When it comes to business, it is a good move to be prepared, even for forum marketing. It will not be too difficult to accomplish what you want, but know what you want to do and how to leverage forums. Many of the online marketers who become successful do well because they think this way about business. First, they focus on learning the ends and out of assorted marketing strategies. Then they take this information and find the best way to use it.
Make your first step one that involves establishing a good reputation so that you'll be viewed as an authority or expert in your niche. If you fail to do either, you'll have less than optimal results. You must first, of course, be seen. Unfortunately, you don't have an infinite number of hours to devote to a forum. This, after all, is only one part of a much larger marketing strategy.
On the other hand, if you dive right in and make a mountain of posts, it annoys the long-term members. So time your visits when there are the most members present. Go for quality over quantity and you will win friends and influence people every time.
Don't just comment on existing threads. Start your own threads as well. Starting your own threads may be a little difficult at first due to shyness. Begin by thinking of information you have that can be valuable to the community and share it. Don't forget to encourage others to ask you any questions they might have about what you've said.
If you really want to invite commentary, try saying something that's a little controversial. You may have to walk a fine line when it comes to controversy and it can be a judgment call. Don't go outside the niche when you start threads, whatever else you do.
If you really want to go all out with your networking efforts, then find out who has influence in the forum. There may be a few contenders for top spot. Of course, the size of over at this website the forum, and its membership, will have some impact on that. The longer the forums have been around and more members it has, the greater the number of people who influence the forums will be. So it just depends on the particular forum, and with some forums unfortunately it can be a moderator who has this strong influence. With senior members and moderators you'll often be able to recognize others attempting to garner favor. These are the people you want to get to know as quickly as possible on the forum. Much of this may be familiar to you if you've spent any amount of time marketing in forums. It's all about using common sense, and abiding by the rules that each forum will inevitably set up. The key is to be a contributing community member that offers value everyday.