Online Marketing Forum

Is it worth spending time in online marketing forums? Does forum marketing really work?

I would definitely say “YES!” Considering you are following the forum marketing tips below.

You can make some great connections there. Find answers to your questions by posting threads. Well, even find prospects for your business opportunity.

However there are some rules you need to follow.

Some are common sense but still I see people violate them all the time.

Just like blogs, or social networks, online marketing forums are very public. People can follow and observe you without you even knowing it. So it is of utmost importance that you are at your best behavior at all times.

I think it goes without saying that you should be treating people with courtesy and respect.

Here are some forum marketing tips that will make your experience in online marketing forums more fun:

1. Read the rules. That should be a no brainer, as not following the rules can get you banned from online marketing forums altogether.
2. Be transparent. Don’t hide behind an avatar, company logo, picture of your dog or any other such nonsense. People want to know who you are. They are much more likely to connect with you when they can see your face.
3. Be kind and polite to fellow members. Think twice before cutting someone down, leaving a rude comment, or being darn right nasty. Remember, these are real people you are interacting with. Just like you, they do have feelings. Offensive language doesn’t get you anywhere. It can actually get you banned from the forum as well.
4. Never sell or promote anything. People don’t like to be spammed. An online marketing forum is not an ad board, but a place to communicate, share experiences and help and support other members.
5. Always give value. If you have helpful information that you can add to forums, or the solution to someone’s problem ,  by all means share it. Share freely without expecting anything in return. The more you contribute the better people will get to know you.
6. Be appreciative. If someone helped you out, please let them know that you appreciate their help and support. A little “thank you” can go a long way.
7. Create an attractive signature file. This is the place where you can link to your opportunity, your website or your blog. The only place where you can toot your own horn. So make it interesting for people to want to find out more about you or your business.

There you have it. It’s not rocket science. Most of it is common sense.

Remember, whatever you say in online marketing forums is public and out there for everyone to see.

I hope these forum marketing tips have been helpful.

Oh, by the way, you can find some great online marketing forums by doing a search on Google.

However, the best online marketing forum I have found is BetterNetworker.

If you are already at Better Networker, make sure to connect with me. I’d love to meet you.

To your success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. If you found value in this article please share it with your friends on Twitter and Facebook. Thank you!

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Have you ever wondered how you can show a certain group of your Facebook friends?

Well, I just found out and would like to share it with you.

For whatever reason, there may be a certain group of friends you would like to show to everyone who comes to visit your Facebook profile.  They may be highly respected business people, co-workers, close personal friends, or maybe family members.

Usually Facebook just rotates through all of your friends randomly. But you can select certain people or lists of friends to be rotated through instead.

Here’ s how you do that…

When you are logged in and on your “Profile Page” click the little pencil icon in your Friends box.

You can change the settings in the “Edit Box” to whatever you would like to display.

Where it says “Always show these friends:” you can either type in individual names or you can select a certain list of your friends.

If you haven’t grouped your friends into lists yet, here’s how you do that …

Go to your “Home” page and click on “Friends” in the left menu. Your friends will show up and the “+ Create a List” button at the top right corner. Click on it.

Enter a name for you list and highlight the friends you want to add to that list by clicking on them. When you have everyone selected, click “Create List.” And you’re done.

Voilà! That’s it! You just selected a certain group of friends to show off.

You can change things at any time. You can highlight a certain group of your friends this month and a different one next month. Or you can change it every week. It’s totally up to you.

To Your Success,

Ilka Flood

P.S. If you found this tip valuable please share it with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or Digg. Thank You!

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Or …What NOT To Do When You Receive A Friend Request At Your Social Network

Ouch! Someone hit me over the head with a baseball bat again. Not literally, of course, but it hurts just as much and it had me run for the Aspirin.

Over the weekend, I invited several people to be my friend at one of the top social networks. Unfortunately, one person mistook it as an invitation to spam me with his business opportunity.  Now, I will give this gentleman the benefit of doubt and assume he didn’t know any better. But this is a sure-fire way to get scratched off of my friends list. Like most social network members, I am there to build relationships.

Don’t take your clothes off on the very first date …

Spamming people who sent you a friends request with your business opportunity, is like taking your clothes off on the very first date. It accomplishes absolutely nothing. Rather it sends people running. Not a good way to start a relationship.

Let  me ask you this …

If your husband (or wife) would have asked you to marry them on your very first date, would you have said “YES?” I certainly wouldn’t have. My (future) husband would have scared me off and I would have run for the hills. And what a shame that would have been, because I would have never found out what a great guy he is.

So please, don’t make that mistake. Don’t rob people of the opportunity to get to know you, by spamming them with your business opportunity on your first ‘Social Media Date’. Don’t make them scratch you off of their friends list.

Instead…

• Get to know them.
• Share some valuable information with them.
• Offer your help.
• Start a discussion by asking questions about their family, their hobbies, etc.
• Comment on their pictures or on their bio or status.
• Get involved and find out if you have common interests

People will buy from and/or join people they know, like and trust. So give them a chance to get to know you as a person first. Eventually they will ask you the $64,000 question … “What do you do?”

What kind of behavior do you dislike? In other words, what makes you drop people off of your friends list? What tips can you share on how to social network in online communities? Please share them with us in the comment box below.

And by the way, if you like this post, please don’t forget to retweet it and share it with your Facebook friends.

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Jason Better wrote a post the other day about the ‘Invasion of the Face Snatchers’. You see them all over the social media world.  Take a stroll through Plaxo, Twitter or Myspace and you see them, the ‘faceless’ people. Even on Facebook. Uhm, it’s called FACEbook. So put your face out there. Especially if you are networking for business.

Most social networking sites (if not all of them) let you upload a profile picture. Usually that is very easy and in the event you should get stuck there should be a help menu that will guide you through how to do it. Or just ask one of your friends on the site how they did it.

But not only on social media sites you find them, even the blogosphere has its share of people without a face. I used to be one of them. Not because I didn’t want my picture out there on the comments I left, but because I had no clue how to do it. Well, if you don’t know how to do something … just ask. So I did ask Jason just shortly before he posted about the ‘Invasion of the Face Snatchers.’ He told me about a little site called  Gravatar.com

Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a techie to set it up. It’s really easy and they even have a little video that shows you how. In just a few minutes you can ‘have a face.’

Put your face out there. Especially on your profiles. People are much more likely to connect with you and accept your friends requests when they see your smiley face.

Just think about this scenario…

You go into a store and there behind the counter stands a clerk with a ski mask asking how he could help you. You’d be out the door in a split second.  Wouldn’t you? I get shivers down my spine just thinking about that. Pretty creepy!

Remember, people do business with people they know, like and trust.

Looking forward to see your smile.

Oh, and by the way, moosey on over to Jason Better’s Blog you will find some great information and meet some cool people there.

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