I have to admit it. I don’t participate in very many forums because they can consume a lot of time.
However as part of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge I joined the problogger forum today and actually participated in it. At this time it’s the only one I’ll be participating in.
Here’s why I’m participating in it.. I had to ask myself this question:
Where are my potential readers already gathering online?‘
In an article entitled Join a Forum and Start Participating [Day 9 - 31DBBB] Darren Rowse gives 3 reasons for participating in forums:
- Profile Building
- Driving Traffic
- Understanding Your Niche
He also provides a couple of more valuable articles on forums:
- Build Your Blog With Forum Traffic
- How to Use Forums to Drive Hundreds of Thousands of Readers to Your Blog
Should you participate in a Forum?
That’s a great question.
I asked Terry Dean and he recommends that people starting out go to forums at times as long as you’re
very cautious of the time you spend there.
That is the big negative with forums. They can eat a lot of time without a lot of results.
Finding them is easy. Take a keyword phrase you’re targeting and add “forum” or “discussion” to it.
Do a search for example on “internet marketing forum” and you’ll find some of the top ones (as listed in Google).
The strategy here is to go answer people’s questions. If you see a question you can help them with answer it. Add your site and some type of teasing statement to get them on your list as your signature file on the forum.
DON’T advertise on the forums. You’re there to be a helper. So skim through the posts looking for something you can add value to (just like when you do blog comments). And participate.
Limit your time there to no more than about 15 minutes at a time.
So I’ll be participating in the 31 days to a better blog forum for a few minutes daily. After that, who knows?
To participating in Forums with purpose,
Greg
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