Market Your Knowledge: Nine Guidelines for Establishing Yourself on a Forum

Now you’ve selected a forum, how can you become an active member of the community?

Familiarize yourself with the forum

Before you post, read several of the latest forum threads. The top few listings on a forum are often sticky threads—threads that the moderators want all users to read. They contain information about the forum: FAQs, posting guidelines, etiquette guides, etc. Read these threads thoroughly.

Understanding the forum’s guidelines and culture will make it easier for you to become a member of the community (and will help prevent common posting mistakes).

Content Guidelines

Don’t post content that you don’t have the right to distribute (e.g. pictures, audio, video). For content that you have the right to distribute, provide attribution.

Use proper grammar and spelling. Some forums include a spellchecker. If yours doesn’t, just copy/paste the text into your word processor and run spell check there.

Emoticons are fine, in moderation. As a general rule, try to limit yourself to one per post.

Read over your post before submitting, especially if you are responding to criticism. Make sure your words won’t be interpreted as harsh or insulting. You’re representing your business, so you have to tread more carefully than an anonymous user would.

Respond to posts only if you have something to add—if you agree with another user’s comments but have nothing additional to contribute, there’s no need to post.

Interaction Guidelines

Be helpful. If you see a question you know the answer to, post it! If you can answer the question with additional information, ask the user questions to get the information you need.

Forums often provide an opportunity for you to network with other bloggers within your subject area. Read the blogs of other users. Comment if you have something to say about the post. They may visit your blog if you visit theirs. This is especially true for newer, less active blogs—the bloggers will be more likely to pay attention to your comment and to follow your website link.

Don’t get dragged into a fight. Some people on the internet seem to derive joy from starting arguments on blogs and forums. Those posters usually hide behind anonymity, but you won’t be anonymous because your blog website will be included in every post you make.

1. There’s a difference between disagreement and belligerence. If it’s the latter, you’re better off ignoring them. They’ll go away sooner.
2. Sometimes you can diffuse the situation with an even-headed response, but be very careful not to get sucked in. They don’t care about their reputation (they can just create another username)—yours is much more important.

Self-Promotion Guidelines

Don’t try to sell anything. Most forums prohibit posts that promote a product or service.

Add a blog link to your signature, but only after you’ve established yourself on the forum. People are always on the lookout for spammers. Settling into the community before you add a signature link is more respectful than immediately promoting your blog. Waiting to market yourself will make it easier for you to become accepted as part of the user community. Post for a minimum of two weeks before you add the link, a month if you can. Every situation is different, so use your best judgment.

Participating before you promote your blog gives you a chance to get your bearings with less risk. If one of your posts makes the regulars angry, you can probably make peace and continue to participate on the forum. However, if you find yourself in a hostile environment, you have the option of leaving before having associated your blog with the user account.

Avoid direct promotion of your blog. Don’t reference your blog on the forum unless referring to a post that directly answers a question. Err on the side of caution, as some people get hostile at a hint of self-promotion. Once you’ve been accused of spamming, it can be difficult to mend your reputation. Even if you can refer the poster to one of your blog entries, you should still address the question within the forum post. Provide the link as an additional resource.

Can you think of additional advice for a blogger trying to draw traffic via forums? Please add a comment below!

Tags: internet-marketing, forums, blog-marketing

Tags: blog marketing, forum, internet marketing, self promotion

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 4:55 pm and is filed under internet marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.