Assorted Thoughts on Website Buying, Selling and Monetizing

Forums can be a very powerful source of information, advice and contacts if you know how to tap to the rich seam of expertise and experience often found in them - and I'm surprised at just how often people don't know how to maximise the results they get. Whether you're looking for technical advice on using your iphone or due dilgence help on a business you're looking to buy, you can get free help that would cost you hundreds - or thousands - if you approached experts directly.

So how do you do it? I was giving my nephew a lesson in using forums this morning and thought I'd convert that to a blog post with my thoughts.

1. Get familiar with the forum

Read the forum rules. Not all forums are the same and what's acceptable in one is often not acceptable in others. For example, most posts that would be perfectly okay in other forums would count as fluff on our own forum (rule 3) and get the user a warning or ban.

Do a bit of browsing first to get a "feel" for the forum and how people interact on it.

2. Usage of the forum

Be polite. You're new. Don't act like the resident expert or a know-it-all. Don't start a controversy. Forum owners love controversies, it generates discussion and gets people interacting. As a poster who's there to get help it may not serve you to engage in debate/arguments, however interesting it may be.

Take time over your first few posts. Word them carefully, make a good impression. When you've got very few posts to your name other members often go sniffing around your profile and click through to other posts you've made to check you out. Give them material that will leave a good impression.

3. Start a thread or two

Do start threads, there's no better way to demonstrate you want to participate and be part of the group.

Take time and care over the title. It's what attracts people to open your thread. "Solved!", "Great News", "Urgent Question" etc., aren't good titles as they don't give the user any idea of what the thread contains. There's a high chance you're going to annoy other posters.

One golden rule: Don't deceive readers in your title. "Paris Hilton Naked" may get more people opening your thread, but many of them will be expecting some pictures (even though you said nothing about photos in your title). When the thread doesn't meet their expectation they will quickly click themselves out and associate your username with "avoid".

If you're looking for advice, explain your problem fully but succinctly and be clear in what you're hoping to get in the replies. If your post is to inform and educate, make sure it's at the right level for the audience. Telling a bunch of advanced SEOs that linkbuilding is the secret to ranking well in Google won't impress them.

4. Manage your thread

If you start a thread, look after it! Take ownership. Keep it fresh. The longer it stays on the frontpage the more likely it is to be seen by other members and attract replies. If it's a busy forum your thread may get "buried" pretty quickly. It up to you to ensure that you keep your thread live and interesting.

But there's the wrong way to do it and the right way. You can get a thread back to the frontpage simply by posting a one word message: "bump". In most forums that's frowned upon and could get you banned. However, when someone replies to your thread you can use that as an excuse to make another post that bumps your thread back up. (An even smarter move would be to wait till your thread slips a bit on that frontpage before making your post. That'll keep your thread even longer on the frontpage.)

Each time someone replies you've got an excuse to post again! It can't be a plain "thank you" post though. You'll need to reply to what they've said and put together a few sentences. Maybe you can use that opportunity to ask them a question in clarification. Members who already demonstrated interest in your thread by posting are far more likely to return to reply if your question flows naturally from the post they made.

If you're allowed a signature, link to your thread in that signature. Then make a post or two in threads where there are participants you think could make useful contributors to your thread. If those posts you make are sensible posts or raise interesting questions those posters would likely follow your signature link and you would have succeeded in attracting them to your discussion.

5. Make friends

Engage with members who are posting in your thread. If they've been helpful, thank them. When you reply, address them by their nick. People like to see their names in replies. (Using their nick is preferable to using their real names as there's less scope for confusion - every nick is unique.)

What's even better is referring to something that was said earlier in the thread a few posts ago or in a different thread and using the poster's nick: "As Tom42 said in his post on page 2 ..." It suggests you didn't just read and forget Tom42's post, but that his post really impressed you. It's also a good way of drawing Tom42 back into the discussion particularly if he thinks there is a part of his post you "misunderstood".

Should you come across a particularly useful post, there's no harm in dropping the poster a PM to express your thanks and say how useful it was to you. (Tip: Don't add anything else to that PM - just the thank you. If you go on to request him to post in your thread, friend you or something else, he'll doubt the sincerity of your thanks).

Do a bit of research yourself on the people who've posted in your thread. Click on their name to visit their profile, then get a listing of all the posts they've made. If one of them comes across as particularly knowledgeable address a question to him in your next post. "Richard55, I would appreciate your thoughts on ...."

Conclusion:

I hope this helped. As this is not a forum thread I won't bother keeping an eye on it, but feel free to leave your comments below to tell me how useful it was. My nick here, again, is Clinton