in your niche.

By using forums and blogs you can easily become an authority in your niche or whatever business it is you are into.  If you are an attorney for example and you’re just starting out a free and easy way to get your name out there is by posting on forums and blogs.  You can use your real name as your username or you can just make up a username.  I’d suggest just using your real name since when it comes to being a lawyer having your name out there is very important.

Giving out free information is very important because nowadays people search for people by name and the easiest way is just typing your name into the search engines.  If they see your name all over the place helping out, you’ll instantly be recognized as someone who knows what they are talking about and you will become respected amongst your peers.

There are some do’s and don’t’s though.

Do’s:

Do be courteous to everyone if you’re trying to build a name for yourself.

Do help out when you can.

Do make sure you have a signature in the forum or blog that links back to your site, in case someone wants to contact you for more information.

Do make intelligent posts.

Do check the rules of the site you are posting at and make sure to follow and respect the rules.

Don’t’s:

Don’t spam.

Don’t be an asshole to other members, unless that’s part of your persona.

Don’t post direct links to your site or affiliate sites unless it’s allowed in the rules.  Usually you’re allowed to post your site links in your signature.

Don’t make useless posts.  You’ll just look like an idiot.  If you have nothing good or constructive to add to a post, don’t bother posting.

Every forum/blog has different rules so stick by them and play it safe.  I have thousands of posts amongst many sites and I’ve only been banned a handful of times (usually for spamming, but it was done on purpose to get backlinks or people to buy my product).  I go by many usernames and I’m a member of exclusive sections on a few of the major forums I go to because I’ve always helped out when I could.

Forum posting is probably one of the easiest and best ways to earn yourself a good long term reputation.  It can work for any business.  Just find a forum in your field/niche and start posting what you know.  Solid, free information always gets people to recognize you.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a lawyer based in Toms River, NJ or an antique dealer in Lakewood, NJ, if you provide good information people will look for you when they are ready to spend money.  For the lawyer part of course due to licensing you might not be able to practice outside of New Jersey, but you might be able to do some consulting on the side or be able to provide referrals ($$$) to other lawyers that are familiar with the law in the potential clients area.  The antique dealer can ship out pieces or have the client come to their shop.  If someone trusts you and views you as an authority they will come to you or work out an arrangement where you can provide your services or goods to them.