Post by Az on Mar 30, 2004 3:32:49 GMT -5
From: "Michael Green" <startforum-reply@howtocorp.par32.com> <br>Subject: Welcome Back To Part 2 Of Your Mini-Course
Date: 14 Mar 2004 01:04:53 -0600
Dear friends,
Welcome back to part 2 of your 'mini-course'...
"6 EXCELLENT TECHNIQUES TO CREATE YOUR OWN POPULAR FORUM!"
Hopefully you've had a little time to reflect on the first couple of steps I sent you two days ago.
Now it's time to press on with techniques 3 and 4 for developing your very own discussion forum.
So without delay, let's get back to the mini-course now...
__________________________________________________________
"6 EXCELLENT TECHNIQUES TO CREATE YOUR OWN POPULAR FORUM!"
By Michael Green
Part Two
------------------------------------------------------
Technique #3 - Developing a look & feel for your forum
------------------------------------------------------
Naturally the reputation of your discussion board is going to develop based on a number of different factors.
Here's a quick checklist:
1. HOW WILL YOUR FORUM LOOK?
The way that your forum looks will have a large influence on the way that people feel about using it.
There are essentially two styles of web based forum. The first is called "THREADED". A threaded forum shows all the various discussions on one long scrollable screen. Older messages will sometimes be archived on further pages.
Take a look at the way that my own THREADED "How To" Marketer Forum looks at www.howtocorp.com/forum
Feel free to have a read and make a couple of posts for yourself to get a feel as to how it operates.
The other main web based forum style is called "LINEAR". This kind of forum only shows the subject titles for each discussion and you then "drill down" into the discussion itself by clicking on the headline.
Here's a good example of a LINEAR style forum. This one is run by professional product reviewer, Klaus Dahl at klausdahl.com/forum/
2. WHAT IMAGE WILL YOUR FORUM PRESENT?
Closely allied to the technical look of your forum is the way that you utilize images, logos and graphics to createa particular "feel" for your users.
Take a quick look at the header that I use on my own "How To" forum and notice how I set the scene for the content of my board with the main graphic at the top of the page.
Click here now www.howtocorp.com/forum
You can see how this creates a "feeling" for the discussion board and visitors are reminded of the board's theme each time they visit.
3. SETTING THE GROUND RULES
It's vital that you establish clear user guidelines for your forum.
In particular you DON'T want your forum to descend into a worthless advertising promotion board !
So establish some simple ground rules from the outset and ensure that visitors are left in no doubt about the kind of posts that they are allowed to make at your forum.
For example, you might state: "NO BLATANT ADS" or "POSTS MUST REMAIN ON THEME".
In my "How To Start A Forum" toolkit I actually provide template ground rules that you can use for your own forum.
Pick up your own copy at www.HowToStartaForum.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
Technique #4 - Setting the scene with your first forum post
-----------------------------------------------------------
The most important post you'll ever make to your own forum is your first one.
And here's how to do it...
Once you have your forum set up, you should ensure that you make your first forum post a welcome message to future visitors and posters.
This is an ideal opportunity to grab the agenda and set the scene.
Here as an example is my initial post to my own forum:
_________________________________________
MY OPENING POST TO ESTABLISH MY NEW FORUM
_________________________________________
Dear Internet Marketer,
Thanks for stopping by the "How To" forum.
What's it all about? Well as the name suggests this forum is here for fellow marketers to answer those tricky and not so complicated "How To"
questions that we all have.
So please feel free to start a thread or browse the questions asked by others and provide answers.
If you have a solution which involves recommending a product you are associated with, then I ask that you make your association clear in your answer.
No blatant sales messages either!
This is a quality forum for internet marketers seeking quality answers - let's work together to keep it that way.
To your online success,
Michael Green
Founder "How To Corp"
_________________________________________
As you can see I achieve several objectives with this first message.
- I welcome my future visitors
- I explain the purpose of my forum
- I describe how to use the forum
- I make it clear that blatant ads shouldn't be posted
Obviously your first post will depend on the subject matter of your own forum, but it will probably need to include the above objectives.
Naturally I provide more detail about how you can "set the scene" and thereby guarantee the success of your own forum in my full www.HowToStartaForum.com toolkit.
==============================================
Well, that's it for today's techniques. But don't worry, because I'll be back in 2 days with steps 5 and 6 of
"6 EXCELLENT TECHNIQUES TO CREATE YOUR OWN POPULAR FORUM!"
Here's what you'll discover in two days time:
Technique 5. How and why you should "moderate" your forum
Technique 6. Surefire ways to market your forum like *crazy*
.. But you don't have to wait another two days! You can grab your own copy of my "How To Start A Forum" right this minute.
In fact you could own your own copy instantly by clicking here
www.HowToStartaForum.com
See you on Tuesday for parts 5 and 6 of my free 'mini-course'...
"6 EXCELLENT TECHNIQUES TO CREATE YOUR OWN POPULAR FORUM!"
Until then,
Michael Green
President
How To Corp www.howtocorp.com
P.S. Have you been wondering precisely where to get your web forum software from? The search is over because I list hundreds of software sources in my toolkit, including 82 absolutely FREE OF CHARGE software packages that you can use to have your forum up and running today --
without it even costing you a cent! Just click here now:
www.HowToStartaForum.com
Date: 14 Mar 2004 01:04:53 -0600
Dear friends,
Welcome back to part 2 of your 'mini-course'...
"6 EXCELLENT TECHNIQUES TO CREATE YOUR OWN POPULAR FORUM!"
Hopefully you've had a little time to reflect on the first couple of steps I sent you two days ago.
Now it's time to press on with techniques 3 and 4 for developing your very own discussion forum.
So without delay, let's get back to the mini-course now...
__________________________________________________________
"6 EXCELLENT TECHNIQUES TO CREATE YOUR OWN POPULAR FORUM!"
By Michael Green
Part Two
------------------------------------------------------
Technique #3 - Developing a look & feel for your forum
------------------------------------------------------
Naturally the reputation of your discussion board is going to develop based on a number of different factors.
Here's a quick checklist:
1. HOW WILL YOUR FORUM LOOK?
The way that your forum looks will have a large influence on the way that people feel about using it.
There are essentially two styles of web based forum. The first is called "THREADED". A threaded forum shows all the various discussions on one long scrollable screen. Older messages will sometimes be archived on further pages.
Take a look at the way that my own THREADED "How To" Marketer Forum looks at www.howtocorp.com/forum
Feel free to have a read and make a couple of posts for yourself to get a feel as to how it operates.
The other main web based forum style is called "LINEAR". This kind of forum only shows the subject titles for each discussion and you then "drill down" into the discussion itself by clicking on the headline.
Here's a good example of a LINEAR style forum. This one is run by professional product reviewer, Klaus Dahl at klausdahl.com/forum/
2. WHAT IMAGE WILL YOUR FORUM PRESENT?
Closely allied to the technical look of your forum is the way that you utilize images, logos and graphics to createa particular "feel" for your users.
Take a quick look at the header that I use on my own "How To" forum and notice how I set the scene for the content of my board with the main graphic at the top of the page.
Click here now www.howtocorp.com/forum
You can see how this creates a "feeling" for the discussion board and visitors are reminded of the board's theme each time they visit.
3. SETTING THE GROUND RULES
It's vital that you establish clear user guidelines for your forum.
In particular you DON'T want your forum to descend into a worthless advertising promotion board !
So establish some simple ground rules from the outset and ensure that visitors are left in no doubt about the kind of posts that they are allowed to make at your forum.
For example, you might state: "NO BLATANT ADS" or "POSTS MUST REMAIN ON THEME".
In my "How To Start A Forum" toolkit I actually provide template ground rules that you can use for your own forum.
Pick up your own copy at www.HowToStartaForum.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
Technique #4 - Setting the scene with your first forum post
-----------------------------------------------------------
The most important post you'll ever make to your own forum is your first one.
And here's how to do it...
Once you have your forum set up, you should ensure that you make your first forum post a welcome message to future visitors and posters.
This is an ideal opportunity to grab the agenda and set the scene.
Here as an example is my initial post to my own forum:
_________________________________________
MY OPENING POST TO ESTABLISH MY NEW FORUM
_________________________________________
Dear Internet Marketer,
Thanks for stopping by the "How To" forum.
What's it all about? Well as the name suggests this forum is here for fellow marketers to answer those tricky and not so complicated "How To"
questions that we all have.
So please feel free to start a thread or browse the questions asked by others and provide answers.
If you have a solution which involves recommending a product you are associated with, then I ask that you make your association clear in your answer.
No blatant sales messages either!
This is a quality forum for internet marketers seeking quality answers - let's work together to keep it that way.
To your online success,
Michael Green
Founder "How To Corp"
_________________________________________
As you can see I achieve several objectives with this first message.
- I welcome my future visitors
- I explain the purpose of my forum
- I describe how to use the forum
- I make it clear that blatant ads shouldn't be posted
Obviously your first post will depend on the subject matter of your own forum, but it will probably need to include the above objectives.
Naturally I provide more detail about how you can "set the scene" and thereby guarantee the success of your own forum in my full www.HowToStartaForum.com toolkit.
==============================================
Well, that's it for today's techniques. But don't worry, because I'll be back in 2 days with steps 5 and 6 of
"6 EXCELLENT TECHNIQUES TO CREATE YOUR OWN POPULAR FORUM!"
Here's what you'll discover in two days time:
Technique 5. How and why you should "moderate" your forum
Technique 6. Surefire ways to market your forum like *crazy*
.. But you don't have to wait another two days! You can grab your own copy of my "How To Start A Forum" right this minute.
In fact you could own your own copy instantly by clicking here
www.HowToStartaForum.com
See you on Tuesday for parts 5 and 6 of my free 'mini-course'...
"6 EXCELLENT TECHNIQUES TO CREATE YOUR OWN POPULAR FORUM!"
Until then,
Michael Green
President
How To Corp www.howtocorp.com
P.S. Have you been wondering precisely where to get your web forum software from? The search is over because I list hundreds of software sources in my toolkit, including 82 absolutely FREE OF CHARGE software packages that you can use to have your forum up and running today --
without it even costing you a cent! Just click here now:
www.HowToStartaForum.com