Has anyone here been real successful in forum signature marketing?

[carlos123]

I am still learning how to generate traffic using non-search engine methods.

Lately I have come to realize that forum signature marketing is a great way to bring some traffic to sites and am wondering if anyone has done that very successfully or if you know of a good ebook or eclass that might lay things out more clearly on this way of marketing?

I have been experimenting with various signatures and if I am not mistaken one can build a whole avalanche of traffic to one's sites by appropriately using signatures in posts at forums.

The thing is that one must focus on forum threads that tie in as close as possible to the subject of what one is linking to from within their signature.

Also it seems that it is better to participate in really large forums to get better click-thru.

Some smaller forums can be real good too if they are focused on your particular niche area of expertise.

I'm kinda tired of playing the search engine ranking game and am keeping an eye out on alternative ways of generating traffic more in line with how people network in the real world.

Forums seem like a natural fit. They don't produce a ton of traffic at first but in time it would seem that one can produce a fair amount of traffic from various forums one is involved in.

Anybody can join a new forum once a day and start posting and contributing something.

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions for forum marketing that they might care to share?

Carlos

[AndyBlackSEO]

I've actually made quite a lot of sales from my signature link on this forum. If you add value to your posts and participate in the forum you'll find you'll probably make some sales if you offer a product that people will want.

[TLTheLiberator]

Yes!

Participate in the top 10 forums in your niche area and you should get lots of targeted traffic to your offers.

TL

[Ricky Parker]

Originally Posted by AndyBlackSEO

If you add value to your posts and participate in the forum

That would be the number 1 key there IMO.

Like any other "social" thing.

[KaylaB]

Originally Posted by AndyBlackSEO

I've actually made quite a lot of sales from my signature link on this forum. If you add value to your posts and participate in the forum you'll find you'll probably make some sales if you offer a product that people will want.

I agree. The trick is to add value to your posts. Then you build up trust and people are more likely to click through on your signature. I know it has worked for me.

[carlos123]

I was mainly curious in starting this thread to see if anyone had experienced much success in using forum marketing to promote a page at their site. It seems that people have.

What is odd to me is that in all the internet marketing stuff I have ever read...and I have read a bunch, most of which was near useless and just a bunch of marketing blah, blah, zzz..z...zzz...I have never seen anyone try and sell me an ebook or course on forum marketing specifically.

Is that because there is nothing to it? As in there is no way to turn it into a new ebook that one can fill up with info and turn into the next key to internet success (so-called)?

I mean the whole thing to forum marketing could be summed up in one sentence like some of you said...

Add valuable content to your posts and use a great headline in your signature. There. That's not much to turn into an ebook. Maybe that's why internet marketers don't try to sell forum marketing ebooks very often if at all. Don't know.

Carlos

[Colin Palfrey]

I recently saw a job going "post to 100 forums on given niche, including the sig I give" and the job went for the best bit of $100

People wouldnt be paying if it didn't work

[Ricky Parker]

Originally Posted by carlos123

What is odd to me is that in all the internet marketing stuff I have ever read...and I have read a bunch, most of which was near useless and just a bunch of marketing blah, blah, zzz..z...zzz...I have never seen anyone try and sell me an ebook or course on forum marketing specifically.

There have been a few Forum Marketing specific products I've seen over the past few years.

[katiec]

I agree with a lot of what was said here in this thread. Success in forums is based mostly on your replies in that forum. One or two word replies won't do it, show interest in what you're replying to, and people will be inclined to click on your sig.

[AnnaHamer]

Glad this thread popped up. What thinking of doing myself, but afraid I might get banned from forums if I had my link in my sig.

[carlos123]

I belong to some huge forums. Even have a well read blog at one. But they don't allow any kind of signatures and they are super paranoid about outbound links. Them internet marketers you see LOL.

Aside from asking about this for myself I have a client who is in a super competitive niche. There's no way to twist his offering for some long tail keyword bit. He is just in a competive niche and that's all there is to it.

For a client like that I have been thinking that the very best approach to get him some traffic is to start in on forum signature marketing. He can post for an hour or two every day. Given that he makes several thousand dollars on each sale it's worth it.

I guess you have to have a high ticket item to make it worth the time to participate in forums. I mean for the purpose of forum marketing.

Either that or you have very low expenses and/or just an interest in the niche of a forum.

Carlos

[Harvey.Segal]

Originally Posted by carlos123

I have never seen anyone try and sell me an ebook or course on forum marketing specifically.

Why sell ?

I have a free book

Forum Marketing SuperTips


Harvey

[Metronicity]

I have an absolutely up-to-date list of 82 Forums with "do follow" links arranged in PageRank from 8 to 0. Leave your email in the Opt-in here - Your Internets

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by Harvey.Segal

I have a free book

Forum Marketing SuperTips

Neat. Someone wrote an ebook about this topic after all!

Hmm....

One thing I definitely need to do is create an ebook cover for my Simple Websites Made Easy e-course. That would make it look like a more professional course I think.

Carlos

[netcatapult]

Many people are successful in using signature marketing as a way to get traffic but you have to be real and offer value to what you are saying in your comments. This will help you build credibility and people will trust your signature link. This is something new that I am trying... it makes total sense.

[marciayudkin]

For a client like that I have been thinking that the very best approach to get him some traffic is to start in on forum signature marketing. He can post for an hour or two every day. Given that he makes several thousand dollars on each sale it's worth it.

This won't work for everyone.

Here are some requirements for this to work:

1)The people with the money and willingness to buy need to be participating in or reading the forums as well. This is not always the case.

2)The person must be an excellent communicator. If he has a high-ticket item, he needs to build trust, and clear writing with reasonably correct grammar and spelling are important.

3)The person must have something to say that is different, deeper or more helpful than what other people on the forums have to offer.

4)The person must have a reasonably appealing personality and good character. Throwing tantrums, offending other forum members, beating the drums for an unpopular cause, demeaning anyone, showing poor ethics or bad judgment - all these will sabotage the efforts.

If your client fits into the above characteristics, then by all means recommend forum marketing.

Marcia Yudkin

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by Paul McQuillan

It is not the sig that sells it is the posts on the forum that sell. They like
what I say and realize they have a need for my service or whatever.

I get people nodding their head and they can't help but to look down and
see my sig

That's interesting Paul because personally...I don't think I would have clicked on your signature. The title about learning from a great Dane sounds a bit too much like another marketing rah, rah thing. Something I have just grown tired of reading through.

What I mean is that marketers are always coming up with headlines like that.

Still...it does pique my curiosity...maybe I will click on it later. If for nothing else than to go through your "system" to see if there are some insights I can glean from how you do things.

I find it interesting that for you...it's not so much the signature or how you word it but what you say in your posts and the credibility you gain from forum participation.

Carlos

[mr2020]

Carlos,

I have done quite well with sig line traffic development AND with sales generated by those sig lines. In my experience, you do need to have an opinion, expertise, and attitude to make it work.

Being humble, or tossing up dumb sh*t doesn't fly.

And...

Have fun!

Twenty Twenty

That guy who actually changed his name to the number of perfect vision, because YOU living YOUR vision perfectly matters.

Whoo yah!

PS: I have a site that's about 2 weeks old, that is getting about 80 percent of it's traffic from sig lines. Go check it out, and notice how I could fit in the subject on many different kinds of forums. Mind Hack Videos - Note: All I have to do is notice a problem in a forum that I can solve, build a video around that, write a quick article for that particular site, and....

PPS: Now THAT'S a strategy!

[rapidscc]

Yups signature here is valuable but then that is only secondary. You'll see that the knowledge you gain here is like rare gems..priceless!

To Your Success!

Omar

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by mr2020

PS: I have a site that's about 2 weeks old, that is getting about 80 percent of it's traffic from sig lines. Go check it out, and notice how I could fit in the subject on many different kinds of forums. Mind Hack Videos - Note: All I have to do is notice a problem in a forum that I can solve, build a video around that, write a quick article for that particular site, and....

PPS: Now THAT'S a strategy!

Interesting. I went to your signature link site and looked around some. I will have to analyze myself to see why I went to yours and not to Paul's above about the Great Dane.

It would be interesting to analyze what makes us click on signature links.

Maybe I could start another thread titled something like "Why do you click on a signature link?" or "What makes you click on one signature link vs another?". It'd be interesting to see the responses that thread might get.

I think I clicked on yours because of the 80% claim. Funny though that I didn't click on the site in your paragraph but rather on your signature link.

But the boldfacedness of your claim moved me to take action. 80% eh?? I wonder what kind of site that is. I'm going to go take a look.

Something about a great Dane didn't quite interest me.

I think it's instructive to for me to realize too that my sig clicking was based mainly on how each post (between you and Paul's) tickled my curiosity. Since I don't yet know Paul very well and since I am a relatively new person on this forum I don't follow people much yet.

With the exception of someone named XFactor with his Adsense empire. If I see his post anywhere I click on whatever he links to. I read almost his entire thread on making money from AdSense and was quite impressed.

I guess the gist of all this is that credibility, name recognition, headline wording of sigs, post interest and the ability to make forum members water with curiosity...all play a role.

I take back what I said about there not being enough material to make an ebook out of all this. I might just go and create my own LOL.

Carlos

[marksinclair]

I definitely click on signatures that really catch my interest. Its just a matter of having what people want and giving it to them in a catchy line.

[vagabondette]

I just did a quick search and I have a few products on my HD about getting traffic from forums. If anyone's interested let me know and I'll upload them and you can have 'em.

[PaulWilson]

I definitely click on signatures that catch my eye...

In fact, I have just done it and left a comment on a blog :-)

Paul

[vagabondette]

Originally Posted by PaulWilson

I definitely click on signatures that catch my eye...

In fact, I have just done it and left a comment on a blog :-)

Paul

lol...I just got the comment. I'll do the search and probably post them tonight but they'll be ready by noon tomorrow at the latest. Unless you don't want me to, I'm going to add Opt-in into the search too so you get more.