There are much easier ways of promoting your e-commerce business than walking handing out flyers. The internet offers plenty of ways to create buzz around your business and e-commerce site, all without adding yet another expense to your marketing budget. However, you will need some time out of your schedule to make these tools work for your business.
Forums can be a great option for creating that extra buzz for your business. These are message boards that can deliver targeted results by talking about the things related to your business from people in your industry. For example, if you are interested in selling supplements, you may want to find forums that are talking about health concerns. It's easy to find these forums, often by going to Google and typing in "forums." Another option for finding highly related forums is a service called BigBoards which offers a listing of over 1800 of the top internet forums.
The process is pretty straight forward. Join the forums directly related to your industry and interact with those who are posting. But this isn't about posting adverts for your business, as some would try to do. Instead, you will want to demonstrate your knowledge in the various subjects related to your business, allowing others to being to see you as a real authority on the subject. There are a number of ways to achieve this:
- Answer questions - Take the time to research the questions of others on the boards and answer in an intelligent, none advertising manner. This will show others that you care and want to help. This isn't the time to try and sell your product but rather establish yourself as a strong presence on the boards.
- Interface - When others have questions or comments about postings you've left, you can answer these comments directly to further show your presence as well as interest on the boards. Even when you have been disagreed with, take the time to outline your reasoning and show your knowledge with backup to your claims.
- Look where others go - You will being to see a clear pattern as people start posting on other forums. Follow them and find out where the experts go.
- Leave your contact information - By simply including your web address on your postings, you will encourage others to head to your site and find out more about you, when you demonstrate your knowledge, the cycle shall being.
Forums are an excellent place to promote yourself and to show others your business. This will allow you to create a strong buzz about your product or service without trying to sell them something. You can create a solid reputation for yourself that will be justified by your presence and your willingness to help others. An e-commerce business that really gets out there to help is a strong motivator for others to get involved in your business.
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