List Building Using Forums (Part 3, List Building Strategies)BY: Sean Mize
Forums are another big key to building a quality list. I think that this is one of the most overlooked methods of list building. All too often, people use forums to try to sell something, right there in the forum. But the key with forums is to establish yourself as an expert. Once you are an expert, then people will be interested in your web site and product--not for the product, but for your expertise. One thing to note here: if you are using multiple sources for your list building, track every source. Not just for traffic, but for source-specific sign-ups and for sales. You might find that one list source gives you 3x the number of sign-ups, which is exciting. But if you aren’t tracking things deeply enough, you might not know that the bulk of your sales are coming from another list, one that is a little slower to grow. Just keep that in mind. OK, today’s strategy: Forums. How do you do it? First of all, what is a forum? A forum is an online discussion board where the members ask each other questions, answer each others‘ questions, and share useful information. Note: useful information is NOT your sales pitch. A forum is not a place to try to sell your product or your web site. To find forums, type in your topic and the word forum into a major search engine. You should find many choices of forums. The first step will be to become a member of about 20 to 50 of them. Next, go into the profile section and create a signature. The only thing that your signature should have is your name and web page (preferably your squeeze page). Next, go to the introductions section of each forum and introduce yourself. This doesn’t have to be long, just say hi and maybe what you do offline, maybe a hobby or two. Do not try to sell anything. The next day, you should have a number of welcome posts replying to your introduction posts. Be polite, reply with a thank you, etc. Next, start looking through the posts to see if there are unanswered questions you can answer. If you know the answer, give it. Do not tell the readers that if they buy your book, the answer is in it. Just give them the answer! Your goal here is not to sell your product, it is to become an expert in the forum. Continue this process of answering questions daily, as many as you can make time for. As you have more and more quality posts, there will be an exponential effect that will build. People will begin to trust you, see you as an expert, and then they will begin to click through to your links. So how do you get targeted subscribers from forums? The key here is to become an expert. Answer questions that people are asking. Do not pitch your web site--remember your link is in your signature. If they perceive you as an expert, they will click through to your link. If they do not see you as an expert, there is nothing you can do to get them click, subscribe, buy, anything. You should have more information than the average reader on your topic, and most of all, be willing to share that information. Readers will judge the quality of your paid product by the quality of your forum content. If all you have in your forum answers is filler information, they will assume that is the way your product is. One thing that is important here. Do not promote yourself or your web site or your link in the forum. Simply offer useful information. Give readers something they can walk away with, day in and day out. Give them something they can do when they finish reading the forum post, that will help grow their business, or strengthen one of their skills. Two things happen here. One, people begin to see you as an expert. Why? Because you are providing useful information that they can put to good use. When the information works for them, they will begin to see you as an expert. Two, as they begin to feel more comfortable with you and your style, as they read multiple posts you write, they become curious. They will begin to click through to your link. Because they see you as an expert, they will subscribe to your list. That is the only way to do it. You must become an expert and they will come to you. They will not come to you if you are aggressive about your site and your product--they have their own products, their own sites, and they get plenty of SPAM in their email daily--they don’t need yours.
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