Forums are great places to find other like minded entrepreneurs who can help you with your business. You can also help them. Remember, networking is a two way street. While you are learning and teaching useful information you can also get the word out among your peers about your business website.

One advantage of niche forums is the connections. You will meet people who have made it big. Here you are all business people and you don’t feel small when you ask questions. The environment is one of camaraderie and is supercharged with money-making energy.

So, what’s the key to promoting yourself here? One thing you probably already know, but bears repeating are that forum communities discourage blatant advertising.  Besides, you won’t make any friends or useful contacts that way. It is thought to be a privilege to belong to professional organizations so using them the correct way is important.

Usually, you will be allowed to mention your website in your signature line. Here, you can feature your link and a catchy tagline if you have one.

So, what’s the key to being seen in these forums? In a word, it’s getting involved in the conversations. Find threads that interest you and follow them. When you feel like you have something to contribute join in and post a comment.

People get to know you when they see you around the forums regularly. You can begin your own threads and talk in existing ones. Find your way around the different areas of the forum so that others can see that you are an active member and not just there to talk about your website. Other business owners can easily spot someone who is around for nothing but their own personal gain. They will respond (or should I say NOT respond) to a member they feel is doing so.

There are ways to get your website mentioned in posts but only when it is appropriate. When you have pertinent information to offer to others and it happens to be found in one of your blog posts, linking to it may be acceptable to forum moderators. Make certain that you ask first if posting additional links are okay in relevant posts. Remember, you want to be helpful not annoying.

Another benefit to interacting with a group of professionals is that you can find others with large followings. Building a relationship with them can lead to their endorsement of your website and possible quality backlinks in the future. Those same people may even be interested in entering into joint ventures with you in the future.

If the forum has a place for posting what’s new with your business, then by all means, talk about yourself and what you do there. Even with permission, keep it modest and read about the information of others and comment on their posts; visit their sites as well.

You can promote your website in professional forums without wearing out your welcome. All you need to do is participate fairly and help where you can. The advertising will come on its own once you do.

How can we help?  Find out here.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

In today’s economy, people are always looking for businesses who give them a break on prices. There are ways to give customers and potential customers a helping hand on your website without putting yourself in the poor house. One such way is to offer coupons.

We shop at the grocery store with coupons. Retail stores offer discount coupons to get you to come and at least look and hopefully to shop. Online stores are full of coupon codes that are helpful to lower your total shopping bill.

Coupons are a great way for you to promote your website and possibly increase your conversion rate at the same time. A discount coupon will get them in the door to check out your website and what you have to offer. You can use your web content and your fabulous marketing skills to do the rest.

Remember all those names on the list you worked so hard to build?  You can advertise your coupon offerings in your monthly newsletter sent to your email list of names. Create a page or a section of your newsletter devoted to highlighting discounts and coupons.

Here you can create sample coupons that contain a code which you will incorporate in your shopping cart so that customers get their discount. The purpose of the sample coupon is so your subscribers can print it out and pass it along to others. This is viral marketing. Make sure that your coupon has your website name listed on it as well as any terms and conditions of using the code.

Coupons can also be featured in an email marketing series. For instance, when someone on your list downloads your free report or signs up to buy the featured eBook, they get sent a discount coupon code that they can use towards other products in the future.

When you participate in joint ventures, offering special discount coupons specifically for your partner’s lists will encourage visits to your site.

Determine what type of coupon or offer that you will offer, set up your shopping cart to utilize the coupons or how you will have them to take advantage of the coupon and begin promotion.

Need help creating your couponing strategy or campaign.  Check out how we can help with our services.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites