Marketing Tip: Posting to Forums

By Kevin Bidwell
Posted Thursday, September 2, 2004

Does it pay to cruise the forums and make the occasional post? It might, here are the results we got...

Last week we did an experiment: We posted to a popular forum to see if we could generate visitors and subscribers. Here's how we put the test together:

I wrote two short "posts". Both of them dealt with the same topic--one of interest to the average reader of the forum.
Both posts had a "signature" leading to a zero-dollar report from our site. We used cookies to track how many people LOOKED at the post (views), how many people clicked on the link (click thrus) and how many people signed up (subscribers.) Here are the results...

Ad featuring our 30-Day Challenge Report:

"See the EXACT STEPS I used to pile up over $7,500 in just 30 days! [This is so simple you'll wonder why you didn't think of it first]"

Linking to:

(http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/30)

Exposures: 423
Click Thrus: 103 (24.3%)
Subscribers: 19 (18.4%)

Ad featuring our Proven Profits Report:

"Proven Profits: How ANYONE Can Start An Internet Business on a Shoestring and make a Profit Their First Month."

Linking to:

(http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/subscribe)

Exposures: 208
Click Thrus: 6 (2.8%)
Subscribers: 1 (Not Enough to Sample)

Total results from two posts:

Exposures: 631
Click Thrus: 109 (17.2%)
Subscribers: 25 (22.9%)

At present none of these 25 have purchased any products, but it would not be surprising to see a purchase or two in the next few weeks.

Is it worth it? Making a provocative post takes just a few minutes. If your post is thoughtful and placed in a busy forum, it can certainly attract a good deal of attention.

There are some factors I would still like to test. For instance: Using the same line with just one word changed to see if that affects click-thrus and subscriptions. I will write another article once we have done more testing.

About the Author
Kevin Bidwell is owner of (http://www.all-in-one-business.com)

Kevin just finished a complete report on building a passive income. Grab your copy here:

(http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/passive)