Even when it comes to forum marketing you should have a plan for how you want to take action. It will not be too difficult to accomplish what you want, but know what you want to do and how to leverage forums. Many of the online marketers who become successful do well because they think this way about business. First, they learn a lot about the various marketing techniques. Then they continue to study this information and find the best way to use it to their advantage.
A 'terms of service' or (TOS) page is the most important page to read before you begin marketing on your forum. This is where you'll find out what's acceptable so you can enjoy a long and profitable relationship with the site. It's never wise to violate a forum's TOS. Doing so can get you banned from the site for life. Also, forum moderators generally don't care if you've read them or not. You're responsible for knowing them and for not violating them. At least that's how they see it-and it is their playground. Anything else they may have in terms of guidelines and policies should be read and followed.
Don't forget to start a few threads of your own as well. It's quite common to feel a little bit shy about going out there and starting threads of your own. Think of something worthwhile you have to share and turn it into Continue a thread. Encourage readers to ask any questions they have too.
There are many ways to get people to comment, and one way is to say or imply something controversial. You may have to walk a fine line when it comes to controversy and it can be a judgment call. One thing you don't want to do is start a thread that's off-topic for the forum or something ridiculous.
When you become a forum member, only you can determine how the others will see you. You can create the type of personality that you choose for others to experience. But do not get crazy with this because you cannot predict the future. If you are a really aggressive person, you can change this in the very beginning. A lot of people just are not as aggressive. But it all comes down to your decision about how you want others to perceive you. Based upon your circumstances, you might want everyone to know who you are. So think about the big picture when you are building up your profile.
You can make your forum marketing efforts pay off in as little as one hour per day; five days per week-no matter how many forums you're targeting. You won't find many ways to get a higher ROI for your time than this. But just be sure you diversify your marketing so you get all you can from it and help insulate your business from business and web turbulence.