Link Building Tips – Forums

Dare I say it? Link building CAN be fun! We’ve been approaching it from the angle of spending at least 30 minutes several times a week on this activity because of its importance. But it doesn’t have to be a chore.

My husband, Gerald, has built an impressive number of links to his Web site through forum posting. But for him it hasn’t been about building links at all. That’s just a happy byproduct. Gerald is the author of today’s post:

I spend several hours a week actively engaged on several of the scale modeling community’s forums. As an avid scale modeler, I enjoy the time interacting with others who enjoy and share my interest in this hobby. It has also been a lucrative tool to market my products directly to the consumers who use them.

My approach attracting new customers from this venue is very subtle. It has to be, as there are rules (terms and conditions of membership) I must obey. I approach this as scale modeler and member of the community first. Then as a representative of my business and its products second.

Those who join these communities only to self promote find themselves quickly being ignored, blocked and eventually outcast. These forums serve as a conduit of communication where the membership can exchange ideas, ask questions, share reference resources and most importantly to the savvy small business owner, provide referrals to towards your products and services that they are seeking.

Many of the forums which I subscribe have rules which ban out right advertising and product promotion. When the opportunity arises I will make recommendations and show examples of the results others as well as myself have experienced using the products I produce. Instead of it being a pointblank in your face advertisement, it is done in more of a whisper of sorts.

I try to be of service to others, providing hints, tips, techniques and guidance to my fellow scale modelers as they try to increase their individual skill sets or tackle a project which is outside their comfort zone. This earns one respect if your suggestions are sound and viable. That respect in turn leads to trust, which in turn can benefit you in your efforts to influence consumer’s product purchasing decisions…towards your products and services.

The end result is the more time I spend interacting with those in my targeted consumer demographic the greater return I get. These subtle hints, aimed at a specific group, have yielded more return than a broad spectrum ad promoting my products. How do I know it works? The tangible result is more orders for my products. This is a direct marketing strategy with zero cost except my time. I enjoy the time spent so it doesn’t really feel like W-O-R-K.

Today’s Assignment: Identify and locate a forum group that applies to the consumption of your products. Join the group. Watch and listen to the group, then step in and introduce yourself. Engage in conversations but do not promote yourself or your company until you feel comfortable that you are part of the community.