“How To Network Efficiently On Forums”

• “Show them what you got” – Focus on a few skills you’re good at

Whenever you are talking to someone, make sure they know what you are good at, and which services you provide. You might even tell them directly, so they realize they can use you any time. This makes you one of the first people to consider when they need what you offer.

• Make people know what they might need you for

This is almost the same as the one above. But this goes for using your network as well. So if you tell them you know a great web designer, a good article writer, etc., they will ask you for help, and you will be able to help them.  This is beneficial both to the one they need, and the one needing help, since they get new customers, and might even become friends. – So your network becomes more “glued up”, meaning your friends are friends with each other as well, which is good for bigger projects.

• Tell them why to use you. ( not 100% direct though)

Tell the people you are talking with, why they should use YOU instead of anyone else. It’s important not to be too forward on this one. You could, for example, say, “Well, contrary to other article writers who charge $8 per article, I also do keyword research and I’m an expert at SEO, so my articles always rank high. That is why it takes a bit more time to write articles, and I have a few ones coming up, so I won’t be able to accept any new tasks before Tuesday.” This is an example of an article writer discreetly telling people why they are better than others.

Not really a great example, but I hope you get the point. In this context, it could be when someone asks for a trade of services, like link building for article writing, etc. Note! Keep in mind that you should always be honest with the ones you do this with. Donæt makes things up.

• Answer as quickly as possible.

By answering PMs and questions quickly, you show people that you are easy to contact, and they are more likely to provide you with tasks of importance to them. This is really important for most IM services, as marketers like to get things done fast and effectively. And it’s always good to be accessible, in case they need adjustments to anything fast.

• Give people links to websites they might need – Up your usefulness and credibility.

Kind of self-explanatory, but I’ll explain anyway =)

Simply give people links to websites you think they might need. Affiliate links lower credibility, and regular links build trust.

However, very few people mind it if you give them affiliate links after you have given them great advice, as long as it is affiliate links to products/services you sincerely think they should get. And if you also give them your affiliate link and tell them it’s your affiliate link, along with a direct non-affiliate link, they will click your affiliate link 99% of the time =) I mean, what’s more credible than doing that?!?

• Always be honest. – Tricking people into believing that you are an awesome copywriter or graphics designer will quickly show

I can’t stress this enough. Honesty when networking pays you back in tenfolds.

If anyone asks you to write their letter, and you have never done it before, tell them! Just say you have read a bit about it, but never have made one (if it’s true of course), but that you are willing to try. Then they won’t have as high expectations, and anything you do will be better than expected.

• Have fate in people. – Paying before you get a service is not smart, getting paid before doing a service is not smart either

By showing that you trust someone, they will trust you back.

So my tip here is to not pay before you get a service, unless it’s from a famous service provider. – And they usually have 50% now and 50% later.

So paying after you get a service done for you, is what I recommend for smaller businesses, as there are dishonest people out there, as well as bad services.

But getting paid before you have done something for others is not a good idea either, at least it puts a lot more pressure on you, as you can always protect your work anyway. – Like putting up a “sample” text on graphics in the jpeg etc. before you give it to your customer.

• Give people a reason to trust you.

For example in this blog, I slaughtered “the top secret magic code” which is something very few people do, because it converts so well and they’re greedy. The fact that I’m telling you about how I increase my credibility is another credibility factor as well! – Honesty all the way!

So give people a good reason to trust you, and they will.

• Ask good questions, follow the forum rules, and search before you ask. – People might get mad if you don’t

Simple guidelines to have success in the forum: Never break the rules, never spam, post in the right section, and search before you ask simple questions.

This is important, as there are a lot of people who will go mad if you don’t, and you might get banned or get other disadvantages.

• NEVER make enemies – They could easily ruin your reputation or do bad things for you

To ruin someone’s reputation online isn’t that hard if you have a reason for it. Especially if you have some authority on a forum.

So whenever you “almost” get into a fight with someone on a forum, stop it. It will do none of you any good. And if they happen to be extremely stubborn, just apologize. That’s “the easy way out”, and you avoid any problems.

Now, I’m not telling you not to tell people about your own opinions, but stop it if it evolves into a fight.

That’s it for networking on forums!

I hope you enjoyed it and learned something!