Can You Earn Money Through Forum Discussions?

Forums are open platforms where users can sign up free of cost, start new ‘threads’ (discussion topics) and communicate with fellow forum participants through posted messages.

Some people confuse forums with chat rooms. Chat rooms are entirely different. In forums, you can hold both public and private communication and turn those discussions into a money earning source.

You can earn a few dollars to hundreds of dollars from forum discussions if you know how to make use of them…So, let’s get started.

Are forums free to join?

Yes, they are. There are no memberships fees asked later in any of the forums you will find online.

Can you have more than one account?

No, you cannot. If you have more than one account, all of them will be banned. The forums register your IP address and the area you log in from. If you are using more than one email id to access forums, you can easily be caught.

How do basic forums work?

Forums always pay for starting discussion threads and for receiving responses on your threads. One of the most popular discussion forums online today is MyLot.com. This forum pays its forum posters on the basis of quality responses, images uploaded and other website usage. At the moment, they have 234,800+ members, a huge number for any forum.

You also get to earn for referring friends. Not only this, a forum will pay you a share when your referrals actively participate in the discussions.

The payout…?

Every forum has its own payout threshold. It can be $5 or $50. You can also select your own payment threshold. The preferred mode of payment is PayPal. Most of the payouts are on monthly basis.

This is important…

You have to keep in mind that not all forums pay its members for discussions. Some forums are used in two ways – for discussions and for Internet marketing.

You can earn lots if you use online forums for the purpose of Internet marketing, including selling products, eBooks and creating back links. In fact, forums are a treasure trove for online marketers.

Read on to know how you should go about making money from forums

[1] Find the RIGHT marketing forum network. You have to research and select the forum you would want to join. Look for niche-specific forums where you can gain expert status and build a rapport with other Internet marketers. Also, forums are an excellent way to gain traffic to your website/blog.

[2] Don’t begin product marketing at the outset. Most of the forum moderators will ban the account if the account user begins to promote products and services immediately after joining. You will be considered as a spammer.

First, you create the account and spend around 3-4 weeks getting to know your fellow marketers and then you can start with your promotions. Assuming that you would have created a favorable and trustworthy impression on other marketers, you will have greater success with forum earnings.

[3] Use forum signatures. While you are waiting to promote your products and services, you can begin indirectly by placing your website and/or blog link/s in your forum post signature space. However, be sure to read the forum’s TOS because some forums do not allow you to post affiliate links in the signature line while others allow only those links that go directly to the users’ website/blog.

Take the signature thing seriously because it is also a chance to show up on Google search engine results, especially when you are posting on popular forums.

Google spiders crawl and index forum posts as well, which means if you have interesting and popular posts to your credit, it will automatically rank on Google, along with the website/blog URL.

In fact, if you are a clever writer, you can use targeted keywords in your discussions and post them on forums. Make sure the keyword insertions do not look forced or spam and the keywords itself should not be out of context or unrelated to the discussion topic.

[4] Be serious about posting. Don’t think that forum discussions are a quick way to build a client base online. You have to be diligent and serious about forum participation. Most of the Internet marketers registered on forums fail to succeed because they just post a few times and disappear. Instead… acclimatize yourself with the forum and create interesting discussion topics.

[5] Build relationships. Forums are a good way to build trusted relationships and to become a valued member of the community. Involve your time in forum networking.

[6] Give review copies. For forum marketers promoting their product or service online for the first time, it works when you create a promotion thread on the forum and invite others to review it.

By review, one means that you send the product or lend the service free of cost the first time and ask other forum users to read, use or apply it. Ideally, those forum users who have a good feedback score/rating and experience should be welcomed.

You can give away, let’s say, 10 review copies, and when you receive positive feedback, you open the product/service for sale, using the feedback received as recommendations.

[7] Use your feedback. Of course, the feedback you received on the forum will help you to make money but don’t forget to use those feedback to promote the products and services at other sites. In fact, you can link the forum to your website in the testimonials section as a proof for people who can expect value for their money in buying from you.

Or, you can send the forum feedback link to new clients that you contact outside the forum as proof of your authenticity and credibility.

To conclude, forum discussions are one of the best ways to earn money online. You can earn through discussions and promoting products or services, or both. It is a quick and effective way to create your business presence online.

And to answer the question asked in the blog title, you can earn a great deal of cash through forum discussions.