The Freelance Switch site has just opened up what promises to be a very helpful forum for freelancers. The opening their forum provides the perfect opportunity to discuss how forums can help your business.
The business advantages of participating in a forum include:
- Share ideas with people who have similar interests. You should look for a forum on a topic that you are interested in. For example, I belong to several writers' forums.
- Learn new things. Have you been struggling with a problem in your business? Chances are that others have struggled with the same problem. By reading forums you can discover what others did to solve their problem.
- Find work. It's true. Many employers look for help with their projects on forums related to their business. If you're an active participant employers may notice you and approach you privately about working for them.
- Build relationships. As a regular forum contributor you will start to get to "know" other forum regulars. As you get to know them you may see opportunities to collaborate with your online friends, or even to work for them.
To get the most mileage out of a forum membership use the following guidelines:
- Make sure that the forum you join is related to your business, or at least to an interest of yours. I can't imagine a faster way to burn out than to join forums solely for the purpose of having a presence there.
- Don't just lurk, join discussions. You may learn by lurking, but you won't develop relationships or attract the notice of potential employers.
- Give as well as take. If you see that someone has posted a question and you know the answer, post it. Don't just swoop in, leave a post saying, "I need work," and disappear.
- Be optimistic, but cautious, about jobs discovered through forums. As with any other leads, it's important to check out potential employers carefully.
Forums are the number one marketing idea for work-at-home moms according to Danni Vickers at the WAHM Shack Blog. Do you want even more information on forums? Ginine at the FlavaOfBlog has created a list of work from home forums.
What are your favorite forums? Leave a comment and let me know.
Image Source: Piotr Bizior - www.bizior.com through stock.xchng. Used with permission.
The two best forums I found to help me build my work-from-home and writing careers are www.wahm.com and www.absolutewrite.com. I have learned so much from the people on those forums!
Posted by: Susan Gunelius | August 9, 2007 7:16 PM | Permalink to Comment