How to Market Your Articles in Forums and Chat Rooms

Fri, Sep 4, 2009, by Mnofdichotomy

It isn’t as easy as you think.

Unless you’re one of the rare few who is publishing purely for the artistic aspects of writing, then you want your articles to make money. We all do. Even if it’s just about reaching readers (ergo; i want to make money, but don’t want to admit my =basic literary prostitution) then the goal is the same… you want just as many people in cyberspace to click onto your article.

The secret to this, as anyone will tell you, is to promote your work, and the best way to do that is to spam. Anyone who uses the Triond forum (or any other, for that matter) has seen this.

Hey! I’m new to the forum, and would love some positive feedback! Please read my poem!

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(url here)

And while this may garner a few hits, it as a rule is a waste of effort. There is a science to spamming; simply doing a drive by tends to be rather ineffective. Here are a few basic steps to ensure that if you drop a url, people will actually read it.

First, do your research. This doesn’t have to be an overly time consuming act, although like anything else, you’ll get out of it what you put into it. As I have said in other pieces, there are forums and chats for everything under the sun. For example, if you’re writing a piece on Major League Baseball, Google ‘baseball forums’. Obviously the more you find, the more opportunities your article will have for attracting viewers.
Set up a profile. Take the time to add a photo and fill in the little bits and pieces about who you are. Many will have a place where you can promote your home page. A profile offers you an appearance of legitimacy. Blank profiles, as a rule, do not attract viewers.
Take the time to chat, even if it’s only briefly. Create at least some kind of presence in the forum. I have I around 2 dozen forums I use regularly, and I leave a window of a couple of hours each week to do what I call ‘forum surfing’… bouncing around, dropping into conversations, basically letting myself be seen.
Add friends if it’s an option.
Give your articles interesting titles. Something that will pique reader’s curiosity enough to click on them.

There are obvious exceptions. I did a Michael Jackson article the day he died, and put it everywhere, because people were talking about it everywhere. But for the most part, following these steps will take you from the tier of a few hundred hits to that magic four figures status. Good writing!

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26 Comments For This Post

raman13 Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 5:00 am

Great Stuff

Interesting

Best Regards

Theresa Johnson Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 5:11 am

I hope that a few of our newbies and sone not so newbies read this

Chris Marlowe II Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 5:35 am

Dear Mr Mnofetcetera,

Maybe I could hire you as my General Manager?

Yours Truly,
The One & Only

Avaxier Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 5:52 am

This is very useful. I think these tips will make it possible to promote without being marked as a money-hungry spammer.

Thanks for sharing!

REPuckett Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 5:52 am

Excellent advice, my friend. You hit the nail on the head.

A.L.Smith Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 8:39 am

Another great one… I love your advice and use it. Thanks

Faith Hodge Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 11:27 am

You certainly have interesting advice. Thank you.

Nikita K Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 11:58 am

This is a good way you can try to gain recognition although some places do have rules against spam and stuff which could get you banned but it you can get the hits, I don’t see why you can’t try it out? Good article.

Marie Milton Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:14 pm

Thank Mnof : ). Great advice : ))

christylynn Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 1:14 pm

Thanks for the info

STEVE666 Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

Informative article

maranatha Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

So far I’ve not had much luck, but it takes time. Thanks for the tips, Mnof!

Mystify Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

Some really excellent advice!Thanks for sharing!!

Aimee Larsen Stoddard Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 7:16 pm

So how do people on the forums find your articles? Just through your Triond profile address or are you spamming links to your articles in the forum? The reason I ask is that a lot of forums will ban you for linking to your stuff. I’ve been banned, and it’s disheartening when you feel like you’re doing it in a subtle, respectful way after you’ve built a presence.