How NOT to promote your website on forums

Internet entrepreneurs, work at home moms, network marketers… you’re all fed the same hype about how to promote your website, get leads, recruit members, etc. One of the first things you will be told is to post your ads on forums. Lots.

This article is a guide to proper forum etiquette so that you don’t waste your own and many other peoples time.

The first thing you need to know is that forum owners deal with a ton of spam. I could easily spend an hour a day cleaning up spammy posts in the forum and deleting and banning members that don’t abide by forum rules. It’s unnerving to have to waste my time doing that rather then engaging in conversations on the forum and providing my members with useful information.

So from the forum owner perspective, spam is a very bad thing. On the other hand, to help out forum participants and to try to deter them from spamming every forum in the message boards, most forum owners will provide an advertising section of some sort where you can post an ad.

If all you are planning to do is post ads on forums, then look for this particular section of a message board. Especially don’t post an ad in the introduction section of a forum.

But here is the thing about ads. Nobody really reads them. Your time would be far better spent actually engaging in conversations on the forums you frequent. You will gain the trust and loyalty of the forum population if they get to know you. They will much more likely decide to sign up for a biz op under someone that they talk with in a trusted forum then from some fly by night forum spammers post. Doesn’t that make sense?

You’ll likely be taught that posting your website link on many forums will help to build your websites backlink popularity which will in turn increase your websites ranking in the search engine results. The truth is, your post is most likely going to be deleted as soon as the forum owner or moderators find it. All you really will have done is wasted your time.

How you can be certain that you will build your backlinks by forum posting is by putting your website link in your signature on a forum and including your signature in your quality posts. The website owner will be grateful to have you contributing content and in turn will be happy to allow you a small advertisement in your signature when posting.

Another trick you might not know is this. If there is a keyword phrase that you would like to rank well for in the search engines, use this as the ‘anchor text’ in your website link. That means if you want to rank well for a term such as ‘ameriplan business opportunity’ - then you would type that into your signature and have that link to your website.

Keep a folder of forums in your favorites on your browser and spend some time every day going to each of the forums. Make it a goal to leave at least one quality post and a few welcome posts to new members. It’s an easy thing to do while you enjoy a cup of tea in the morning and you’ll find that you are actually making friends and contacts that are genuinely fulfilling.

Informative and engaging comments, coupled with a well optimized signature will win you far more traffic and prospects in the long run. And you might even pick up a thing or two through your engagement on the forum.

Sometimes it Pays to Say NO!

There’s an old saying in the freelance world, “It’s either feast of famine”. Inevitably a freelancer will find themselves either with no work at all - or with more than they can possibly handle!

Because of the piece work way that we get paid (no weekly paycheck, and some companies taking over a month to pay an invoice!), it can be tempting to be overkill and take on any project that comes your way.

Be careful — you don’t want to be rushing through projects (aka - this one won’t be on my portfolio!), nor do you want to be making clients wait past their deadlines for your deliverable.

Sometimes the professional thing to do is say no. Let the client know that while you hate to turn work away or let them down - you’d really be doing them a disservice by accepting the job because you just have too much on your plate.

Often times you’ll find that the client knows just where you’re coming from and appreciates your integrity. They just might be willing to wait! But if their project is urgent — be sure to have a colleague or two that you can recommend to them. Check back in with them the following week to see how its going and to let them know if you have some open time. I promise you, it does sometimes pay to say no!

Watch The Secret Online

What’s all this hoopla about The Secret?

To truly be successful in business - our entire mindset - the way we interact and react with the world needs to change. Dramatically. The Secret is all about the Law of Attraction.

We all have ability to shape our lives. We have the ability to attract everything that we desire into our lives. Unfortunately - we equally can attract negative circumstances. The Secret guides us in understanding this universal law of attraction. Understanding is the key to implementation. If you’re ready to change your life — read on…

We all have the ability to transform our weaknesses into strengths. We’re all fully capable of having prosperity, health, and happiness in our lives. Watching and reading The Secret is one of the best pieces of advice I can give to women who truly want to change their lives.

You can watch the first 20 minutes of The Secret for free right here:

Here is an introduction to the concepts in The Secret by Bob Proctor.

Here are 2 free ebooks that Rhonda Byrne offers on the official Secret website:

The Master Key System - By Charles F Hannel

The Science of Getting Rich - By Wallace D Wattles