Forum Marketing: Are you Focused On The Wrong Thing?
I have become a BIG fan of forum marketing! It has become one of the primary ways I build relationships and expand my business. But, before I get into why, let me define forum marketing for you.
What Is Forum Marketing
It’s all about voicing your opinion and sharing knowledge with your peers in the style of a discussion. You can just watch and learn or you can participate in the discussion. You’ll always watch more than you participate because some things just aren’t worth responding to but, you don’t realize it until after you’ve read it 
bummer, huh?
But, the threads that are worth reading are the ones you want to comment on. Why?
Because If it’s a hot topic for you and your in a room of like minded people you will have a good chance of getting new eye balls in front of your message.
And While We’re On The Subject Of Messages…
The reason it’s called forum marketing is because you are not just here to socialize just for the heck of it. Your there to share your message by sharing some thing of value: your good advice, your solid opinion, your take on an important topic.
If they like what you had to say and/or how you said it. Your viewers, who start you trust your opinion, will contact you and want to do business with you sooner or later.
Its a fantastic concept and it can explode your business!
This is because you get to put a signature link which is attached to every post like your business card. You can put your blog, affiliate links, website links, even your phone number so anyone can contact you if they want to get to know more about you and how you can help them.
But, You’ve Got To Be Focused On The Right Activities
Be mindful of your purpose: Having some thing valuable to add to the community. Say something meaningful, be genuine and don’t be overly concerned with looking dumb or saying something wrong. Regardless of how dumb your post maybe as long as your not spamming (posting crap just to show your signature links promoting your business) you will start to draw a following in the form of high quality leads for your business.
I see some people get distracted from that mission of relationship building and for all things… typos!
Yes, Typos.
There was a whole thread about it in the better Networker forums:
http://www.betternetworker.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=13235
I’ll spare you the dibble in the middle and post the original thread and my response here:
Typos and Such
Postby WAW5058 on 23 Oct 2008 17:35
Over their Mouse to Enrol as Your Mary Kay Reps and Customers…
This is what I saw when I clicked on a Google adword that read "I’m Mad at Mray Kay." and also how I got into Magnetic Sponsoring. Note the word "Enrol" has a red line under it because it’s misspelled!!!! I’ve noticed so many misspellings and/or typos in the materials I’ve received from Magnetic Sponsoring, I’ve lost count. I duly noted these grievous errors (when you’re dedicated to the beauty of the written word, misspellings/typos are grievous!) on Mr. Dillard’s website that features many such errors and was told the matter would be brought to his attention. I’ve even offered to proofread the work before it’s posted.
Yes, the Internet is a beautiful thing and it’s helped us all do what we do a gazillion times over and better BUT unfortunately it has contributed to the dumbing down of America (yes, I see the red line) by gargantuan leaps. It’s clear that reading and writing are no longer emphasized in our school systems and it’s appalling how much poorly phrased writing gets propagated over and over simply by posting something on the Internet with impunity and entitlement.
When I’m paying for good material, I expect it to be grammatically correct and for pete’s sake, spelled right! Any writer worth a spit knows that everything they produce should have another set of eyes on it. And I do get that we’re not all writers, we’re Alpha Leaders and Better Network Marketers — all the more reason for anyone publishing anything to have someone else look at it to avoid embarrassing gaffs that people are reviewing and possibly paying to read.
Thanks for listening. Hope I didn’t break any of the rules…
My Response:
Re: Typos and Such
"If you are sick of all the errors and typos in the sales pages and ebooks from the proclaimed *gurus* Then listen up! Discover how you can attract a steady stream of ‘ready to buy customers’ using nothing more than perfect spelling and exact grammar!"
You can do some split testing and share your results here. I’d be most interested to hear about all the money we’re all leaving on the table due to careless or even intentional misspellings.
Of course, I’m just kidding!! But, seriously guys If a few errors distract you that much from the point and knowledge in the writing then by all means feel free to read all of our articles and volunteer your editing services… please let me be first in line because I assure you I’m the biggest offender here!
Passion driven writing and too many more important points to consider are my excuses 
. But, honestly, I must admit I’ve only ever had one complaint about one of my very first ads about a year ago even though I don’t think I spell any better! 
Trust me, I never get any testimonials that say, "I loved your article but man, all the misspelled words really spoiled it for me". And may never either…
Malika
P.S. Hope I did well, I didn’t do spell check, but I didn’t see any red lines under the words 
What say you?
