Secrets to Stopping the Name Calling in Internet Forums

Writen by Lance Winslow

Well you want to know the secret to stopping name calling in Internet forums? It is simple, when some one calls you a name simply say you cannot call me that terrible thing because; “I have already been called “Sad” as one of the 35 negative and derogatory words about my personal character on this forum, so you have to come up with some new ones?

Indeed, it is stupid logic, I mean you simply state that you are no longer allowed to call me that, because it is not original. It works every time. Then change the subject and state something intellectually interesting and funny.

“Everyone should participate in politics to keep things stirred up and take the minds of the masses off the ball of reality and leave them playing in a stadium of created reality while the real games are played elsewhere. We must therefore all agree to attack each other and call each other names and commit ourselves to one side or the other and pick teams and build those teams by choosing enemies. You won the toss and you chose to receive. So take that you “Heathen Scoundrel and burn in a fiery Devilish hell for eternity” whist I think of any other derogatory thing to call you, because you are on a different team from across town wearing a different colored uniform. AH HA HA HA HA! Anyway consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Creating a Community Spirit

Writen by Abdar Abidhi

The key to long-term success with any website is repeat customers. The bookmark is the Holy Grail to any site that aspires to regular income but achieving this isn’t always easy. Visitors have to like what they see, yes, but they also have to feel that these is going to be new and relevant information posted to a website that will warrant their return. Tired and stale single pages don’t attract repeat visitors and unique hits are all you can ever hope to achieve but it’s a fact that the more trust your website builds the more chance it has of making sales and encouraging people to click on links. So, where does the answer lie?

The forum.

Many of us have used a forum whether to ask a question or to answer somebody else’s and without realising it you are already beginning to trust that forum. Most forums offer the function to send you updates when somebody has responded to your query or when a query on a certain topic is posted. The forum has just gained another repeat customer. If it’s a popular forum you will get several answers and return to the site on a fairly regular basis increasing the chances that you will either buy something from the site or click the affiliate links.

The community.

By building a community spirit with plenty of regular posters you are not only encouraging visitors to read your posts but there is bound to be something in there that sparks that little flame of intrigue. A message board post later and they’re being sucked into using your site and your forum on a regular basis. You now have their email address and as long as they are ok with you sending your ‘weekly newsletter’ to them you have created yourself a free and invaluable opt in lead; a resource that webmasters across the world salivate at the thought of.

The popularity.

The forum and its popularity is something of a paradox though, because as more and more people post on the forum the more inviting it becomes to new members. Members make members without a doubt. The hardest part about populating a forum is receiving those first few visitors. Without knowing it or acting intentionally they will be the ones to bring in the hundreds of members that follow. Offer a free gift to anyone that signs up or consider ‘employing’ active moderators who will not only moderate the posts but start conversations, competitions and anything else to attract people.

The possibilities.

Once you have a forum the possibilities are virtually endless. Follow up sales become a breeze as your Autoresponder kicks in to say thanks for signing up and the affiliate link in your signature has never been such a good money spinner. You can populate mailing lists while you’re sleeping and the content on your site remains as fresh as a daisy for as long as you can keep visitors in your forum. As far as valuable website additions go, there aren’t many better options than the humble forum.

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Online Attacks on Forums and Blogs

Writen by Lance Winslow

So often folks on the Internet cannot handle themselves and they turn to attacks and verbal abuse. Occasionally these attacks move from opinion to slander and libel. Even worse many of these slanderous folks will use fake names to conceal their identity.

The attacks on good folks are a complete negative and they detract from the forward progress and stability of the group. For someone to label another and attack their personal character whether it is the President of the United States or a newbie forum writer serves no purpose. And pre-judging another you do not personally know is very wrong and bad behavior. Worse off so many people attack those who achieve or reach a level of status, perhaps out of jealousy.

It is a horrible thing we as a society do in order to corral those who go beyond the expectations of what others believe possible. Sure it makes us feel better about our selves and an excuse for our shortcomings. But there comes a time for those who do possess the true human spirit to say enough is enough.

Why do people online attack others in forums or Blogs? Why do they slander others or libel them? Why do they do this using fake names; why do we as a society or an online community allow this? Shouldn’t we “just say no” to these folks who have a personality disorder who are unable to control themselves? Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

A Funny Thing Happened While I Was In The Forum

Writen by Donovan Baldwin

Yeah, I know. The title’s not that original, but maybe it made somebody click thru and read at least this far.

That’s the idea, isn’t it? To get somebody interested enough to wander in and look around?

What this is really about is the value of forums to the internet marketing process.

You see, internet marketing CAN be what Ford, or GE, or Verizon does. They have a lot of money and build these big, beeeeooootiful webpages, as Trader Jon would have said. However, I’m talking about you and me. Our budgets are a little bit smaller. Some of us have actually had to go to the extremes of learning a little basic html coding so that we could build our first webpages ourselves because we didn’t have the money to hire somebody to do it for us.

How could somebody like that compete against major corporations?

Obvious answer….They (we) can’t.

There are, however, ways to make your product or service of interest to a large enough audience so as to generate some sales. Using forums is one of these ways. Not only is it an effective way of attracting interested visitors to your website, it falls under the heading of network marketing (here I suggest reading my article, “Network Marketing In Its Purest Form”), which, lo and behold is essentially the easiest way for most of us common internet marketers to attract potential customers. Notice how I snuck that plug in for my other article? That’s actually something you might be able to do in a forum.

In the other article, by the way, I hinted that one of the benefits of network marketing was that you got to make friends. Well, that’s what often happens in forums. You meet people who share your interests. While those interests can be as serious as you want them to be, many forums also give you the opportunity to have a little fun. As I write this article, a forum I belong to has a story being written three words at a time by members who wander by and feel the urge to be creative. I have copied a list of one-liners from one post and sent them to my sister-in-law who cracked up when she read them. From the same forum, I have gathered information on how to use traffic exchanges to generate traffic to my website, I have learned how to use RSS feeds to enhance the value of my website to my visitors, and how to create splash pages to build my email list, just to name a few topics.

I have corresponded with members from Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, and Malyasia. I have watched as other forum members jumped in, one after the other, to explain and clarify a point which confused a member who was having trouble getting a web page set up properly.

I have had the pleasure of seeing articles, comments, jokes, and encouraging remarks of mine appear on the forums I am a member of, as well as reading the articles of others, their comments, jokes, and encouraging remarks as well.

I have gained a lot from being a member of these forums, both as an internet marketer, and as an idividual.

And you know what else? At the bottom of every comment, article, or joke I post, there are links to my websites. That’s another great thing about forums. No matter whether I post a joke, a serious comment, or a thoughtfully crafted and written work of art such as this article, there will be links to one or more of my websites either in the article itself, or in a signature which the moderators of the forum allow me to add to my comments. The search engines pick up these links and follow them back to my website(s). The readers of the comments follow them back to my website.

Talk about free traffic! I get to interact with friends, maybe offer something of value to them, get something of value from them, learn some new techniques, and maybe a few new jokes. Can’t beat that!

The author is retired from the Army after 21 years of service. He has worked as an accountant, purchasing agent, optical lab manager, restaurant manager, instructor and long-haul, over-the-road truck driver. He has been a member of Mensa for several years, and has written and published poetry, essays, and articles on various subjects for the last 40 years. He has been an active internet marketer since 2000, and now makes his living online. To learn more about improving your marketing performance, please visit http://marketingsecrets.xtramoney4me.net You may read “Network Marketing In Its Purest Form” at http://xtramoney4me.net/internet_marketing_links/articles/network_marketing.html

Try This in an Internet Forum

Writen by Lance Winslow

Try changing your mind in an Internet Forum and see what happens? It is a fun thing to do and it has surprising results. First go pick a topic you could careless about but is being debated by many people online. Then pick a side of the debate and a few people and agree with whatever they say. Then in the middle of all the chaos and controversy change their mind. I did this recently and what a hoot; what an interesting psychological study in human behavior indeed. And when challenged on changing my mind [topic was gay marriage of all things] I was confronted by several people who said I was too easily swayed by emotion, funny because I could care less, so I stated;

“You say I am easily swayed by emotions? Interesting because I am merely sticking up for my rights from being slandered by those who will not even use their real names in doing so. Secondly, going out of my way to help your cause because it is morally right that every one have fair treatment is an option-responsibility not a required-responsibility. I have simply chosen not to assist, but rather help prevent gay marriage with my resources and contacts, since have made contacts in the past in many places.”

Then I was confronted again and told to seek professional help and challenged on my decision to change sides on the controversial topic so I stated;

“I tell you what I will seek professional help while I work very hard to prevent gay marriage due to the way I have observed the gay fringe treat myself and others in this forum, in the streets of America and in the media. You will need to seek professional help too, as the gay community will have to spend millions and millions in campaign contributions, lawyers and the like to try to defeat 150 million Americans who vote and like the marriage laws the way they are. The gay and lesbian community burns the bridges faster than they can build them, thanks to your fringe, which is out of control.”

Then I left the grand old party debate between the Christian Right and the Gay and Lesbian fringe. That was kind of fun and you should try it too and watch all these humans react; just too funny I tell yah? In parting I told them all

Anyway Good Luck, sound and fury is fun really, I find the “fight” so to speak rather intriguing and indeed a challenge. So while you fight for your rights. I fight for fun against your political push. I am now no friend of the gay and lesbian community, before I was neutral.

Lance Winslow

Gets Users on Your Forum- Forum Advertising Explained

Writen by Angie Smith

Hiring a paid forum posting service has become an extremely popular way of getting users to begin becoming active members of a forum. A paid posting service would provide a new forum owner with the appearance of an active forum right from the start and paid forum posters would engage new members in interesting conversation making them want to keep returning to the forum.

Networking is an excellent way to advertise your forum. Post on message boards where you might find the kind of people you believe would be interested in what your forum has to offer. Add your web site address to your signature line or in your membership profile. Just be sure that you are well aware of the communities advertising rules so you are not caught unintentionally spamming the boards with an advertisement for you forum.

Creating a newsletter that active forum participants can subscribe to for free is another way to advertise your forum. Each time users receive their newsletter it will be a reminder to participate in the forum and many could recommend the forum to friends and family which would create the potential for many new users.

You could add a “Recommend this site” feature to your forums so people who enjoy visiting your forums can easily let others know they should come and check the site out too.

These are just a few of the ways to advertise your web site to help get new users to begin using your forums. Through a little research and some trial and error you should have no problems finding the idea or combination of ideas that will work the best for you.

This article was provided by http://www.inb0x.com. You may reprint this article on your own website but all links and names must be left in tact. Do not alter this article in any way if you plan to reuse this article. Thank you. inb0x.com providers of Paid forum Posting.

What Goes Around, Comes Around – Get Active On Forums!

Writen by Anthony Bae

If you are looking for an affordable way to drive traffic to your site, getting active on forums help. I don’t mean getting active as in search forums on search engines, register for an account, post an ad about your site, and never go back to that forum again. Not only will your posts be considered as SPAM and get deleted by admin, you will maybe receive 1 or 2 visitors from that one ad post if you are lucky before admin finds the posts for deletion.

If you want to take full advantage of forums to get your site exposed to active members of that particular forum that you are in, find a couple of busy forums that interests you and where members talk about topics that are relevant to what you do on the internet. You will get to read questions posted by ones that are new to internet business, and if you’ve ran your business for a while, you may be able to help by responding to those posts with your personal experiences and some information that may help them further. The more active you get with posting and helping others, the more exposure your site will get. How? Each registered member are allowed to create their own signature which is shown every time you make a post. Although you are not allowed to advertise your site directly, intentionally, you are allowed to have a link as part of your signature that will direct interested readers to your site.

Of course, you can be the one asking questions as well. I’m sure that you will appreciate answers to your questions and maybe check out what the responder’s site is like, if he/she has a link as his/her signature. That’s how people will visit your site. If you are willing to help answer people’s questions and give them tips and suggestions, interested viewers will read your post and would like to know what sort of business you do on the web. With the willingness to help others who are in need of help with their online business, you will receive their attention and appreciation – sort of like a win-win situation to me. What goes around, comes around.

By Anthony Bae
Raising Money for Charity by Selling Links to Online Advertisers
http://www.iGoLink.com

What’s The Deal With Discussion Lists? (Part Three)

Writen by Danielle Hollister

Why Do People Start Writing Discussion Lists?

Angela Gillaspie, who owns Southern Angel, says she created her list for a very simple reason. “I started the list because there were so many folks that wanted to read my writing, and I had a hard time remembering everyone’s addresses.”

Gillaspie’s list, which is a newsletter-type list where only she can post messages, was officially launched on March 24 and currently has 40 subscribers, most of whom joined after receiving an invitation from her. “I hope this list would make my subscribers smile and *think*,” she says. “I’m not trying to make money, I just want others to enjoy life. Making some one laugh is almost a religious experience, in my opinion!” The main thing that Gillaspie gets from the experience of being a list owner is “very useful feedback,” she says. “My list is currently humor-oriented.

Recently, on a whim, I sent out an inspirational story and immediately lost one subscriber. She claimed my stories were too long. Indeed that particular article was 1200 words, but the story right before that was a mere 320 words….so I really wonder if her true reason for leaving was because I used the word “Jesus” in my article. This prompted me to conduct a poll to see if my readers want inspiration *and* humor. So far, the majority wants both — but, I may create a separate list for the inspirational-type stories.” Gillaspie, who is a work-at-home programmer/analyst, freelance writer, and “proud Southern Momma,” created her list with the hope that her “readers will get a “lift to their day, a grin, and maybe even a big belly laugh knowing that there is a strange woman living in Alabama that experiences the same spilt milk, bad hair cuts, worms in the fridge, and missing toilet paper that they do.”

“I started The-Ethereal-Pen as a way to build a bit of community in the sci-fi/fantasy world that women seem to be over-looked in,” says Victoria, who runs a few group lists online. “I, myself, am a writer, and I know that exposure for stories is sometimes very hard to get. I set this group up as a way for female writers to get opinions and ideas about their on-going works, as well as possiblly getting editors and publishers to come and post a little bit about submission requirements and how to present their works to publishers.”

Victoria also owns Where-Is-Love, which she created “because, well, it was a rant. I got tired of seeing women being objects for sexual abuse and torture,” Victoria says. “I found it hard to believe that these sexual fantasies were considered all there was in the world of Erotica, and so, I created Where-Is-Love as a means for women to express passion, love and sex, in a very positive light with no vicutums and no violence. They are free to post stories, poems, ideas thoughts or whatever is on their mind, whether on-topic or not. The basic idea was to get over the modesty and down to the real heart of love.”

“Then, I decided to make it a e-group as well, to further the feeling of community among the web-sites,” she added. She says she gets a lot out of her experience as a list owner. “I know this sounds hokey, but I really do get alot of satisfaction that I’ve brought people together in a “safe” environment to share ideas and thoughts on the subject matters regarding the list, or not, depending on the case. I think one of the best things we get from e-groups is friends,” Victoria says. “I would like the members of each group to get what they put into it. Participation is what makes a group strong and happy. Sure lists can get petty and mean, but I think as long as you can start off with a general understanding that we are all here to grow and learn from each other, it’s a bit easier to listen to what other people have to say.”

“I wanted to find a serious list where working novelists would discuss the art and craft of writing fiction. I couldn’t find one,” says Melisse, MJ Rose, who runs The Novelists. “I belong to many lists and wanted one that was not chatty – though I have nothing against chatty – so I created the list I wanted.”

Rose started her list a year ago and currently she has about 100 subscribers. What she gets from the experience is simple – “Great dialog between serious writers about the craft of writing,” she says. “The biggest problem – since its not chatty – unless we are in the midst of dicussing a topic – the list gets slow.”

You will find more information about discussion lists on the following website -http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art16926.asp

© Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of the Free Ezine for Writers featuring news, reviews, and continuously updated links to the best resources for writers online like – freelancing & jobs, markets & publishers, literary agents, classes & contests, and more… Read it online at – http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art157.asp

Video Forums Go Ballistic When I Say: "Why Edit Video at All"

Writen by Doug Pederson

I’ve been shooting Digital video for 3 years. Got by just fine without editing any of it. By keeping the video clips short to very short. I don’t need to edit. Just don’t play the video, if there is nothing there or offensive.

Anyway I made many many good points, for why editing home video should be avoided.

Just to get Censored, by the group that is always screaming about freedom of expression etc etc.

Hit a raw nerve obviously.

It would be good to know what finally set them off. I was the one under attack, by those belligerent SOBs

They should be a little more open, to the future of video, than that.

Shoot a lot of video, you get good with the camera. Shoot a lot of video, when you are good with the camera, then look out. The editing can come later, much much later.

Video editing is expensive and time consuming. I could easily walk thru a museum or gallery, add a tour guide and have riveting video. On an inexpensive DVD, right away. That’s what, they should be doing some more of. Editing less.

Unedited video, with good content is a refreshing change from the chopped & remixed product we see on TV and at the movies.

Come follow me on the trapline and other outdoor adventures Bring your camcorder and shoot, shoot, shoot.

I’ll just have to find a couple more forums, to continue on the fight. Hopefully, some of those not banned, blocked or suspended will carry on the discussion at the other sites.

The Key To Success In Forum Promotion

Writen by Marcos Lopez

Promoting your business is a combination of many factors. You have to attract as many visitors you can applying SEO, banner exchange, links exchange, mail campaigns, newsletters and a variety of methods according to your posibilities and time to dedicate to promote your business.

When you are a start-up and want to market your website you realize that this could be very expensive. However there are a lot of free resources that, well applied, could take you to the first page on web searchers.

One effective and free technique is Forum Promotion. This could be a very time consuming method, but the pro is that You can get targeted traffic, people who want exactly what you offer. There are a lot of specialized forums in any category you can imagine.

You just have to reach them, not selling your poducts or services, but helping them. Remember, what you want here is to get traffic to your website, and this kind of sites are intended to help visitors to find information they need, not sell them something. There are another methods to advertise your products or services directly (i.e. classified ads). In this sites you have to give them the information they seek.

Forum promotion must be more sutil. Your promotion should be by helping users answering topics with information you have, adding your signature at the end of your posts, tell them you found what they are looking for and direct them to an article on your site, and the list goes. Be creative, it