Hello, Below you will find your customizable ecourse. To edit the course quickly and easily just copy the code phrases below into the "find/replace" feature in your text editor. This is usually found under the "edit or search" menu at the top of the page. ------------- Instructions ------------- - Highlight and copy the copy and paste phrases including the quotation marks one at a time and paste them in to the "find what" box. - Type your own information in to the "replace with" box. - Click the replace all button. You're done now just check to see if all of the information is correct and then paste your messages in to your follow up auto-responder and start sending it. ------------------------ Copy and paste phrases ------------------------ "autoresponder code here" (found in your autoresponder service) "confirmation link" (found in your autoresponder service) "your first name here" "your email address" "your URL here" ---------------------------------------------------------------- Conformation message: Hello "autoresponder code here" Thank you for your interest in the Forum Marketing Basics Crash Course. It is very important that you confirm your subscription so that we can start sending your messages. Please take a minute and click the link below to confirm. "confirmation link" We will send your first lesson as soon as we receive your conformation. Remember we value your privacy. We will never rent, share or sell your email address. "add your name here" ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Subject line: First Lesson - Forum Marketing Basics Hello "autoresponder code here", Welcome to the first lesson in the Forum Marketing Basics crash course. Each day for the next few days you will receive a lesson that will help you learn the ins and outs of online forum marketing, so that you can successfully promote your business, products or services. In this first lesson we are going to talk a little bit about what forum marketing is and go over some of the advantages of using it as a marketing and promotion tool for your business. Forum marketing is a great method that many online business owners use to market their own products and services online. In fact it is fast becoming one of the most widely used free marketing methods on the internet. It has many benefits and it costs virtually nothing for you to implement. It just takes a little know how and determination from you on a regular basis to begin seeing positive results. Basically a forum is a community of people, sort of like a neighborhood where the other members are your neighbors. People often use online forums as a way of coming together to discuss a particular topic or problem. As a forum marketer you should use forums to get information, ask questions, make connections, as well as for promoting yourself and your business. The basic rule of thumb when it comes to forum marketing is that you never jump right in an immediately start promoting your business. This is considered bad manners and will actually drive your potential customers in the opposite direction. Before you begin to promote your product or service on any forum, you will need to establish yourself as a member of the community. There are three basic steps involved in this process. - First you need to find a forum and register as a member. When looking for a forum to join you will want to find one that is centered around a topic that is closely related to the product or service that you are planning to promote. After you have found a forum that you want to and have registered, you should take some time to create a profile page about yourself. This should include a good description about yourself and your business. You will want to pay special attention when crafting your signature file, because it will be at the bottom of every post that you make and it is vital to the success of your campaign. After you have registered and set up your profile and your signature line you should take a few days to lurk around the forum before you begin to post. Examine the posts and get a feel for the other members thoughts, ideas and questions. It is also very important that you take time to acquaint yourself with the rules of the forum. Next, it is time to start posting. After you have lurked around for a while it will be time to start posting. Begin by responding to the other members questions and concerns. Do not by any means start out posting by instantly promoting your business. This can have a negative impact on the opinion other members have of you and blatant advertising can get you banned from the forum. Remember you want people to notice you not ignore you. Next you will want to focus on building your reputation on the forum. Starting with your very first post, you can begin to build your reputation as an expert on the topics being discussed. The first and most important thing you should do is introduce yourself. Then begin to help other members with their problems and quickly answer their questions. Keep in mind that the more respect you earn in the forum the more visits you will get to your website and the more sales you will make. As I mentioned above most forums do no permit members to promote their products or services inside the post itself. This is considered spamming and it may get your post deleted and you may also be banned from the forum. There are many excellent reasons why forum marketing is so effective for many online marketers. Whenever you post, you have the golden opportunity to help another person that might have a problem or perhaps a question. This will not only give you a feeling of satisfaction that you have done something to help someone else, it will also help you build a good reputation on the forum. The basic unspoken rule is that if you give to another member then you shall receive when they click on your signature line and go to your website. Another side benefit of joining a forum is that you will find plenty of valuable and very useful information that you can use to build your business. As you read posts by other members you will be amazed at how much free information that you'll receive. This information can be an invaluable resource to improve your forum marketing strategy. As you begin to post on the forum many people will be able to see your signature line and click on it, which will lead them straight to your website. This form of free advertising can add up to a nice amount of free traffic as well as potential sales from forum members. Another benefit is that search engines such as Google like forums and whenever you create a hyperlink to your website from the you will get a nice backlinks. These backlinks will increase your position in the search engine results and the higher you are ranked on the search engine the more traffic you will generate outside of the forum. This will, consequently, lead to even more sales for your business. So as you can see forum marketing is a fantastic method with a lot of extra added benefits that you can use to promote your business. We have a lot to go over in the next few days if you want to learn how to use forum marketing to your advantage, so make sure you look for your next lesson soon. We will be talking about how you can increase your profits by using forum marketing. Thank you again for joining, "your first name here" "your email address" "your URL here" ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2 subject line: Second Lesson - Forum Marketing Basics Hello "autoresponder code here", It’s time for your second lesson. I hope you found lesson one informative. In this lesson we are going to talk about how you can increase your profits by using forum marketing. As we discussed in your first lesson, forum marketing is a great strategy for using online forums to obtain visitors and customers for your business. It's no secret that when you use an online forum to promote your business it can lead to more traffic to your website and potential sales of your product or service. This however will depend on the type of website that you're trying to promote. This type of marketing needs to be done in a very subtle manner and without breaking any of the forum rules. It's important to keep in mind that most forum owners keep a watchful eye out for spammers and if you're found spamming you may be banned from the forum with no notice. It is advisable to use only your signature line to promote your product and use the content of your post to answer questions or offer help and ideas. If you adhere to this basic strategy, you will have virtually no chance of your post being deleted and you will build a good reputation with the other members on the forum. You should be aware that some forums will require that you make a certain amount of posts before you can create a signature line. This will give you the chance to start establishing a good reputation before you begin to promote your products. If you are just starting you might consider avoiding forums with this rule because you want to get your name out as soon as possible. But keep in mind that even if you do join a forum that allows you to create a signature line right away you will still need to develop your reputation before promoting your products. If you carefully execute your forum marketing strategy, it can be a highly effective marketing tool for your business. This type of marketing is effective simply because online forums usually contain a high volume of members that are interested in the same topic. If your site relates to the topic of the forum, it opens up the door for you to a interact with potential customers in a relaxed and low pressure environment. Another reason why they are so useful is that you'll be able to get information on problems that the community may be experiencing. Once you have gathered this information, you can use it to create new products that will help the other members of the forum. This is an opportunity for the savvy business owner. As I mentioned above, when you are first getting started you will want to execute your forum marketing campaign with extreme care. You should post a bare minimum of fifty times before you actually attempt to promote your products. This is the basic rule of thumb even if you belong to a forum that allows you to create a signature line with under fifty posts. You need to establish your reputation as an expert on the topic of the forum first otherwise you will have less chance of success. At the same time, you need to make certain all of your posts are providing value to the other forum members. Don't make your posts too brief or excessively long. Your goal inside your posts should be focused on helping other forum members with a particular problem or concern. You should begin your posts with straightforward solutions to their questions or concerns. Once you feel confident, you can discuss your own ideas and issues. When you're creating your signature line it has to be interesting and quickly attract the reader rather than being a sales message. Try and excite the reader’s curiosity by saying you have a secret to share with them that you will reveal when they visit your website. You can also offer a free gift, ebook or download that relates to your business if the visitor clicks on your link. This is an excellent ways to get visitors to your website and when they do you can entice them to subscribe to your list or purchase your products. When you advertise correctly through online forums you have the opportunity to increase traffic to your website. It can also increase sales, newsletters sign ups and have other beneficial outcomes that you can't get from any other type of marketing without investing a great deal in advertising dollars. I really appreciate your joining me for this short ecourse. Don't forget to look for another lesson soon. We will be talking about basic forum etiquette and how it affects your marketing plan. Until then, "add your name here" "your email address" "your URL here" ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3 subject line: Third Lesson - Forum Marketing Basics Hi "autoresponder code here", It’s "your first name here", with your third lesson Today let's talk about basic forum etiquette and how it affects your marketing plan. As we have been discussing in you other lessons, forum marketing is one of the most effective methods to promote your business, products or services for free. That is why you don't want to miss out on this valuable marketing method by not reading through the rules that are posted by the moderators inside the forum. These rules give you guidelines on what you can and cannot do on the forum. Taking the time to go through them will make it easier for you to understand your limitations when it comes to posting, so that you don't break any of the rules by mistake. It will also establish boundaries so that you know how aggressively you can implement your marketing campaign. As I have mentioned before, not following the rules of the forum can result in you being banned from the forum. It can also leave a black mark on your name and reputation. It's extremely important that not only read the rules, but you understand them clearly. This is the first rule of any successful forum marketing campaign. You will usually find the rules for the forum right beneath the guidelines or general discussion area. Most of the time they are simple and easy to understand. Along with the rules set forth by the forum moderators you should also follow some simple rules of etiquette. As I mentioned in your last lesson, most forums will instantly ban you for any form of self promotion. The strictness of this basic rule will likely vary on different types of forums. That is why reading the rules before you post can help you save from experiencing any problems later on. Breaking the rules is one thing, but you can also get banned if you make any inappropriate, offensive or hurtful comments that may offend another forum member. It is also important that you read what is being discussed before you decide to post. You have to pay close attention to details. For instance is the posting formal or informal so that you can respond accordingly. Additionally you should get to know a few of the other forum members and begin a discussion with them before you approach the topic of your business or website which should be done in a very subtle manner. As you begin to follow the conversations you will discover that you have an added bonus. If you're following, you can observe particular questions that are being asked by other members. If any of these questions fall under your expertise, you can provide them with an answer to their question or a solution to their problem. You may even be able to steer them to your website in a subtle way, so that you can offer them an even better way to solve their problems. Following the rules is an essential part of any forum strategy, but following etiquette is a matter of principal. When you follow these simple etiquette guidelines, you will quickly become a well-trusted forum member and marketer. Make sure you look for your next lesson soon, We will be talking about some of the pros and cons associated with forum marketing. "add your name here" "your email address" "your URL here" ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4 subject line: Fourth Lesson - Forum Marketing Basics Hi again "autoresponder code here", I hope you are learning a lot from the Forum Marketing Basics crash course. Today we are going to talk about some of the pros and cons associated with forum marketing. Forum marketing is fast becoming an integral part of any successful internet marketing campaign. As we discussed in your previous lesson it provides you with a free and easy way to access people who may be interested in the product or service that you are promoting. It involves little to no investment to get started and often yields great results. But just like any type of marketing on the internet it does have some distinct pros and cons. The first and probably the best pro of forum marketing is the highly targeted nature that it has to offer. When you begin to interact on a forum that relates to the product or service that you are promoting you will have the attention of the people that are most likely to buy your products. This will save you wasted time and effort on other less effective marketing campaigns. Another excellent advantage of the targeting factor is that for every person that actually takes the time to post there could be as many as ten lurkers, or silent watchers just reading the conversations. These silent watchers will often purchase your products or services without ever saying a word. As I am sure you have heard me mention before, forum marketing is not only a great marketing method that will bring in new customers, it is also a great way to tap into your market for new product ideas. By simply keeping tabs on comments, complaints and problems that other members are having on the forum you can easily identify the needs of your customers and develop a product idea based on that information. You can then test market it by asking the forum members for their opinions and the suggestions on the product. When the product is complete you may even consider giving out a few review copies for them to evaluate. The ultimate pro of forum marketing is that there is very little cash investment involved. Most forums are accessible without membership fees and while some may require a small fee to join, you may well discover that it is often money well spent and costs far less than other types of marketing and advertising. Even though you'll have to spend time reading and posting on the forum this particular marketing method can be done on your own time schedule. Once you get a feel for this system it requires less than a 30 minutes of your time to read and respond to posts. It's important that you remain patient when it comes to this type of marketing, because it can sometimes take several months to get your campaign efforts to pay off, but it’s well worth it when you consider the initial investment that you had to make. There are very few cons when it comes to forum marketing however they are equally as important as the pros. The first con and perhaps the most significant is that this is not a task that you will want to allocate to an outside provider. It is vital to your success that you personally take the time to build a relationship with the members of the forum before they will even think about purchasing your product or service. For this reason is not a tactic for anyone who expects to see traffic and sales right away. Another con is that as the product owner you will need have good communication skills as well as the ability to present yourself as a knowledgeable and trustworthy person. If you haven't had a chance to hone either of these skills, you might want to practice in smaller forums before you attempt to promote your product on popular more forums. As with any marketing method, before deciding if forum marketing is right for your business it is important to consider both the pros and cons. Most importantly, if you don't have the time or communication skills that forum marketing requires you may want to consider other ways to promote your products. However, if you do possess these skills (which I am quite sure you do) then forum marketing is a great way to promote your product or service. for your next lesson soon, We will be talking about the potential power of forum marketing for your business. I'd love to hear from you! Please let me know what you think and if you have any questions please feel free to ask, "add your name here" "your email address" "your URL here" ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5 subject line: Fifth Lesson - Forum Marketing Basics Hello "autoresponder code here", How are you? We are winding down to the end of this short course. But we still need to go over a few important things. That is why today I want to share with you some of the different ways that you can tap into the potential power of forum marketing for your business. As you well know by now, forum marketing is one of the best ways to promote your business online for little or no money. Knowing how forum marketing works the key to having a successful forum marketing campaign. A successful campaign is more than having a great signature line that will attract people to your website. The potential positive results from your forum marketing campaign can be so much bigger. You may not have realized this yet, but forums can potentially help you get your new product or service off the ground. It solves just about all of the issues that are related to the launching of a new product. Let’s take a look at some of side benefits of promoting your products this way. - Testing As we discussed in your previous lesson, by simply asking a few people on the forum to test your new product and give you an honest review on how they liked it or didn't like it, will help you in a number of ways. They can let you know what results they experienced after using it. They can also point out any weak spots that may be in it, providing you with the opportunity to fix the problems before officially launching the product. These are two of the main problems associated with launching a new product and the forum can help you eliminate them. During this entire process you will be discreetly promoting your new product and at the same time earning the trust of other members. -Testimonials When you launch any new product buyers want to see the testimonials of others that have tried the product and liked it. This is especially true if you're promoting a money making system. People want proof that others have made money using it. Here is where the forum comes into play. You can post to a few of the members that you have built a relationship with and ask them if they would test out your product or service. All they would have to do in return is write an honest testimonial on how the product worked for them. Now there will be testimonials about your product available for everyone to see. - More On Traffic I know that we have discussed the traffic benefits that come along with forum marketing in your other lessons and that you are aware that a good signature line will bring you some traffic, but in order to generate a lot more traffic to your site without spamming, you will want to post and reply to other posts as frequently as possible. This simple action will increase the amount of times your signature line appears and more likely than not a forum member will click on your link. This really is a great way to generate a nice client base for your business. So as you can see forum marketing is not only good for generating traffic and leads, it also saves you a lot of time and trouble when you are trying to launch a new product. That's it for today's lesson. Don't forget to look for your sixth and final lesson soon. We will be talking about choosing the right forum to join for your business, plus a quick overview of some of the top marketing forums that you can lurk around in while you are learning the ropes. See you then, "add your name here" "your email address" "your URL here" ---------------------------------------------------------------- 6 subject line: Sixth Lesson - Forum Marketing Basics Hello "autoresponder code here", Well, we have come to the final lesson in the Forum Marketing Basics crash course. I sure hope that you have learned a lot from your lessons and that you feel confident enough to start using this fantastic method to promote your business, products and services. Today we are going to jump right in and talk about choosing the right forum to join for your business, plus a quick overview of some of the top marketing forums that you can lurk around in while you learn the ropes. When it comes to launching your own successful forum marketing campaign it is essential that you do your research and find the right forum to join for your business. Forum marketing doesn't mean that you should only focus your attention on the forums that generate high traffic. This type of marketing is not based on the quantity but rather by the relevance and quality of the forum that you are posting on When you begin your search for the perfect forum, look for one that you think will help you in your overall marketing campaign. As we have discussed before, it is important that you join forums that are closely related to the product or service that you are promoting. You will want to invest most of your time and effort in forums where you can easily project a trustworthy image and build a good reputation for being an expert on the specific topic that relates to your product or service. Once you gain the trust and confidence of the other forum members you can look forward to a lot of traffic to your website coming from the forum. Remember to always keep in mind that forum marketing is all about sharing information and making contacts as well as providing access to your products or services to your target market. When you first begin marketing on forums you may want to choose just one forum to post on. After you have honed your skills you can then join additional forums and repeat the process. When you are promoting your products on several forums you will want to prioritize the forums according to where you think you will gain the best opportunities to grow your business, and improve your products and services. In the beginning it can be challenging to find the perfect forum to use for your campaign. This is especially true if you are looking for a specific niche that you can tap into. It is important to keep in mind that forum marketing involves many skills and strategies that must be learned and practiced before you will begin to see significant results. Before we close this final lesson I want to share a few of the top marketing forums that you can lurk around in while you learn the ropes. These are mainly focused on business and marketing. By simply visiting the sites and reading the posts you will be able gain some very useful insight into the wonderful world of forum marketing. The Warrior Forum http://www.warriorforum.com This forum is one of the biggest online marketing forums available. You will discover marketing experts, entrepreneurs and home based business owners from all over the world on this forum. It provides a wealth of information on just about any type of marketing that you want to learn about. It also has a very popular advertising section called the 'Warrior Special Offer Forum' where you can post your promotional offers for your product or service, for a small fee of course. Conquer Your Niche Forum http://www.conqueryourniche.com This is one of the more popular forum marketing sites. The founder of this site is Russell Brunson. One of the foremost experts on internet marketing. One of the biggest advantages of this forum is that it has a referral program as well as an advertising rotation. This means that you can get paid while you're browsing and interacting on the forum. The Better Networker Forums http://www.betternetworker.com/forums This forum was developed by Mike Dillard, a well known internet marketer that has been around for several years. This site provides information on a variety of topics and allows business owners to connect in a friendly environment which puts you more at ease than just about any other website out there. Last but not least, the Work At Home Forum http://www.work-at-home-forum.com This forum has been online since May of 2004 and it appears on the search engines all of the time. It has thousands of work at home business owners from all over the world as members. While it may not be as popular as the other forums above it has a huge following and can provide you with a ton of useful information on many niche topics. Take some time and lurk around the forums listed above and you will discover plenty of information that you can use to create your own forum marketing strategy. I have to say it one more time before we close this final lesson. "Forum marketing is a great way to meet potential customers get traffic and promote your products and services". If you use it correctly, you can have a very successful business without spending a small fortune on advertising. Just make sure you follow the rules, mind your manners and you will have no problem launching your own successful forum marketing campaign. Best of luck to you in all of your business en devours. Sincerely, "add your name here" "your email address" "your URL here" ========================================== Legal Notice The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this course, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet. The Publisher will not be responsible for any losses or damages of any kind incurred by the reader whether directly or indirectly arising from the use of the information found in this course. This course is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field. No guarantees of income are made. Reader assumes responsibility for use of information contained herein. The author reserves the right to make changes without notice. The Publisher assumes no responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of the reader of this course.