Utilizing The Original Social Networks‏

Web forums can offer many of the same benefits to your business as social networks. In fact, I kind of tend to think about forums as the original social networks.

They've been around and have been helping people much longer than MySpace and Facebook. How have forums helped your business?

You've got profile pages, private messages, and public conversation. Perhaps they don't typically have all the frills of a MySpace or a Facebook, but the general concept is there.

Like social networks, there are a variety of ways your business can benefit from forum participation.

Help with Specific Problems

Perhaps the most obvious benefit is the ability to get a specific question answered. If you need help or advice with a certain aspect of your business, chances are that it is a problem others have encountered in the past, and will be able to help you out. This can be tremendously helpful in many cases, especially if it is something that is really holding your business back.

Networking

Like social networks, if you regularly participate in forums, you will be networking with other people and sometimes experts. This comes back to the "it's who you know" philosophy, and you never know how knowing the right people will benefit you further down the road.

Branding

A natural product of networking is branding. When you participate regularly, people will begin to remember and recognize you, and this together with an appropriate signature will brand your business and potentially even drive traffic to your site.

Being in the Loop

Forum participation (or even just reading them) is also a good way to stay up on current events in your industry. You get a sense of conversation that you don't always get with news articles (unless the article gets a big comment spike). For online businesses, forums like WebProWorld, WebmasterWorld, and Digital Point are good places to monitor.

For the Inexperienced

This is especially true if you are one of the many businesses that has not yet created an online presence. You can learn a lot from forums. You should always check multiple sources before following any advice on an important topic, because not all of it you will find is going to be the best. Forums are a good way to get a feeling for how others view any particular opinions anyway. If someone posts some controversial advice, someone will almost certainly be there to contradict it. Either way, it can open up options for you to think about and open your mind to different ideas.

Forums help people in business every day. Can you pinpoint a time where forum participation has had a large impact on your business?

About the Author:
Chris is a content coordinator and staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz and the iEntry Network.