How to Market Online Using Newsgroups & Message Boards
If you want to market effectively online, you need to learn how to schmooze. Posting on message boards is an excellent way to promote your business online, but to avoid being flamed or being banned from the forum, you will need to practice good netiquette.
1. Answers, not ads
When you answer someone's question, it shows everyone reading the post that you are an expert. Message boards and newsgroups are for sharing information, but not for advertising.
So, how do you post in forums without advertising. Simple. Just use your knowledge to answer the questions that others post, or post information that you have found useful. Use a signature, a couple of lines at the end of your post, to list your contact information. You can use an email address, autoresponder address, or the URL of your website for your signature file. Then, if someone wants to receive more information about your business, all he/she needs to do is check out the information in your signature line and click on it.
2. Post honest messages
Do not post veiled ads. A veiled ad would read something like: "I just found the best prices for XYZ product on the internet" and then you list your own website. This does nothing for your credibility and shows that you are an amateur online marketer.
The people who visit the forum, and clicked on your message title, thought that you were offering legitimate help, only to find out that you are trying to sell them something. Be honest and straight forward with your posts. Regulate your own conduct so no one else has to.
3. Do not harvest email addresses
One of the most irritating things that people marketing online will do is to collect email addresses from other posts and then use them to send unsolicited mail. If someone is requesting information, that's one thing, but the others, who are just participating in the discussion, don't want to see your ad. Sending unwanted email advertisements will do more harm than good, so just don't do it at all. Nuff said.
4. Stay on topic
If the subject of the newsgroup is poodles, don't post anything about Schnauzers. It's that simple. There is a newsgroup, forum, or message board about almost everything under the sun. Find the right one to post your messages. And if you are trying to market products for Schnauzers, then poodle owners won't be interested and your efforts are wasted.
5. Visit regularly
There are benefits to visiting a board regularly. First, you will build relationships with others in your field and you will learn from them. Don't view them as competitors, but as sources for help, information and inspiration.
A regular presence exposes your name and contact information to more people. Hundreds of people post to the boards, yet far more people just lurk and never post. The more you post, the more likely that someone new will see your information.
You will come to be counted on for good information and people will direct others to you. Use these forums to build a reputation as an expert and people will seek you out because you have demonstrated that you are an honest business person.
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