Forum marketing has been one of the more popular methods for doing business on the web. Anyone that tries it out likes it, simply because it works so well for many. Although there is some time that must be spent doing this marketing method, it's easy to accomplish every single day. IMers are really drawn to this method because it does work, despite having no guarantee that this will actually work for you. You will have to follow certain rules in order to participate, although most of them are easy to follow when participating in the forums. You can't just post anything! It has to be useful information that they all can use.
Pursuing a particular method of marketing on the Internet is something that you should understand to some degree before you do it. The same is true about forum marketing because you won't fully understand it unless you know the benefits. Forum marketing is based on networking with other businesses and your niche audience. Not simply about networking - it's about building relationships, and marketing from that standpoint. As you'll see when you start posting on the forums, the latter (relationship building) is to key component of it all. People like to use forms to build the brand name of their business, something that cannot be done very easily elsewhere. And while gaining exposure, your brand name will soar, but only if you offer exceptional value for what you have to offer. So when you do this, your form reputation will skyrocket - that's what offering value will do for you.
A easy way to determine if marketing is allowed is to look at the signatures. If there are signatures, then look for links in them. This is the usual practice by forums if they don't mind members placing their business links in their signatures. Once you visit enough forums, you'll be able to tell pretty quickly what the prevailing rules are for members doing marketing in that forum. Also you can tell what is allowed by looking at the signatures. For instance, you might be able to get in a few pictures and plenty of links. This will let you see if marketing is welcomed on a particular forum.
Figure out who has a lot of influence on the forums before additional resources you really dig into your own networking efforts. In general, there are a few people who carry a lot of sway on the boards. The number of active members in a forum will have some influence on this too. Forums with long histories and large memberships will have more influence bringers than smaller forums. The influencing figures are different on different Home Page forums. The 'leaders' are often the people that other members are always trying to get acknowledgment from. It's these members that you want to develop relationships with above all others. Even though forum marketing works, do not expect immediate results. But even that is not always true because it just depends on the forum and what you're marketing. Some forums think that it is okay to advertise with them, which will make things look very profitable for you in the long run.