The Importance of Forum Participation in Promoting an Internet Business

Many internet business owners are really lost when doing anything with regards to their Internet business and this is sometimes because people try to do it alone without any external help. Contrary to the notion that the internet is an unfriendly place, many online marketing forums and internet business forums are filled with very nice people that help each other out. This sometimes can be seen in some people offering free software and advice to other people on the forums. This article lists three compelling reasons why you should be participating in forums when promoting any internet business.

Trust

This principle is based on simple human nature. We work best with people we can trust and we promote and run internet business joint ventures with people we can trust. Some of the people that help others a lot also get help in return as people trust them so when they make a recommendation on that forum they get an affiliate sale as opposed to others simply because they are so helpful. The greater the degree of trust people have in you, the easier it is for you to make a sale online.

Another reason why people join forums is to carry out joint ventures. There are many successful business people in forums with huge marketing email lists which they contact from time to time and they are looking for good products to recommend to their members. If you have a product that you are selling and its good and if you have good relations with these large business owners, you could always get a mention in their large subscriber lists and you could make some serious money in such a deal. Thus Trust and friendships developed online can and do translate into internet business money.

Backlinks

Most forums allow people to add links to their signatures. The more links to your internet business website that you are looking at, the better for you in terms of visitors and search engine visits as well. Always use the anchor text that you are interested in when adding a link to your signature in any website forum. The more links with suitable anchor text pointing to your website, the better your search engine rankings will be period.

Another point about web forums is that there are people who love to spam the forums. What this mean is they put advertisements in places they should not be doing. This is usually against the terms of use of the forum and what happens is the person can be warned and then banned. Always contribute nicely to the thread and then if you think your product solves a problem, point to your signature nicely in your thread.

Publicity

The resultant publicity for any new service or product in large forums cannot be understated. Since there are so many large business owners in those forums, what happens is that once you have a new product that is good or popular and if you offer an affiliate program, you will be able to receive good publicity for any product that you are promoting in an internet business. This has a snowball effect because people on one forum are usually in several forums and sometimes a new product can be discussed in many forums at the same time. Imagine how much such a "publicity storm" could kick up on your internet business profits!

In conclusion, participating in internet business or internet marketing forums and helping others along is a good thing. You gain valuable backlinks from the search engines which boost your search engine rankings, valuable publicity and most importantly you gain trust which is very important in the internet marketing community. Spend time cultivating your contacts in internet marketing forums and see such online networking reap huge dividends later.

Milton Keynes - A City For The Future?

The two main features of Milton Keynes which distinguish it from older towns are:

1)The town was built with motor vehicles in mind and so has a structured road network.

2)A significant amount of land was set aside for green space, from the extensive network of park land to the sizeable margins planted with trees and shrubs by the side of the road system.

So why this article?

Milton Keynes is my home, not a place I am forced to live, but where I live from choice. It is not a vast metropolis like London with all the things that such a city has to offer, or a quaint old English town. It is simply a provincial town of 200,000 people in the corner of Buckinghamshire with the most astonishing expanse of parks, lakes, and modern facilities.

This article is born from the frustration of the town being the butt end of every joke that is supposed to symbolise a place not to live. This is a self sustaining myth that is passed around between people that haven't even been here.

The public opinion of this town is developed from ignorance and an onslaught of misinformation.

This is an attempt to educate. The names of the regions of Milton Keynes come from three main sources:

1)Original village.The name of the village incorporated into the area.
2)Field name upon which the area is built.
3)Name of the farm now lying within the region.

The principle road network in Milton Keynes is simply that...a net like grid. The reason is to distribute traffic so that no one route is necessarily more preferable than the other (to get from one corner of the city to the other there are many permutations on the number of possible routes). This is a common enough concept in cities in the US, but in Britain most of the road layouts within towns were established before cars were invented.

The roads divide the city up into approximately 1 kilometre squares, most of the names of which are taken from an historical element from within the square. These roads are only for moving around the city,and have no frontage development. Instead they are heavily landscaped. To gain access to anything in Milton Keynes the grid roads have turnings onto "Local" roads.

The roads of the grid are named and numbered so that the "vertical" (roughly north - south) roads are named as "Streets", the Roman road of Watling Street is one of these, and have numbers beginning with V.Watling street is V4. The "Horizontal", roughly west - east, are numbered H and are named "Ways". Ridgeway [H1] and Portway [H5] roughly follow the routes of ancient tracks of the same names.

Landscaping

All the Grid Roads are lined with large grass verges, hedgerows, shrubs, and trees. Where the roads are only single carriageway,space is allowed to upgrade to dual should it ever be necessary and in the meantime planted with yet more shrubs. The heavy landscaping,while providing a "woodland" feel to the whole town also has a more practical purpose in helping to screen out the noise and sight of the roads from the quieter areas behind.

Roundabouts

The intersection of major routes is always a problem and traffic lights are usually the result. Because of the fairly even flow of traffic along the grid roads of the city,one route is not very much more dominant than another, roundabouts [traffic circles] were the ideal solution. Traffic flows in a even manner, meshing together at the junctions by means of the roundabouts without the inevitable "bunching" caused by traffic lights. In fact the only main occurrence of traffic lights in the city are those next to the main shopping center itself.

This of course means that there are a LOT of roundabouts. Since, however, these roundabouts are LARGE (not little painted white dots that are put in towns as an afterthought) the movements of other road users are easy to anticipate, making the negotiation of each junction a smooth, relatively unhindered operation.

Speed

These main thoroughfares allow for the easy movement of cars around the city (speed limits are the national limit of 60 mile per hour on the single carriageway and 70 on the dual). As soon as a driver turns off the "grid" the local areas have a speed limit of 30 miles per hour as is usual for areas of housing and pedestrians. Traffic "calming" devices such as ramps are also used, especially where a path or redway crosses such a local road.

Local Roads

Away from the grid roads,each area of Milton Keynes has a local road system which is often more "meandering". Pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, and local traffic are protected when crossing the grid roads by underpasses or bridges. Each length of grid road (between roundabouts) usually has two or more such crossings.

Redways

A pedestrian and cycle way network crossing the city for 250 kilometres. They are called "Redways" because of their red asphalt surface,however where they travel though the parks they have a more rural brown gravel surface.

Bridle ways

There are a large number of bridle paths running through the city,mostly following the linear parks,which also connect to rural bridle ways outside of the city. These are either sand or wood chipping surfaces. In places where there is a livestock boundary within the parks, and so a gate is necessary (the cyclists have a small cattle grid), mounting/dismounting steps are often nearby.

Canal

The Grand Union Canal a 12 mile section of the canal runs though the middle of the city from the Iron Trunk Aqueduct in the north (before bridge number 68) to bridge number 99 in the south. Now used by pleasure boats.

Reward Your Forum Moderators

If you are a forum administrator and you have moderators on your site who are doing a stellar job, consider rewarding them for their assistance. No, I am not necessarily talking about financial compensation, but other recognizable forms of showing your gratefulness.

As the forum administrator for the , I have been blessed to have on board four members of the business aviation community who have helpfully assisted me in the role of moderator for about one year. Admittedly, I started the site on my own and only added moderators after the site's second anniversary. In retrospect, I wish I had been more diligent in adding moderators.

Because of the unique "nicheness" of my site, I can "reward" my moderators in several ways:

1. I allow moderators to advertise within their signature. This includes links to their own sites or information about their businesses.

2. Free banner advertising. If my moderators have a banner advertising their business it gets put on my site in at least one, if not two, premium locations.

3. Promotion of material. Several of my moderators are accomplished writers. When not adding helpful and interesting information within a thread, I can count on them submitting an article to my site which I will gladly carry with the appropriate links included.

4. Free services. I charge my members to list their resumes, but not my moderators to have their copy listed. If there is something, anything else I can give away to my moderators I will do it.

5. Giveaways. While my moderators cannot participate in community contests, I will give products/items away when possible. Truthfully, this hasn't happened yet, but I am certainly open to that possibility!

6. Write letters. One of my moderators needed a little promoting of his capabilities; I addressed a letter to the proper party to help him successfully get what he needed.

In all, my moderators are an important part of the success of my site. I cannot forget their importance and I urge you to remember your moderators' contributions too. You may not have the financial wherewithal to contribute money, but certainly there are ways you can manifest your gratitude.

Should You Add A Forum To Your Site?

I was recently reading a message board thread on a popular SEO site and the question came up whether this particular person should add a forum to his site. I appreciated the honest answers from those who replied and I mulled over several points myself that I thought would be beneficial. Combined, these are some of the prevailing thoughts from site administrators:

1. Site Traffic. While there is no "rule of thumb" as to what constitutes a busy site, most administrators felt that a site with at least several hundred daily unique visitors was worthy of adding a forum. One administrator cited that probably 10-20% of the visitors would actually join the forum, while the rest would continue to visit the web pages. Any amount less, the adminstrators believed, would find the forum visited infrequently. Fears were voiced by some that an "empty" or underused forum would send out a bad signal.

2. Moderators. Knowing that a forum can quickly get out of control if not watched regularly, one respondent urged that at least 2 current site visitors be appointed as moderators. The thoughts were that if there were already regular identifiable visitors to the site, at least 2 could be found to help out with the new forum. Across the board, no one felt comfortable with the administrator starting the site without moderators.

3. Development. A side conversation ensued about the development of the forum. We soon learned that the administrator was not well versed in PHP so he was going to have to expend some money by purchasing a license from vBulletin or Invision Boards to set up a site. We did learn that through AdSense and banner display ads his site was profitable, so the financial outlay of $200 or so wasn't a problem for this administrator. Still, he could save himself some money by opting for an open source PHP site if he had the time and inclination. In both cases he clearly had neither, thus a licensed forum made the most sense.

4. Maintenance. Besides having the help of moderators, we all recognized that a certain amount of regular maintenance would need to be performed including: registering people who for whatever reason could not register themselves, resetting passwords when requested, updating forums as required, backing up data on a regular basis, making important upgrades and modifications as warranted, marketing the site via mass emails and advertising, promoting the site via an orchestrated advertising campaign, etc. Nobody felt that the administrator could create the site and basically stand back. By experience, we knew that we had to share with the potential forum administrator that forums are time consuming and require a lot of special care.

5. Time Management. As outlined in point #4, the amount of time involved to successfully launch, maintain, market, backup, and update forums can be huge. I mentioned in my reply that whatever time was allocated to forum management would quickly take away from other administrative tasks including writing articles, updating web pages, sourcing new customers, as well as impacting precious personal time.

6. Niche or Not? Not mentioned by me during the discussion {I thought about this point later} was whether the site was a niche community or one amongst many. Clearly, if the administrator starts a forum that is like many others it may have difficulty establishing itself in a crowded market. As the manager of two successful forums, I have learned through trial and error that some forums work, while others do not. I might add, that I have managed as many as one dozen other forums which I eventually had to close or relinquish because of some of the points mentioned previously, e.g. low traffic numbers and time management.

In all, forum management brings a whole additional level of responsibility for any site manager. Weigh the benefits against the pitfalls and give due consideration to all the points mentioned above. You may still elect to start a forum and, if that is the case, I only wish you success in your new undertaking.

Search for Business Partners Effortlessly

With the internet revolution ushering in new modes of communication everyday, building contacts is no longer an arduous, time consuming job. In fact, if you are looking for effective and easy ways to search for business partners, the internet provides a ready answer. Today we have a number of successful and friendly ebusiness platforms which allow us to build networks of contacts, search for business partners and establish business communications effortlessly.

As vibrant, ever-growing networking platforms and connection builders, social networking websites serve as your most effective medium for e-business. They make it easier for you to find and establish , boost communications with existing business partners and close online business deals and forge partnerships.

Building up a channel with a new contact the traditional way takes its own time. Social networking sites make it easier for you. If as your business contact, you give out your networking site contact page to someone whom you want to provide your contact details, it will make introductions much quicker for you. Plus, it will help you track the people in your network hassle free. Social networking sites have several different search parameters to find new contacts and business partners. For instance, on BizGround, a highly effective Social Connection Builder, you can try various combinations of these parameters and specify particular values to search and find your preferable match.

Once you find your potential match, all you need to do is click on his/her photo or name, sign his/her guestbook, send a private message and explore avenues of working together.

You can invite and add your contacts in this wonderful networking platform hassle free! You can begin as a Free Premium Member and take advantage of all its exclusive features. Check BizGround FAQs. Most probably your questions will be answered here. For an overview of the functionalities of BizGround, take a tour.

Ben Stewart

Internet Forums - Six Ways To Avoid Disaster

Internet Forums are highly popular, they cater for all tastes and deal with every topic imaginable. People visit Internet forums for a variety of reasons, the most common being the search for information or entertainment. The Internet forum is a safe environment if you behave sensibly but you can find yourself in dangerous territory if you ignore the following warnings.

Don't Join Internet Forum Flame Wars

An Internet Forum flame war is to be avoided at all costs. The airing of differing points of view, debate and discussion are healthy things for an Internet forum: they keep it lively. An Internet forum flame war can make entertaining reading but don't be tempted to join in or start one. If you make a habit of leaping into forum flame wars, you will acquire a reputation as a trouble-maker and you could find yourself barred from a forum because of your behaviour. Another good reason for avoiding forum flame wars is that you could find yourself caught in the crossfire. Before you know it, people will be firing at you from every direction when all you intended to do was have a bit of fun.

Don't Make Jokes On An Internet Forum

Well, you can if you really must, but remember that the Internet forum has the same drawback as email: the reader can't see your expression or gestures. The smile, shrug or grimace which can lift your comment from serious to humorous will be missing and your message will be something which the reader has to interpret. If the reader gets it wrong, you might very well find that you just started your very own Internet forum flame war quite unintentionally. You can safely tell a joke on a forum (provided that your joke's content is appropriate) but sarcasm and irony are dangerous and best avoided.

Don't Be An Internet Forum Drama Queen

The Internet forum is not a suitable stage for you to perform your very own drama. If you flounce about making extravagant statements merely for effect, you will be the object of ridicule by other forum members even if nobody tells you so. If you are a member of a support forum for a particular programme, it is quite in order to post a message to the forum saying something along the lines of "I've started to feel unsure about [whatever], I don't think it's going to work out unless I make some changes. Can anybody suggest what I should try next?" Compare this to the next post in drama queen style: "I quit! This Sucks. I've done everything right so it must be this ****ing programme. You will never hear from me again!" Which forum member would you want to help? There will be kind people who feel the drama queen's pain and offer support and suggestions. When the drama queen makes a big re-entrance to the forum after a few days sulking, posts "I'm back!" and expresses a resolve to work diligently towards success, the kind people who offered support will feel that their advice must have done the trick. When the forum drama queen posts another "Goodbye Forever!" message, the same kind people will empathise as the drama queen is obviously being affected by an emotional roller coaster and they will offer further sound advice. The kind forum members will be pleased when the drama queen makes a further "I'm Back And Here To Stay!" recovery. By about the third or fourth "I Quit!" drama, even the kindest people will be wishing the drama queen had stayed quit the first time round and Internet forum credibility for the drama queen ends there.

Don't Be An Internet Forum Puppy

A real puppy can't help chasing after everything that moves, getting under people's feet and being hyperactive to the point where it sometimes becomes annoying: that's just its nature. The Internet forum member who behaves like a puppy can help it and should desist. I am talking about the person who joins an Internet forum for the sole purpose of getting the links in his signature file on the forum as often as possible. The annoying forum puppy will respond to every message posted whether he knows anything about the subject or not. He will post messages which are of no value to anyone, these messages will range from boring pointless observations to obscure drivel to requests to poll an unimportant question which bears no relevance to the forum. If you are desperate to plaster your signature file all over the place, join lots of Internet forums and just post a few messages on each. With any luck, you will grow out of this time-wasting pursuit before the other forum members form a lynching party.

Don't Be An Internet Forum Seconder

Have you ever come across Mr Me Too? If you have, you will know who I mean. He is about as annoying as the Internet forum puppy. Mr Me Too will post a response to every thread that appears on a forum. It won't take him long as he won't bother to read through the thread, all he will do is add a comment saying "me too" or "I agree". This gets his signature file posted with the link back to his website and that's all he wants. Mr Me Too does not go to the Internet forum for entertainment or information or to contribute anything useful. If you are subscribed to a forum thread and receive notification that someone has posted a further message on the topic, it is very irritating to log in at the forum only to find that someone has posted a message saying "me too" or "I agree" just to give his signature file an airing. It is sadly true that the Internet forum puppy and Mr Me Too will get their links on the Internet alongside the forum members who post meaningful messages. When the day arrives that Search Engine Robots are able to distinguish the difference between valuable forum messages and drivel, those two offenders will find that it's pay back time for their transgressions.

Don't Attack The Internet Forum Moderators

If you have a message removed or edited by an Internet forum moderator, there will be a reason, so don't post complaints on the forum. Even if you don't understand or don't agree with the decision, there is no point in arguing. Attacking a moderator is like holding up a placard saying "I'm a pest, throw me out". The moderators are there to ensure the Internet forum is kept to the required standard. Remember that somebody owns this forum and invests time and energy in keeping the environment -- well -- moderate. The Internet forum is not your private sand-pit, you are a guest and if your behaviour is not appropriate, your invitation to play could be withdrawn. You should also remember that anything you post on an Internet forum will be available for public scrutiny for years to come.

The dictionary definition of the verb to moderate is: "to keep within measure or bounds; to regulate; to reduce in intensity; to make temperate or reasonable". If this does not sound like your kind of environment, perhaps you should stay away from Internet forums.

The Benefits of Hiring Forum Posters

There are many business benefits to be realized by including a forum on your website. A forum is an area where individuals can converse on a regular basis about different topics and ideas as well as discuss your services and products. Of course, you can have different threads and decide more or less what topics are in your forum, but you will need to have people posting in your forum to keep interest and people returning.

You know by now that the more repeat traffic you have the more likely you are to make sales to these individuals. A forum will have repeat traffic because individuals must return to your site to take part in the forum, and thus will look around your site at their leisure and ultimately buy something. However, you must be sure your forum is something worthwhile to return to and this is the reason to hire forum posters.

simply means you pay certain individuals to write about specific topics in your forum to keep the conversation interesting and people returning to your website. This has been proven to work by many web pages and will most likely work for you as well. The only way this will not work is if the forum posters you hire do not post to the forum or else post threads that are completely off topic and not of any interest to your forum members. As long as the forum posters are doing their jobs you will realize an increased interest in the forum, your traffic and ultimately your sales.

Of course, forums are not just for bonuses. Many people start forums to discuss topics which interest them. Even if your forum is run as a hobby, you could still benefit from using paid forum posters to increase your content and build interest for your guests.

The bottom line is, no one will join an empty forum. This has been proven many times. In order for your forum to become successful, you need to have members posting. So why not spend a few bucks and hire someone to help build your community?

Ron is the CTO for Dice Ventures Inc an internet holdings and development company.

Some Quick Tips to Easily Improve the Success of Your Forum!

It is difficult to define a 'successful forum'. However, all forums deal with information and so the amount of information that is transferred across a forum is an indication of its success. The most effective way to boost the transfer of information is by boosting your forum's traffic.

Getting visitors to your forum for the first time

Promote your forum in a signature file at the end of your articles, emails and forum posts. This will show people that you do have a forum. Usually, the main reason people don't visit forums is not because they have no interest in visiting them, but because they don't know they're there. Raising awareness of your forum is particularly important. If you have an ezine, promote your forum in that and include some of the most interesting comments that have been posted. Your website should also promote your forum avidly. Try to include a visible link to your forum on every page of your website. This way whichever page visitors enter on, they will always have the opportunity to learn about and visit your forum. Also, with a link on every page of your site, visitors are always seeing your forum offer, and on the internet, repetition works!

Possibly the most effective way to get more posts on your forum is by offering an incentive to anyone who posts or signs up as a 'forum member'. Offer those who post a free ebook which you send to them by email. This way you capture their email address too and so if your forum goes through a period of poor traffic you can always contact old posters and ask them to post for you. Don't think old posters won't do this. They will probably be honoured that you have remembered about them and that you value their thoughts and comments. It is amazing how a little incentive such as an ebook can bring hundreds of people to post on you forum.

Publish testimonials about your forum all over your website and in your ezine. You could even incorporate one in a signature file. You can't rely on your visitors trusting you on the fact that your forum contains high quality posts. Get opinions on your forum from previous posters, collect the most complimentary ones and then distribute these testimonials to as many people as you can. People will be interested if you can prove that your forum has helped others. If you don't have any testimonials, then don't be afraid to ask your forum visitors for them. As I've said before, they will be honoured that you value their opinion and are likely to give a very complimentary testimonial.

Do you publish ads on your forum? If you do, then consider doing an ad swap with a forum of the same subject as yours. This will ensure that traffic from your ad swap will be targeted. This method of advertising is very effective and is also free.

Getting visitors to come back to your forum

It is one thing being able to get people to your forum, but is quite another to get them to come back. However, if you wish to have a successful forum, you need people who post regularly.

Most importantly, make sure that your forum has a focused topic around which all the posts are based. Forums with no focus very rarely succeed because it is so difficult to attract a targeted audience and these forums very rarely go into enough depth on the subject that is being discussed. The topic you choose to base your forum on should be something that you know a great deal about so that you can respond to anyone who might ask a question. This will save you from looking unprofessional and you will also enjoy managing your forum more if it is based on something you are interested about.

Another essential fact to consider when running a forum is that people who post and ask questions want answers fast. They definitely do not want to have to wait more than 24 hours for a reply because it looks like no one cares about helping them. Just make sure you check your forum periodically, perhaps 4 times a day, and answer any questions.

Make sure that your forum is regularly updated with interesting posts. Nothing will put a visitor off more than discovering that the last post was over a week ago. This will definitely not encourage them to reply. Don't be afraid to post the majority of comments yourself. Even if they aren't replied to, at least it makes your forum look active.

Also, do not let your forum's layout let you down. I thoroughly recommend staying clear of bright colours. Choose a good colour scheme, perhaps a light and dark colour. Even though this sounds pedantic, your colour scheme is what visitors will see first. Be careful not to overcomplicate your forum either. Make navigation easier by putting links in an orderly fashion.

Forum Traffic - How to Get More Members on Your Forum

Getting more traffic on your forum can be hard. But don't get discouraged yet! Here are some ways that you can increase traffic, or better yet, keep the people who are already going through your forum from closing out their window.

If you have been browsing the Internet for any period of time, you more than likely have visited a forum to ask a question, find information, or talk about a topic that interests you. This means that if you want your forum to be successful, you have to have a general topic area, or niche. Overall "general" forums do not do very well at first due to the fact that they have no guidelines. Human nature makes us feel like we have to follow rules, if none are provided, we are confused and don't know what to do. Setting the theme of your forum to that of your website is a great idea (and normally expected).

As stated earlier, people go to forums to get information. When people do start to ask questions, state problems, and post for advice, you should respond in a precise, short, and informative way. In addition, you should respond as quickly as possible. There is nothing worse than posting on a forum and checking back only to find that two people have read it, and no one cares enough to respond. The quicker you respond, the more likely the user will come back.

Do not have too many "sub" forums within your overall forum. Having fifteen "sub" forums within your forum with only a few posts in each does not make your forum appear active. Consolidate your forum and maybe group different topic areas together. A forum with three categories with many posts appears more impressive than a forum with twenty categories and only a few posts in each.

Offer incentives for posting in your forum; give them a trial product, offer a little free advertising, give them a link on the main page, allow them to post their website in the main forum, etc. It is amazing how the quantity and quality of posts increases after you offer even the slightest free incentive.

And what about for the new forums? Getting members can be a difficult task. In brief, start conversations in your forum with yourself. Create fifteen or twenty accounts (you probably will want the same password for all the accounts) and create threads with plenty of posts. You can let your "starter" accounts die out after you get actual members (you might even want to delete the threads, posts, and members just so no one can prove that your a schizophrenic). Another great way to get more action is to make your big site announcements through your forum. This means that people will have to browse your forum in order to know what's going on.

Overall, be precise, make the color scheme look good (no bright colors, people will be blinking to much to read), have a topic, do not have too many categories, and have conversations with yourself!

3 Reasons Why PHP Message Boards Rock

If you are web designer, chances are you include forums on at least some of the sites you manage. If you haven't explored PHPBB2 you are missing out as this type of message board offers to designers a forum that is well supported, easy to manage, and above all else: free! Let's see why PHPBB2 is a hit with so many web designers.

Compared to some web designers, I am relatively new to the business. I created my first forum with MSN groups in 2002 then, six months later, I made the move over to EZBoard. Sure, it did not have all the bells and whistles of vBulletin and other corporate developed boards, but it did the trick for me. That is, until EZBoard was hacked and my livelihood nearly disappeared in moments some two years later!

In search of something different, I considered the move to vBulletin, but I was quite frankly not wanting to shell out license and upgrade fees on a regular basis. At the time of the EZBoard incident, I was running six forums, so I knew that I would eventually have about that many when I completed my transition away from EZBoard.

So, why PHPBB2? For three reasons:

1. It is free. Yes, absolutely! Since it is "open source" code, developed by the developers, it is offered as a free download to whosoever will. Believe me that is a big appeal and, apparently, many designers around the world feel the same way as over 200,000 people are members of their support forum.

2. It can be used across platforms. Whether you work in Windows or Linux, IIS or Apache PHPBB2 is usable and fully functionable.

3. Highly modifiable. Open Source extensibility is evident with the incorporation of PHP, HTML, CSS, and MySQL into the forum.

For the novice, PHPBB2 does take some getting used to especially since you are responsible for installing, maintaining, backing up, upgrading, and modifying your own forum. For your benefit you can access onsite Flash tutorials which are a great way to walk your way through the installation process too. As with any software it is vulnerable to outside attacks, so take care to make sure you regularly back up your forums and familiarize yourself with the security procedures.

In all, PHP message boards really do rock and at a price that cannot possibly be beat!

How to Build a Forum That Doesnt Fall Apart Two Months Later, Part 1

If you can get a big enough following from customer lists and newsletters you might want to start your own forum. But I always see people trying to start a forum and it falls flat on their face, mainly because they make it too big and they never promote it.

The main reason is because nobody eats in an empty restaurant. Don't setup a "multiple topic" forum like phpBB where it allows you to partition the thing off into different subjects. You have to start small, get enough traffic to that forum for THAT type of forum to become self-sustaining before you build bigger.

By that I mean start off with a blog.

This blog (and eventually your message board) HAVE to have a niche. You can't just have a general purpose hang-out message board, or have it based on something really vague like "Marketing," or "Finance," or "Computers." Instead go for something specific like a Copywriting message board. Or a message board about home loans. Or a message board about digital video.

You supply all the posts, and any user "posts" will just be comments to this journal. Don't require any sort of signup in order to post.

Give people an option to sign up for e-mail updates but DO NOT use the autoresponder built into the blogging software. Instead use a separate autoresponder script. Why? Two reasons:

1.) You can write a quick teaser message that will entice more subscribers to read your posts than any boring automated notice could. 2.) This way it will be easier to move subscribers over once you graduate from a blog (keep reading).

(WordPress works great for this and is free.)

Start off allowing anyone to post, but once you start getting traffic to that page and the blog spam starts rolling in you will either have to require approval by you for a comment to go through or require the poster to type in a code to prove they are human (you've seen the kind).

It will be easy to get SOME traffic to the blog, if you keep most of your entries to it in article format, because then you can submit these articles to ezines and the article directories with a link back to the blog.

Keep the blog format going, be SURE to post regularly and if possible write content in advance (Post To Future) so that if you miss a week your content will still be updated as if you never left. If you feel ambitious setup RSS feeds for the blog and submit to the feed directories.

Continue posting until you reach the point where after you make a post, you receive comments from 10-20 different people within a day or two of the post. This 10-20 has to happen without any e-mails being sent out, or any kind of active promotion.

Until you reach this point stay with the blog, it means you haven't reached critical mass yet and any attempt to change over to a more complex kind of site will never work.

Once you've got those 10-20 spontaneous posts you can go ahead and make the move from a blog to a forum. But be very very careful. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, especially if your forum doesn't "unfold" properly, which is a technique I'll discuss with you in Part 2 of this article...

Forum Software 101 - Why It is Vitally Important to Choose the Best Software to Run your Forum

When you go through all of the work and trouble to set up your own forum, you don't want anything to get in the way of its success... especially your forum software. Because of this, it is incredibly important for you to have a good forum software solution that will support your forum just the way you want and provide you will with all of the tools and user functions needed to manage your forum. Don't just choose the first forum software you come across, do your homework and choose one that is going to work for you.

*Functions

You want forum software that allows you to update, edit, and basically perform any function you need to at any time. If you do not choose forum software that allows you to do that, you are going to be extremely frustrated with your software and run into problems that you could easily avoid. Don't let this happen to you and do some research on good forum software before you get your forum started. It is always easier to avoid problems than to fix them.

*Customize

It is also important to buy or use good forum software because you want to be able to customize it at any time to meet the needs of your forum and discussions. If you want to change the look or feel of the forum for any reason you can. This is important because you need to be in control of your forum and your forum software just needs to help you be in control, not fight you for it.

*Notification

Another reason it is very important to choose good forum software is so you will know when you have new people joining up as well as when you have new posts. You can't obviously live in front of your forum, so you need your software to take care of managing some of the work for you. When you have been notified of a new member or post then you can take care of the details, add follow-ups, delete if necessary, and whatever else you may need to do as moderator of the forum. However, if you don't choose a good software, you might not have automatic notifications which means you will have to be constantly online checking the forum to see what is happening and to see if there are new members. This is a major hassle when there is software available for a reasonable price, and sometimes free, that will take care of this for you.

Now that you know why it is important to choose good software to run your forum, you can do some research to find out what software program will be the best for your forum so you can get started!

6 Forum Management Essentials

If you are tasked with managing a forum, congratulations to you. If you find yourself weighed down by mundane management tasks, you are not alone. Let's examine some essentials to help you run an effective and vibrant message board community without the hassles of micromanagement.

1. Find a forum you like and stick with it. Yes, not everyone will be using vBulletin or one of the other wonderful PHP or ASP message board sites. If you like EZBoard or if you like making your own site up with PHP open source, then do it and stick with it. By now you know the pitfalls of the particular sites; can you really afford to regularly change to the latest and greatest technologies? Probably not, unless your site is already generating plenty of income through Google AdSense or similar types of PPC advertising. I am not saying to never update your site, rather weigh the costs of whether your site has to have a certain site or feel to be successful. Even ugly sites can prosper, witness Craig's List!

2. Find moderators who want to moderate. Not everyone who volunteers to moderate a particular forum on your message board is fit for the task. Some will sign up and then not moderate; better to go without a moderator then to have a "name in place." Keep your standards high and only the best will volunteer.

3. Envision long term. Unless you plan on rapidly growing your forum and then "flipping" it in a quick sale, you are better off looking at keeping your site for many years. Yes, in the land of the internet, everything changes so rapidly; still there are forums that can and do thrive the longer they are online, with proper management of course!

4. Reward your core constituency. Chances are your site is dominated by a small group of people who post regularly and are generally most helpful overall. Consider having a private forum viewable only to them on your site. Out of this group will likely come your moderators; run contests for this group only. Find advertisers to fund the prizes.

5. Ignore the squeeky, vocal minority. Yes, there will be the small amount of people -- usually less than 10% of your members -- whose demands on your time far exceed what is normal. They are the ones who want extensive hand holding and technical assistance...if they would only read previous threads or pay attention to announcements, your problems with them would be resolved. As much as it cuts against the grain for some administrators [heck, you are all about helping people, right?], you must cut them loose. You need not do it directly, but by not promptly answering their questions they will either figure things out themselves or move on.

6. Be well funded. Have a treasure chest or Paypal donation box on your site to welcome contributions. Run banner ads and join a successful PPC program. Find an advertising plan that works well for you. Seek grant money if your site is geared toward helping raise awareness about a particular health or social issue. You want to reap some monies from your site and you should pay yourself for your hard work.

Not all forums are meant to succeed on the internet, nor should they. The successful sites are well managed and positively impact members and guests far beyond the internet. If you have one of these sites, congratulations and good management to you!

Dont Over Accesorize Your Forums; Give it Community Content

Have you been to those forums where when it opens up you are blasted off your seat by the stunning colors? Sure you have. We all have. There has been a trend by new forums admins to put every modification they can find onto their forums. While mods and skins are not a bad thing, lets remember that most of your succesful forums dont have all this fancy smancy stuff.

What these forums have actually is called solid community content. The people that come to these forums dont come to them because they have a bright and colorful or even dark skin on their forums. They come to them because they are interested in what is being discussed on a daily basis.

Take for example Webhostingtalk.com or gamingforums.com whose communities come back day after day and post thousands of time per month. And all this for a forums that isnt beautiful per say. They have some serious content to read and look through on a daily basis. I have spent many hours on several different forums just browsing the various threads to learn what I could.

So why would you want to change the look of the forums to some hard to see purple or blue. This will not make you popular. While yes some people like the look of them and more than likely we all have at one time enjoyed these type of forums, it is true that you will not sustain a community of any size on your look.

People really want basic meat and potatoes content. So you are wondering how you determine what is a good look for your forums. Since there are tons of skins and mods and the ability to mod most of the code for a skin yourself what should you do. Well if you must re-skin use blues and whites as they tend to be more user friendly. And make sure the mods fit what the community wants. If a mod is going to affect the mood of the community than do not do it.

When developing TheNetCodes forums for our clients we stuck to this same formula. While it will not matter as much since our forums are dedicated to our customers. It might make a difference in your forums.

It is simple. If you want a successful community forums, dont over do it on the fun stuff as it will ultimately do you in. You need to remember content comes before the look of your forums. And once they are built start going out and marketing them through the online forums suchs as this one. This will create links and help you to develop an idea of how to set your forums up.

In conclusion it is a good idea to make a forums with the idea of your end users in mind. Not what you might consider cool or nice looking. Try to be practical and spend your time advertising instead of wondering why your forums are sitting idle. Remember Quality first. Good Luck,

5 Reasons You Should Market Online

If you've got a website you'll need to let the world know about it. This is called internet marketing. Believe me, it wasn't too long ago that I didn't know a single thing about this concept. However, ever since I committed myself to learning about the ins and outs of online marketing, my sales have dramatically increased. Marketing online is a completely different challenge than offline marketing but it has its benefits. If you want to take your website to a different level, drive more traffic, and increase your sales, you need to consider the benefits of marketing online.

1.) First of all, with internet marketing, you will dramatically increase your world of potential customers and clients by simply having a web presence. With a contact email or web form, you have also proven to site visitors that you are reachable.

2.) Online marketing allows you to network with people you would not be able to meet otherwise. Joining newsgroups and networking communities allow opportunities for sales that just would not have been likely to happen offline.

3.) You have complete control of your web image without your potential customers ever needing to see you in person. If you are concerned about maintaining a professional appearance, you won't have to worry about this online. You can slip over to your computer in pajamas, chat with your clients who live clear across the world, and never have to worry about ruining your business profile.

4.) Online marketing offers a vast variety of ways to add clientele to your business. With all of the many proven marketing techniques available, you are bound to find one or several that fit your desired level, and you can tweak these strategies and implement them any way you see fit.

5.) Last, but not least, marketing online can become very automated, and require less of your time, focus, or energy, depending on the techniques you use. Not only is there software out there that can automate your marketing processes for you, but there are a world of marketing freelancers who are available for outsourcing, and can dramatically help your business.

I'll have to admit, when I figured out how to market my business on the internet, I was ecstatic! These are just a few of the benefits of internet marketing. I am certain that as you begin to market online, you'll soon be able to add to this list.

Using Forums To Network Successfully

According to one of the entries found at dictionary.com the definition of the word network is as follows: Something resembling an openwork fabric or structure in form or concept, especially: An extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support.

The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary at http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary gives the following definition for networking: the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions.

Successful networking occurs when the exchange of information or services is amongst people with similar interests or concerns. Maintaining the network of connections provides a networking opportunity when one has new information to exchange with others in this group of individuals.

Recently I decided to put a theory to the test that one of the best ways to develop networking relationships was through the use of online forums. My target audience of response was forums aimed at people involved in affiliate programs, network marketing, or internet marketing of some type. I mostly wanted to see who would respond if anyone and see how much of a response I would get.

I used a piece of software that has both a browser and a way to watch one's forum posts for responses. In addition to seeing how many people would answer my questions another goal is to get my self-known among forum communities. No one wants to do business with a stranger.

Here is something that I discovered. The small forums that are part of groups such as Delphi Forums and Ezboards have very few posts and when someone does post, the posts are mainly advertising in nature. I would suggest that you are wasting your time if you post to these forums. Is all forum posting a waste of time? Definitely not, as there is much value in it, as you will see by what I write next.

I decided to go to some of the forums of well-known websites or well-known internet marketers and posting there. In creating an account I set up a signature file so that in every post that I made my URL would be shown. I was very careful for the most part to ask questions or give answers. Never once did I post what could be seen as an ad. And guess what the result was.

In the settings of the forums where it was allowed I set the choice so that I would be emailed when I had a response. I was very happy to get emails announcing that people had responded to my various posts in not one but several of these professional forums.

The forums I posted to all had to do with a subject that I am interested in namely affiliate and network marketing on the Internet. The people who responded were very knowledgeable and helpful and I hope that in situations where I answered someone's question(s) that my answer(s) were of help to them.

What did my experience in the forums prove? By the fact that I shared information with people interested in the same topics as myself and that they shared their information with me it proved that forums are a very important part of networking on the Internet.

The Demise of EZBoard

For years, EZBoard was a community that offered relatively cheap and easy to maintain forums for managers. Virtually anyone could register, design, and layout a site and invite their friends to participate. Indeed, some of the largest forums on the internet are built upon EZBoard. Unfortunately, a recent system-wide hacking attack has destroyed the company's reputation and sent many managers packing. Let's look at the venerable community and the fatal flaw that has toppled the company from its perch.

At one time EZBoard boasted over 14,000 web communities. Many were started by individuals seeking a discussion forum for their favorite topics, while others were started by business people such as myself. The reasons businesses were attracted to EZBoard were two-fold:

1. We were not knowledgeable enough about PHP to create and manage a site for ourselves, and

2. We did not want to go through the expense of hosting our site on a dedicated server and, instead, used EZBoard's vast bank of computers to house our communities.

Admittedly, reason #1 was a huge part of why I stuck with EZBoard. Sure, I knew about vBulletin and related forums but purchasing a license from them and managing the site on a dedicated server was a pricey option, especially since at one time I was managing more than a dozen forums! I could handle the variable charges incurred from being with EZBoard by paying my subscription charges on either a quarterly, semi-annually or even yearly basis. I doubt that I dished out more than $500-600 in any given year, so it was cost effective for my business.

I should have known that EZBoard was not quite up to the task when their system shut down for several days in Spring 2004 after what was supposed to be a simple system-wide update of the forums. A few hours of down time was extended to several days and forum administrators were left in the dark for all of that time. More importantly, many forum members assumed the worst and peppered many an administrator's inbox with queries. Those days were not fun; EZBoard did recover and gave managers credits exceeding the number of days they were down. Still, if you relied on AdSense revenue -- like I do -- you lost big time.

History was to repeat itself on May 30, 2005, when a reported outside attack by hackers brought down EZBoard altogether. Yes, the boards were still working, but the majority of messages were gone and any new ones also began to disappear. EZBoard admitted almost immediately they were hacked and were working diligently to restore the 9000 boards affected. Soon, however, the news came out that much of their backup files were hacked as well. Forum managers wondered if EZBoard kept all their files on vulnerable servers or if the attack was done internally. Messages from EZBoard management were vague "in the interest of security" so nobody knew for sure.

As the days passed and forum managers realized that the restoral process would only be partial and take weeks to accomplish, a steady stream of managers began to hit the php sites to see about moving their boards. With trepidation I visited the PHPBB2 site knowing that my skillsets were limited in this area. However, I soon learned that this particular program was open source -- in effect, free -- and the Flash tutorials explained everything clearly and effectively. So, in one evening I set up the new site, transferred some files, and gave it a launch.

The best part? In the two years since I was with EZBoard my hosting company for web pages had upgraded their site enough to be able to house my message boards. So, instead of having web pages on one server and my forums on another, I could house them collectively. Most importantly, I would no longer have to rely on EZBoard's flawed backup plans and could backup all the files myself.

I still have one EZBoard community and I may keep it, for now. It is a small, but very well established where it is "sitting" and I lost only 4 or 5 files under the attack. Two of my sites I transferred to PHP and two others I decided to delete as they were slower performers. Fortunately, I had gotten rid of several smaller, no performing sites earlier. Still, I felt the pain of EZBoard's hacking incident and decided the time to move was now.

So, what is the future of EZBoard? That is hard to tell. They are promising a major upgrade which would include the ability allowing managers to back up their own sites. That would be a very good move. However, the administrative costs with EZBoard now exceed what managers pay with many standard web hosting companies. Few sites are large enough to require a dedicated server, therefore many managers will likely consider making the move away.

I was twice bitten from EZBoard and did not relish a third hit, thus my two largest sites are now with PHPBB2. The move was time consuming, but the new board has many more advanced features compared to EZBoard. Sure, I have more administrative things to do -- like help AOL users who have difficulty signing up -- but I no longer am subject to the whims of EZBoard. I am glad that a major risk factor has been removed even with the increased administrative responsibilities. You will be too if you decide to make the move.

Make Money From Forums

If you have a website about a topic you enjoy, you can make money from discussion forums. Talk, post links to your site, get traffic. Traffic means money, right? If not, try different affiliate programs or Google Adwords. The worst sites should get a couple cents per visitor. Now here's how to talk and make money.

Search "forum" plus the topic of your site on Google or Alta Vista. For my first site, I searched "backpacking + forum" and in the pages of results I found several good forums. I also searched related topics like "hiking" too. You can also check about.com, and other sites that have forums on many topics.

Registration is usually giving your email address and choosing a password. Some forums allow guests to post without registering. Once registered, browse the forum topics, and post a response to anything, just to "learn the ropes".

Income From Discussion Forums

The point of posting in forums is to get readers to come to your web site. Sure it's fun to give advice and discuss things of interest to you, but that's secondary. With that in mind, do the following:

1. Always link to your site. If they don't allow any links, find another forum.

2. Don't "spam." Sales pitches will be removed. Offer honest advice, or express an opinion, then sign off with your name and the link to your site.

3. Ask for help from others. This is an effective and acceptable way to "advertise." Enter a topic like "Can I get some advice?" and post something like, "I just started a meditation site. If some of you would visit and tell me what you think, I'd really appreciate it." Have a link to the site. People love to help, and to give opinions, and they'll click on those ads while they're at your site.

4. Look at total "views." Many forums show the total times each "thread" has been viewed. When you see some with many more than others, get in on those, or start a new thread on the same topic. Go where the traffic is, and get some of it.

I didn't like the idea of forums until I made a few posts, and saw my traffic and revenue climb for days afterwards. That convinced me. Just be polite, offer some value to others, and always have a link to your site. Many other secrets of using forums are covered in my newsletter, but this should be get you started. Talk and make money today.

Forum Signatures to Build Back Links - Helping Your Search Rankings

Building Backlinks! There are several ways to build backlinks. We have discussed Directory Submissions, Article Submission, & Press Releases. The next simple easy and free way to get a back link as well as free traffic is the Forum Signature Tags.

Forums that do get indexed in the search engines create individual pages per thread. Your hyper linked signature tag is now a back link.

If you are a member of any forums throughout the Internet, fantastic. They are usually very informative and helpful. If you are not a member in any forum, find one that interests you and join.

Most Forums allow a user to add a signature tag line to their posts. Usually in the member's area of most forums, you can edit, add and create a forum signature.

When creating your signature tag it is best to use your real name. Also use a hyper linked URL and briefly describe your service or product. An example of a good signature tag would be:

10 Commandments To Maximizing Your Time In Forum Participation

1) Gain an idea/keep in touch of what is happening in the Internet Marketing scene (strategies, product, news).

2) Help others as well as yourself to solve a 'how to' problem whenever it crops up. This applies to the universal law of "Give before you can receive". Zig Ziglar once said, "To get what you want, help enough people to get what they want." The long-term implication is when you can show yourself as a consistent expert by continually contributing good answers whenever you can, people will remember you sooner or later. In fact, that is all some forum participants would only do as their focus.

3) Promote your product or other products with your affiliate links when you recommend solutions.

4) Create a sense of trust and bonding among fellow marketers in which real friendship can be establish over time (a sense of belonging).

5) Share and learn from others through a mutual exchange of experience.

6) Get a word-of-mouth recommendation to a proven product or service from people who have tried it instead of spending time to analyze various products on the Internet.

7) Give and receive encouragement and motivation to/from fellow marketers.

8) Participate in Joint Ventures to expand your business.

9) Give special offers (discounts, giveaways etc.) that are only available in the forum.

10) Give free products only to members of the forum.

Intro to Health Forums

Health forums are great for gathering information, resources, advice, tips and tricks, business names/information, product reviews, expert advice and much more. Many forums have experts on health subjects that are monitoring the forums 24/7 and are very quick to reply to your post(question).

In this way, you can actually ask your specific question, and get a answer that is related to you specifically. This tends to be much easier than looking up information on your own, in most cases people will go and look up credible information and do all the searching for you.

I'm sure, by now, your ready to find your first health forum to post on. Before you do, here are some tips to keep in mind.

1.When searching for forums, find forums with currently active users, for an immediate response.

2.Don't be afraid to sign up for the forum, 99% of health forums are quick and easy to sign up for.

3.The best way to get information from a forum is to go to the category that best suits your question and then post your question.

4.Short and to the point posts get the best responses.

5.Some times you will need to sign up and post on more than 1 forum to get the response you want. Dont be deterred, the time you spend signing up and posting questions is probably no better off searching for something on Google.

Here's 3 health & vitamin forums to help you get started.

Forums: How DO You Get People to Post!?

Running a web forum is no easy task. If you own one, you know how labor-intensive it is. You spent hours perfecting your forum. You thought up dozens of categories and topics. You customized the interface, set user permissions, sent out welcome emails. Tons of members signed up and logged in. Time for the payoff, right? Wrong. People log in to your forum daily, yet no one posts. Why?

1. People are lazy. They'd rather be entertained than contribute.
2. People feel shy. They're afraid of saying the wrong thing or initiating a conversation.

Don't get discouraged because nothing's happening on your website forum. The time has come to take matters into your own hands. How?

You're going to have to do some marauding as other people.

"What? Sneak around and pretend to be a random forum poster?"

YES.

As an experiment, I set up a posting forum "just to see what would happen." I chose to make it a rant and rave forum; everybody's got something to complain or cheer about, right? It took me the entire Memorial Day weekend, minus time out for evening social events, to set this thing up. Within two weeks of putting it out there, I had ninety members. NINETY! That's a pretty decent-sized group. You'd think there would be lots of chatter, right?

No! No chatter. Out of ninety, want to know how many people took the time to post? FOUR. One of them was a friend of mine, who I begged to help me out... and even she only posted twice.

So, that was when I committed the dastardly deed. I began logging in as other people, posting fake stories and perspectives. This got confusing after a while. Was Jenny the all-lowercase poster, or the girl with bad grammar? Was I logged in as Joe D., but telling stories from some girl named Mitsy's perspective again?

It didn't matter that much, as this was only a test anyway. But it did work. Once I got the conversational ball rolling, other people joined in. I even had to be controversial, pass some remarks that would incite people emotionally and jar them to action. That got folks posting as well.

Here's a related story, but with an unfortunate ending. A girlfriend of mine joined an online group of adoptive moms. The forum leader, an experienced adoptive mother herself, generously offered an information exchange forum where all the moms could converge and discuss.

A few months in, members noticed some weirdness on the forum, so they went snooping. What they learned was that the forum leader had multiple forum personalities! She would log in as one person, ask a question, log back in as herself, then answer it.

All hell broke loose. A mass of email back-and-forths ensued. The forum leader cracked under the accusations and started spamming every member, begging for forgiveness. It was utter pandemonium. My friend relayed the scandal to me.

"That's so dishonest!" she said of the marauding forum leader.

Dishonest? Well, maybe a little sneaky, yes. But in rating Shameful and Admonishable Networking Behaviors on a scale of 1 to 10, how much of a sin is it to incite constructive discussions for the betterment of a group?

When you consider that, 1. the woman wasn't being paid, and 2. she only wanted to help other moms along in the confusing process, it really wasn't such a terrible thing that she did.

I pointed out to my friend that this lady had smartly tapped into a marketing and communication tactic that's widely used and really works.

Who do you think sought advice from Erma Bombeck, Dear Abby and Emily Post before they ran well-known columns? No one did... because no one new who they were yet! So with each new release of their respective publications, internal writers had to pretend to be advice seekers, fabricate dilemmas, and then solve them.

Now, if your public forum is clearly a conversational hot spot, yet you're still logging in as five different people because "you're becoming attached"... well, I'd say that's a problem. Consider getting out more.

But if things are totally stagnant on your forum, this is really your only alternative to get it going.

I know a woman on one Ryze forum who asks nearly every day, "Why aren't you guys posting?"

No one ever answers her. That's because she's not giving anyone an incentive. That incentive must be emotional, and it must come in the form of riveting conversation. If there isn't any existing conversation, well, you're just going to have to invent some.

I wish I knew that adoptive mom with all of her imaginary forum friends. Because if I did, I would tell her, "Hey! You did a good thing."

Who knows, I might even have hired her to run my web forum.

5 Proven Techniques to Build a Profitable Web Forum

You may have heard that having a web community is a great way to increase sales, customer loyalty and word of mouth for your web business. In fact a web community itself, if large enough and targeting an affluent demographic (or one that advertisers like to target), has the potential to bring in revenue. Commonly people use a web forum as the centre point for a web community. However building a popular forum is no easy task and requires patience and dedication.

Start at the beginning: Which forum software should I use?

Perhaps the least important variable, but certainly a vital aspect, is the forum software you choose. I came to settle on as my favourite forum of choice. Over the years I became very familiar with Invison Board functions so it would take a lot for me to switch to different forum software. Unfortunately the team at Invision recently stopped offering a fully functional free version and the most current free version has limitations on numbers of users. I'm a strong supporter of Invision so I still recommend using the free service and then paying to upgrade once your board is large enough to warrant it. Chances are with your forum being that popular means you can justify the fee anyway.

The other top quality free forum out there is which is the open source offering. I haven't used this myself but with Invision no longer being free I can see this being the main player for all small business forums. I see this forum everywhere so I think you can take that as a strong endorsement.

Another popular choice, especially for large companies that can afford the fee is . This seems to the professional forum of choice for those with the moolah to afford it. I only played with this forum many years ago when they had a limited use free version (in fact it was the first forum I ever installed). It's definitely a top forum with a great design, but you pay for it.

As I said which forum software you choose is not too important. You are going to have to learn to use at least one, so choose the one that satisfies your criteria and then get playing. If the idea of installing forum software is daunting to you then I suggest you look at the installation services most forum businesses offer. You can pay a small fee and one of the staff or community members will install the software for you. There are also remotely hosted forums where you don't install any software at all on your server but instead use one hosted by the forum company. Note this often either costs money or is advertiser supported so you might have some icky banners or other ads streamed across your forum. I recommend you host the forum on your own server because you get control, ownership and better search engine benefits.

How to attract and keep members

Regardless of which forum software you choose the hardest part of building a community is getting members, and members that stick around. Obviously your forum should be targeted to your business niche or target market if it's not a business site.

Picking the niche area you target is vital for success, and the individual forums you create for your community must clearly represent the purpose of your community. However this is where some lessons can be learnt. At first when you start building categories and individual forums you might get carried away with all the interesting forums you can create. You dream of your users lapping it up and talking away about every little area of interest you can come up with. This is the first major mistake you can make. You end up creating way too many forums that have no topics in them. Even if you do manage to bring some quality visitors to your site, they hit your forum and see an empty place and then move on. No one feels compelled to join an empty forum.

But you may ask then, how can you go from having an empty forum to one filled with topics when no one wants to get things started? It's a catch 22 isn't it! The number one concept to remember is that people bring in people. If visitors see topics and posts and discussions they are interested in they are more likely to contribute. It's hardest early on when you first launch but there are some tricks you can do. Here are the key pointers I've learnt to get passed this early stage of a ghost-town forum.

1. Think minimalist when building categories and forums

Look to about four forums maximum to start with, even less if possible. If you find yourself coming up with many different forum subjects, try and group them together under one forum. Then in that forum you can create individual topic posts to cater to each area. That way you are creating conversation starters and making the place look a little busier. As the forums grow and you have enough individual entries to start breaking down forums you can justify creating new ones. You can then move the existing topics into the appropriate categories and the forum doesn't start off empty.

2. As the owner you must keep contributing

This might seem obvious, but it's hard to keep motivated when week after week you create new topics and try to stimulate conversation and you seem to be talking to yourself. Personally I get the most excited when I first build the forum, thinking of all the great topics that can be discussed. Unfortunately once everything is done it does take some effort to keep writing fresh content. The only rule I can give is stick to it. Get into a routine of making a few posts everyday.

Expanding on this idea...

3. Create some fake personalities

This may seem a little dishonest, but a little trick you can use to stimulate conversation is to create a few different member accounts each with their own personality. Basically you create some fictional members and get posting. You can even have full forum conversations between your characters (just don't go insane!). Only you know which characters are fake. To everyone else it appears as if your forum is getting popular.

I had a friend take this idea so seriously that he kept profile notes on each character such as age, sex, personality type, occupation etc so whenever he made posts he made sure to get into character first. It's like forum acting.

This method again takes dedication because you need to keep logging in with each character and making new posts. However it can be MUCH more effective than if it was just you making all the posts as your own identity. It looks sad when the webmaster is chatting away to no one, but not quite as sad when Jim, Katie, Chris and Jane are having conversations even if they really are all controlled by the webmaster.

4. Publish content

There are sites available such as that have articles you are allowed to publish on your site provided you follow their terms of use policy (which usually means you publish the articles exactly as they are and keep all links intact). The authors of these articles make them free because they get good promotion if their article is widely published. Note that because these are free articles you will most likely find that you are not the only site out there with the content.

If you want unique content you may have to pay for it and consider hiring columnists. With MTGParadise.com we had such a good community that many of our members were happy to write articles and reports for free. They enjoyed writing and seeing their article published. It's not easy to generate free unique articles this way especially early on before you have a community running, so it might be necessary to throw around a little cash and buy some articles.

If you can find content relevant to your market and distribute it to your community you have a good way to stimulate conversation and make your forum look a little busier.

5. Recruit your mates and spread the word

This is harder than you'd think. If you are like me, most of my closest friends are too busy or not really the forum community types so they won't help out much. Generally though you should have a few friends that are interested in the topic of your forum and they might help out with a post every now and then. Don't put to much pressure on them and be thankful for anything they contribute. You don't want to get carried away trying to get your forum off the ground that you lose your friends because you constantly pester them to make posts or join up.

As a general rule, don't be shy; tell everyone you know about your forum. But only do it once in a polite manner. Say you are inviting them to check out something you have created and that you want their valuable opinion before you officially launch. This "sneak peek" will make your friends and family feel special because you are demonstrating that you value their opinion so they will be more inclined to check out your site.

You can put a note in your signature file in your email about your new community, make a few posts at newsgroups that focus on your target market and hit some other complimentary (not competitor) forums to advertise your new forum. Remember always be courteous, follow rules and don't come across too desperate whenever you promote your forum. All this will come across negatively and harm your chances of new members signing up.

Don't give up

The most important tip I can give you to grow your community is to not give up. Even though YoungActivist.com is sitting out there all alone with no members and very old content I still value the site. While I didn't achieve the success I wanted off the bat, I haven't given up and hope that one day can I can get the site growing again.

Sometime after months, maybe even years of making new posts, adding content and spreading the word, you will find that your forum has grown to have a few hundred members, a handful of devoted regulars and no longer requires daily injections of posts from you. You reach a critical mass and your community moves forward without too much intervention from you. This is the holy grail of forum building because your members became the best advertising tool you could ever have. Word of mouth helps the site to continue to grow and attract new members. You can start creating new forums with confidence that they won't be empty for long. Best of all, you now have an audience that you can either leverage around your own products or services or start to derive revenue from through advertising, premium services or subscriptions etc.

How to Market on Forums and Message Boards Without Upsetting Anyone

Believe it or not, you can market on forums and message boards without pissing anyone off. In fact, not only can you market this way, you SHOULD market this way, and I'll tell you why later in this article. But for now, I'd like to point out that the reason I'm writing this article is because someone on an affiliate forum that I frequent got kicked out of an affiliate program for spamming a message board community. He'd posted his opinion of the affiliate product in the "personal opinions" section of the board, and the moderator of the community reported him to the merchant, who then kicked him out of the affiliate program.

There's a big difference between expressing your opinion and marketing a product. Often the difference can be discerned as easily as discerning the tracking code in an affiliate URL for a product. I moderate at several forums online, and I despise dealing with spammers who think it's okay to blatantly market to my readers without contributing anything of value to my community. So here are my rules for marketing on forums without pissing anyone off.

1- Participate in a forum that allows links to your website in your signature. If the discussion board doesn't allow links in your signature, go find one that does.

2- PARTICIPATE in the forum. Ask pertinent questions. Make pithy observations. Answer others' questions if you know the correct answers. Try to post something daily, maybe more often. Just be sure that you're not just participating to get your link in front of people; participate in the forum in order to add value to the members' experiences there. The rewards in terms of higher click-through's and conversions are well worth it.

3- Include a link to your website in your signature file in a normal sized font.

That's it. That's all there is to it. How does this help your marketing? Well, you should be participating in forums at least partially related or of interest to the people who hang out in a forum. So some of them will click on your signature link just out of interest. And, if you post intelligently and often, you will gradually become recognized as an expert in that area. And that will make you more attractive. You'll begin to get link exchange requests, links, and requests for help from indviduals on the forums. This is when you know your strategy is working.

Marketing on forums and message boards isn't for the faint of heart, or for the lazy spammer. But if you're willing to make appropriate effort, you'll get appropriate returns.

Chat Forums and Blogs: The Unofficial Internet Posting Rules

Have you been hanging around in internet forums and/or making blog comments lately? Public posting is growing ever-popular. One thing I've noticed, is that if you use it for business purposes and you accidentally blurt the wrong thing, it can get ugly pretty quick. A remark that was never intended to be malevolent turns out to offend somebody, and next thing you know, you're engaged in yet another public forum ping pong match. This can be downright exhausting. So is there a 'proper' way to conduct oneself on the network, in the forum, and on the blog? From what I've seen so far, I have to say yes.

May I present: The Unofficial Internet Posting Rules.

1. Always assume that the other person has good intentions.

There you are, sprinkling comments here and there and having a fine old time, when suddenly up pops someone who begs to differ. A good debate can be envigorating, but if things escalate, you may begin to feel attacked and/or misunderstood. Do you have a right to feel this way? Who is attacking who anyway?

Internet conversations feel remote because they are. You can't diffuse a tense conversation by cracking a joke or meeting someone's eyes with a silent apology. Internet 'arguments' can string along for days because, unlike a verbal argument which quickly fades from your memory, they're harsh words frozen in time. Someone who is ripping you a new one on the public forum may actually be a wonderful person who thinks a lot like you, but you wouldn't know because all you see are those hostile words on the screen that won't go away!

For this reason, it's unbelievably important not to take internet skirmishes to heart. The truth is, you may be taking offense for no good reason. And even if someone really does seem to be out for your blood... who cares? Click away and they're gone. Besides; the world is watching. How much of a scene do you want to make?

2. Ditch the sarcasm.

Sarcasm really does not translate on the internet. Sarcasm is my favorite form of communication, so believe me I've tried. People can't tell by your tone or gestures if you're serious, kidding, scathing, or what, so if you want to communicate effectively and efficiently, steer clear of sarcasm. I'll give you an example of sarcasm causing confusion on the internet.

Networker 1: Say, Networker 2, how was that teleseminar you attended?
Networker 2: It was really something special.

"It was really something special." Hmmm. What could that mean, exactly? Sounds a little smart-alecky, but who knows! The reader can't be sure, so a straightforward answer might be the better option. "The guy was a good speaker, but I felt like he was telling me things I already knew. I'll have to pick a more advanced course next time." Now, there's a complete answer that's based in fact and well-expressed!

Some people use emoticons to convey when they're being sarcastic, such as the smiley :) for "just kidding" , the wink ;) which might mean, "I'm just teasing," or the guy-with-his-tongue-out :P-- "I know I'm being goofy." Other people use internet gestures, like the *grin* and the :::shiver:::.

Emoticons are okay for a less formal public forum setting, but not so much for business networking. Use them sparingly. How are you supposed to appear professional if you're throwing (((hugs))) everyone's way? I don't know about you, but I don't go around hugging people I don't know!

All this being said: stick to literal communication whenever possible. I know more than anybody how tough this is. If you're really unsure about it, you can always just be a forum 'lurker' for a while, until you get the hang of how it's done.

3. Instead of offering opinions, ask questions.

People love to argue. Make a statement, and by God, someone out there is going to contradict it. If you enjoy and know how to play the debate game, take them on... it will be a learning experience for all. But if conflict makes your tummy hurt, you can spur on a discussion in a more genteel way; by asking questions!

If you ask people what they think, they'll feel encouraged to jump into the discussion... and that's what you want, isn't it? Ask questions, and let folks know you're open to new points of view. When you word your ideas in the from of questions, you're basically saying "Hey, I know I don't have all the answers. But I'm thinking, and I'd love for you to add your insights." Then, by phrasing your questions in a specific way, you can gently 'lead' the conversation. Next time you have a strong opinion to state, practice rephrasing it into a question. "What ways might we practice common courtesy in an effort to improve internet communication?" There, see how easy that was?

4. Remember the real-time issue.

If you haven't noticed, real-time has some wacky effects on internet communication. Sometimes, messages look like they're written in response to something someone else said... when really, they just landed there by sheer coincidence!

Suppose someone posts a remark at 9:05 a.m. Pacific Time, as you just happen to be posting the exact opposite viewpoint at 12:05 p.m. Eastern Time. When the messages "land" one after the other, it creates the illusion that the second person was arguing with the first person, when actually they were not and had no knowledge of the other person's post! Whoa. That's real-time at work, and it's some crazy stuff. The lesson to be learned: don't assume anything, especially on the internet.

The other way that real-time can botch up the works is if you're seeking advice or technical support. You post a question, some time elapses, and the moderator replies. But by now, you've figured out the answer and it's led you to a third complication. Now, you can either try and over-explain the confusion in an effort to be polite, or say to yourself, "the heck with this" and leave the discussion, which could be perceived as rude. It's quite a fretful situation. Keeping this in mind...

5. Think before you speak.

Using the example from Point 4: thinking before you ask technical questions can save everybody the exhaustion of over-communication. Rather than blurt out your confusion, have a look around, see what's going down. Is there an FAQ section you can refer to?

I have been known to dive right in to the chat without knowing what the heck is happening. As a result, I am familiar with the taste of shoe leather. If you're puzzled about what's going on in a public forum discussion... can you go back and read a few old posts to get caught up? You'll save everyone a lot of wasted words if you just get with the program. I learned the hard way, but you don't have to.

"Think before you speak" also means proofread. Be on the lookout for ambiguous content. If you're tired, stressed or feeling under the weather, you may have some trouble getting your point across. Maybe it's not the best time to communicate.

As a writer, I'm acutely aware of word choice. Use the wrong word, and WOOOPS- somebody is getting the total wrong idea. Copywriters have a chance to write multiple drafts - and in that way, get multiple chances to refine what they say in their writing. Internet posters don't have this option. Once you hit POST, you can't take back what you've written. All you can do is send MORE posts, and give folks the impression that you are a babbling fool! So, for your own sake, heed my words, take your time, think about what you want to say, and PROOFREAD!