Even when it comes to forum marketing you should have a plan for how you want to take action. It will be easy to get what you want, but you should have an idea of what that is and how to use forums to get it. 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 try to figure how they can benefit from this knowledge.
Many many will act the way that they normally act when they are in forums. Others will be more extrovert or even introvert. So, unless you are a rude person, just be yourself. If you are shy, it is okay to just watch things before you start contributing. Many people like to do this, which is known as lurking. Making a first post can seem little scary in the beginning. Begin by talking in other threads and providing useful information.
Understand that forum marketing is, first and foremost, about building relationships. This is just another form of networking building. This time you should focus on the relationships and not you can try this out the networks (or hopes for profit). People simply prefer doing business with someone they feel like they know. Everything you do in the forums needs to be done with this in mind. One of the biggest things that impacts relationship building in forums is familiarity. You have to have a visible and regular presence on the forums in order to develop relationships.
I've been in forums where a few people were chronic thread-starters. Sometimes, they are viewed in a dim light by other forum members. Don't start a ton of new threads at one time. Put a little space between them.
Comment on other threads at the same time. Human nature is the rule of the day when it comes to using forums. But on the other hand, you cannot respond or live your life according to what everybody else thinks you should do. These are the gray areas in forum marketing you'll experience. Having a variety of ways to share your knowledge is a good approach in forums.
You can work a lot of forums and still only devote about five hours a week to the effort and, bring in a ton of profit from forum marketing. That's nothing when you're talking about high-value marketing activity. The key is to diversify as much as possible so that your business is somewhat insulated from the instability of marketing online.