The Forum Phenomena

WHY OWNING YOUR OWN FORUM IS THE NEXT *BIG* THING!

by Michael Green

YOUR ONE STOP AFFILIATES CENTER: Who the Heck is Michael Green?

It seems like every Tom, Dick and Harriett now owns their own Ezine or Newsletter. So where are savvy marketers looking to gain their next competitive edge?

Here's the answer...

... They're setting up their own Discussion Forums!

Almost overnight discussion forums have become an essential weapon in the armory of every successful online marketer.

And that's no surprise when you consider that some of the big marketing forums are now attracting 4 million page visits per month.

Just before Christmas I set up my own forum and within a matter of weeks was receiving thousands of visitors per day.

BUT HOW DO FORUM VISITORS EQUATE TO PROFITS FOR YOU?

Okay I hear you say... so forums can drive a massive amount of traffic, but how does that help me make money through internet marketing?

Actually in pretty much the same way as owning a credible Newsletter can build your wealth and, over time, generate a healthy income for you.

You see, as the owner and moderator of a forum, your credibility will grow fast and before you know it... visitors will be hanging on your every word.

From that point onwards, it doesn't take a massive leap of the imagination to appreciate how this kind of POWER can lead to increased profits for you.

All you now need to do is quietly talk about the right products and services and others will likely pile in. If you like, it's a subtle form of product placement.

Plus of course, since you own the forum, you have the opportunity to include your own banner ads or text links to every thread or page. You can see how this is done on my own forum http://www.howtocorp.com/forum

BUT... just like the responsible newsletter editor, you MUST ensure that you are recommending only the BEST products and services. Otherwise you'll quickly lose all your credibility . Oh and your forum audience and regular posters will disappear too.

OWNING YOUR OWN FORUM CAN HAVE OTHER SPIN-OFFS

* WITH A FORUM YOU CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTION JUST ONCE
If you find yourself in the position of repeatably being asked the exact same question about your product or service, then a forum can provide a place for you to post the answer once and for all. After that you'll just refer people to your forum thread on the subject.

* OTHERS WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS FOR YOU
A bunch of enthusiasts will most likely gather at your forum and act as an external customer services facility for you. Your forum can cut your workload dramatically.

* SHOWCASE NEW AND UPCOMING PRODUCTS
I often release information about my forthcoming projects to the folks at my own forum before anywhere else. It's a trusted community where I can get valuable thoughts and feedback before launching a toolkit to the public at large.

SO WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES TO RUNNING YOUR OWN FORUM?

Well you'll need to devote a certain amount of time to monitoring the posts and ensuring that SPAM isn't turning up on your forum. Naturally it will, so you'll need to delete it. Ignore your discussion board and you'll quickly discover that it has been filled with worthless JUNK posts and this will immediately devalue the board.

Newsgroups have been around since before the dawn of the internet - so you may well be asking yourself: "Why are they really *hot* now?"

Traditional Newsgroups used to require special software to access and even though they have been popularized through Google, they're gradually losing their importance.

At the same time anyone who can set up a website can now set up their own forum - so they're here to stay and naturally "switched-on" internet marketers are taking full advantage.

The author has created the web's first ever eGuide tutorial which shows you precisely how to establish your very own online Discussion FORUM. Discover everything you need to know in order to create and draw visitors to your very own FORUM today at http://www.HowToStartAForum.com.

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