One of the most overlooked yet one of the most enjoyable forms of niche marketing is in the forums. I personally belong to a couple of different forums in different niches including my favorite forum over at Wealthy Affiliates. I've witnessed several members of Wealthy Affiliates who have grown their businesses ?virally? by spending lots of time in the forums and building off of nothing more than the relationships they have established there. It's just one more system of viral marketing that can't be ignored.

Forums are like chat rooms except that instead of everyone talking at the same time, you are making posts of your comments or questions in the forum rooms to be read by other members later. There is an extremely active exchange of information occurring in the forum rooms which makes them a great place to promote your business.

The best way to find a forum in your particular niche is to do a Google search. Just type in ?yournichename+forum? and you'll find plenty of forums for just about any topic and niche you can think of. For example'if your niche is video games do a search for ?video games + forums? (you don't have to use the quotes but sometimes it helps to get more specific forums).

Once you complete your search, it's a good idea to go in and check out the forum itself. There are thousands of forum rooms out there but not all of them are good. As a matter of fact only a handful in each niche are worth your time. Look for forums that have not only large memberships but also very active memberships. Check out how many posts have been made in the last 24 hours?the last 6 hours?and even the last hour. The more active the forum is the more beneficial it will be for you to join.

Also, try to avoid forums that allow advertising. You're looking for a good interactive community to build relationships with?NOT A SITE to just set up an ad and leave!

It's also highly recommended that you participate in a forum that requires registration. Forums that allow anonymous posters are full of nothing more than spam.

If you spend a fair amount of time in the forums and make the right types of posts, you can establish yourself as an expert in your business. By ?the right types of posts? I mean that there is a right way and a wrong way to post in the forums.

In forum marketing you are not trying to promote and sell your products, you are trying to SELL YOURSELF! Blatant posts to promote your products and your website in the forums are annoying to other members and will only serve to have you either banned from the forum or ignored by enraged members.

Another thing to be aware of is that it's a BAD idea to try to spam the forums with multiple posts of similar content just to create a higher posting number. Members and monitors of the forums are very keen to this type of posting. Many forums allow you to edit a post after it has been made, so if you need to change or rewrite your post do it be editing?not by creating an entirely new post and thread.

?Bumping? is also frowned upon in most forums. ?Bumping? is where the poster replies to their own post in order to get their post back up to the top pages. In advertising forums bumping is fine, and it's also approved in some other forums?but if you're constantly bumping your own posts just to have them consistantly seen at the tops of the pages you may get disciplined.

The right way to market in the forums is to first understand exactly what type of information is being exchanged in your particular forum and how it is being done. Remember that forums are a friendly place where people go to chat about their particular business and get free information. Know the rules of the forum and the structure and context of the posts before you start voicing your own opinions and offering advice.

Once you've had an opportunity to sit back in the shadows and get a feel for the forum, you will find opportunities for you to start replying to posts with the exact information the people are looking for and thereby establishing yourself as an expert. This type of posting will help you gain the respect of the community you're looking for in order to promote your business.

You should ALWAYS include your signature in every post that you make. Your signature should include your name and your URL along with some other type of free information or reports. The signature should be anywhere from 3-6 lines with the URL pointing directly back to your website. For instance:

As Always To Your Success,

Jim Jones

??????????????????-

FREE Report! 5 Simple Ideas To Help Increase Traffic To Your Website

To access your free copy visit http://www.increasetraffictips.com

???????????????????

The signature is subtle yet effective once you have established yourself with other forum members. You've created a link back to your website plus you will get relevant visitors to your site to find out more about the information you are offering.

As you become more and more known in the forum you can then begin to make posts such as ?Hey, I've just added a new article to my website about a new free tool to increase your website traffic. You can check it out at http://www.increasetraffictips.com?. This type of post is only appropriate AFTER you've been with the community for a long time and have proven yourself to be an active expert in your business. (p.s. I hope this isn't anyone's real website address'if it is then I guess I'm just sending you free traffic?LOL).

Forum marketing is one of my favorites because I appreciate the exchange of information you get for free in the forums and it's an easy form of marketing (not so hard as building websites or writing articles and ebooks).

Seriously consider joining a forum to establish yourself and your business on the internet.