20,000+ views per month from forum marketing

64 replies
I was reviewing some of my old internet activities and came across something that made my mouth drop Between 2009 and 2011 I participated in a single high-traffic forum in an evergreen niche. I contributed just over 1,000 posts. For the most part my contributions were highly controversial and polarizing, as a result I ended up with some very vocal opposition but also a ton of friends. All of this was purely for entertainment and eventually I moved on to other things.

A few days ago I looked it up and every thread I contributed to is long dead and buried for 2+ years now. But stats show that combined they still generate over 20,000 views a month. I couldn't believe my eyes! Too bad that forum doesn't allow commercial promotion or I'd go back and stick a signature link in there.

How about you what are your experiences with forum marketing?
#forum #marketing #month #views
  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    Yeah it's a totally under used form of promoting and drives super targeted visitors to your site when used correctly. 20,000 views a month when you haven't posted for over 2 years is impressive.
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  • Profile picture of the author datingworld
    Sorry for you that they don't allow signature otherwise you would have made tons of traffic from there...

    My experience is if done correctly, forum marketing can be very beneficial.
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  • Profile picture of the author World Marketing
    Forum marketing can definitely bring a good amount of targeted traffic and it is a good way to build list....
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  • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
    I'm ALWAYS singing the praises of posting on high traffic, niche-related forums. It's one of my favorite sources of targeted traffic.

    I think people are put off by needing to set aside a bit of time each day to post. Which is too bad. It's 100% free traffic. And some of the best converting traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheFreeman
      Good idea. I am always learning new things. This gives a good idea; I guess I need to do some good contribution in my niche forums.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrey Doichev
    Not only is it free and lazer targeted traffic, it's also extremely beneficial to your IM education.


    PS: When I read the title I thought you made 20k CLICKS a month, couldn't believe my eyes
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  • Profile picture of the author eserling
    In my experience forum marketing works very well because you connect so closely with the members who are clearly in your target demographic and it's easy to drive them to your site and get them to purchase. But you have to stay on top of it otherwise sales drop off once you stop conversing with the members of the forum. Unless you have a stellar product that people just keep on searching for or finding on the forum somehow.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Doug,

      Forum marketing can be good if you pick the right forum (relevant to your offerings) and are active in supplying valuable information.

      Some forums, in my experience, are a waste of time. Typically these are the ones with very little traffic and not a lot of folks that regularly hang out there.

      So you must pick and choose where you spend your time or you could waste a lot of it.

      Good luck to you,

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author briankno
    How were you getting traffic without a sig link?
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    • Profile picture of the author Doug Pretorius
      Originally Posted by briankno View Post

      How were you getting traffic without a sig link?
      I'm not. Those views are for my posts within the forum. If I could have a sig link then some of that would be coming to my site. But I don't so it isn't.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikelmraz
    Is it possible that some of those views are from spiders, bots etc.? I have noticed this in forum profile accounts and some WordPress stats.
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    • Profile picture of the author TravisO
      As for your experience, 20,000++ views might be big enough. Well, keep it up. Continue engaging with the forums related on your niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author grandstar
    finding high traffic sites that accept signatures isnt easy. just wish someone will list them i.e. the high traffic ones here. *Grins and walks away*
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  • Profile picture of the author vishwa
    Forum advertising is really a great and free ways to generate some handsome traffic. In Forums You are able to develop your knowledge in various fields and get connected with some leading and highly professional Marketers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Igor Fridrihs
    Hey,

    Forum Marketing works and your result is a prove. Keep going.
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  • Profile picture of the author dengkane
    Because a niche forum can attract many targeted members, especially on established forums.

    Why the WSO section here is so popular? Because almost every member here are interested in Internet marketing products/services, and target traffic is amazing.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikelmraz
    Originally Posted by Doug Pretorius View Post

    A few days ago I looked it up and every thread I contributed to is long dead and buried for 2+ years now. But stats show that combined they still generate over 20,000 views a month. I couldn't believe my eyes! Too bad that forum doesn't allow commercial promotion or I'd go back and stick a signature link in there.
    Are the traffic stats from your site analytics or the forum view count?
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  • Profile picture of the author Theeban
    Yes, Forums marketing is really good thing to drive traffic. But for SEO, forum marketers should make sure that they are not using target main keyword on their links - If so, traffic by search engines (Specially Google) to the money site may wash out.
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    The one thing all of us need to realize is that when we join a forum and only post SPAM posts, this is not the way to do forum marketing. I hate it when someone joins, adds their own link, and then posts stuff like:

    I agree and Me too types of posts that give no value.

    When you give a forum a lot of value and add a link in your signature, you can get free traffic for years even when you don't visit that site for a long time.
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    • Profile picture of the author Doug Pretorius
      Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

      The one thing all of us need to realize is that when we join a forum and only post SPAM posts, this is not the way to do forum marketing. I hate it when someone joins, adds their own link, and then posts stuff like:

      I agree and Me too types of posts that give no value.

      When you give a forum a lot of value and add a link in your signature, you can get free traffic for years even when you don't visit that site for a long time.
      Amen brother! Nobody is going to follow a sig link from someone who's never contributed anything of value. And thankfully as Google devalues forum links that should clear out some of the spammers that are just doing it for the backlink.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Another reason why I think it's important to work in a niche that you're passionate about.

    I can only imagine just how boring/painful forum marketing would be, if you had to do it around something you didn't care for.
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    • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
      Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

      Another reason why I think it's important to work in a niche that you're passionate about.

      I can only imagine just how boring/painful forum marketing would be, if you had to do it around something you didn't care for.
      Yeah. Admittedly I'm in a few niches that I'm not all that interested in. So I tend to avoid doing much posting for those. (They mainly get traffic through natural rankings, PPC, and video marketing.)

      But forum traffic has always converted better for me. Even more so than traditional search engine traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikelmraz
    Sorry, without seeing the stats from the site itself, I will have to say it is untrue.
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    • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
      Originally Posted by mikelmraz View Post

      Sorry, without seeing the stats from the site itself, I will have to say it is untrue.
      I've had single posts on forums bring in a few hundred visitors in just a day or two. So I doubt it is untrue.
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      • Profile picture of the author mikelmraz
        Originally Posted by JSProjects View Post

        I've had single posts on forums bring in a few hundred visitors in just a day or two. So I doubt it is untrue.
        This is true. I too had good results from forum marketing. However, I highly doubt that forum posts that are dead and buried still bring in this kind of traffic. It is another matter if those threads are still active.

        The small problem is that sometimes views from 'spiders' and other stuff get counted as genuine views and I have made that mistake before. Therefore, I'm skeptical.
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        • Profile picture of the author Doug Pretorius
          Originally Posted by abbe77 View Post

          But what you say about its effect on your sale? I mean were they useful for income perspective or only good for traffic?
          No idea, since I couldn't push them to my site.

          Originally Posted by mikelmraz View Post

          This is true. I too had good results from forum marketing. However, I highly doubt that forum posts that are dead and buried still bring in this kind of traffic. It is another matter if those threads are still active.

          The small problem is that sometimes views from 'spiders' and other stuff get counted as genuine views and I have made that mistake before. Therefore, I'm skeptical.
          Since these are stats from the forum itself I can't analyze the traffic, so you may be right about the views being from bots rather than real people.
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          • Profile picture of the author mikelmraz
            Originally Posted by Doug Pretorius View Post

            Since these are stats from the forum itself I can't analyze the traffic, so you may be right about the views being from bots rather than real people.
            Thanks for acknowledging that, it is appreciated. I have two different stat counters on my Wordpress site and they give me vastly different view counts, which is one of the reasons why I'm skeptical.


            Originally Posted by JSProjects View Post

            One of my biggest traffic generators is a 2 year old post from a very large and active forum. Just so happens that the thread ranks top 3 in Google for a pretty popular search term. Not 20k a month, but not shabby either.
            Forum marketing does work. However, due to my previous experiences with different stat counters giving me large discrepancies in view counts, I may have to say some of the view counts could be too high. I had one that was apparently counting views from spam bots, for example. Not trying to burst anybody's bubble here, but would just like to have more solid evidence before accepting such a seemingly incredible result.
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            • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
              Originally Posted by mikelmraz View Post

              Forum marketing does work. However, due to my previous experiences with different stat counters giving me large discrepancies in view counts, I may have to say some of the view counts could be too high. I had one that was apparently counting views from spam bots, for example. Not trying to burst anybody's bubble here, but would just like to have more solid evidence before accepting such a seemingly incredible result.
              It's pretty easy to tell the difference between real traffic and bots.

              Also, I use Piwik stats, which is pretty good at filtering out bot traffic.
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        • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
          Originally Posted by mikelmraz View Post

          This is true. I too had good results from forum marketing. However, I highly doubt that forum posts that are dead and buried still bring in this kind of traffic. It is another matter if those threads are still active.

          The small problem is that sometimes views from 'spiders' and other stuff get counted as genuine views and I have made that mistake before. Therefore, I'm skeptical.
          One of my biggest traffic generators is a 2 year old post from a very large and active forum. Just so happens that the thread ranks top 3 in Google for a pretty popular search term. Not 20k a month, but not shabby either.
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Stacy
    Don't know if the forum allows a signature link or not but if they allows it, you should definitely go for it. If they does not allow signature link, get engaged with the forum again and continue posting and refer people to your site. Great way to drive traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author Doug Pretorius
      Originally Posted by Janice Stacy View Post

      Don't know if the forum allows a signature link or not but if they allows it, you should definitely go for it. If they does not allow signature link, get engaged with the forum again and continue posting and refer people to your site. Great way to drive traffic.
      Unfortunately it doesn't. If I decide to pursue this niche for commercial reasons I will contribute to forums that do allow sigs though, rather than trying to refer people some other way to my site from that particular forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author kinyash
    Well, you could still try the same method on another forum of the same niche?
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  • Profile picture of the author nicolas simpson
    20,000+ views per month from forum marketing

    Too bad u cant throw your sig in...
    Forum traffic is very good traffic indeed, had a product selling some type ago and i must say that most of the converting traffic were actually forum traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemeth
    Agree forum marketing still works
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  • Profile picture of the author PerformanceMan
    Most forums have been taken over by insider trolls who will never allow your link to see the light of day.
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  • Profile picture of the author justaskismall
    it depend which forum and what niche you involve..some forum will waste your time. you must know what forum, what niche and what time you can post..
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  • Profile picture of the author KevinChapman
    Wow! That's really impressive, I'm a big fan of forum marketing but figures like that is amazing. Shame about the no go signature link though.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary Ning Lo
    Impressive results.

    You must have been very controversial and had a lot of fun.

    This clearly shows that forum marketing works and that you need to go in niches where you are passionate about and have fun.

    Cheers,

    Gary
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  • Profile picture of the author Smith18
    I always try find forums related to my site when I start up niche sites. It can be highly converting if you become a reputable member. I always make sure to post really HQ and not spam. As people have pointed out, it's often overlooked. But it's a great free way of marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author HypnoHugh
    Unfortunately many of the best forums don't allow links or you have to post about 50 times before you can a link.

    Certainly a good way of getting started if you find the right place for your niche.

    Some of the big main stream forums can be particularly effective - you just need to post links to relevant articles and videos rather than squeeze pages etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author denson
      Originally Posted by HypnoHugh View Post

      Some of the big main stream forums can be particularly effective - you just need to post links to relevant articles and videos rather than squeeze pages etc.
      IFraming the link delivers a good results. Such plugins as TrustJacker works extremely well with forum marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author infoway
    The very best means of getting traffic to your site is to participate in forum discussions according to your desired niche. You can observe that most of the people participating in the forum or more precisely forum users are tech or internet savvy and are generally ready to purchase most of the things online.
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  • Profile picture of the author abbe77
    But what you say about its effect on your sale? I mean were they useful for income perspective or only good for traffic?
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    I have a totally different experience in my niches because I disagree with everyone else, and there are no forums where I can have discussions about my field without being considered promotional. I gave up trying to find forums that could help me somehow.

    There are many problems in my field because mental health is something complicated.

    I basically visit this forum, which is not related to my main niche but I’m learning a lot here, and I may find affiliates here, promote my work to an audience not targeted for me, but since internet marketing is the topic that gets more traffic online, and since everyone has psychological problems, everything is possible.

    Wish I could find forums in my niche that would allow a signature… But this is impossible. It’s a totally different reality.

    If you deal with internet marketing even your competitors are your friends because they can become your affiliates and internet marketers care about making money, and not about defending a brand.

    However, if you are not in this wonderful money-making field where everything is so simple and you defend only your method, you have only enemies. Everything is totally different.




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    • Profile picture of the author mikelmraz
      Originally Posted by clever7 View Post

      I have a totally different experience in my niches because I disagree with everyone else, and there are no forums where I can have discussions about my field without being considered promotional. I gave up trying to find forums that could help me somehow.

      There are many problems in my field because mental health is something complicated.

      I basically visit this forum, which is not related to my main niche but I'm learning a lot here, and I may find affiliates here, promote my work to an audience not targeted for me, but since internet marketing is the topic that gets more traffic online, and since everyone has psychological problems, everything is possible.

      Wish I could find forums in my niche that would allow a signature... But this is impossible. It's a totally different reality.

      If you deal with internet marketing even your competitors are your friends because they can become your affiliates and internet marketers care about making money, and not about defending a brand.

      However, if you are not in this wonderful money-making field where everything is so simple and you defend only your method, you have only enemies. Everything is totally different.




      Maybe you should just leave a signature for your mental health 'blog'. I know of some mental health forums that do allow signatures and do see people with links to their blogs.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jennwith2ns
    I can definitely see that. I still get emails from people responding to old forum posts from years ago. A lot of these old posts pop up in search results. I really should go add my new sites to my profile on some of those.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheWillisTeam
    Congrats Doug! I am working on it too. I do 1-2 quality blog posts a day and share it on social media
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  • Profile picture of the author rleejr
    Too bad they do not allow commercial signature links. However, you should be glad you went over your old posts before. Now what you have to do (including myself) is use this information and invest in forum marketing again.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Anton
    This isn't really forum "marketing" but forum participation. Marketing exists to support sales, build a repuation and/or create a brand message; neither of which were accomplished in this example.

    Some facebook status's receives thousands of views with no commercial benefit. They are highly controversial ones such as "testing people on welfare for drugs", "assisted suicide should be legal", etc. It sounds nice but it's padded stats. Those 20k views and a dollar will get you a pack of gum .

    Interesting though. Hope you can figure out a way to bring more value into your dealings with this strategy.
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    • Profile picture of the author Marc Rodill
      Originally Posted by HypnoHugh View Post

      Unfortunately many of the best forums don't allow links or you have to post about 50 times before you can a link.

      Certainly a good way of getting started if you find the right place for your niche.

      Some of the big main stream forums can be particularly effective - you just need to post links to relevant articles and videos rather than squeeze pages etc.
      Dear God! 50 posts!

      Lol.

      Originally Posted by Matthew Anton View Post

      This isn't really forum "marketing" but forum participation. Marketing exists to support sales, build a repuation and/or create a brand message; neither of which were accomplished in this example.

      Some facebook status's receives thousands of views with no commercial benefit. They are highly controversial ones such as "testing people on welfare for drugs", "assisted suicide should be legal", etc. It sounds nice but it's padded stats. Those 20k views and a dollar will get you a pack of gum .

      Interesting though. Hope you can figure out a way to bring more value into your dealings with this strategy.
      We're not really sure what niche it was. There's a good chance it was a profitable one. In fact, I'd say the odds are pretty high, considering they won't let him put a signature in his posts. I know what you're saying, but your examples can't compete with the unknown.

      Marc
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      • Profile picture of the author Doug Pretorius
        Originally Posted by Marc Rodill View Post

        We're not really sure what niche it was. There's a good chance it was a profitable one. In fact, I'd say the odds are pretty high, considering they won't let him put a signature in his posts. I know what you're saying, but your examples can't compete with the unknown.
        Marc, I don't mind 'revealing' the niche. It was relationships/dating.
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    Maybe you should just leave a signature for your mental health 'blog'. I know of some mental health forums that do allow signatures and do see people with links to their blogs.


    All mental health forums are for patients, while I'm a doctor. So, I cannot simply talk about my method.

    I tried a few self-help forums but I felt that it was a waste of time.





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    • Profile picture of the author Doug Pretorius
      Originally Posted by clever7 View Post



      All mental health forums are for patients, while I'm a doctor. So, I cannot simply talk about my method.
      Why not? Why wouldn't mental health patients gathering on a forum to get help NOT want to hear from a doctor who has a solution?

      I had a pretty successful blog on depression cures and I'm not a doctor.
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    If it has lots of traffic but does not allow signature links it might be an awesome place to test some paid traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author PPC-Coach
    It definitely works. In fact some forums are built on the fact that people will use them for forum marketing.

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  • Profile picture of the author DaveWilliams1
    Good stuff.

    In my early days I personally executed 5 figure launches strictly from forum signature traffic.

    Just remember that on some forums it takes a while to build up your reputation, so don't start spamming your links right away. Start helping people out and answering questions first.

    Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author CyberAlien
    Forum marketing is definitely extremely powerful, but I am surprised that you're still getting so many hits.
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  • Profile picture of the author Erick Griffin
    I didn't think forum marketing actually could bring traffic like that. Thanks for the information. Mind sharing how many posts you would do per day or was it back and fourth between your friends? And then nothing?
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  • Profile picture of the author Lightlysalted
    People go on about getting little "Link Juice" from forum postings, but they miss the point. A well constructed forum post can generate substantial traffic, providing of course you're not just spamming with stupid comments like "I agree" Taking the time to develop readable content is a huge help to your marketing efforts.
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  • Profile picture of the author thedanbrown
    Yeah forums are a pretty good way of driving targeted traffic to your site. 20,000 views from 1000 posts is pretty crazy though considering your threads are buried. Really brings up the question what would have happened if you actually had a sig link in there...
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    • Profile picture of the author Doug Pretorius
      Originally Posted by thedanbrown View Post

      Yeah forums are a pretty good way of driving targeted traffic to your site. 20,000 views from 1000 posts is pretty crazy though considering your threads are buried. Really brings up the question what would have happened if you actually had a sig link in there...
      Maybe I'll find out. I've started contributing to another forum that allows sigs.
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