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Thursday, December 6, 2012

The Fastest Way to Get to 50 Posts in Any Forum

People may be wondering why anyone would want to get to 50 posts on a particular forum - the answer is simple!

After 50 posts, on some forums you can personal/private message (PM) anyone on the forum and this gives you an easy and discrete method of asking for ad swaps or other private arrangements so that people can promote ideas, items, or goods that might benefit both of you. This communication takes place in private so that the unwashed masses are not able to comment or criticize.

My method to getting 50 posts has three parts:

Part 1: Get familiar with the forum

* Lurk for at least 1 hour over at least 3 days - get familiar with the issues that people are having and the solutions being provided

* Look to see who the most common posters are, and figure out whether or not they are worth listening to. Remember the people who are posting helpful answers and remember the answers to common questions.

* Get familiar with the topics - are there terms that people are using that you don't understand? You can't communicate with people until you understand their language. Get the lingo down.

Part 2: Help people with problems that can be solved with a quick Google search

* Look for posts that have zero responses - figure out what they need, or a possible solution by Googling for their keywords or symptoms or problem. Posts with few answers are often silly questions by new people. Those are the kinds of questions that long time forum members get tired of answering. But that is just the kind of question you want to answer!

* Find the answer by looking through forum posts on the forum that you are on. * People ask the same question over and over and don't think to search the forum they're on! * Learn to use the search function. Most people don't and it can give you a leg up on both learning and helping others to learn.

Part 3: Respond to questions that don't require any special expertise, and also do respond to questions where you do have some knowledge

* If people want website criticism - give it to them!

* Sometimes people want feedback on an article or a personal situation - give it to them!

* If you've ever used a software product that is being asked about, and you have an opinion - give it to them!

What NOT to do!

One word responses - Don't Do This!

One word answers don't help anyone, and if there is a yes/no question - then just like you had to do in school - you have to also answer the question of why you think yes or no - a paragraph response should be no problem.

Don't be rude! You are the intruder into their group. Even if someone insults your mother, there is nothing to be gained by posting an unprofessional response. Suck it up and ask them why they feel that way ( plus you get another post!) Keep your eye on the prize.

If you ask a question - make sure that it is a good question that can't be answered by a Google search and hasn't already been asked and answered a million times before.

Some forums have a posting limit per day and it can be easy to get flagged as a spammer or as someone who isn't providing valuable content. In the beginning I suggest no more than 5 to 7 quality posts per day. This means that you will get to 50 posts in less than 10 days - even with 3 days of lurking.

Follow those simple rules and not only will you reach your desired number of posts in record time, but the long time forum members will recognize that you provide value and insight and are a valuable addition to their world, rather than a burden. They will be more likely to help YOU out in the future when you have questions.

Good Luck!

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Build Your Brand - Forums

One very effective way to build your brand and show potential clients your expertise in your chosen field is by participating in online forums. These are a great place to come together with others who share the same interests as you and for you to shine as an expert.

Forums are extremely easy to find whatever line of business you are in just go to Google and type into the search bar your subject and forum, for example "online business forums" if you are an internet marketer, you will find a huge selection to choose from no matter what market you are in.

What I suggest next would be to spend some time reading through some of these potential forums to find which ones may suit your needs the best, it is also worth while seeing which ones are the most active as you want to be in regular contact with other members, not just once in a blue moon!

Most forums will want you to sign up before you can post but usually you can read through most sections in the forums without joining, so you should be able to get a rough idea whether the forum will suit you and your needs.

Once you have picked a few forums that you like, it is worth taking the time to fill in your profile, add your photo - people like to see who they are talking to and it will make you seem more trustworthy.

If allowed add your website URL, you can sometimes add this to your signature, so every time you post people can see your link to your site, which means if you're giving great advice or help people will visit your site to find out more about you and what you offer.

When first joining the forum I think it is always a good idea if they have a welcome to new members board to post there, say hi and introduce yourself, usually you will find most members extremely welcoming as they like new input in their community.

Read any rules and sticky threads about what you can post, then start communicating with people, don't go straight in trying to sell yourself or your business let the regulars get to know and trust you, offer helpful constructive advice and stay out of any heated debates between existing members, as usually there are a couple who will always take little digs at each other, leave it to the moderators to sort out.

Once you have been a member for a couple of weeks and have joined in some conversations it is a good idea to start posting some interesting current topics that are being talked about in your industry, basically getting involved, showing you are up with the current affairs and have an opinion and importantly showing that you are someone that understands your niche!

Benefits of forum posting...

Exposure - Expose yourself and your business to potential new clients.

Gain backlinks to your website - Help improve your ranking in the search engines.

Expertise - Use your knowledge to help others.

Posting in forums really is an easy and fun way to interact with your peers and paying public, so why not get started today? Go and spend a little time researching the forums in your niche, then get posting!

Top 4 Ways of Monetizing Your Forum

In this age of information and technology, online businesses have come a long way. A large number of people are taking up different forms of online businesses. Among the most popular businesses over the internet is running a forum or a website. However, it needs investment of a good amount. Hence, it is necessary that you earn a good amount from the forum you run to have some profit. There are a number of ways by which you can make your online forum a profit-making one. This article provides you with a few tips about increasing revenues from your online forums.

Use AdSense to Bring Money

When you are running a website by yourself, availing Google AdSense is the best possible way of monetizing your forum. You can place it anywhere on your website and get the benefit out of it.

Sell Ad Spots on Your Web Page

Sometimes, you might not be satisfied with the profit that you are earning from AdSense. You can then look for selling the spaces on your web pages yourself. You can sell the spots for banners and other forms of advertisements. This provides you with the freedom of choosing what advertisement appears on your own website page. However, while choosing the ads, you need to be careful that all of them are relevant to the products and services that your website offers.

Create a Private Members' Area and Charge for Access

Do not keep all the contents in your website accessible to the visitors. You can mark some space as members' area and charge some fees to give access to that space. You can keep the most interesting products and information in the members' area to lure potential visitors into becoming paid members of your website.

Collect Donations from Visitors

At times, you can ask some of your website visitors to donate for the maintenance of the forum. Provide an easy to use donation option on different pages of your website. Ensure that the visitors who are interested to provide money for your website can do so easily. Hence, make the procedure simple. You can also provide a donation cup on the home page at times to collect money for your forum.

These are some of the procedures you can follow to monetize your forum. Running a website involves a lot of investments and expenses. Hence, if you can monetize the forum properly, you can not only collect money for the maintenance of your website, but also make some profit out of it.

Finding Help at Discussion Forums Online Is Easier Than You Think!

Are you stuck with a nerve-wracking problem that seems beyond your scope of resolution? Do you want to get fast, concise and effective answers and solutions to your problems? If so, then you have to consider finding help at discussion forums. Unless you start using discussion forums, you may never really know what you are missing.

While some people are satisfied with self-help instructional guides, others want a more participant approach to solving their problems. Self-help guides may offer you plenty of tips, but not in a fulfilling way like a forum discussion. As you will come to discover, there are certain things that gravitate people toward discussion forums. Three of the most popular factors are the friendliness, bond, and outpouring help of members.

How You Stand to Benefit from Online Discussion Forums

The coolest thing about finding help at discussion forums is that so many people are willing to help you free. There are amateurs and also experts who provide real practical information. You will find a lot of advice, some helpful others just mere suggestions. Anyway, chances are high that you will find a timely advice to your problem or new perspectives to enable you deal with your problem.

Also, you don't have to wait for long to get good responses to your problems. The responses will start tricking once your question goes live. Members can offer solutions in the form of tips or simple steps that can help you resolve your problem. Still, other members may also provide leads to useful resources.

You will also find forum members more welcoming and friendly. There is a strong connection among members in discussion forums. This explains why many members offer voluntary help and follow-ups to other members who are stuck with specific problems. With timely help from friendly members, you don't really have to wait for long before you can fix your problem.

Making Good Use of Discussion Forums

Since there are so many respectable online discussion forums, you have to make up your mind about which forums you want to join. Most forums require new members to create user accounts before they start posting questions to specific problems. Once you create your account, you can initiate a discussion and wait for members to provide useful advice and information that relates to your problem.

Remember, the kind of responses that you will get depends on the nature of the problem. So, you have to have to be very specific about what you want. If you are looking for a solution to a particular problem, then you should look for topic-specific forums or forums that revolve around certain topics. For instance, if you are stuck with a technical computer problem, then you can find better help by following threads in a computer forum than in a general forum.

USENET Slang

Anybody familiar with Internet slang will understand a great deal of USENET slang. For example, abbreviations and acronyms are oftentimes used to make it easier to type common expressions. LOL, for instance, is used as ubiquitously on the USENET system as it is on the Internet. Likewise, abbreviations such as IRL, which means "in real life", ROTFL and all the other familiar Internet abbreviations and acronyms apply on USENET just as they do everywhere else.

There are very few unique USENET slang terms and they are mostly restricted to the descriptions of groups given in their hierarchal names. For example, the suffix misc after any group name simply means that it is a miscellaneous group that contains all of the topics that don't quite fit into the more specific topics related to its overall subject. The letter d is oftentimes added as the last part of a USENET group's hierarchal name as a way of indicating that that group exists for the purpose of discussion. This would differentiate it, for example, from a newsgroup that existed specifically for factual information about the same subject.

There are a couple of slang terms that aren't really specific to the USENET or to the Internet but which are terms that have carried over from everyday life. For example, if you're in a discussion group about movies, giving away the ending of the movie in a post would be referred to as posting a spoiler. Whenever you make such a post, you should notify the group in the subject line that it does contain a spoiler for the movie being discussed. To not do so is to breach netiquette, a slang term that describes the rules of etiquette as they apply to interaction on the World Wide Web, on the USENET or over any other digital medium.

There will be instances on the USENET when someone will try to drag you in to an argument or were you will become involved in one simply because you're passionate about the topic being discussed. When the argument truly degrades, people will begin posting in all caps. The slang term for a post written in all-caps is a flame. When you get into an argument in this way, it's called a flame war. In some cases, these flame wars are carried on mostly in jest and they provide a fun way for people to trade witty remarks at one another. In other cases they get very serious, sometimes threatening, and will result in you and the person you're involved in a flame war with being banned from the newsgroup. If you have a problem with someone on a newsgroup, ask a moderator and don't get into a flame war.

The Free Forum Guide: How to Start an Online Forum

To get this project started, you'll benefit by having a clear plan laid out for each step of the process. For this illustration, we're going to assume a very limited budget where most tasks, if not all, will be performed by you. The steps you may consider mapping out are as follows;

software selection finding a host setup & configuration content creation forum customization forum marketing support

Software

To begin, you'll need to choose a software solution for your forum. While building an online discussion community can be an empowering experience, it can also get unnecessarily complicated. How complicated will depend largely on the software you choose. Assuming we're working with a tight budget, there are basically two options; either use "open-source" forum software that will still require installation, configuring and hosting, or, find a reputable free forum hosting service.

The most popular open-source software applications are probably phpBB and MyBB; SMF also deserves a mention. While these are excellent products with a wide variety of designs and options, the fact remains they must be downloaded, installed, hosted and configured before you can even use them.

Keep in mind, with limited resources, the key to building a successful forum is to stay focused on the most productive tasks. If you're more interested in building a thriving community than sharpening your programming skills, then a reliable, free forum hosting service is the more practical choice.

The primary benefit of using a free forum hosting service is that all the business of managing, updating and securing the forum is done for you. You'll never have to deal with database issues, security issues, debugging issues, hosting fees, etc. Moreover, in choosing a forum hosting service, the "setup & configuration" responsibilities mentioned above will largely be reduced to making a few customization tweaks to your new forum.

Content

With the setup issue addressed, let's talk about content. Content is the life-blood of every forum and, in the beginning, every new forum is a dry lake bed of content. If you've created relevant, original content in the past for other purposes, consider "re-tasking" it and posting it to your new forum. Topical research, blog posts, articles, newsletter contributions are all fair game for re-posting.

Further, any research you've done can be of great interest to others and can also have significant Search Engine Optimization (SEO) value. Consider posting the results of relevant topic-specific research. Any time you spend searching for answers on the web, take note of everything you find (links, facts, statistics, etc), and post that as content. These hard-earned tidbits of information can often be of great value to others. Later, as your forum gains momentum, the solo quest for new content will diminish as your community will naturally thrive.

Customization

Typically, once you've set up your forum, it is easy to customize. If you've created a forum using one of the solutions mentioned above, finding an abundance of free "skins" and themes to personalize it shouldn't be difficult. Forum themes are easily applied to most popular forum software and installation instructions are usually readily available.

Marketing

With the recent updating of Google's search algorithm (Panda/Penguin), content has become synonymous with marketing. Good content = good marketing. Keep in mind, to be SEO friendly, content should be keyword rich. Beyond good content, marketing your new forum will require reaching out to the community. Send invitations to everyone you know who might be interested (but don't spam!). Also, consider asking experts in your field to participate in relevant threads. If timed correctly (when thread participation is high), experts will often jump at the chance to share their views and promote themselves. Experts are often a big attraction and you might be surprised by the number of people who stop by your forum to chat with a "celebrity" in your field.

Support

The one indispensable aid every aspiring forum administrator needs is a friendly, knowledgeable support community. In fact, the expertise and helpfulness of the support community should be one of the key determining factors for choosing the right forum software solution. Regardless of which software solution you choose, be sure to visit and spend some time in the support community forum before committing to your decision. Remember, even the most experienced forum administrators sometimes have questions!

Summary

To recap; building an online community takes time and planning. When done correctly, it can generate tremendous satisfaction and benefit to you as the forum owner. Whether you follow all the steps outlined above or not, do yourself this favor; plan before you build. Having a clear picture of the objective before you begin will dramatically increase the probability of realizing it.