Outsourcing Forum Marketing

28 replies
Hey guys. I'm fairly new to internet marketing although I've been involved in direct sales and offline marketing for several years. I've got a firm grasp on the basic concepts of various online marketing techniques.

I wanted to get your thoughts on forum marketing and outsourcing. Building a brand is about being unique and having a USP. However, I've learned that there's only so much time in a day when you have a full time job to do what you need to do to build your online business. That's why I'm interested in learning about outsourcing. Is it possible to keep your uniqueness when you outsource?

Would you recommend outsourcing forum marketing? Why or why not?

Who would you recommend to hire for outsourcing?

Thanks in advance.
#forum #marketing #outsourcing
  • Profile picture of the author CyberAlien
    You can always outsource while building a brand name, rarely would anyone know you're even outsourcing the work if you don't want them to know. Take a look in the Warriors For Hire section and view some of the marketing options there and the reviews left by people. Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris-
    I use oDesk fixed-price jobs for outsourcing because you only pay once the job is done to your satisfaction, and you get good value. I usually get data entry work done for about 20 cents an hour there, writing for 50cents per 100 words.

    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    With forums it works really well to market it yourself initially by being active in the online community for that topic (i.e. topic forums, blogs & social hangouts). Then once you have some active people that are participating in your forum, you can reach out to your favorites and offer them moderator/marketing positions. They will usually do it for a small incentive because they love the topic and are passionate about it already!
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  • Profile picture of the author JoeyElmore
    Thanks for the responses guys.

    Dave, can you elaborate some on what you suggested? Are you referring to starting my own forum and building a community? Once I identify regular contributors, invite them to be moderators, etc?

    Thanks again.
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by JoeyElmore View Post

      Thanks for the responses guys.

      Dave, can you elaborate some on what you suggested? Are you referring to starting my own forum and building a community? Once I identify regular contributors, invite them to be moderators, etc?

      Thanks again.
      Oh sorry Joey, I guess I should've subscribed to this thread!

      Yes, basically launching the forum immediately and driving a bit of targeted traffic to it from related blogs and forums. Then approaching a couple of the most competent, passionate new members about being moderators/contributors.
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  • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
    Originally Posted by JoeyElmore View Post

    Would you recommend outsourcing forum marketing? Why or why not?.
    If you were using a brand-able / company / business name as the user name then the role could be outsourced as the replies would be from the company online and media rep, sales or support teams etc.

    If you were using your own name it may not be a good idea, going down the road of having others imitate or respond as you as it may cause some irreversible embarrassing moments if they go pear shaped.
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    • Profile picture of the author JoeyElmore
      Originally Posted by tryinhere View Post

      If you were using a brand-able / company / business name as the user name then the role could be outsourced as the replies would be from the company online and media rep, sales or support teams etc.

      If you were using your own name it may not be a good idea, going down the road of having others imitate or respond as you as it may cause some irreversible embarrassing moments if they go pear shaped.
      This is kind of what I was thinking about as far as building a unique brand for myself. If I proceed to brand me, and outsource the content writing to someone, it may be difficult for them to speak as "me".

      Good input, thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    I wouldn't outsource forum marketing. This is a traffic strategy that you can do within 10 minutes of your day. Outsourcing would cost you some dough, coupled with the fact that the person you outsource it to may know NOTHING about your niche - or how to create good forum posts that helps you to be recognized as an expert - and drive people back to your site.
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    • Profile picture of the author JoeyElmore
      Originally Posted by Randall Magwood View Post

      I wouldn't outsource forum marketing. This is a traffic strategy that you can do within 10 minutes of your day. Outsourcing would cost you some dough, coupled with the fact that the person you outsource it to may know NOTHING about your niche - or how to create good forum posts that helps you to be recognized as an expert - and drive people back to your site.
      Very true. I think I'm better off doing the forum marketing myself. As you mentioned, spending 10 - 20 mins daily should do the job.

      Thanks for the advice.
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  • Profile picture of the author icoachu
    Pay for results. Only pay for posts you like. There are some providers that work on this basis.
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    • Profile picture of the author digitalsapien
      Originally Posted by icoachu View Post

      Pay for results. Only pay for posts you like. There are some providers that work on this basis.
      This is true.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stephen Marden
    Your doing a great job forum marketing now...lol

    Dive right in and let people know who the "real" you is. That is my opinion, especially if you're branding yourself and not a company.

    I'm similar to you as being an offline guy, now moving online. I have put my real name out there and my real face...which I've come to see not many people do ...(not so sure yet why)

    I figure it like this...If you have quality stuff to say and your not afraid or not scamming...then put yourself out there and bring value to the community in which you are in.

    Quality, sincerity and realness speak volumes about someone and that is hard to outsource...If you do and want someone to capture your "voice", you will pay heftily for it.

    Example...Back in the day, I wrote a few spec scripts and if you don't capture the "voice" of the show, you have no chance of it being bought, however, if they buy it, you get a handsome paycheck.

    My philosophy(worth about 2 cents) is this...I would much rather have 1 medium-high quality, relevant post, comment, or article than 100 crappy, misspelled, nonsensical comments or articles.

    I believe in building trust...I rarely associate with someone I don't trust, and I definitely wont buy from them. Since we are in the business of forming relationships and making money...I would suggest concentrate of building trust..the rest of the stuff will just take care of itself.
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    • Profile picture of the author CurtisSWN
      Forum marketing is a way to form a personal relationship with highly targeted niches, it's how people like you, your knowledge, and experience that shows in your responses. It's not really to be "faked", although I'm sure it can be done to a degree.
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by Stephen Marden View Post

      I believe in building trust...I rarely associate with someone I don't trust, and I definitely wont buy from them. Since we are in the business of forming relationships and making money...I would suggest concentrate of building trust..the rest of the stuff will just take care of itself.
      Sounds just like Google's mantra right now!!

      Killer advice from Stephen here (BTW)...
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    • Profile picture of the author JoeyElmore
      Originally Posted by Stephen Marden View Post

      Your doing a great job forum marketing now...lol

      Dive right in and let people know who the "real" you is. That is my opinion, especially if you're branding yourself and not a company.

      I'm similar to you as being an offline guy, now moving online. I have put my real name out there and my real face...which I've come to see not many people do ...(not so sure yet why)

      I figure it like this...If you have quality stuff to say and your not afraid or not scamming...then put yourself out there and bring value to the community in which you are in.

      Quality, sincerity and realness speak volumes about someone and that is hard to outsource...If you do and want someone to capture your "voice", you will pay heftily for it.

      Example...Back in the day, I wrote a few spec scripts and if you don't capture the "voice" of the show, you have no chance of it being bought, however, if they buy it, you get a handsome paycheck.

      My philosophy(worth about 2 cents) is this...I would much rather have 1 medium-high quality, relevant post, comment, or article than 100 crappy, misspelled, nonsensical comments or articles.

      I believe in building trust...I rarely associate with someone I don't trust, and I definitely wont buy from them. Since we are in the business of forming relationships and making money...I would suggest concentrate of building trust..the rest of the stuff will just take care of itself.

      Great point. Building trust and developing relationships is hard enough to do directly. Doing it through someone else might just be nearly impossible. I think I'll continue to do the forum marketing and possibly outsource other methods that don't require my voice.

      Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Stephen Marden
        Originally Posted by JoeyElmore View Post

        Great point. Building trust and developing relationships is hard enough to do directly. Doing it through someone else might just be nearly impossible. I think I'll continue to do the forum marketing and possibly outsource other methods that don't require my voice.

        Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate it.

        If you can afford to find the right person to capture and share your voice...then I say do it...many people do.

        I'm sure many of the high profile people out there are not handling their own social media...maybe their twitter accounts..but that's about it.

        Money is a great tool that can be used to solve (or create) many many problems, including forum brand representation
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        • Profile picture of the author howinfo
          Forum marketing is not any different from other things you can outsource. Some people say, you can outsource this and you can outsource that but forum marketing you should do yourself. I do not agree with that, if you run many different niche sites it can be really time consuming to find forums, join and make posts, some niches you may not know much about so it can take time to do the research in order to leave a quality posts and so on. If you outsource it to the right person they can do probably a better job than you could.

          What I have learned form outsourcing forum marketing is that you should not look for so called 'professional' forum posters or commenter’s as you could rarely find any good quality post writers that way, people who offer forum posting services usually tend to leave very short and superficial comments just to get the post count up and get paid. I have found that the best way to get good quality forum posts is to ask your content writer if they could post on forums for you. Your writer has already written lot of articles for your site so he or she have already done the research into your niche and is familiar with the topic and you know the quality you can expect.
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  • Profile picture of the author chdduncan
    Hello,

    It would be a big mistake to outsource forum marketing.

    I would say to outsource things like articles, web design and maybe some other things revolving around content.

    With that said the main thing on forum marketing is creating relationships. This is where you find joint ventures and people who ask questions about things that you are an expert in.

    I wouldn't want someone answering posts and spam everyone with useless one-liner comments.

    Stick to doing forum marketing by yourself for the rest of your marketing days and outsource everything else.

    Hope that helps
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  • Profile picture of the author akshatsethi
    Outsourcing is one of the important*steps*to make your business unique and successful. Quality of outsourcing can be improved by choosing*a relevant firm*to do your business.
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  • Profile picture of the author denysapu
    I am also very interested to pay someone, to make a quality forum posting in daily basis. If there is exact advice where I can find it, It's would be very grateful.
    edit - PM me if someone interested to work with me.
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  • Profile picture of the author birdie28a
    Forum marketing can be outsourced, however it's your reputation for grabs. I guess it would really depend on the niche if the person you hired would be able to become an active member and contribute the the forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author therichb
    Start a forum, build great categories, write good content, integrate dynamic features, keep subscription module...

    These ways allow you to come up with your own brand in short span of time... Any forum in itself brings a real traffic if you are selling something unique or have good information available with you
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  • Profile picture of the author tanjiehao
    Hi Joey, Forum Marketing is definitely a great way to start off your Internet Marketing campaign. It is one of the fastest, yet most effective ways to build back-links and send traffic to your blog. But I personally don't believe in spending money on your Internet Marketing campaign!

    I strongly recommend posting 20 quality posts per day by yourself. It usually takes about an hour but contributing to the community will hep to improve your reputation by a fair bit. Remember, Forums are a great way to increase traffic and outsourcing will tarnish your reputation in the long run.
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  • Profile picture of the author michaelplies
    I would not recommend it. Your reputation is everything, and giving it in the hands of a va is just not worth it.
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  • Profile picture of the author jaroluk
    I would recommend a company from Eastern Europe (if you want to work in this region): Marketing Outsourcing | Maio Team Communications
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  • Profile picture of the author wDigital
    Difficult one, because your time is precious. I would do it yourself initially and get into a daily practice of posting. Then if you really want to consider outsourcing, the best way would be to test out an outsourcer for a set period.

    I would suggest, as a test, getting them to post under their own username daily for a test period and check the quality of their work. Because it is your reputation on the line.

    If they are excellent, consider giving them a shot.

    The negative is you will probably have to pay for their test period, and you may have to test a few out to get the best, but at least your reputation will be intact during the test period.

    All the best
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Relationships and building reputation is more what forum marketing is about. Cut and dried answers from someone else under the company name representing the company won't do that.
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