How POSTING TO FORUMS Will PAY YOU BACK - YEARS FROM NOW!

by Michael Green

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Okay - I better come clean.

I used to the think that hanging out on discussion forums
was a complete and utter WASTE OF TIME!

In fact, I even had a - never before published - private
definition of precisely what a forum was:

"A forum is a place where people who love to procrastinate
can go in order to meet others who prefer to waste their
precious time, rather than getting on with building
their own successful businesses."

After all... how many times have you visited a forum, read a
few posts, maybe posted something back and before you know it
- you've run out of time to do anything constructive on the
internet today?

SO WHAT'S CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT THE FORUMS?

Three things have fundamentally shifted my personal view on
the worth of forums.

1. MORE PEOPLE USE THEM, AS SPECIAL SOFTWARE IS NO LONGER REQUIRED.

Discussion forums have come of age. Partly because most
discussion boards no longer require the reader to install
" newsgroup" type software to get access.

For the most part forums are now as accessible as any other
website and so they're being read by far more people.

2. WHAT YOU WRITE TODAY WILL BE INDEXED BY GOOGLE.

The average forum is now just like any other website, and
all the posts are liable to end up being indexed by the
search tools.

Wait a minute... this is a huge bonus for someone posting
to a forum.

If you write a message today, the chances are that in 6-8
weeks, that post will have been indexed by the king of
search tools Google.

That means that people will keep reading what you've had
to say for months and years to come!

To take advantage of this fact, it's important that you use
a signature at the bottom of your post. This is a link back
to your own website. Find out how to create your signature
here >>> http://www.howtocorp.com/forumprofits

As a result, months after you make a post on a forum, you'll
notice new traffic coming to your website via that source.

So suddenly posting on discussion forums is seeming like a
great use of your time.

3. I CREATED MY OWN FORUM AND.... WOW!

My view of forums was already shifting, so I went ahead and
set up my own 'How To' marketing discussion forum.

I made it free for everyone to come along, read and post.
Here it is >>> http://www.howtocorp.com/forum

The forum went live just before Christmas and my discussion
board quickly turned into a buzzing place to hang out and
discuss all manner of internet marketing issues.

Suddenly I could see it first hand. Forums worked!

WARNING: NOT ALL FORUMS ARE CREATED EQUALLY.

Two quick checks before you go and post:

1. Only post on busy forums. It stands to reason that you'd
like what you wrote to be read, so make sure the forum has
a steady number of recent posts before wasting your time.

2. Find out whether the board owner allows search engines
to index posts. Forum software restrictions can also mean
that posts never get indexed. You want your post indexed
to help drive visitors to your site in the future. So email
the site owner and ask or do a search on Google using the
forum address and see if other posts from that board
appear.

So forums can be a terrific place to meet similarly minded
people, get questions answered and build long-term traffic
for your own website.

So go and post - but remember still not to get sucked into
spending hour-upon-hour on the forums while ignoring your
own online business development.

To your online success!
Michael Green
http://www.HowToStartaForum.com

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The author, Michael Green, has developed a toolkit designed
for people who are interested in starting their own forums.
Called "How To Start A Forum", his tutorial covers
everything you'll need to know to get your own forum, on
any subject, up and running quickly. He even reveals 82 FREE
software packages that you can use to create your forum.
Click here now >>> http://www.HowToStartaForum.com and be
sure to check out his excellent free mini-course too.
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