An Online Business

Well... first off, let's define exactly what a Forum is so that you'll be able to relate to what I'm about to explain within this article.

The simple definition of a Forum is... it's a online community with a open discussion that allows you to 'Post' questions or queries related to a specific topic.

You can find Forums online related to any topic under the sun, so it doesn't matter what the question is that you might have because there's a Forum out there with hundreds, if not, thousands of members ready and willing to give you helpful Tips and Advice to the questions you have making your life and decision making that much easier.

I can't stress this enough, especially if you're New to Internet and the Internet marketing scene.

Now, for the last segment of this article on want to focus on WHY forums are essential for Anyone who is considering starting an online business.

Well, the main reason is this... Forums are a great way to research your market you are considering developing a Product or Service for.

Why, you ask?

Simply because this is where people go to post there questions about a certain problem they're dealing with and the 'Rule Of Thumb' is... when creating a Product or Service (no matter what kind of product or service it is) make sure it solves a -- Problem.

This is the KEY ingredient to the success of your Product or Service.

Seriously, take a look at all the Posts from the members and note which ones share the most common threads.

If you see alot of common treads, that means there's potential for a Product or Service to be developed.

By doing this simple task it will save you Time and more importantly... MONEY, because who would spend the Time and Money researching and developing a Product or Service if there was NO demand for it. Right?

You see how this works.

It Pays to do a little research.

And Research is the KEY ingredient for a successful Product or Service and Forums are simply a great place to get started, especially for anyone considering starting an online business.

Now, with that said, what you need to do now is figure out what you would ENJOY doing as a online business and draft up a business plan from there.

This is a VERY important step.

Then, go to your favorite search engine and search out a few forums within the area of business your interests lie and become a member.

Take notice to the main topics and write them down on a notepad so you can look over them later to see if there's any potential.(Remember, the most common threads)

It's that simple.

I truly hope this article helped you and opened up your mind up to the endless possibilities that await you online, no matter what business your considering.

We all need Answers and Forums are simply the BEST place to get them answered.

Forum Essentials

If you manage a message board community, a key to your site's success is the lively banter between members. Without conversation, your site will quickly die off. You can't police your forum and respond to every post, but there are a few things you can do as an administrator to get things moving again.

Hold a contest. Yes, who doesn't like to win something, anything? You don't have to spend a lot of money and the prize can be as simple as a magazine subscription, free membership for one year to your site, or an electronic gift card for the lucky winner. Want to go big time? Find a merchant to sponsor a gift; in exchange for their donation give them free advertising on your site for an agreed period of time.

Update your icons. The same old, nondescript icons will certainly bring about the yawns. Spice things up by swapping out one set of icons for another. Holiday themed icons are a favorite.

Change your background or theme. Holiday themed backgrounds that promote a warm glow in the hearts of your members will retain your visitors like nothing else. Put away the stale, antiseptic backgrounds and put some holiday pizzazz into your forums.

Cyber Grab Bag. No, I haven't tried this one...yet! However, I do know of sites where members play "Secret Santa" with other members. This can be in the form of a surprise email, an electronic gift, or a donation to the recipient's favorite charity.

There are many other ways to get your site moving again. Use this festive time of the year to come up with a plan that is certain to spark interest in your site. If in doubt as to what to do next, ask your members...they'll know!

MSN and Yahoo Communities

I'm sure at one time or another, we've all explored either an msn or yahoo community or both. Communities are a FREE service that allows us to build and manage, discussion groups, family sites, business communities etc.

These communities can be a powerful tool to promote your business only if you know how to use them effectively.

There are 100's of very popular communities that allow anyone to post as many "Classified Ads" as possible. Unless you to spend hours doing this, I suggest you leave if be for the time being.

What I'd like to focus more on is "WHY" you should create your own msn & yahoo community for yourself!

See, many of the best search engines will pick up your community because of the sheer size and popularity of msn & yahoo.

Also, I see many marketers wasting a lot of time because they are trying to promote too many services or opportunities at one time. A community will allow you to add ALL that you promote into one site and then all you have to worry about is promoting that one site!

This won't happen over night and learning how to easy it is to build & manage your own community will be posted in the next issue #2.

Before we get into that, you'll want to join the "Top Rated" communities in the business sections. Doing this will allow you to familiarize yourself with what is "the norm" with these communities. Also, after you've made the necessary adjustments and you've prepared your own community, you'll be using all the top communities to promote your own.

I must apologize to those who have never joined and msn or yahoo community. You'll need to sign up for a user passport which is simply an msn or yahoo e-mail and password.

For an msn passport click below:
http://register.passport.net/default.srf?sl=1

For a yahoo passport click below:
Yahoo Passport Sign Up

When signing up for an msn community, you'll want to click the option "READ ALL MESSAGES ONLINE". This way you won't fill your e-mail account with countless messages that are posted everyday... Also, click on "KEEP MY E-MAIL PRIVATE" so that you don't get any junk this way either.

And now you have the basics of communities, please look for the sequel to this article titled:

"Building & Managing your own community"