One way in which you can build your list involves using forums which cater to a specific audience that is related to the topic of your newsletter or ezine so that you can participate in discussions and send visitors to your squeeze page.
There are thousands of forums on the internet in a wide variety of niche markets so you should be able to find a place to advertise no matter what the topic of your list is about. All you have to do is look for relevant forums in the search engines and you will quickly find a list of places where you can advertise.
Most forums will allow you to place a link to your website under each post that you make as a reward for participating in the discussions with other users. To make it easier for you and to save time you can also create a signature file in your account so that your link is automatically inserted in your posts.
Depending on how active the forum is, there should be many different discussions going on at the same time so you should be able to quickly get involved. If you have no previous experience of using forums its best to just reply to existing posts and answer questions that other users have submitted. If they find your reply helpful they will most likely visit your website and so will other users who view your post.
Once you have some experience of the type of posts that are being made you can start your own topic of discussion by posting a new thread. Its important to remember that you should not blatantly advertise your website because most forums will delete your post and ban you from participating in the future.
So if you want to start a new thread you should only post information that other users will find useful in the form of an article or an observation which you have made that you want to announce. Alternatively, you can also ask a question in your post and get feedback from other users.
If you manage to start a hot topic of discussion it will quickly attract other users who will want to participate and give their opinion. The search engines are looking for fresh content so if your thread becomes very active with many new posts being made you will quickly attract their attention (you should also include a keyword phrase in the title of your thread to help your rankings).
While forums can take up a lot of time and are not as effective as other list building strategies they should still be used as part of your overall marketing campaign. If used correctly you can add a constant stream of new subscribers to your list by participating in discussions.
About the Author
This article was written by Simon Akers who is the editor of the Marketing Oasis newsletter, a free internet marketing ezine packed with tips to help you succeed and increase your profits: http://www.MarketingOasis.com
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