is to register with the forum. It is damn easy and you have to feel up a forum.

 Most forums require information about these 4 things :

1. Your Name

2. Your Email

3. A Username

4. A Password

Always use the e-mail address you check very often. After registration you will have to confirm your e-mail address and only after confirming your e-mail address you can access the forum otherwise not.2nd you can make setting at your profile in the members area that you want an e-mail when a reply post to your post. You can even choose to get e-mail for the discussion going on and when any one post a reply(Although yo The first reason for this is most forums require you to verify your email address before you can access the forum. This is to make sure you entered the right email address when you signed up. Also, as you will learn later on in the guide using an email you check often can make your forum experience as productive as possible.

 You can use anything for your user name but always use a user name that you can easily remember.

 Again you can use anything for a password but most forums have rules that password should be atleast 8 character and you can use both number and alphabets. Choose a password the you can easily remember but nobody can guess. Don't use any personal details as your password as it cam be easily guess e.g. your cell number,your wheecal number etc etc. If you want to generate a random password you can use roboform, you can use this online password generator or if you are a webmaster you can use your c-panel.
 
         Registration process is very simple for any forum......

  When you are at a forum click on the register tab and you will be directed to registration page. There will be a 2 types of registration forms. In 1st one you will be directed to 1st terms and conditions page and before you can access the registration form you have to agree to the terms and conditions and then and then you can access the registration form. In second type you will be presented with the registration form directly but at the bottom of the page you have this terms and conditions field which you have tick mark as "I agree" and then you can finish the sign up or registration procedure. Any type but you still have to fill up the form,right?Now fill up all the details and don't forget to insert correct captcha(Number and alphabets generated on the image).This captcha is used in most of the forum to varify that you are a human being and not an auto boat or software program that filling the forum automatically.

 Mostly you have to insert name,email address(2 times),password and captcha code or image verification and some time some other field. Depend on a forum

 And as I said either a tick mark button at the bottom of the page or separate page before or after registration page where you have to tick mark(if tick mark button) or press "I agree button" and  finally press submit or complete registration button and you will be directed to registration thank you page with message.....

  Something like...Your registration is successful. We have send you a confirmation e-mail to e-mail address you have registered with. You must confirm your e-mail address and after only confirmation you can access this forum.

  Some forums allow access after registration but  before you access the forum 2nd time you must confirm your e-mail address.

  Now log into e-mail address you have use for registration. You will find an e-mail from the forum. Most probably the subject of the e-mail will be something like "Confirm your registration' or "confirmation required".Open the e-mail click on the confirmation link of follow the instructions in the e-mail and again you will be directed to a forum page with probable message : "Your registration is confirmed and now you can log in'

  With some forums you get the log in details in confirmation e-mail  and with other forums you get log in details in the 2nd e-mail after you confirm your e-mail address.

  Any way you should save that e-mail with log in details for future use. You can make a folder in your e-mail address with name "Password-Forums" and save the e-mail. As you join other forums in the future,you will get such email with log in details from each forum and you can save these e-mails with log in details in this folder so you do not have to search your entire in box when you need them.

 Now the registration process and even confirmation process complete  and you can log into the forum. If you are not on log in page click log in button and you will be directed to log in page. Insert your user name and password and press log in button.

You are now logged in and ready to participate in the forum.
 
   When you 1st time log in,you should set up your profile. It is one of the most important step for you to successfuly use the forum for promotional purpose.

  Click on profile button and you will be directed to your profile page. Here you add your picture,either you can insert your real picture or can use any image allowed by the forum. Generally most people do not use real picture you start to use the forum, people can put a face with your user name. This will help people associate you with your posts etc. You can use your own photograph 2 ways if you have your photo online on a site(Your own) or  photo sharing site like photo bucket then you can insert the url directly or you can click the browse button and upload the photo from your hard drive. Some forums allowed to insert text below your picture. You can either you can insert your name or your goal or a inspirational thought or anything you want. Now we move on to next field. Now you know it is filling like a form. Here is where you can enter you birthday, your location and your gender. These are not required fields but knowing where you are located in the world and your gender is a big help. You can put your country only or your state only or even your city. It is up to you what you want to put here if you put anything at all. Then you can enter your messenger user name here as per which messenger you use.

.In sort fill up each field and then fill up the most important field,forum signature :In this field you can insert your website url and if you don't have your own website then you can insrt your affiliate url with short description. When you will start a new topic or post anything ,],a reply etc then your forum signature will be displayed at the bottom of the post so if anyone want to visit your site he can do so. This is the most important field to fill up for using forum for promotional purpose. You can edit your signature any time but some forums have a rule that to edit your signature you must have minimum number of post must be posted e,g 10 or20. At the bottom of profile form you will see a button that says Change Profile/update profile/submit. Click this button and your forum profile information will be saved. Now you have your profile set up.

  If you want to change your password or insert a security question in case you forget your password then click the Account Related Settings button.

You have successfully set up your profile, and now other members of the forum will be able to learn more about you every time you post. Soon you will be a forum pro.

 You can do some other thing in your member's area of forum to manage and be awared about forum activities.

Click 'notification & email" button. This page is how you set up how you will be notified if someone replies  to a post you make on the forum. Here you can set  many function about receiving e-mails from forum. In most forums for this,there are check boxes so checked the box that sauys
 -receive e-mail fro administration-check because you want to be aware of what is going on at the forum
 -The second box which reads: "Receive reply notification only for the first unread post" should also be checked if you only want to receive notification of the first reply you get. The second box which reads: "Receive reply notification only for the first unread post" should also be checked if you only want to receive notification of the first reply you get. Many people may reply to your post, and if you leave this box unchecked you will receive an email for each reply. If you make a post and someone replies to it, you will receive an email notifying you of this. When you receive this notification, you can click on the link you receive in your email and go directly to the topic that the reply was received in. It is important to reply to posts you make as you may have received a question on your website or about something else you posted, and you will want to answer it as soon as possible to build a level of trust amongst other forum members.
 -The third box is optional, but again I suggest checking it, it reads: "Turn notification on when you post or reply to a topic. What this will do if you check it, is allow you to receive emails about activity and any post you make or reply to. Again it is very important to answer and reply to posts made in a topic you are involved in.
 - If you would like to have the message that was typed sent to your email you can put a checkmark in the fourth box. If you do check this box, please do not reply to the message sent. Make sure you return to the forum to reply to the message.

 Most forums allow you to set personal layout  and to do this click onthe button "Look and Layout".Play with the layouts and finally set the one you like most.

Personal Message Options,  will allow you to add people that you do not want to send you a Personal Message to a list by their user name. Also here you have options to save a copy of all Personal Messages you send to your outbox. If you are on the forum when  a new personal message is sent to you, there is an option on this page to have a pop up notify you of this. One last thing you can do on the Personal Message Options page is to turn on or turn off receiving an email each time you get a personal message on the forum. I suggest you have this turned on so you know when you receive a personal message.

 Now you are ready to start using the forum for what it is for. A forum is a place where you can post your message any time and other members can read it any time .In other words it is a 24 hour meeting place. Active members post message regularly so there is always a fresh content in the forum. Search engines like fresh content so they visit all the popular forums frequently. As I said before you can insert your site's link or an affiliate link in the message and you can also insert a link in the forum signature. This way you get 2 way benefit.1.You get a permanent back link to your site as most forum generally save all the message as archive and never deleted them. So because of backlinks chances of your site rank high in the search results increase.2.Other forum members visit your site or affiliate link if they like your message and thus you get free traffic from forum itself and search engines,too. Moreover search engines follow any new link they find on a popular forum and so if your site is new then the site will be indexed quickly. Free traffic and free advertising from forum should be the goal of any marketer.

  Each forum has a different areas which are defined by forum administrator or moderator. There are different boards(different in each forum) and If you were to imagine the forum as a nice building, the Categories would be the different  floors and the Boards would be the different offices on each floor of the building. Each Board is related to the Category. For instance in the office building example, you may have one floor for accountants, one floor for doctors etc. On each floor you would have an office for different accountants or doctors. Sometime there is a single board for each Category, but you will see some Categories with many Boards in them. If you click on the Board name,you will be directed to that special section/floor and offices on that floor.

Suppose you click on general category(Most forum have this) and if you would like to mark all of the topics as read then you can click on MARK READ. If you wanted to be notified by email each time a new post is made in this category you would click on NOTIFY.I f you want to start a new thread, New Topic is what you click on to add a post. You will also notice that on some categories that have multiple pages. Clicking on the page number will take you to that page.

Each time a new topic is started it will be placed on the forum. If you have not read this post since your last visit to the forum, there will be a button that says NEW on it near the subject. This way you can always know what you have read in General board or category. There is always indication of the activities for this new post by other members of the forum e.g.-the member who submitted the post-how many people have replied to post-how many times this post has been viewed by other members. There is a thumbtack on each board & category, this is known as a "Sticky" post. What this means is that it will remain at the top of the Board. Other posts move down as new posts are made, but a Sticky post does not. There are also some Posts that will have an image of a lock beside them. This is known as a "Locked" post. This means that you can read the post, but you can't reply to it. The Locked post is usually reserved for posts where the owner of the forum wants to let members know of something but they don't want replies made. You will also see on this page the date the last post was made.

There is a REPLY button for each open post.  If you would like to email this topic to someone you know, click on SEND THIS TOPIC. If you would like to PRINT the topic you can click on PRINT. There is a Quote link with each open post. What the Quote does, is when you click it the entire post will be quoted when you reply. If you click Quote it will open up the reply page, with the quote already placed. The Quote link is useful when there are many replies and you want to reply to a specific reply that was made. Simply click on Quote in the reply to you want to reply to.
 
  If you want to grasp all these just play with all the links or buttons in the forum.

 The message or post you made in any forum is usually introduction post. You introduce your self to the other members of the forum. You can do this by clicking NEW TOPIC link/button. You will be directed to post new message page. Insert a subject and for this particular introduction post,you can write-Introducing Myself. In the message field you can write about yourself whatever you want others to know about you. You can also use emotication and there is mostly WYSWYG editor. And if you have set your signature properly while setting your profile,your signature will be added automatically. Before you can actually post your message ,you can always preview it and you should preview your message by clicking PREVIEW button. In fact you should make the habit of preview of each message before posting. In preview if you are satisfied by what you see then it is OK to post otherwise you can edit your message before posting. I f you are satisfied with the message,just press the POST button and post it or click on EDIT button and edit it.

You can also reply to other posts that are made at the forum. There are 2 ways to reply to a post. One is by clicking the Quote link . This will but it will have the post made by the member that you clicked Quote on. Each post has a Quote link and you can reply to each poster individually this way. The second way to Reply to a post is to click the Reply Button which is on the top and bottom of each thread. buttons  are at the bottom of this particular thread. This menu bar is also at the top. Clicking on Reply will open up a blank page to enter your reply. The subject line will already be in the post and it will say Re: THE SUBJECT OF THE ORIGINAL POST. You can change this subject if you want though. Also there are some other things. For instance in the same menu bar that the Reply button is on, you can be notified of replies to this thread by clicking on NOTIFY. You can click on MARK UNREAD so the post will still have the New icon beside on the main page . You can Send This Topic to a contact by clicking on the SEND THIS TOPIC link. And you can also print the topic by clicking on PRINT.  There are also Previous And Next. Clicking on these will take you to the Post Before Or After this one.

  These are the basic steps to participate in any forum. As I said forums are one of the best free advertising & free traffic methods online. Now that you know how to use them, take action. Don't just read the posts, participate.  You should already have your signature set up, so every time someone reads a post you make you may get a click on the link in your signature.

  Let me make this clear :There are slight different at each forum. You will not find everything exactly as I described above but rest assured that there will be 90  % similarity. These difference s are because of different  goals on which a forums formed,different thinking of administrator and finally different scripts used for the forums.

  In short best way to learn everything about any forum is just register,log in and play with all the buttons you see in your member's area without changing anything. There always are instructions so you will learn everything for a particular forum without any difficulty.
 
          Forum Etiquette

 Now you have learned how to use a forum but forum is a kind of social community and so manners and etiquette have major role in your  forum marketing success.

internet etiquette or Netiquette has its own set of unwritten or undefined rules and any cyber Miss Manners will joyfully point out. When you join an online community forum, it is nice to mind your manners for your own good. As a forum member it is also your moral duty to keep the place friendly and hate free. Don't  offend others or you will provoke troublemakers into giving you a hard time. You and trouble maker both will loose your repuation in the eyes of other member and forum administration so never give anyone a cause.

 To be remain mannerful in any forum follow this........

 -Read the forum rules. Read the forum rules although you're excited to be a member of a new forum and can't wait to join in.
 -take the time to find the group policy page and read each word carefully.
 -Sneak around after joining before you post. Know as much as you can about the forum and then participate accordingly.
 -Write clear description about what you write,use the smiley faces to clear the confusion.Your face will not show and  so no one can see your intention through your facial expression and it can be clear with non confusing description only.
 -Others faces also can not be seen so when you read something confusing,just don't take it personally and ask for clarification
 -Never right in all capitals or all caps. All capitals considered shouting according to netiquette.If you do you may annoy and/or offend other members of the forum.
 -If the person is in front of you face to face would you say that?If not what would you say?Think this and then write or say something in the forum.
 -Be respectful. Appreciate that your opinion is one of many. You can disagree with another person without being disrespectful or rude online.
 -Ignore Trolls. Netiquette guidelines are very specific when they're related. If you engage in conversation with Trolls, you'll raise your blood pressure and empower them. Trolls are common and not worthy of anyone's time. Best way to deal with Trolls is : Ignore their posts-no matter how inflammatory-and eventually they'll get bored and move on.

 
         How To Use Forums for Internet Marketing

 There are lots of forums run online including forum for novice,seasoned marketers and niche specific forums. Any experienced professional internet marketer knows that forums can be an ideal way of getting free advertising and free traffic by building a reputation & establishing expert status.

Forums can be one of the best free advertising and free traffic method to promote and market your products..You 1st step is to join the forums related or relevant to your niche or business.

 Regardless of what type of forum you join, you'll have to follow a few basic rules.

Most forums strictly prohibit blatant direct promotion of a Web site, a product, or a service. Never ever  and start posting about how your product or service is the greatest thing after joining a forum. 1st participate in the forum. Help others and gain their trust and still never do any direct promotion. No one likes spammers, and if you do direct promotion  that's exactly what you'll be considered.

You can generally use your forum signature  to promote your Web site, product, or service. Most forums allowed any URL in forum signature but there are forums which do not allow an affiliate url in your forum signature so before setting up your forum signature in your profile read the rules,terms and conditions carefully.

 Again I said before you will not only receive free traffic through your forum signature but also get SEO advantage through backlinks.

After joining never start posting immediately but get acquainted with the forum and forum members by browsing  and find out  which members are most popular and how their opinion are counted and trusted by others. When you offer value to a forum, you establish yourself as both a valuable member of the community and as an expert in your niche.

Participate and be active in the forum and you will start to build relationship with other members and you became trusted valuable members of the community which will help you to drive more traffic to your site.

         Effectively Use a Forum To Promote Your  site

    Forum marketing is a very effective and a free traffic and free advertising method to promote your product or business. New marketers believe when they build a good looking search engine friendly website traffic will automatically flows but actually it is not true at all. Your on line business is same as real business. In a real business you have to work hard to establish your business and yourself. So naturally you have to treat your online business as you treat real business and that is what your online business is. You have to promote your online business to make it successful. I f you do not have budget at start,you can always use different method of free traffic and free advertising and forum marketing is one of them a highly effective method

Forum marketing has been around since the beginning of internet marketing and has been and still is one of the most effective ways to promote your legitimate online business or website. To use the forum marketing effectively,you must follow the TOS of the forums. Every forum has its own rules ,terms and conditions to use the forum. Most terms for each forum is same or identical but never take this fact as granted. Read the rules,terms and conditions for each forum carefully. Write down some particular unique terms so that you remember them at the time of posting. Most forum has a board or category or section where you can promote your business or website and in this particular section of the forum,your commercial message like advertisement will not consider spam. I f the forum has no such section then you will have to rely on traditional forum marketing and that is through your forum signature.

So basically when you join a forum,after registration you set up your profile and your forum signature. Your forum signature is the field where you can insert your website url and short description with clickable link. When you post or reply to any post,your signature will be displayed with your message and if what you wrote in the message interest the reader,he will visit your site by clicking the link in the signature. Every forum has different rule about adding your signature. Some allow you to add your forum signature immediately after your 1st log in and some has strict rule like : You must make 3 0r 7 or any number of posts predecided by forum administration before you can add your signature.

To get maximum advantage from a forum membership do this....

 -Be active member
 -Participate in the discussion regularly
 -Post regularly and post insightful information
 -Do not post short on line replies
 -Follow rules and regulations
 -Do not offend other members
 -Be helpful to other members.
 -Give more take less
 -Establish yourself an expert in your niche,if required,do some research before posting.
 -Gain the trust of others
 -Never get into dispute
 -Quality vs. Quantity
Whenever you are logging into a forum, remind yourself of the magic mantra Give more take less. Remember to contribute more in value to the other members’ needs. This builds a great deal of trust. A member who looks the most ˜selfless’ is the one who can reap the maximum rewards from the  forum. How? By building trust within the forum, you are giving a signal to moderator of the forum that you are not there to spam. With the trust yoy have built if you post occasional link with your message is overlooked by others,specially the moderator and in fact thank you for providing valuable information.
-PM  With the Influential
 Find the authority members not in regards to forum contribution, but by their owned websites. Make it a point to contribute to all discussions that they contribute in. PM them with your point of view and get to know the individual. After a few contacts, your can request for a link back or even a review of your website and is sure to be accepted readily!
 -Be Smart
Everybody uses forum signature and everyone knows we do to receive free traffic but why you are not getting enough clicks? of us have used forum signatures. Everyone knows that it can bring traffic, but why aren’t enough people clicking? To receive more clicking on your link you have to incite and make enough members curious. How you do that?Every niche has its own controversial topics. Start one of the topic and participate actively,because of the controversy most of the members will follow. Flame Bait

 Forum  is a great place to network with other online home business owners.
 - To strike a joint venture with.
 -For a cross promotions
 - Link exchanges

These are just a few among a thousand different ways to promote your website via forums. But they are sure to get you valuable exposure you wouldn’t want to miss.

  Now how can you find the forums relevant to your niche?
  It is simple you can use Google,Yahoo or Metacrawler  search engines.

  Just type in the search box : "Forum + Your Niche Market"
                                    or
  You can use : "Forum + Relevant Main Keyword Of your Business"

  Use it with quotation marks to get specific results.

I just googled; forum+online business. The returned results were 287 million online business forums that are available. You have no excuse not to join forums now.


         Use Forums To Promote Your Blog

Do you think forums are only good for getting help and advice?Not now,right as you read everything above. While you can help other members and ask for help on the discussion forums, you can also drive traffic to your blog.

 These are a few ways to get other  members to notice you blog at least once.

Start an argument with another member

 By this i mean a general debate and discussion and not to offend other member.

When a debate starts in a particular thread between two members, other members usually don’t interfere. But this doesn’t mean they are not reading. They silently read the debate and derive their own conclusions. Either you smartly pick a weak defender or you should have more knowledge then your debater to win the argument then other members reading will be impressed by your thought and want to know more about views and so visit your blog through signatur link.

         Become an active member in a sub-forum

Pick a certain sub-forum relevant to your blog, and actively participate in all discussions. Be the first one to help in a new thread. Always be eager to offer help and advice to fellow members. And Be welcoming to the new members. This will definitely get other members to appreciate your help and selflessness and have them wanting to know more about you on your blog.

         Become a moderator

OK you will not become a moderator by sheer wish right?But if you try enough,you can. And for that you have need lot more commitment and active participation in entire forum and that takes too much time but if you can make it with highly busy forum then your time and efforts will worth that. When you become a moderator, you are instantly promoted from being just another member with worthless opinion to a position of authority. Your opinion will be considered  an authentic and well-researched opinion on all matters as a moderator. Now you become an authority for particular niche in eyes of other members so they want more of your knowledge and so when they visit your blog and your blog has relevant valuable content,chances are they become regular readers. Therefore, by becoming a moderator, you not only draw more attention to yourself (and your signature) but you also get visitors who are already inclined to become your readers.
Optimize your signature

         Now something more about signature........


Do you wrote your signature like :"My Blog" Or is it simply your blog link?It is very much necessary that you insert well-written anchor text with your blog link in your forum signature. If you do every thing else well but do not form your forum signature creatively and right way then all other efforts are in vain. The best way to describe a link is to put it in the form of title and a sub-title.

Example: Blog Marketing: Do you know you can drive floods of traffic to your site through blogging.

Above is much better and appealing than a simple “Blog Marketing” or “yourblog.com”

Insert  your links in the posts

 As I said before by gaining trust of members and specially the moderator,if you frequently insert your site's link in your reply with insightful information your link will be over looked so 1st establish your self and gain trust and if you do this without trust then it will be considered spam and chances are you will be suspended or banned. But if you want to help a member out and have already a post on your blog related to the member’s query, do not hesitate to refer him to your blog. If you are already established as an authority member on the forum, no one will object to your occasional link dropping. I have been a member of numerous forums for many years and have found the above methods to be quite useful. I have even gotten hundreds of visitors to my sites.

         Relevant Forum For Your Blog

  Hunt forums related to your blog. I have already said above about how can you do that. Quite often the forum is not just a standalone forum – it could be just part of a larger site. So hunt them down!They don’t have to be big forums either (but they should be active). 3-5 forums are enough for a blog.

2. Join up…. and Do Nothing (for a while)
This is the key. Many people when find a hot forum they joined and start posting their blog or site links. Either you will be suspended or quickly get banned or at least annoy other members and got negative reputation for you and your blog. As you know 1st impression is the last impression and so it will remain with you forever and you will get very poor response.

Instead of rushing in – join up and be an on looker for a few days.
 
 Watch and learn.

    * Learn who the key players are.
    * Watch to see what topics are hottest.
    * See which areas of the forum are most active.
    * Observe what the culture and rules of the forum are.

This ‘on looking’ is all about learning as much as you can so that when you actually get active you can do it in a way that actually connect with other members.

3. Set up your Signature and Avatar

Set up a very simple yet effective signature If the forum allows you to choose an avatar – choose a simple one. You can use a photo of yourself and it will make you more personal. On that note you should make your forum name your real name. Again – this will ‘humanizes’ you as you interact with people.

4. Start Posting

You have watched, learned and set yourself up – now it is time to start interacting with other members.

Don’t go too slow too fast. Nobody likes a showoff or attention seeker. A few posts a day for your first week is sufficient and so in a week you have posted 20-30 posts and that will show the moderator and other members that you are investing your time in the forum. Concentrate on making yourself as useful as possible to other forum members. Your main priority should be to answer questions that others in the forum ask.
Point people to sites that might help them or answer their questions – but in the first week or two do not point them to your own blog or your own site.

5. Write Resource Content/Tutorials

After a week or two of ‘helping’ and being useful you can then begin to produce weekly tutorial type content. This is where you find things begin to really take off. You are doing two things together1.Establishing yourself as an expert in your niche and driving traffic to your blog or website. In these ‘tutorial’ type posts you want to be writing top quality ‘how to’ type content that other members will find highly valuable. In many ways these tutorials are similar to what you might normally post on your blog.In some ways what you should do with these ‘tutorials’ is similar to what people who write guest posts for other people’s blogs do.write impressive content that makes people pay attention to you.In these tutorials you can generally  either include a relevant link to your blog to a post that extends the topic or is a ‘further reading’ type link OR at the end of the tutorial you can include a simple line pointing out that you write more of this type of thing on your blog (with a link). keep these links very low key/small fonts. What you will find is that as you write these tutorials that people begin to want to know more about who you are. When you help people & if you really helped them they seek out more help from you.

6. Make Connections

You will find that the relationships will happen fairly naturally at this point but  put a little extra time at this point to establish relationships with people in the forum, particularly key influences, moderators and owners. Send these people private messages introducing yourself. Encourage them,specially owners and moderators and they will appreciate positive feed back from you. If you can make the forum a better place ,offer your help and suggestion.

7. Let Others Promote Your Blog

I find that at this point a wonderful thing happens – forum members begin to promote your blog. They come across  through your replys,tutorials or through conversations and they begin to read your blog. When they find something on it that they like, they write about it.
Sounds a little too good to be true,right? – but it has happened & can happen for you. It’s almost like when you find other bloggers in your niche beginning to discover your blog – but instead it can potentially be a whole community discovering your blog at once (a very powerful thing).

Last time this happened to a reknown marketer and it was in a forum with over 100,000 members. It took him 5 months of ground work but when the ‘tipping point’ came it was like he suddenly became a celebrity or some kind of hero in the forum. He’d written 15 tutorials by this time and they’d become some of the most viewed threads in the forum, the forum owner had asked if he could pay him to write more and when he said h’d do it for free he included a small button on his sidebar linking to his blog as a recommended resource as payment.

8. Be Generous, Be Understated and Be Useful

If you wan to use forums effectively be as helpful as you can,be friendly,obey rules and maintin low profile.In this method there is restrictions and limitations and littel bit slow but it is working. If you’re anything like me your natural tendency is to shout out about your blog at every opportunity but take it. It has been done and it doesn’t work. The more low profile you maintain more success you will have.

  7 Steps to Drive Laser Targeted Traffic to Your Site through Forums

It is known fact that forum posting works for driving traffic to your site. Many webmasters and affiliate marketers are using forums for this sole purpose. You should make your goal that every forum post you make is to get as many people to subscribe to your list as possible! And believe me you can do this with just 30 minutes of your time.



Step 1 - Find Relevant Forums About Your Niche or Business
                Just Google the following:

                      +"your niche" +forum

                                  or

              +"your niche" +"discussion board"

For instance, if I am looking for Forums in the Internet Marketing field, I type +"Internet Marketing" +forum . The results show the top Internet marketing Forums such as:

Step 2 - Join the Forums and Set Up Your Signature

Step 3 - Read the Rules and Regulations of the Forum Before Posting

Step 4 - Ask for Input or Help
Above I show you a way to be an expert and reap the rewards but suppose you can not write tutorial etc then?Then you can apply this approach. It can be called : Approach from a weak man's position. Let me explain this:Suppose you have write a article or build a site or just added new content to your site or blog,in short this will work in any scenario,ask for help to modify your content,or your site design etc and on that page you can easily insert your opt in form with great offer. It's a great way to get the attention of forum members to your article. You also get them engaged in the article by asking for their input. And who knows, you may also get other publishers who would use your content in their ezines, thereby getting more exposure for your site.

Step 5 - Ask for a Critical Assessment

If you are the type that is not easily hurt by honest feedback even when it hurts, you can go to a forum and ask for a honest critique. You may think this will not make people sign up for your list, but I tell you, many people will end up subscribing to it. It's a more indirect and acceptable way to ask people to check out your site without blatant advertising.



Plus, the feedback they give you may help to make your squeeze page even more compelling. Ask them if it would persuade them to give it a try, assuming they were in your target market (of course, you already know they are by the forum you selected). And, if they say no, ask them why. You can get valuable information on what they want (and don't want) this way.



There are two types of forums where you should ask for critiques: the niche forum itself and a marketing forum. You'll likely get more sign-ups from the niche forum and good advice to test out from the marketing forum (although you'll get some opt-ins there as well).



Step 6 - Ask Your Target Market What They Want



Unknown to most people, this is one of the best ways to develop products and services. And most times, Forum members are ready to tell you what they'll buy and give you ideas for articles, auto-responder content, your blog posts, whatever you need. People guess the products their target market will want and create them only to discover no one is interested in the product, but with this approach, you have real people telling you what product they want, how they want it and how much they are prepared to pay for it.



The way you would use this technique to get them to subscribe is to post something like, "what's your biggest question about loosing weight?" Or "what's the single most important thing you'd like to know about building a business?"



Don't forget to ask if they're willing to pay for solutions to their problems and have them give you an indication of how much they would be willing to pay. Powerful stuff!



Let them know you've already answered 10 questions (your 10 step mini-course loaded in your auto-responder), for example. Then they'll be more likely to sign-up. Make sure you point out that you'll add to your mini-course with the answers to the questions they've provided, and that they'll get answers to the existing questions in your mini-course PLUS the new ones when they subscribe. Everybody wins!



Step 7 - Provide a Step-By-Step Guide or Video Tutorial



If someone asks how to create an ebook, give them a progression of steps they can take. Or, make a Camtasia tutorial video showing them how. Now that you've got them to your site, you'll want to "make them a proposal they can't refuse."



Provide a List of Resources and Websites



In addition to checklists, resource lists with website URLs make a great site for them to bookmark! Make sure you supply more than just links. Make it a huge info-page of information. A collection of resources, links to everything you have - articles, video, audio, your blog, other useful sites, tools, you name it.



Solve a Problem for People



If someone asks for help or asks a question, provide your experience and try to help them. But to maximize your odds of getting both the asker of the question and everyone else who reads the post to subscribe to your líst, try to phrase your answer in one of the following two ways:



1. Give them tips, techniques, shortcuts, secrets, or anything that offers both the promise of exclusive information and fast results. A shortcut to success.



2. Whenever possible, supply them with specific results. Think about it. When you want to learn how to make income online, you go to someone who is making revenue online to guide you. This quickly establishes you as an authority in that area.



And by helping them, maybe - just maybe - they'll click on the link in your signature to check out your website. If you direct them to a blog post or article you wrote to answer their question, they'll be even more likely to investigate.



That's all there is to it but at the end of the day, it's a failure-proof way to drive serious traffic to your website using Forum Posts. Apply it and see your traffic soar through the roof. Don't say I didn't warn you!


         How To Use Forums In Viral Marketing

Recently, forum marketing has been touted as a kind of free, organic, viral marketing
. But because so many marketers go into forums purely with the intention of marketing products or services, their actions and attitude unwittingly causes the exact opposite of the desired effect.

Forums aren't marketplaces but when used as such, the marketers' actions become offensive and will only inspire the wrath of fellow members and marketers, not to mention moderators who can ban them from the site with the click of their mouse.

In order to be effective, this kind of marketing carries a certain degree of commitment, responsibility and respect. The first requirement is to take a personal interest in the main topic of the forum. Not only does that mean visiting it regularly, but it also means developing a good relationship with both other members and the moderators, as well as taking an active interest in helping others. Of course, it also means abiding by and all rules that exist. By doing this, one can develop a reputation and, since it is human nature to work with a trusted colleague, business will naturally develop from this.

This type of marketing has already suffered some abuse and because of this, many forums have recently developed stringent rules designed to protect their members from abusive or overly-aggressive marketing tactics. One forum grants .sig files only after a member has created one hundred valid posts and another has disallowed ads in sig files altogether.

Marketers must respect that the purpose of a forum is to be a platform to exchange ideas on a given topic. It is not there to advertise products and services. By focusing on the topic and posting questions and answers, a marketer's reputation will grow and this creates the potential for sales naturally.

         How to use forums for SEO

Forums are crawled frequently due to forums always modify content. What does this mean? Well, If you are a part of a forum, your signature is a huge asset to you. Not only for backlinks, but to intend crawled also. Signatures are also a great way to intend a some visitors to your site. If you are a member of a forum which has a similar topic to your site, an interesting signature module catch a users attention.

Forums are not only great to promote your site, but they are also good to have. A forum encourages users to convey to your site, giving you a larger number of visits, and hence more content. As it is users who post the articles, all you have do is sit backwards and watch the total number of indexed pages your place has rise. This means more ’specific’ search results and hence, more visitors.

Some of the best forums out there are phpbb, Vbulletin, and also other content management systems same phpuke and postnuke. These are great ways to build sites with lots of content.


         How To Use Forums To Get backlinks


Do you think it is hard to get backlinks for your site via forum? If you do, you are not alone. Creating backlinks is more than just posting in the forum. You need a strategy in order not to only get backlinks to your site. You should also try your every means to drive the forum users who have seen your forum postings.

So how can you make the forum users click through your signature links at the bottom of your forum postings? Simply create an inducing headline that makes one who saw it want to click on it to see what is shown in your site.

Below is a strategy that is guaranteed to create more backlinks to your site. Moreover, it will also increase your own web page’s page rank if you follow it closely.

First, go to google.com and do a search for a keyword phrase such as ‘ forum’ whereby niche can be replaced by the niche site you had. From the list, go through the top 5 forums listing and go to their site.

Register for an user name and password at the 5 niche forums and start posting replies or answers to people who are asking questions in the niche forums. After a week or so, start placing a signature in your forum user name setting and post replies as usual. However, this time round, the signature that you have created which includes a backlinks to your site via anchor text for the keyword or keyword phrase that you are trying to optimize.

Do this daily for 3 weeks and you will see your site get ranked higher. To get more tips on getting your webpage ranked higher in the search engine in the shortest time possible!

         How to Use Forums in Conjunction With Social Networks


Forums and social networking are both useful tools for promoting yourself and your business, but they are often seen as two very different creatures. However, with a bit of creativity and finesse, you can make one tool lead into another one, meaning that a beautiful partnership of increasing traffic is created with just a bit of work. Forums are best used in conjunction with something like a social networking site as well as your own business site, so read on to learn how to make everything work well together.

Forums are often seen as little more than a world wide bulletin board where people post opinions, thoughts, ideas, and advice on a given topic. Social network sites on the other hand are sites where you can display yourself as a person instead of just a sliver of yourself in your answers. Social networking can make you more of a person to the internet and you can use different things like photos to get yourself across to your public.

Forums and social networking can be used to strengthen each other when you are trying to not only draw traffic to your site but also establish yourself as an expert in your field. Forums allow you to attract attention to yourself by answering questions, offering advice, and overall making yourself into an expert in the eyes of the internet public. Then you can direct people to your social media site where they learn more about you as a person and thus you gain their trust. When they decide to visit your business site, you’re in a position of trust and even the feeling of being friendly with these people which leads to a highly increased chance of making a good sale.

You don’t even have to do much work to make these two things work together in a way that makes people trust you more and thus be more likely to buy from you. Just be sure to keep up with your posts as you would do anyway and then be sure to provide a link to your social network. From there, you simply have to direct them to your business and you have customers that trust you, know exactly what you’re about and are thus far more likely to buy from you.

When used well, forums and social networking together make a powerful tool of trust building between customer and merchant which is very important in the online world where a lot of people are understandably leery of online transactions. You don’t even have to do any extra work; simply make sure to form a bridge of a backlink between the forum posting and your social network.

Addy K is a successful internet business entrepreneur who enjoys sharing his experiences and knowledge with others looking to join the fast growing internet business opportunity. You can follow his tips, tricks, and personal business experiences at his make money online blog.

 

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