It's almost impossible to find a niche that doesn't have some relevant forum dedicated to it. Then, if they have good traffic and allow it, you can implement a universal forum marketing strategy that can transform your business within a year. You don't have to make a long-term effort in order to put this plan into place. With all good things, however, time and care are required in order to get a maximum ROI. Only you can decide the best route to follow for your business.
One page you should never go without reading is the TOS (terms of service) page. This is where you'll find out what's acceptable so you can enjoy a long and profitable relationship with the site. If you manage to violate the terms of service for a forum you run the risk of being banned from that site permanently. It doesn't matter to them if you've read the TOS or not. Part of your responsibility is to know about them so that you do not violate them. There are generally deep feelings about it on behalf of site owners and moderators. Anything else they may have in terms of guidelines and policies should be read and followed.
Take a quick peek at the signatures if you want to ascertain if marketing is okay. See if the signatures have links. This is how it is done if forum marketing is not frowned upon. After you have seen many forums, you will be able to tell what to do in terms of forum marketing rules. Also, you will know what you can do by studying the signatures of other members on the forum. For instance, you can often see multiple links with graphics, etc. This will tell you whether or not marketing is really allowed.
Understanding the difference between business and nonbusiness related actions, in regard to a find here forum, is something you need to know if you have never been on an online forum before. Naturally you want to be able to engage in some kind of marketing otherwise it's pointless to join. Discerning what a forum will allow, in regard to marketing, is something you need to know before you spend the time to join it. There's so much more to consider, but there's not enough space to write it all. You don't have to be a genius to follow the simple guidelines that most of them present. The results that you actually get from your forum marketing efforts will vary based upon many different things. Just like you would learn other marketing methods, and prepare for them, you need to check my site do the same thing with forums. Although forum marketing will work eventually, do not expect it to happen overnight. But, it might happen sooner depending on the forum and your product. Many forums do not mind its members advertising their products, which will lead to many new cash opportunities.