Written Rules of Etiquette
Of course, no one wants to be spammed, either in their inbox, or in their group conversation. First of all, you need to be sure that advertising is allowed for your particular forum or group. Many forums have specific boards or forum threads just for advertising opportunities. Almost always, the first post in the thread is that particular boards rules.
Make sure and read the rules. Do not skip this step! Some boards let you post advertisements to your hearts content. Others require that you have a certain number of posts in other areas before you are allowed to post your advertisement. Once you are allowed to post advertisements, make sure you know the rules as to how often you can post your advertisements.
Some sites allow you to post your advertisement as soon as it drops off the first page of posts, others only allow you to advertise once a day, and still others have specific days to advertise. Many groups only allow advertising on weekends, or on a specific day of the week. If you breach the advertising rules for a forum, group or network, you may find yourself banned from the site, which means you can no longer reach that particular audience (and it just doesn’t look good!)
Unwritten Rules of Etiquette
There are also some unwritten rules of etiquette on forums, groups, and networks.
Your ad will always be more well received if you are actually a participant in the group, and not just there for advertising. Even if the written rules don’t require it, you are advised to at the very least introduce yourself to the board before utilizing it for your free advertising.
Do not disparage other products or opportunities in your ads. I have seen several ads that state “we are better than xx” or “don’t buy xx”. I know that in the real world many companies pit themselves against each other (just take a look at cell phone advertising), however, as Coke and Pepsi learned, it is better to stand on your own merits rather than stepping on someone else’s toes.
In addition, you never know when the board owner (or their best friend) is a part of the product or opportunity that you are getting ready to trash, so its just best to stay away from those type of ads.
Don’t “bump” your ad or needlessly reply to your ad just to make it look like others are interested in what you are saying. This is kind of like sending flowers to yourself. While at first it may work to gain some attention, in the end, you just look really desperate.
For more: Do Free Ads on Forums, Groups and Networks Work?
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