How To Get Forum Traffic

Learning how to get forum traffic is easy as pie – trust me =) Recently, I did a post over at WarriorForum.com where I talked about how to become an affiliate marketer in 12 hours with list and traffic. Even if you’re a beginner, if you’re good at what you do then you can expect to get 40 people per day from a single forum thread!

Note: a thread is something that you start. This is implying you help people out by giving information, or inspiring thoughts.

You can get on forums, and start commenting on lots of things but if you don’t help people then you won’t see nearly as much potential traffic as you think you can. I’ve tried arbitrary posting, and just trying to be pretty helpful, but what really helped most was making a solid impact.

My 12 Hour Affiliate post was the breakthrough for me in the IM world, and I’ve done lots of things in the dating world to make waves. It was my high school dating systems, and mindsets, etc. They were awesome.

Here’s what this post is not about – it’s not about spamming, or trying to trick people. It’s about making people fall in love with you, and your work. You’re going to be doing this by a. having good marketing practices, and b. being a generous person.

So, here’s what you do to get forum traffic…

Step 1. Find 3 Forums In Your Niche – I always say this, and I always think it’s true. Find 1 forum you have a presence on all the time, and 2 others you have a presence on sometimes. You can find them by just heading over to Google, (or Bing if my “Why Google Makes Me Sh*t My Pants” post) and typing in:

your niche forum

For example, I’d look for:

marketing forum
OR
blogging forum

Look through the sites you find, and switch up the terms you use like I did with the marketing, and blogging switch. Find out how many people go to each site by going to Alexa.com and to Compete.com, and just look at how many people are on the forums by looking at the visitors at the bottom. You’ll usually get a good estimate of how many people are on the forums.

If there are a lot of people, you’ll get a lot of traffic, generally.

Step 2. Host a Stake-Out

Look at the forum, and go through the posts. Who has a lot of weight in the forums? Who are the important people, and why? You can also use this as a good opportunity to learn how to make good posts, and what people like.

Feel free to make your account during this phase.

Step 3. Make Your Introduction Post

This is very important. You want to become established in the forum from the beginning, and to have people know a little more about you. You really don’t need to do a whole lot, you can just say why you joined the forum – be completely honest, it will be very refreshing if you hold nothing back.

You can also just say your name, and your goals and all that. Maybe about a paragraph long, or possibly a page. But people tend to just reply to the shorter ones unless it’s an info-post (I’ll talk about this later on).

Here’s a little template (keep in mind, I’m making this up on the spot =P):

Hey, my name’s Kris Roxas, and I joined this forum because I wanted to learn some marketing tips, and to help others out with their own struggles. I feel like I’m a pretty experienced marketer, and I feel like I could help other people with their marketing. I also even see it as a good way to promote myself, and become a little more well-known!
Hope to talk to you more,
-Kris Roxas

I could’ve gotten more specific on the years I’ve been marketing (like 1 -.-’), and the notable things I’ve done, and things that are unique about me like being 16 years old. But you get the idea.

Step 3. Join a Conversation

If you see some people who need help, then for God’s sake – go help them. That’s what the forum is there for! You don’t have to have it be too long, it could just be like a, “Here’s what I would do” kind of post. I typically just write a small article – a few hundred words. I don’t like just writing sentences unless it’s a small reply to something.

Be helpful to others

Step 4. Add an Eyeball-Grabbing Signature

Most forums will let you say something, and put a link in your signature. Check out “roxstar” on WarriorForum.com to see any of my signatures. Right now I have two that say:

Make Money Blogging With A 16 Year Old

12 Hour Affiliate – How To Become An Affiliate Marketer With A List & Traffic Within 12 Hours

The first one, that one has my main keyword that I want to rank for plus something interesting, and different in it. The second one is something that sounds very intriguing. Most people can’t setup their funnel in 12 hours – apparently it took somebody months to do that! Plus affiliate marketing is very popular – so I get that benefit, as well.

They both do pretty well for me =) Maybe you could add some graphics, or something – get creative. If you see somebody’s signature that you like then adapt it. Make it your own, and use it as a little template. I’ve made mine bold for SEO purposes, and to make it more visible.

Step 5. Start a Conversation

Learning how to get forum traffic is more than just learning how to post a few things – it’s about creating a little bit of buzz. You want people shouting your name – even getting controversial. People can hate you, but they’re still giving you attention. I’m not saying you do want people to hate you – I’m just saying it still means you’re being mentioned.

Do you want to know something? People forget things… Depending on your first impression, you’ll either always be labelled as somebody who’s inherently good, or inherently bad. That’s why you always make a good first impression.

Or you start fresh. That’s always a good thing. You don’t have to respond to every single thread, and post – you could just lay low for a while.

Sneaky Tips & Tricks.

Conversation. To really ramp up traffic, and buzz you respond to every single person. Have something to say, and build the conversation until it’s huge. This is always recommended.
Be humble. People love humble people – if you come off as a jerk, then people will resent you.
Six Qualities of an Attractive Person: Confidence, Leadership, Social Intelligence, Excellence, Ambition, and Pre-Selection
Confidence – well, this one if self-explanatory. But don’t be afraid to speak your mind – just say sh*t sometimes with assurance, and be assured in yourself.
Leadership – take charge without being a jerk. Goes hand-in-hand with confidence
Social Intelligence – an example of not being socially intelligent would be making fun of the American national anthem when you’re at a bull rally in the south. Think Borat – he’s not very socially intelligent. On the other hand, James Bond, and stuff have excellent social intelligence. They know what to do, and when in social situations.
Excellence – be good at what you do
Ambition – goals, and values. What do you want for yourself for the future?
Pre-Selection – do you have people who already like you? How many people would vouch for your awesome-ness? Get lots of fans, and you’ll be pretty golden
Be controversial – remember, be socially intelligent while you do this. If you’re just being an idiot, then you’ll get yourself in deep trouble…

And that’s what I have to say about how to get forum traffic =)

-Kris Roxas

Do you have any more sneaky tips or tricks? Have any questions about generating traffic, like how to approach posting?

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