Quick and Easy Way to Use Forums to Position Yourself as an Expert
You can use forum marketing to quickly and easily position yourself as not only the resident expert on any particular niche forum, but also as an expert in the niche as a whole.
But fair warning: A little too much enthusiasm and neglecting to follow the forum rules (both written and unwritten) can just as quickly turn you into the “village idiot.” With that in mind, here’s how to use niche forums to your benefit:
* Find busy forums. If a forum is as quiet as a church on a Tuesday night, then you won’t get any benefit from posting to that forum (other than backlinks for search engine optimization purposes). As such, you should focus your efforts on participating on the top three or four forums in your niche.
* Complete your profile. You’re joining this forum to establish yourself as an expert and build trust with your prospects. An incomplete forum profile that makes you look like you’re in the Witness Protection Program doesn’t foster trust. If anything, it makes it look like you’re trying to hide something.
* Use your real name (or your niche pen name). Casual forum posters who don’t have any commercial interests in posting on a forum can get away with usernames like “RCAirplaneGirl93.” And spammers use those sorts of names because they’re either using software to join the forum, they’re trying to hide their identity or both. But you’re different because you’re trying to run a business and establish yourself as an expert. So use your name, because it builds trust. (And yeah, pen names are ok.)
* Use your picture. Even if you’re posting with your real name, you’re still just an anonymous entity to most people – nothing more than a username. Posting your picture as your avatar and/or in your profile helps build trust (because people like putting a face to a name).
* Give without expectation of receiving. Finally, here’s the key: You need to help individuals and contribute to the forum community without any expectation of getting anything back.
I know, I know: You’re posting to build your reputation and get signature link exposure. But if you post without even taking into consideration your signature link, you’ll naturally be a good contributor and community member. And that leads to a good reputation, more signature clicks and more sales.
This tactic is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to establishing yourself as an expert in your niche. To get your hands on the entire strategy, [[click here]] – you won’t be disappointed!
