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Forums have achieved tremendous popularity for many business owners these days. They are a great tool for marketing products online. However, many an online marketer has crossed the line with regard to forum etiquette and have suffered as a result.

Here are some nuggets / tidbits of advice when it comes to marketing in forums;

1. You have to become a frequent contributor and participant in the forums that you choose to participate in. It is a matter of becoming part of the community and contributing value before you try to focus on self-promotion. Ask questions and answer questions where you have knowledge to share.

2. Never just say “Nice post” in reply to another post. It creates internet trash, adds no value and infuriates mostly everyone as they have to scroll through that nonsense to find the good information.

3. It is okay to mention your website within your post if it is relevant to the topic at hand.
Otherwise leave your promotions to your forum signature

4. ALWAYS have a forum signature which promotes your website. Some forums allow you to promote more than one website so do so where possible. Signatures are known as promotions so nobody will be offended if your links are shown in your signature file.

5. Remember the 4 “H’s” when posting to the forums. Be heartfelt, human, helpful and add humor. This way you will be more relatable and you will build long-lasting relationships with the members who may become your customers or partners.

6. Be aware that you do not own the forum and if you do not follow the rules you can get kicked out and blocked from ever posting again so be sure to be considerate of others and the forum’s rules to avoid this happening.

In the end, forums are a fun, fast and easy way to direct free targeted traffic to your website and definitely should be included in your traffic arsenal. Good luck.