The Principles Of Getting Found Through Internet Communities

Internet communities are forums, message board, discussion board. These are the places that allow people with common interest to share, talk and discuss any related topic.

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Forum marketing, which is another form of social media marketing, is a great way to promote your products/services through online communities: in the sense of low or no cost involved and very targeted audiences. But bear in mind, the same advantages would go to your competitor too. If done wrongly, it can be a waste of time and hurt your business’ reputation.

Principle No.1: Know The Rules

Different forum has different set of rules. Some forums are strictly against advertising while some allow self-advertising to a certain degree. Look through the forums to find the page that contains the rules of the forum. It is normally put as sticky thread or easily accessible through the menu. If you are unsure about the rules, ASK the moderators about it.

Principle No.2: Give first

This principle is more like a mindset. Approach the forums by thinking “How can I contribute?” instead of “How can I benefit from this community?”. Look to help people there instead of ripping people off or asking them to buy your product. Think of what you can give to the forum. Give and you shall receive.

Principle No.3: Be genuine

Throw away all your hidden agendas first. Remember the point of participating in the forum is about having fun, involving in discussion and making new friends. Trying to be genuine and truly be one, are completely different thing. People can smell the former like shit on the shoe.

Principle No.4: Participate

If you join a medium to large size forum, there must be many active discussions going on. Don’t lurk or watch from the sideline. Participate! The members in the discussion are dying to hear your opinions about it. Go in and give it your best shot… just bear in mind the next principle.

Principle No.5: Don’t criticize or complain

It is understandable that we need to “go off” once in a while. Especially when we come across some a**holes in the forum, or something we strongly disagree. Human nature, rights. We tend to do that, then we regret on what we have done. So when you get mad, blow your steam elsewhere. Be nice. Keep your cool.

Principle No.6: Peacocking

Chances are, there are hundreds other people just like you who want to marketing their way through forums. How can you differentiate from them? Use the principle of Peacocking: stand out. Differs yourself in the way you talk, your signature, your avatar or anything you can think of. Make people remember you.

Principle No.7: Don’t Sell

Yes. You heard me right. Selling is the last thing you want to do in a forum. Instead, use signature. Most forum allows you customize your signature. Signature is a small little text area that appears below each of the post you’ve made. So, describe your products/services or anything you plan to promote there. Take advantage of your signature as the mini advertising space of the forum.

These principles are derived from my personal experience of administrating several forums. Principles one to five is actually about becoming a good member. The last two principles are more on the right and effective way to market there.

Where to find the forums? Big boards is a good place to start. It is a compilation of all the big forums around the world. Malaysia has few large communities too. A few notable one are Cari (general), Lowyat (tech), MyPDAcafe (tech), Bluehyppo (teen) , ZeroToHundred (automotive) and our very own Webmaster Malaysia.

So I hope this post will give your business a cost effective way to reach the online audience. Fellow Malaysians, feel free to share the forums (and URL) that you regularly participate too.

Lim CS on June 28, 2007

4 Responses

    :) Thanks for these good tips.

    genzy on July 7th, 2007

    Hi Genzy ;) You are welcome. Hving some ‘midnight hour’ eh?

    Lim CS on July 7th, 2007

    terima kasih..tips ok..
    thanks…

    http://www.nayaz.com

    nayaz on August 11th, 2007

    thanks for this tips…

    Chef Man on August 24th, 2007

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