Written on April 14th, 2009 at 08:04 pm by Darren Rowse
Join a Forum and Start Participating [Day 9 - 31DBBB]
Your task today in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge is to join a forum that relates to the topic of your blog (or, if you’ve already joined one to spend 10-15 minutes participating in it).
One of the questions I always get new bloggers to ask when it comes to finding readers for their blog is ‘where are your potential readers already gathering online?‘ One of the places I encourage them to go looking for those potential readers is on forums on related topics to your blog.
Forums are fantastic places for bloggers to participate for a number of reasons:
1. Profile Building – put consistent time into a large forum on your topic and you can build a significant profile in your niche. I’ve seen it happen in my own photography forum numerous times where people have produced such value and shown off their expertise that they’ve actually developed fans among other forum users.
2. Driving Traffic – create value and become a useful resource in a forum and people will want to know more about who you are and what you do via your signature and or profile page. You’ll also sometimes have opportunity to share some relevant links to things you’ve written.
3. Understanding Your Niche – the hidden benefit of joining a forum that many don’t talk about is that for a new blogger a forum can actually be a fertile ground for gathering ideas and understanding the needs of potential blog readers. Go to any forum and you’ll begin to see the same questions being asked over and over again. The questions actually annoy some regular forum members but you as a blogger should be taking note of such questions and writing posts that answer them because they are usually signals of problems and needs that people have on those topics. I know if I’m ever in need of a topic to write about on my blogs that forums are one of the first places that I go looking for topics.
Spend some time today searching for forums in your niche. Once you find them, join up and start participating. The key is to spend time being as useful as possible to the forum. Your main activity should NOT be leaving links to your blog but answering questions, making connections and generally being as useful as you can to other members of the forum.
Here are two posts on building a blog with Forum Traffic that you Should Read:
I could say a lot more about building your blog up by participating in forums – but we’ve covered the topic a few times on ProBlogger previously. Check out these two posts:
- Build Your Blog With Forum Traffic - a post where Skellie suggests 4 strategies on this topic.
- How to Use Forums to Drive Hundreds of Thousands of Readers to Your Blog – a story from an anonymous reader who built a successful blog using this technique.
Note: if you can’t find a forum on your exact topic look for them on related topics. If you can’t find any at all, perhaps it is a signal that you should start one at some point. Forums can actually be great additions to blogs.
Update: Day 9 – Promote Your Blog by Finding a Forum to Participate In – People are sharing and exploring this task together over at the forum… you could start there!
Want More?This task is a sample of one of the tasks in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook – a downloadable resource designed to reinvigorate and revitalize blogs. Join over 14,000 other bloggers and Get your Copy Today. |
145 Responses to “Join a Forum and Start Participating [Day 9 - 31DBBB]” - Add Yours
HazardousPaste
April 14th, 2009 8:44 pm
A lot of forums don’t let you post links (or even have) in your signature after a certain number of posts. This encourages users to actually be a part of the community. Lots of my traffic comes from signature links.
Paul Gardner
April 14th, 2009 8:44 pm
Darren, This is a great series. I’ve joined the forums and posted this there also but want to get to those who don’t join forums too!
I’m inspired and want to suggest to bloggers in my sphere that we get together. This way we could link to each other more often and also use twitter etc to promote each others posts.
So if you blog about Leadership and/or Productivity could you please leave your blog and email addresses and twitter name in a comment on this post and I’ll sort a way for us to help each other.
Cheers
Paul
Barry Wright, III
April 14th, 2009 8:46 pm
Great post Darren,
Forums provide a great arena to do what bloggers must do best: provide value to other people. Forums are full of questions, a bloggers greatest resource (since they are willing to go out and find the answers, and write about them well).
Darren hit the nail on the head; this is not the time to paste links everywhere in sight. You need to establish a reputation as a generous, knowledgeable member of the community before any self-promotion. A link to your blog in your signature is both appropriate and sufficient at this point.
I recommend you register with a name as similar to your blog’s name or your actual name as possible. The more coherent your overall digital identity is, the better for SEO and organic search traffic.
We’ll get to see a lot of this in action today and in the coming weeks as the Problogger forums launch, won’t we?
- Barry
ChristiaanH
April 14th, 2009 8:51 pm
Well, joined the problogger forum and already am marketing my blog in all the signatures on all the forums I use…
And yes, it results in more traffic.
Also started working on the other social networking mediums..
I can tell you, this really is helping to generate more and more traffic every day. And that all for a simple blog on “beginning” well, what a beginning this is!
Bradford Shimp
April 14th, 2009 8:59 pm
Forums may be getting overlooked thanks to things like Twitter and Facebook. However, I do see quite a value there in being a thought leader and also being able to answer specific questions.
You point out that people will visit your blog via your signature links AND your about page. I often neglect filling out the About page fully, but this seems to be key.
The Elevator Pitch seems like it would be a great fit for forum About Pages.
Sharon Hurley Hall
April 14th, 2009 9:00 pm
Participating in forums is one thing I find it difficult to stick to. I have joined a few in my niche, but always end up leaving forum participation in favour of doing something else. I’m not sure what the answer is.
Nicolas Prudhon
April 14th, 2009 9:04 pm
I actually found that you get a lot more benefits by being a contributing member of a forum and using your expertise knowledge to help others, instead of just trying to get some backlinks through the signature.
Forum participation is a great way to build and enhance your branding work, by being recognize within your community, the links come on their own after that.
Internet Business With Purpose
April 14th, 2009 9:12 pm
Just joined the forum and look forward to participating in it.
I still plan on writing a post every day for the 31 days to a better blog.
Let me see… How can I write a blog post about the forum?
Oh.. this one’s going to be easy.
Greg
Sheryl Loch
April 14th, 2009 9:14 pm
I have already joined the #31DBBB forum and did my intro.
I have been a member of forums for years and think they can be one of the best places to learn and meet new people.
Forums do take a good bit of time if you want to earn trust and be an asset to the community but, it is all worth it.
We have just started our 3rd forum. We decided to go with a membership so, we keep the spam out. I also wanted to use it for a Blog Co-Op so people could post perma links (with a mini description) to each article they have and be categorized.
Our other boards are free and just take to long to monitor. Many of the free boards are so filled with spam that you can hardly find anything useful or they have shut down.
I am sure I will see you all on the boards!
Katherine
April 14th, 2009 9:31 pm
I’ve found many great sites sifting through forums. It helps even more being at the top of the list. I’m always looking for some new dining/travel forums to participate in, but have found chowhound.com to be extremely useful.
Shane
April 14th, 2009 9:31 pm
If you have an interest in, or blog about, Japan be sure to check out the JapanSoc forum: http://forums.japansoc.org/
It’s a great source of information on the niche and even offers participants a chance to take part in group projects, find guest blogging opportunities, etc. The group is fun and friendly as well.
Scary Mommy
April 14th, 2009 9:40 pm
Totally great advice. But can you add a few more hours in the day? There just don’t seem to be enough. Thanks. :)
Rakesh Kumar
April 14th, 2009 9:40 pm
I have just joined the forum. Next thing I am going to do is to allocate some time for it.
At the same time, I must concentrate on creating some valued content for my site too and readers would have something useful and interesting to read when they come to my site.
Alison
April 14th, 2009 9:42 pm
When I was writing my bride blog (adayinthelifeofarockstarbride.blogspot.com) I was already a member of frugalbride.com. Sadly I didn’t promote my blog as much as I should of as I ended up being a top poster and could have picked up some fellow readers to this new blog.
I just joined i-wed.org for my wedding planning biz as a way to promote http://www.ahotpinkpetticoat.blogspot.com as well as network in a huge way. There are many boards I can join as a wedding vendor, but in all honestly, while in start up mode, getting clients via referrals has been working out great!
The one forum where I’m actually quite active in is frugal living. Many of these women were on frugal bride and share the Canadian thing with me :) And it’s amazing how some of them actually do follow my blogs.
Great idea. Look forward to building on my participation in the wedding planner forum as well as see about finding some more forums to join. Like maybe a 31DBBB forum?? Oh wait, already joined :)
Vicki@collegeparentcentral
April 14th, 2009 9:42 pm
Another good daily task. Thank you.
I’ve been having some trouble finding many forums in my niche, college parents, but I’m going to give it some renewed effort today because I know it will pay off. I’ll take your advice and try casting a wider net.
I especially appreciate your reminder that the purpose is not necessarily to be leaving numerous links, but to become known and respected in the field.
Your homework assignments are already paying off. Thanks.
Lee Ka Hoong
April 14th, 2009 9:45 pm
I’ve joined digitalpoint forum last week, but I didn’t know why I get suspended for a week, they didn’t state any reason too. I didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve just insert a link that point to my blog in my signature, and joined the discussion. =.=”
Btw, I’ve joined another forum in my local for a year, quite enjoy posting there even though the traffic is not that ideal. But, as long as we enjoy posting, we don’t care about traffic. :)
I think posting in forums could improve our one-way backlink too, isn’t it?
Regards,
Lee
HazardousPaste
April 14th, 2009 9:46 pm
@Vicki- I don’t think you need to limit your “niche” to just “college parents.” Based on what I read on your blog yesterday, you’d almost certainly have valuable information to contribute to any college admissions forum. I haven’t looked into this mainly because it doesn’t apply to me so much anymore, but there have to be tons of them around.
Heck, you’d probably even get some good material for future posts.
HazardousPaste
April 14th, 2009 9:47 pm
@Lee
Many forums do not allow new members to post links until they have a certain number of posts to their name. That’s probably why you were banned.
Phillip Gibb
April 14th, 2009 9:49 pm
very cool, I have found a lot of referrals because of this aspect.
Robert Bravery
April 14th, 2009 9:53 pm
I have always been involved in Forums. From the old BBS, to IRC, to news groups. I usually first join to get answers, but later as I learned I started answering questions.
Similarly, and SN group like LinkedIn has helped and also driven traffic to my website. LinkedIn is a professional SN, where you answer questions and pose questions. Its not about advertising your blog, but about helping others and building your network.
I don’t advertise my blog, but I do leave links and URL to posts that I think will help and better clarify the answer to a particular question.
THe biggest problem I have, is time. Spending time on newsgroups, forums, SN is well worth it, but still time consuming. It does not have a financial benefit straight up, but will do in the future
My linked in profile is http://www.linkedin.com/in/integralwebsolutions if anyone is interested.
BTW, I waited specifically for an email for todays challenge, and went to post a reply straight away. Can you believe it that I am still not first. Well done to all those who beat me here.
Mrs Green
April 14th, 2009 9:54 pm
Thank you darren, more excellent advice.
There is a saying that goes along the lines of ‘you have to lay a sprat to catch a mackerel’. I think of that whenever I put my energy into forums, because you’re right, it DOES create a small following of people onto your own site.
I found that launching a competition and promoting it on other forums was a good way to drive traffic in.
I’ll spend some time today going around a few forums I haven’t posted on for a while to see if I can find any possible post fodder or get a few more visitors.
Thanks again!
Baker @ ManVsDebt
April 14th, 2009 9:58 pm
This is something I really need to work on. There are at least 3 great forums in my niche that I should be taking advantage of.
Thanks for the motivation as I think I will create accounts on them today and get started!
venkat
April 14th, 2009 10:23 pm
Bloggers can get traffic through forums ,I have laready joined copule of forums and sharing my knoeledge.
Simon Stapleton
April 14th, 2009 10:29 pm
Hi everyone – do any of you folks know of a good forum in the Information Technology industry niche?
If not, I’ll have to start one!
Jacob Duchaine
April 14th, 2009 10:29 pm
Thanks for the tip.
I’m going to guess that you’re talking about forums other than the ones you’ve launched for the 31 Day Challenge, although it’s interesting that this challenge and those forums launched on the same day.
I’m sure we can drive lots of readers in with those forums too though.
Pro-vamsi
April 14th, 2009 10:31 pm
I am getting addicted to problogger these days!!
I’ve never thought to using forums to drive traffic to a blog!!
Thanks darren!!
jen at semantically driven
April 14th, 2009 10:32 pm
Yay – I can say that I already do this. I already participate (and am a moderator) in the Aussie bloggers forum (aussiebloggers.com.au). It’s a great spot to find out who other Australian bloggers are and I’ve made some good online friendships that way.
Eric D. Greene
April 14th, 2009 10:36 pm
Hey any artists out there looking for a forum to join… there’s a growing community over at Duey’s Drawings: http://dueysdrawings.com/phpBB2/
The forum is a little buggy at times but the community is great! :)
Thanks Darren
roentarre
April 14th, 2009 10:37 pm
I am really a fan of your blog
This one really reminds me how important to be involved in a forum of my own genre
Thanks for this helpful post
Roy Schwartz
April 14th, 2009 10:44 pm
Just a word of caution –
It’s already mentioned in the anonymous post Darren linked to, but worth mentioning again – When I started this I posted about 4-5 answers one after the other on a high-traffic forum. Even though I crafted each and every answer there carefully, they considered it spam (maybe because of my signature? I have no idea) and banned me after a few minutes.
Andy
April 14th, 2009 10:46 pm
If you want to make sure you get the most out of a forum, check their rules first! That way, you can’t be tripped up and have your reputation tarnished by accidentially breaking rules and guidelines.
Be careful with links too, as many forums don’t allow direct self promotion. Also don’t use affiliate links in your signatures alongside your blog links- It’s common sense, but worth stating!
Shantanu
April 14th, 2009 10:54 pm
Hi Darren,
I had a long discussion on this topic with my friend once. I have two blogs one of which is personal and the other is where I post tips.
What I personally like about forums is:
1. Regional forums can get you targeted traffic
2. Most users from forums are likely to subscribe to your blog because they know your content and knowledge
However, if one’s niche is technology in general, and helpful tips for lifestyle as well, how to select the best forum or good forums even?
Again as rightly pointed out by Robert, is spending time on forums worth the effort? when I can attract more readers from other sources.
But I think that participating in forums regularly, at intervals to suite one’s blogging needs, can assure you a lot of visitors and subscribers.
Best.
Shantanu
http://www.threetipsaday.com
@threetips(twitter)
P.S.: I joined the Problogger forum today, thanks for the invitation.
أطياف مصر
April 14th, 2009 10:56 pm
That may help .. but it depends on that impression your comments will leave at that forum
Make Money Online
April 14th, 2009 11:00 pm
I just got on board the 31DBBB forum. Cool place to interact with like minded people :)
Kelly
April 14th, 2009 11:13 pm
I love this idea!
I used to spend all my time on a private parenting board, and since I felt it wasn’t bringing that much value to my day I started frequenting other forums based on my other passion-personal finance. There are plenty of great forums with some of the top PF people like Flexo, JD Roth, Trent from The Simple Dollar, etc.
I am learning so much from belonging to those forums it is well worth the time and effort.
So far I haven’t had much traffic from them, but I haven’t been around that long either. :)
I also joined the 31Day Forums, I think it will be a GREAT resource. Thanks so much for creating them Darren, they seem to be a unique place on the web.
Ian | Quantum Learning
April 14th, 2009 11:13 pm
I participate in a couple of forums already and it’s painfully clear who are the people participating purely to get traffic. Most forum users are savvy enough to spot them a mile away and avoid them.
Also consider whether you want sign up as yourself or as an alter ego. Personally I’m more drawn to check out real people than made up characters.
I would emphasise Darren’s point about adding value. That should be your primary objective. You will be more successful on forums of you enjoy it and are authentic. Forum posting gets to be a real downer if you don’t enjoy it!
Christopher Davis
April 14th, 2009 11:27 pm
Most of my traffic at the start of my blog was from forums. About six months in, my top two referrers are still forums.
One forum I post on is pretty strict about self promotion, but lets you put a website link (via a button below your avatar). Another is more loose and I can just post links to my blog in a signature.
It’s a tough line to tow, though. Sometimes posts in a forum can end up being very close to spam. You have to watch out to not fill every post on a forum with self links.
-CD
BenSpark
April 14th, 2009 11:28 pm
Glad you have the forum up and working today. I don’t generally participate in many forums, but I do need to work harder on that.
Michael Cowen
April 14th, 2009 11:39 pm
Thanks Darren — I have found one or two traditional style forum.
However with the Easter weakend slowing business down I spent the day cleaning up my linked-in, facebook and twitter profile.
Going through it i found some really cool networks on facebook. I know its not a “traditional” but I think it works.
@ Paul Gardner
I think that is a really good idea and would add value to all of us. I am in branding but look at brand culture and how you manage people (customers as well as staff) — so whilst we are not realted there will be good synergy.
I will pop over to you blog and drop my details there.
Cheers
The Scrub
April 14th, 2009 11:48 pm
My biggest competitors are forums, and they have never taken kindly to my participation.
(sigh)
I guess I’ll keep looking for a forum that wants my input.
Tracy
April 15th, 2009 12:11 am
What a coincidence that you’d post this today – I happen to have a forum and a blog and my new project is to try and use my forum to help promote bloggers, particularly bloggers in the same sort of niche as I am (humor/general assorted writings about life). I don’t want to spam this blog, but if anyone is interested they are more than welcome to contact me.
I think the key is to participate in the forums like a regular poster – people will respond to that and give your blog a look. Another thing, and I’m not sure how to accomplish this, is to try and get other people to link to your material on their forums. Again, I’m not sure how to do that, except by having kick ass stuff!
Shane - Inspiring your Success
April 15th, 2009 12:27 am
Does anybody have a massive list of forums?
Tracy
April 15th, 2009 12:38 am
I wanted to add that point number 3 is excellent and overlooked – it seems like so much of the time we’re talking with other bloggers about what we should write about, how we should promote, etc but ideally for most of us our audience will not be composed completely of other bloggers.
It’s important to know your audience and forums are one great way to do that.
As a forum owner I’d like to add that I welcome bloggers with open arms, don’t mind links in sigs, etc, but you have to give a little first. There is no point in a forum if it’s just a bunch of people dropping their own links!
So, introduce yourself and participate a bit before looking to promote yourself. Ideally, you won’t have to – people will be so intrigued by your wonderful, witty posts that they’ll click on the link in your sig.
It’s about making connections, adding value and establishing a reputation for yourself.
Steven Ahmad
April 15th, 2009 12:42 am
@Simon Stapleton
Have you tried Forums.DigitalPoint.com? Check that site out to see if it covers the tech topics that you cover. Actually even if it doesn’t cover your specific subject matter, it might still be beneficial.
You can check Technorati for their top 100 blogs, just in case you can’t find a forum on your blogs topic. This way you might find other blogs in your niche. http://technorati.com/pop/blogs/
Also try alexa.com for their top sites.
Forums are great but if you can’t find a forum that tackles the same topic as your blog then you’ll need to find other blogs and static websites in your niche.
Let us know how those options work out (or don’t work out) for you.
Kayla
April 15th, 2009 12:48 am
Yet another good post. I’ve already joined a number of forums, but I could still look for one more that is more specific to my niche. I’m very on and off when it comes to posting on forums…sometimes I’ll post everyday and then be gone for a few months. I’ll try to be more proactive about this.
Dee Wilcox
April 15th, 2009 12:56 am
Wow, I had never considered joining a forum, but this is excellent advice. I wasn’t sure where to begin, so I Googled “art forum” and found a few to join. I’ll also try other keywords and see what I can come up with.
For those of us who are new to forums, can some of you more experienced participants share some forum etiquette?
Sam
April 15th, 2009 12:57 am
Good suggestion, I already was a member of a popular forum in my niche, but now I’m going to go back and dedicate 10-15 a day answering questions and reading questions.
I’m not sure if it was said already, but if the site doesn’t allow you to post a signature then you can usually put information in your CP (profile). There you can add a link to your site.
Often times users will take the time to check out the profile of the person answering their question. Just human nature.
joing me on twitter: sambuzin
HostChart.net
April 15th, 2009 12:58 am
This is a great idea. I will try this one out and see if I can get some free traffic. Thanks.!
Dee Wilcox
April 15th, 2009 1:00 am
Quick question – one of the forums I considered joining charges a fee, where many of them are free. Is that normal? Is it worth the investment?
Thanks!
FupDuckTV
April 15th, 2009 1:14 am
@Dee Wilcox – I’d weigh the cost verse the benefits. Is there a large community of forum members in your niche or is it just 10 other people reading that particular forum? That choice would have to be your call.
@Shane- I would say start with google. Any particular forum list service would be so topic-broad that you would still end up wittling down to your Niche topic.
I personally think a good signature file with a link back in your forum profile is key to driving traffic back to your site. I belong to a few forums and I actually custom design a signature graphic for each forum I am on. Marry something about that forum with your website in your graphic.
HazardousPaste
April 15th, 2009 1:20 am
@Dee: I find the best forums are free. If it’s worth paying for, you should be able to donate.
Also if anyone is new to forums, I just wrote up a quick list of some etiquette you could consider following.
http://www.hazardouspaste.com/2009/04/7-principles-of-forum-etiquette/
Dee Wilcox
April 15th, 2009 1:23 am
Thanks @HazardousPaste and @FupDuckTV (that is really hard not to misstype!)
Kevin
April 15th, 2009 1:38 am
This is typical of Darren, throwing open a seemingly normal task which asks more questions than it answers :-)
It would appear that fora in my field of interest are thin on the ground and the one I found isn’t exactly dynamic so it begs the questions – As well as the blog do I open a forum?
This means upgrading my hosting package, working out how the heck you use MYSQL databasing, PHP – maybe I should have taken up wrestling alligators instead of blogging!
http://kevincumbria.wordpress.com
Blog Expert
April 15th, 2009 1:39 am
Forums are a great way to get traffic. Dofollow forums can get you backlinks.
Nichelle
April 15th, 2009 1:40 am
I’ve definitely been neglecting forums lately. This is a great reminder to pay them a visit every so often. One of the more popular dance forums practically hides your website link and on most forums no signatures are allowed. :(
Anyway, my problem when I get onto forums is limiting myself on the time I’m spending. I want to be helpful and sometimes I just spend too much time responding when I could be writing on my blog. I know the time spent at the forum is worth it but any tips on limiting my responses (other than the obvious “just stop it”)? :D
Vikki Flawith
April 15th, 2009 1:46 am
I joined the 31DBBB forum. I began my on-line journey 5 years ago by being a member of several forums for songwriters, and I participate on those forums regularly (and am moderator on a couple). As my knowledge grew I started to take some of the things I was posting on forums and copying them into a Q&A blog to do with music/the music industry. And then I started writing my main blog, about my struggle and successes as someone living a creative life.
Just like having value in your blog keeps people coming back, participating in a forum & giving of your attention / expertise… invites people to try out your link and see what you are up to.
Vikki Flawith
April 15th, 2009 1:51 am
I wanted to add something re etiquette – read the forum. There are usually FAQs and a place to introduce yourself.
Dixie Vogel
April 15th, 2009 1:57 am
I would caution anyone using this strategy to PLEASE look for any forum guidelines, spend some time lurking, and in general, make sure your posts are about participating in the community and what you can do for the other members, not just a quick route to spam sig links.
Most forums allow you to link in your profile. Many limit signatures and/or links until you have a specified number of posts. Forums have differeing policies on linking of any kind, and many ban commerical links to avoid spam,
I run a forum about weight loss. Someone with a spammy link, who tries to avoid or get around our linking policies (none for new members), or in general is about promoting their own stuff gets permanently banned with no warning.
Like everything else you’re doing to promote your blog, what you get out of it is directly proportional to the value you put in.
Luke
April 15th, 2009 2:08 am
Forums are a great way to build traffic to your site, but so many people screw it up by spamming right out of the gate. You have to introduce yourself, then become part of the community and build some credibility before you start including links to your articles, etc. Initially, the only reference to your blog should be in your signature line.
Nicole
April 15th, 2009 2:24 am
I have joined a few blogs in my niche and two more before the 31DBBB chanllenge. The NING community network has a lot of groups that are broad but also many that have a specific niche like swimming or hiking or topics like that. The downside is that while there are groups with a lot of members, it takes some time to sort through the ones that are not updated frequently and ones that may have members that are not really there to help but are indeed just there to help themselves and spam or harass others.
The RottenTomatoes forum was one that I joined a few years ago but did not post to that forum frequently. That is a huge blog in my niche in a general sense, as it does not cater specifically to independent films but all movies in general. However, I was a little put off one day when I came across a forum thread that had tons of racist remarks on there and it just got longer when I left and came back to visit that forum within the following hours and day.
I thought that if RottenTomatoes would allow racist comments and remarks on their forums, maybe it’s not the type of forum that I want to be on, so I joined another one that was not about movies and more about culture and guess what?
That forum had tons of racist remarks on there and it seemed like the racism. One forum had racist remarks about one ethnicity and then the other forum of the targeted ethnicity had racist remarks about another race.
That is terrible.
So, I’m trying to find a good middle to some of this and figure out if promoting by blog on some places is worthwhile even if some of the practices are not what I would agree to or participate in. I use the Myspace forums sometimes for topics that are immediate and might be dated like news or a recent TV program, but those Myspace forums get spammed so much or either the topic and thread gets moved out quickly by dozens of threads that are on ridiculous topics and not really benefiting the Myspace community.
Kelsey
April 15th, 2009 2:35 am
Funny, I actually found out about this challenge through the forum on Independent Fashion Bloggers.
Julie
April 15th, 2009 2:37 am
I joined a forum in my niche a few months ago and it has worked out very well. I’ve tried to stay focused on providing nothing but quality information. When I stray away from it, I get emails from forum members saying, “We miss you. Please come back!” Those emails get me motivated and remind me that, yes, there are people out there reading what I have to say.
But I need to get better about not straying away when my days get too busy. I have built up a good relationship with many members there and I would hate to lose that.
WhatTheProsDo
April 15th, 2009 2:44 am
I have just spent 30mins posting on http://www.modelmayhem.com and http://www.independentfashionbloggers.org so lets see what happens now! :)
Penny
April 15th, 2009 2:58 am
I had already been participating in a forum of sorts (Jezebel, a Gawker Media blog) for over a year before starting my blog. I still get most of my traffic from that forum, even though I can no longer participate while at work.
Andrew Bennett
April 15th, 2009 2:59 am
Thanks Darren. This has been very successful for me in the past. A single post on a forum in my niche (fly fishing) has generated 10% of the traffic to my blog over the past month.
Next step – joining the ProBlogger forum!
Andrew
GloombergNews
April 15th, 2009 3:13 am
you MUST MUST MUST contribute to forums..make more than just posts about yourself…it will pay off if you adhere to the forum ethics!
Amy @ parkcitygirl
April 15th, 2009 3:23 am
How fun! I joined a forum just last week when a member linked to my tutorial :) Now I need to go get to know them better! Thanks for the great info!
Stan Webb
April 15th, 2009 3:41 am
Darren:
Thanks for the great course. I have been trying to link to Lesson #8 but have not been getting a response. I hope that is because your site is overloaded!
I write a few blogs, but this is my first attempt to join a forum:
1. Modern Living – Cybercafé, Internet Café, Net Café eMagazine Life “Sometimes On The Edge”©: http://sometimesontheedge.blogspot.com/
“Photograph(s) of the week – Sunday, April 12, 2009
The photographs, video trailers and public television program of Art Wolfe – “Travels to the Edge” artwolfe.com” and,
2. Web [Web 2.0+© (web2u©)] http://web2plus.blogspot.com/
“Great Websites – 10 Newest Finds of the Week”
Samantha
April 15th, 2009 3:51 am
I just posted this on Twitter but wanted to share here as well. Scott Stratten’s Un-Marketing web site has a huge list of forums and discussion boards on a variety of topics.
http://www.un-marketing.com/index.php?p=u
Amazing what one can find in one’s own Bookmarks, no?
I guess my concern around this is what has been voiced by others: the incredible time-suck of lurking/learning, then posting and maintaining a presence. However, what I’m learning in this course is the importance of moving traffic one person at a time, considering the lifetime value of each blog reader.
My advice would be to develop a forum participation strategy and implement it faithfully over few months to see if, in the long run, it’s profitable and sustainable.
@samanthahartley
Gina
April 15th, 2009 3:56 am
I am very active in several forums, and so far I have only had a link to my blog in my signature. I guess I was afraid I would get flagged if I linked any posts directly. I have gotten subscribers from people finding me there, but like anything, I find it hard to divide my time between participating actively in forums and writing for my blog.
Ryan Bickett
April 15th, 2009 4:00 am
In planning for another blog, I have often thought about the value that a forum would add. For the project I am working on now, I am looking to create a destination where my target audience will find useful information. The idea of a “destination” is that there will be more than one channel for communication. It won’t just be a blog, but will include a forum, possibly video, and other means of communication. I think it is important to offer your audience multiple ways to participate.
Gunnar
April 15th, 2009 4:08 am
A great advice. I joined two triathlon forums at once. This post came in exactly the right moment. I have been thinking about how to increase my traffic the last time. Had no good answer to the question…
Yesterday, I had 5 unique visitors. I was one of them :)))))
It’s very exciting!!!
Nikhil
April 15th, 2009 4:13 am
Ya its nice to be a part of Great Forum.
Can anyone suggest me Excellent forum for the designer geeks like me???
I will be very thankful.. :)
Michael Cowen
April 15th, 2009 4:16 am
@samanthahartley
Thanks for that link Samantha (anything else in your bookmarks?? : ) ) Very helpful.
Emily Geizer
April 15th, 2009 4:26 am
Thanks for this, Darren. This has been an important source of visitors to my blog. The particular topics that I often respond to or discuss in these forums also continue to be my most highly viewed articles.
CGabriel
April 15th, 2009 4:34 am
Darren, do you ever get tired of reading “GREAT IDEA DARREN!” – probably not. :-)
Great idea, Darren! This is something I’ve completey missed the boat on…until today. It makes sense on so many levels.
I try to be very active visiting blogs/sites I like – certainly those on my blogroll, or what I call Sites Blog Harbor Recommends and making comments. Those comments have turned into return traffic on my blog but, more importantly to me: They’ve resulted in great relationships with wonderful people from all over the world.
Joining a forum in my niche seems like the next logical step. I have to admit, however, finding the “right” forum might be a task because my blog doesn’t give advice…it’s not geared to social media…it doesn’t recommend restaurants, diets or how to live your life. And I’m not selling anything. It’s current events, sports and the quirky side of life offered through multimedia…and a splash of humor.
Know any forums for that? :-)
Christopher
Coop
April 15th, 2009 5:22 am
While looking for movie review forums, I stumbled upon one in which I noticed the members were using a lot of racial slurs. After doublechecking, I learned it was a white supremacist movie forum!
Yikes!
These dudes were talking about going to sites where you could vote on/rate movies. Their plan is to sabotage the ratings of movies that they deem threatening to their movement.
Scary… and pretty pathetic at the same time (this is the best they can come up with?)
Amy
April 15th, 2009 6:09 am
@Vikkie Flawith
I’m also a singer and am looking for singing Forums! Can you direct me to the ones that you mention in the comments here?
Amy
April 15th, 2009 6:10 am
@Vikki Flawith
Spelled your name wrong in that last post – Can you tell me what singing forums you subscribe to?
Alison Kerr, Earthonaut
April 15th, 2009 6:20 am
I’m a failure on today’s assignment! I doubt there is a forum which covers the broad areas I cover in my blog. Then again maybe the Sierra Club would cover most of what I write about – nature, science, sustainability, kids. I tend to avoid politics though – not probably a recipe for high readership – and since Sierra Club counts as a political action group I’m not sure I want to go there.
I’ll give this some more thought. I’ve joined several permaculture forums because that’s something I’m very interested in, but none of them have been very active so far. I was one of the most frequent posters on them after I joined. I’ll go back and check back in with them later today. Don’t want to get behind with the homework!
JD Ebberly
April 15th, 2009 6:53 am
Thanks for the tip, Darren.
I joined about eight blogging forums a while back. :)
katy
April 15th, 2009 6:53 am
I love forums, but it’s so easy to spend too much time on them!
Sami - Life, Laughs & Lemmings
April 15th, 2009 7:19 am
Great post Darren and very timely for me. I’ve been on the hunt for some relevant forums (unsuccessfully so far). This has given me some good ideas and more direction. Thanks.
Fi Phillips
April 15th, 2009 7:21 am
Done but damn you for absorbing my evening. I should be writing a panto. Good tip though.
Jennine
April 15th, 2009 7:22 am
ah, forums my first internet addiction. consider this done and done.
visalittleboy
April 15th, 2009 7:24 am
Besides gaining more traffic to blog/website, forum is a big source for people to learn from…
Kathryn
April 15th, 2009 8:28 am
I have a couple of forums that send me automatic updates about new posts. It makes it easier for me to participate without getting too easily distracted. I need NO help in procrastinating from work!
Andi
April 15th, 2009 8:30 am
Not a big fan of forums, but they do serve a purpose. Did the assignment none-the-less! http://budurl.com/uqvg
Kris
April 15th, 2009 8:55 am
So I haven’t yet found a forum that I like or feel comfortable with… which might be a good thing. I’m not sure I’d want to join the form just to get more readers. Who knows? I may later change my mind,,, but right now I think I can survive with this being a low priority.
Darren, do you plan to address blogrolls, or standard links to other sites in a sidebar? How many is too many? Etc.?
Dabbygag
April 15th, 2009 9:18 am
Thought about it but don’t really see the value add.
needmoney.com
April 15th, 2009 9:34 am
On board and rocking your ideas so far. Thanks Darren.
Palma | Buddha Trance
April 15th, 2009 9:39 am
I have posted in forums, but I should participate more consistently and within main main niche. It is very time consuming, when contributing quality content on a regular basis, but it is a good investment for future traffic. Thank you for the reminder!
Mandy
April 15th, 2009 10:28 am
I really needed this lesson on forums! I visited one a few months back when I started my blog, read the TOS, got scared and didn’t go back! So I revisited this afternoon and am ready to do some lurking ….. next stop, the 31DBBB forum.
Donna Hull
April 15th, 2009 11:29 am
I’m lucky. I belonged to an active travel forum before I started blogging. In the beginning, it drove a lot of traffic to my blog. Not as much so now. I should be looking for other forums but there’s only so much time in the day.
Darren, maybe we need a wise post from you on how to budget blog time including posting/advertising/marketing/idea gathering and social networking.
Meredith
April 15th, 2009 12:21 pm
So I’ve joined a few forums/groups – 30something bloggers, female bloggers, San Diego Bloggers, and now Probloggers 31DBBB.
What I want to know is, how does anyone find time to participate?
I was on some forums (non-blogging related) years ago, and I would end up dropping out, because between working and just…LIFE, I would fall off the face of the earth and it would be hard to keep up with people and posts, etc.
I’ve got a thousand profiles out there, for various groups, and barely get involved in any of them.
Jarlin
April 15th, 2009 1:02 pm
This is great, Darren. Thanks for all your good work in this 31DBBB.
- Jarlin Paul
http://www.jarlinpaul.com/
Bridget Casas
April 15th, 2009 1:04 pm
I am not a big joiner. I subscribe to DPS and have joined the forum with a few photo entries. I looked around today for some other photography forums and I guess I am not completely clear on how it works. I don’t want to give too much personal information and I guess I am a little uncomfortable with the concept. Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you again, Darren, for all of the great information. I will continue every day to participate!
Bridget
Ross
April 15th, 2009 1:44 pm
Trust me forums are a great resource to get your blog started. My blog was found by some of the biggest sources in my industry and was syndicated because they found me on the forums. On top of that i am a Forum Mod on one of the largest forums in my niche. They DO bring in quite a bit of traffic and set you in the right direction. PLUS forums are inspiration for your blog posts, adds another dimension to your blogging when you actively discuss your topics on forums with other “experts”.
Rose from FineCraftGuild dot com
April 15th, 2009 2:34 pm
Oh, this is sooo good, do-able and well, not taking too much time (I hope)… Thank you
niceguyted
April 15th, 2009 2:35 pm
http://tinyurl.com/d2r2sd More #starwars stuff. I really hope I can get away from this niche when the 31 days are over. ;-)
elizof
April 15th, 2009 3:03 pm
I just joined our 31Day forum and added a couple of responses… Honestly, I have joined quite a number of forums/sites online and must admit; A winnowing is in order. I am oversubscribed!
As someone said above, how do people find the time? I say God bless them… I need to refocus and cut some of my social media networks out! Of course, our 31Day challange forum and just a couple more will remain on my must keep list…
What the 31Day challenge is helping me do is to see the forest for the trees. Yes, I need to go from the infinite to the finite. = re-focus on blogging.
Until tomorrow…
Tommy
April 15th, 2009 3:07 pm
I am a member of many forums relevant to my blogging topics, I just do not participate as I used to. I explain it more on my blog post 31DBBB Day 9: Join a Forum.
Honey Singh
April 15th, 2009 5:21 pm
yeah darren you are current their are lot of forums from where you can get huge amount of traffic.
More over you can also earn money from freelancing from the forums
for example:
http://www.honeytechblog.com/ways-to-make-money-on-digitalpoint/
madafan
April 15th, 2009 6:11 pm
this is the right time for updating my profile on tripadvisor as I am blogging about travel. High time also to get more active on the forums as with the current crisis in Madagascar, people are asking questions
If you want madafan to be under your radar on tripadvisor, check my profile on http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/SaveOurSmile
Kat Rice
April 15th, 2009 7:28 pm
Found a great forum for the 20-somethings.
http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/
Christine Steinmann
April 15th, 2009 8:17 pm
I’m with Scary Mommy. I just need a few more hours. If we could only eliminate the need for sleep? Fanastic idea though, one I hadn’t gotten to yet. Thanks.
How To Blog
April 15th, 2009 8:22 pm
I’ve just joined the 31DBBB forum and it’s looking good!
One forum that everyone should know about is the http://www.warriorforum.com
This is very active, has over 120,000 members and most of the big names in Internet Marketing are members. Lurk around there for a while and you’ll see some amazing threads.
Sarah
Don Lafferty
April 15th, 2009 11:21 pm
This works.
In an effort to gather writers and editors for a potential piece of work, I promoted a hidden blog page out through my Yahoo groups for writers. Ostensibly I hit about 20K like-minded people.
The response I received, and continue to receive, has been overwhelming.
I wasn’t targeting these communities to sell anything, just providing them with something of value through my blog and, man, it was right on target.
gabybali
April 15th, 2009 11:26 pm
I just joined Bali Creative Community on Facebook. Still looking for travel forum..
Kristin
April 16th, 2009 1:16 am
The bags I make appeal a lot to knitters, crocheters and crafters in general, as they work well to carry a project around. I happen to also be a knitter, and so was already a member of a niche forum.
I’m quite active on http://ravelry.com, and if you are a knitter or crocheter, you need to check out this site. It has forums, and so much more! I’ve gotten great feedback from readers, built friendships, done trades with people I’ve never met, and even have a Meanbean fangroup on there.
Ravelry has been a fabulous resource, and one that I will continue to use.
http://mymeanbean.com/Blog
Maddie Grant
April 16th, 2009 2:30 am
This does work great. My business partner and I created a forum for our niche (social media and associations) at http://www.yapstar.org and we learn more from it than anywhere else.
Stephanie
April 16th, 2009 4:10 am
Who needs sleep anyway. I’m already a member of a lot of networks but I did find some entrepreneurship forums to join, that I hadn’t considered before.
Now I just need to find time to participate in them.
Stephanie
http://www.bizziemommy.com
Janet Green
April 16th, 2009 6:41 am
I have been active in a forum in my niche for five years and have been using it to promote my blog as well as offer value to others. For this challenge I decided to see what *other* forums might exist out there for my niche, and to my surprise found that there were several that have started up in the past couple of years. I picked one to join that seemed to have a different personality from the one I already frequent. I hope it will bring a new audience to my blog and raise my “personal brand” in the community.
Claudia
April 16th, 2009 6:54 am
My blog being about books, reading and historical novels, it was quite straightforward for me to join sites like http://www.librarything.com and http://www.goodreads.com. As someone has pointed out, time is scarce so I cannot interact that much, but I have noticed a higher traffic after each post.
Best,
Claudia
Robin Taylor Roth
April 16th, 2009 8:28 am
I’ve been doing all right with the assignments up to today, but am having some trouble with this one. I think I don’t quite “get” the idea of a forum – or, at least, it’s not intuitively obvious to me how the site I’d like to use (which claims to be a forum, as well as a social networking site) functions as such.
I’m in real estate, so would like to use ActiveRain.com (AR), which is pretty popular among my TwitterPals. I’ve set up my account – slimly, linked to my two current blogs, and subscribed to a few AR blogs (very hard to find specific people). Not sure what to do next.
I don’t really want to write yet another blog, because I’ve already got three (including the one on my main website).
Guess I haven’t really found the “forum” part of this site!
Bridget Casas
April 16th, 2009 10:44 am
I joined the 32 Day blogger forum and I also signed up for Google alerts under a few catagories. I will get one email per day and it looks like there are some interesting topics.
I also signed up for a Twitter account a few weeks ago but I am not seeing any action on that. I am trying to send daily tweets, but so far, no responses!
I do believe I have a few more viewers than before this challenge began – so something must be working!
Thanks again – sorry I commented twice today!
Bridget
Maria Palma
April 16th, 2009 1:40 pm
I’ve been a part of many forums and groups online, but haven’t been really active on any lately (Twitter seems to take up a great deal of time!)
One forum that has been around for quite awhile is the WarriorForum which is a great place for internet marketers.
titan
April 16th, 2009 8:29 pm
Forum really a good tools to me. So, we should try to use it greatly.
JT
April 17th, 2009 1:52 am
Thanks for that lesson Darren. Should I first be an expert in my chosen niche before I enter any forum? I’m quite new at this, & this might take me a little to use forum participation effectively to my advantage. But will keep in mind all you points. thanks
Alison -- surefoodsliving.com
April 17th, 2009 3:39 am
EXCELLENT reminder! And very important to read the second post you recommended:
How to Use Forums to Drive Hundreds of Thousands of Readers to Your Blog
so that you don’t come off as a bull in a china shop when you enter a forum, which I have been guilty of due to my excitement to let everyone know about my wonderful blog!
Daniel
April 17th, 2009 9:55 am
I participate in forums regularly and depending on the topic we can see spikes of 5-7% on our overall traffic numbers just by including our signature. However, the information you provide must be useful to forum readers.
enjoygame
April 17th, 2009 11:22 am
Thanks for that lesson Darren. Should I first be an expert in my chosen niche before I enter any forum? I’m quite new at this, & this might take me a little to use forum participation effectively to my advantage. But will keep in mind all you points. thanks http://www.ugg2u.net
ExcitedByLife
April 18th, 2009 2:28 pm
We noticed a lot of people say there are no forums in their niche and that forums can be a time waster.
These are the methods we used that might be of help:
Finding Forums Tips
To find forums popular with people you want to reach a good place to start is alexa.com. With forums it is the amount of traffic that a forum gets that is important not the search engine position. You get a good indicator of the amount of activity on the forum.
Just go to alexa type in “your main niche keyword”. Then go thru the sites receiving the most traffic and find the ones with forums. Alexa gives some other great information like the demographics and the type of keywords driving the most traffic to the forum. That way you can also be sure you picked the right forum to match your niche.
When you join the forum find key players who post the most and extract the link they are promoting in their signature_link. You can use this to find what other forums they are using. To do this just go to google and type “inurl:forum + signature_link”. This will return other forums that may also be worth joining. Again you can enter these forums into alexa.com to see if they are getting the right traffic and if the demographics matches your niche.
Forum Time Management
We also noticed that people commented that forums take a lot of work and is a time sucker. The trick is to pick no more than 2 forums to frequent and set a time maybe on the weekend to visit the forum and get ideas for you own blog posts first. Make this a weekly habit. Only when it becomes a habit should you start commenting on the forum posts. In the mean time you can get ideas for your own blog posts. Some forums have RSS feeds which are useful to subscribe to with google reader to keep up.
For us personally I think concentrating on the challenge forum is the most productive habit to develop for a start. It’s important not to get too overwhelmed and give up.
Ark Lady
April 18th, 2009 2:53 pm
I just can’t get that into the forum piece for my expertise…I charge for that and find many of the discussions waste time talking about really bizarre things.
In contrast, I enjoy participating in some forums that are moderated but I don’t seem to stick.
I find that some forums allow me to feed into my reader and I can keep abreast of ideas from forums there and pop in to read or comment more easily.
Other than that I am just not likely to get out to the forums these days…just like I don’t always get to the blogs I read–I am an RSS Reader gal…
Any hints on how to get that enthusiasm? Might be a good topic for the forum.
Jack Scott
April 19th, 2009 9:53 pm
I can say that this does work. I have been a member of the OSDev.org forums (mostly about low-level programming) for longer than I can remember. When I added a link to my blog in my signature, this, along with becoming a moderator, gave me a significant jump in traffic.
Sam sall
April 20th, 2009 2:39 am
Hay
i working on this now i joined 2 forums and i’m in the studying phase for those forum
Simon Stapleton
April 21st, 2009 3:09 am
@Steven Ahmad – I hadn’t seen Digital Point before! Thanks for the tip!
Lori
April 21st, 2009 4:43 am
This advice is great timing for me. I’ve just started seeing the benefit of this and now have a kick in the butt to keep going! I have a travel blog, so forums like http://www.TravelWriters.com are filled with individuals who are looking for answers about travel writing, which I do full time. It builds a thriving on-line community and can lead to many valuable connections.
Alicia
April 21st, 2009 9:48 am
This was a fantastic experience for me. Thank you!
http://experiencingeachmoment.blogspot.com/2009/04/31dbbb-day-9-forums.html
Inchirieri Masini
April 22nd, 2009 3:30 am
Hi this is a good article and very usefull.Keep doing the good job.
Thanks again.
dawnaurora
April 23rd, 2009 4:17 am
I am not usually a forum person because I get lost in reading everything, but now with the objective of connecting and giving valuable info I have a focus.
I am a US Blogger
April 25th, 2009 12:16 pm
wahoa! Now I am getting that how big bloggers are BIGG! :D
Maria Keckler
April 25th, 2009 6:36 pm
Darren,
I love your philosophy and constant reminder that the point is not simply to offer links to our blogs but to add value — the result is readers.. Thank you for the awesome tip. I found a great forum of writers I can connect with and look forward to adding value with my contributions and learning from them along the way.
Maria
Soulpowr
April 26th, 2009 1:14 pm
Found one forum on NING ugh. Already on a Ning network may join some of those forums instead of signing up for yet another. Also still looking form something non-ning.
Darran
April 26th, 2009 10:02 pm
Prior to this challenge, I was already active on a forum and that is the WordPress support forums. I outlined what I liked and disliked there. Here’s the blogpost:
http://limetouch.com/archives/31dbbb-day9-join-a-forum-and-start-participating/
Clare Flynn
April 28th, 2009 2:24 am
This was the hardest for me as I am not a natural forum person. I spent ages trying to find a suitable forum for my makeitanmendit blog but then decided to put my other business (antconsulting.co.uk) hat on and go for a business startup forum. Again ages sorting through lots of chaff till I finally found one that looked OK and have posted a quite long post – we shall see!
Somehow I don’t think this is going to be something I will be doing that often as the effort seemed disproportionate to the potential return – but I hope to be proved wrong! In any event I will probably have another go tomorrow using the forum I have signed up to.
Suzanne
April 28th, 2009 4:23 am
such a good idea! And my favorite fashion blog (http://independentfashionbloggers.org/) has it’s very own Forum, that I was too chicken to join up in, until now!
Thanks again!!
Jessica Sideways
May 1st, 2009 4:29 am
Yeah, I noticed too that many of my site’s visitors come from forums that I used to participate in. Maybe if I became more active, I would start to see a lot more traffic. ;-P
Kimberley Payne
May 2nd, 2009 6:03 am
I’ve joined some neat forums through LinkedIn that I hope will be a place where I’ll meet like-minded people.
Katie
May 4th, 2009 12:06 pm
I can’t really find a forum for my niche, since its a bit hard to fit my blog into a category. I will however, look for forums that fit my demo.
Elizabeth Kaylene
May 9th, 2009 1:14 am
I joined a couple of forums a while back that are related to one of my blogs. I noticed that while I was really active, I was getting a lot more comments and traffic to the blog. I stopped visiting these forums as things got busier and busier for me. This is a great reason to start again!
Chloe Alice Wilson
May 28th, 2009 8:30 pm
Hi,
I’ve joined 2 forums today and participated in both so we shall see how that goes. I have also added this task into my daily routine although soon there will be no room left for writing. It’s quite a juggle isn’t it – writing with no readers or readers with no writing.
Cheers, Chloe
Gary Sanet
May 30th, 2009 6:52 pm
Thats great but i wanna start a forum in my niche area… plz suggest me some ways to do that !!
fazreen
June 21st, 2009 10:29 pm
adding a forum to our blog also can drive traffic. Make that forum as bloggers gathering. Build community among us.
links of london
July 4th, 2009 4:57 pm
Bloggers can get traffic through forums ,I have laready joined copule of forums and sharing my knoeledge.
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