Forum Marketing Tips For Realtors

If you’re a “tight-wad” like me, when it comes to your Realtor marketing budget, you’re going to love “forum marketing.” It costs you absolutely $0; only your time. It’s super-duper simple and it can be set on autopilot, sort of.

Forum marketing is all online but hopefully you already knew that. They are tons and tons of forums on the web for every subject and topic you can imagine.

People surfing the web for specific information will come across forums on their topic of interest. They’ll browse through the categories and individual posts that other people submit, searching for the information they want. It’s like when a club, such as The Knights of Columbus, has a live meeting; only it’s online.

With real estate forums, for example, some are geared only towards agents and helping them increase their businesses. Others are for consumers only, while a bunch is for both consumers and agents. You want to be in the last group, where the consumers are!

Your goal as a Realtor or agent is to prospect, generate leads and build relationships through your marketing efforts, right? That’s how you generate business and closings. If you like emailing and using Facebook, this is perfect for you!

Here’s exactly how this whole forum marketing thing works……

You’ll want to do a Google search for something like “real estate forums” and find a good forum with a lot of traffic. Try to find more than one high traffic forum to join, if you can (Alexa.com is a great place to see if a forum or any website is getting sufficient traffic). Also, make sure you can target you local region. It won’t do you any good if it’s a big national forum and not segmented into each state or area.

Once you’ve picked a couple of real estate related forums, you’ll sign up for a free account with them. They’ll ask for you to create a username (like “Sally Realtor”), a password, a profile/bio of yourself, yada, yada. All the standard stuff when you sign up for something like this.

But a vitally essential part of this forum marketing process will include setting up your “signature”, which will appear at the bottom of every entry or “post” you write. Your signature is how you’re going to generate all these leads and prospects going to your site.

By the way, when you write a “post”, it can be as short or as long as you want it to be. There’s typically no limit, although some forums require you to have a minimum of 15 words in each post. It keeps the spammers out.

When setting up your signature, take advantage of everything the forum lets you do. What I mean is some real estate forums will let you include a picture, some won’t. Some forums will let you use a lot of words in your signature, others have a limit.

So be sure to use a good, unique picture so people recognize you. It doesn’t need to be of you, necessarily. It could be your logo. The point is to have an image for prospects to identify and become familiar with you.

With the text though, don’t go crazy! The worst forum marketing signatures are the ones that have a novel of text and all kinds of links to various websites. Do include your website or blog but not your MLM you’re selling plus your dog’s website and your grandma’s Flickr page. You’re a real estate agent, not one of these wacko’s selling everything under the sun.

You’ll want to add in your USP/tagline (slogan) too. Try to keep it between 2-7 words, in general. Make it clear, concise and tell people in a nutshell what you’re all about.

And the most vital part of your signature? Your website or blog link! I would suggest making your company name a link to your site as well as a word or phrase in your slogan. Give prospects a couple of chances to click to your website but don’t go crazy and throw 5-10 links in there.

Some prospects will click on one of the links, others won’t. But the more posts you write, the more interesting content you write, the more helpful you are, the higher the number of prospects who “clicking through” to your site or blog will be. This brings me to my next point about forum marketing as a Realtor or agent…

Don’t simply write posts selling yourself! People will catch on and disregard you and you might even get kicked out of the forum. Carry yourself as you would in-person. Be helpful, answer people’s questions, give solid advice, tips, etc. Prospects on these forums will notice this about you and eventually you’ll start getting inquiries wanting to use you as their Realtor or agent.

Now, there are a couple of different types of forum marketing “posts” you can write. One option is to reply to someone else’s question or comment OR you can start your own topic (“thread”) and let other people reply and comment on it.

To utilize forum marketing to it full advantage, I would say it’s good to do both while emphasizing starting your own topics or “threads” (forum marketing language).

The reason I prefer you to start your own topics more often is that you’re likely to get more prospects viewing your post and signature than if you reply to someone else’s post.

For example, someone could have made a post and started a topic last week about “first-time home buying”. That “thread” may already have 50 or 100 replies. Everyone who’s viewing that thread is seeing the person’s post and signature that started it but they’re not all reading all 50-100 replies that have been written. If you’re one of those replies, you could be missing traffic. Make sense? You want to be the guy or gall started the thread.

Another reason I like starting new threads is that it sort of puts you as a Realtor or agent in authority; a leader in the real estate forum. In general terms (very general), “followers” reply and “leaders” start threads.

Again, if you start a thread, everyone will see you and your signature, whether they reply or not. They won’t always see your signature if you’re simply replying to another thread. That’s the difference between massive traffic and drips of traffic, my friend.

But don’t ignore replying to other people’s threads. If a prospect has a question and you’re one of the first to answer it, they’ll see that and you’ll move up a notch in their book. That’s how you’ll get clients.

In regards to my statement at the beginning of this forum marketing tutorial, the reason I said this can be set up on autopilot is because once you’ve made your post with your signature (whether it’s a new thread or a reply), it’s up there day and night for prospects to see and click on. You’re sleeping AND getting traffic at the same time! Add up the 100’s or 1,000’s of posts you could have and think about the potential flood of traffic. Yee Haw!

The last aspect of forum marketing that is great is how it relates to search engine optimization (SEO). A big part of SEO is the number of other websites that have a link pointing to your site and visa versa.

If you’re on 5 high traffic real estate forums and have your website link in your signature, that’s going to help with your SEO a whole bunch. The more sites that have your website link, the higher your site will rank with the search engines.

Again, this is just one aspect of SEO. I just wanted to explain how forum marketing relates to your SEO too. For lack of a better saying, it’s like “killing two birds with one stone”, in your overall marketing arsenal.

So that’s what forum marketing is all about. It’s free, it’s fun, it’s effective. Each real estate forum is a bit different but find a few, jump in, have fun and start gaining some more clients!

How to Use Forum Marketing to Make Money

It is hard to think about internet marketing without thinking about forums as they have been around for ages. Forums are a great way for internet business marketers to promote their products and services as well as swapping ideas about internet marketing. Being free it is one one of the most popular advertising methods online today.

What is Forum Marketing?

All you need to do is join a forum in your niche and join in the daily discussions about your niche. It also helps to if you can help solve the problems of other forum members when they ask for advice. It is considered spamming to write about your business in your forum posts and will certainly get your post deleted but may also get you banned from the forum.

Your Forum Profile

After you join a forum it is important to set up your profile as it helps promote your product online. If you market in many different niches it is a good idea to set up your profile for only one of those niches so that you are seen more of an expert rather than a marketer. If the forum covers more than one of your niches consider registering under another id and creating another profile. It is also important to include your keywords in your forum bio and hyperlink it back to your blog or website.

Your Signature File

However you can promote your products or services in your signature file which you can set up so that it is automatically inserted in every post you make on the forum. Be aware though that when you first join a forum other forum members are wary of you so start off with only your name in your signature file.

Gradually add your marketing links to your signature as the number of forum posts you make increase. Be careful not to add too much as to confuse people and I suggest keeping all your links in the same niche. By doing this you are more likely to be considered an expert in your niche and not merely someone trying to make money promoting products and services within that niche.

Forum Research

Forums are also good for research in that you will learn of what problems or burning desires people have in your niche. Use this information to target your products and offer solutions to these problems in your blog posts. Ask questions in the forum that your own products are targeted to solve but do not offer solutions using your products as that is spamming. Forums will also show you how things are changing in your niche so that you can create future products to solve the new problems that people may have, thereby keeping up to date.

Socailize

The most important thing you should do on forums is socialize and occasionally get involved in things outside your niche so that people see you as human not some marketing machine that just sells stuff. As you get known in the forum you can start to answer questions and offer solutions to problems as people will start to trust you and see you as some sort of expert in your niche. When this happens make sure your forum signature is updated with your relevant links and hyper linked back to your blog or website as this is where you will ultimately make money by participating in forums.

Generating Website Traffic Through Forum Marketing

Sharing and promoting your business ideas on discussion forums is one of the marketing ways of generating targeted traffic to your web sites.

So what really is forum marketing?

Forum marketing is a form of internet marketing strategy based upon the utilization of discussion forums and/or communities boards.

Marketing your products, services, or ideas in discussion forums is a great way to drive traffic to your website, though it is definitely not an overnight formula. To begin your forum marketing campaign, you need to Google search for forums that will offer you the best target market for your content. Browse through those forums, and also make sure that the forum is rich with members and contents as this will boost your image and credibility quickly because most forum members are also respected experts and bloggers in the specific topics discussed in the forum. But do not waste much of your time going through the entire forums in your search results to avoid getting sucked in!

Once you have selected a minimum of your best 5 forums, sign up with them and update your profile. All forums have what we call either a signature, resource, or bio box. Your signature box is a tool to promote you and your website or personal brand. Do not forget to include your web site link in your signature box, which can be used to gain unlimited visitors to your website. Remember, the people who read your forum posts will want to read more about who you are or the topic that you have written about, so be sure to include your web site link in your signature box.

After signing up, verifying your account (if necessary), start by introducing yourself to other members of the forum. Most forums are divided into categories or sections. Browse through the category where your information will best fit in and then offer answers or suggestions to questions on some of the posts. Forum marketing is dependent upon building relationships first with some members and readers of the forum, rather than focusing on a quick one-time advert. DO NOT blatantly advertise your website or business opportunity on your first forum post. You need to create a little reputation first, before advertising your business for effective results.

Most major forums have rules that are strictly monitored by the forum administrators and if you consistently go against their forum rules, you face the risk of getting banned. Also if you post your content on a wrong section or category on the forum, it might be deleted or moved. So before posting your content, make sure you are on the right section for it.

Most internet users probably do not know that forums are frequently crawled and indexed by search engines. This is why it is very necessary to draft a good headline or title to match with its contents so that the search engine crawler will be able to recognize the keywords for your contents. This leads to your forum posts and website link being visible and ranking high on search engines.

Back in the days, I built my first network marketing team (FortuneBuilders ITG Team) using forums, irrespective of the fact that I had no website of my own then and knew nothing about social media networks. It was a huge success. I used over 30 major forums at the same time and was very consistent with my effort. Today I still use forums and I am currently creating my own forum – FortuneBuildersTeam Forum, you can sign up and then get notified when the forum will be launched. The first 100 members to sign up stand the chance of having administrative right to some categories of the forum. The FortuneBuildersTeam Forum will be the HUB of Internet Marketing, Network Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Web Sites Designing, and Money Making Information.

Choosing the Right Forum To Use

In order to succeed in your forum marketing initiatives, it is essential for Internet marketers to do extensive research before launching their forum marketing campaigns. Forum marketing does not necessarily mean that we focus our attention on the community forums that generate high traffic. Success in forum marketing is not determined by the quantity but by the relevance and quality of the forum that we are seriously considering. Look for forums that you think will help you in your overall Internet marketing thrust of promoting and marketing your product or service.

It is also essential that you keep an eye for the forums that offer credits or rewards for posting. There are forums that extend adverts credits, rewards in the form of banner and text ads. If these are offered in the forums that you are seriously considering, then it is imperative that you take full advantage of these privileges in order to promote product awareness within the forum community. This is the right way of introducing your product or service to the forum community without compromising your credibility and tarnishing your image.

You can even go further, by going for the forums that offer advertising threads. Marketers can post relevant information about a business idea or opportunity free of charge. These advertising threads are extremely useful in forums that generate high traffic as it can directly impact at how search engines will index your website including your business opportunity post.

It is also important that you only join the forums that are closely related to the product or service that you are marketing. You have to seriously study the common bond between the members. In this way, you will be able to focus your effort in presenting your ideas and opinions in order to promote an advocacy that will promote your product or service. Once you are able to effectively do this, you will be expecting a lot of clicks to your website through the links in your signature tags.

Further, seek out the community forums where you can be able to test a market idea or product concept by way of a poll survey. This is a great way for you to be able to get the pulse of your target market while considering the specific marketing programs and strategies to be implemented.

Invest more of your time and effort in community forums where you can project a credible image and a good reputation of an expert on a particular interest that ties in with your product or service. Once you gain the trust and confidence of the other forum members you can expect a lot of traffic to your website coming from these forums using your signature tags. You must always remember that forum marketing is about providing your product or service to your target market by using the selling information in community forums.

Prioritize forums, where you think you can gain more business opportunities in the form of linkages with other business people or entities that you think, can help you grow your business, and further improve your products or services.

Forum Marketing Strategy

If you want to increase the number of sales on your web, you will have to use forum marketing. The reason for this is very simple. You can get a lot of leads from the forums. Forums do not only allow you to market your products, but they also allow you to strengthen your brand. The forums will allow you to create loyal customers.

Despite all these advantages and the benefits of the forums for an online marketer, not all the marketers are able to explore this. They may not get anything from the forums. If you go to the webmasters’ forums, you will see many people saying that that the forums are not helping them. The web masters will be claiming that the forum marketing is not helping them. You will also see many people who have tried a lot and have dedicated both time and money to the forum marketing but have not seen any results. This is a common problem but there is no blame on the forums for that. At the same place, you will see hundreds of webmasters telling their success stories and telling how forums have helped them in order to boost their business.

What is the main cause of this failure? The webmasters, who fail despite effort, do not analyze their efforts. They make a major mistake and that mistake is to ignore the importance of a strategy. The forum marketing is just like all the other marketing campaign which requires a solid and successful strategy. In order to get the most from the forums, you will need to have a working strategy.

If you can not make a good strategy for the forum marketing, then you will fail. Despite efforts and time, the forum marketers fail when they do not work on the strategy. For a good strategy, you will have to make sure that you are making the market research. Market research will give you important data. This data will help you to design the strategy. You will know more about the needs and the interests of the people visiting those forums. You will also be able to know about the potential of the market and then you will be able to decide about the investment of time and money as well.

After you have made your market research, you need to research the forums in order to make a good forum marketing strategy. There are thousands of forums on the same niches. What you need to d is to look for the forums which have maximum number of active users. The forums must also have the audience which you are looking to target. For example, if you are targeting the Asian market, you need to find a forum where Asians are found in abundance. If you choose a forum which has the most number of active users but those users are mostly from North America, then you are not going to succeed. You will not be able to succeed. Your marketing strategy will have a flaw.

How To Begin Forum Marketing?

The online marketers like forums. They can use the forums to market their products and business. They can also use the forums to improve the brand awareness. The forums are great because they can help the marketers with many other things as well. One good aspect which is attached to the forums is the opportunity to learn. The marketers can market their products using the forums; they can also learn the new techniques and technologies as well. The forums are something which every marketer needs to consider seriously.

It is also easier to find the targeted audience through forums. If you are able to find the forums which are talking about a specific product or category, you will instantly know that the people visiting those forums will definitely be interested in that category. This means that you can save a lot of money and time which you will have to spend on the market research to reach your target market.

A marketer will find it easy to succeed in the forum marketing with proper strategy and hard work. The commitment and the devotion are must and no marketer can succeed without these two factors. Apart from them, the marketers will also have to read the market trends and will have to show his intelligence while implementing various strategies.

If you are serious about forum marketing, then you will have to show patience. Remember that the forum marketing can not succeed until you are patient with the things. The forum marketing strategy will involve timing and waiting. You will have to time your moves properly. You will have to know when to market the products and when to respond to the forums as forum reader only. You will also have to wait before the right opportunity comes your way. You can not just start marketing in the forums and expect to get a good reward from those marketing efforts. Also, the forum marketing is a long and mid term approach which can not give you results in the short term. If you focus on short term approach then you will not be successful in the forum marketing. You will not be able to attract the visitors and you will not get any buyers from the forums.

Most of the time, the forum marketing fails only because the marketer fails to choose the right forum and the right niche for the marketing. This is a common problem and many forum marketers face it. The online forums are on various categories and you will have to spot the proper category to promote your website and business. If you are marketing to the wrong audience, then you will stand no chance of succeeding.

Make sure that you are not wasting your time in the dead forums. The forums should be active and the activity should be fast. You can not keep on committing yourself to the forums where there are few people to read and respond to you. This will literally go against you and you will find it hard to recover from such a failure.