Participating in message boards (forums) discussions is a great way of self promotion. It costs you nothing. Not even a penny. All you have to do is allot sometime for this type of promotion.

Before you getting started you need to know some must follow principles. You want your time to be profitable for you. Right? So what ever time you are gonna spend should bring you some profits.

What are those principles?

***1. Target your promotion:***

If you are search engine optimization expert, then you will be benefited by search engine forums. People coming to those forums need help in their web site optimization. If you are willing to share your knowledge with those people, you will gain their confidence and needless to say few customers too.

***2. Always follow the forum rules:***

In some forums or some areas of forums self promotion is not allowed. At the same time, some sub-forums are alloted to post your product advertisement. So read carefully before posting your product details anywhere on the forum.

***3. Use signature files:***

Almost all the forums allow signature files. These may be less than 4 lines or less than some 250 characters. This varies from forum to forum. So be concise with your wording.

Most IMPORATNT advice is always offer something free in your signature file. Free report on how to increase sales, free email course on how to design a web site that pulls orders or any topic that focuses on your web site theme. This always beats keeping your product price in your signature file. You can built your opt-in list too.

In signature files DON'T hide URL with 'Click here' as link text. Let people accustom to your web site name or your product name. If you just use as 'Click here' instead of 'SEO tips and tricks', it looks dull and less interesting.

***4. Change the heading while answering a question:***

If somebody ask a question like - 'What are web site promotion methods?'.

In reply you can change the heading to what ever you want instead of 'Re:What are web site promotion methods?'

You can keep an interesting heading to make your post prominent from others. Like 'FOUR best methods to start with...' or 'Advertising with out spending a penny.' etc. These type of headings certainly attracts people's eyes.

***5. Give respect to others opinions:***

Don't say harsh words even though you know what other person saying is wrong. Be polite. What you want to say tell it clearly and concisely.

If you don't know a topic still you want to comment on that, add 'in my opinion..., as far i know...' etc. Point out to resources if you know any.

***6. Follow up the thread:***

If you start participating in a thread, then check the box that says 'Email Notification'. When ever somebody replies your question, email will be sent to you. So you can post a reply or follow others answers and opinions.

What is the use of this? =You may end up with learning something from that discussion =It could be a topic for your next ezine article or ebook or a report =You can get to know of people of that thread

***7. Every day allot some time:***

Save the forum URLs in your favorites folder. Everyday try to visit them regularly. By this you can know the what is going on around you. You may know good resources and free information links that are useful to you. If you come across any information that is useful to you save them on your computer.