Discussion Forums - A relatively "new" invention... Copyright ©PBMA - Autogeekonline.net® All Rights Reserved
vBulletin Released 1999/2000
vBulletin, that's the software that runs this forum and most high quality discussion forums on the Internet, was released as a
for sale script around the end of 1999 or early 2000. So by th year 2002 the thing I'm typing on, the thing you're reading right now, that is
text on a forum was still in its infancy from where were at today.
vBulletin History on vbulletin-faq.com VBulletin History on Wikipedia
It's so easy to take the discussion forums for granted today but in the big picture, this software has only been around a short time.
Before this style of discussion forum was created, the next best thing was the Usenet Newsgroups.
Usenet Newsgroups - History Usenet Newsgroups - History on Wikipedia
I know it's all to easy to take powerful tools like a discussion forum for granted or forget how far we've come in such a short time so hopefully this brief little article will hep to keep things in perspective.
Two really powerful services provided by discussion forums 1) Education
Discussion forums provide a flow of information around the world between people interested in similar topics, the power of this ability to communicate cannot be underestimated or overstated.
2) Reach New Customers
The ability to reach your target market with your products or services is powerful using discussion forums. In the case of detailing as a part-time, or full-time job, you can reach customers simply by
creating a quality write-up of your work using
before and after pictures and sharing the details of your process.
A potential customer can read your
write-up, also called a
thread and if you've done a good job you will get their interest and hopefully
earned their trust enough to get them to contact you via a reply to your thread, a Private Message or an e-mail.
Tips for using a discussion forum to reach more customers...
If you want to use reach out to potential customers using a discussion forum, here are some tips...
1) First, read the Forum Rules
Be sure everything you create in your write-up is withing the rules and boundaries of the forum you're posting to. Different forums have different rules, so start by reading each forums rules.
2) Take GREAT before and after pictures
It's important to show your potential new customer how a car looked before you worked your magic and then how it looked after you worked your magic. You're showcasing your skills, talents and abilities. Then, after sorting through your photos and picking the best examples, PLEASE
resize them to a viewing size that's in keeping with
good forum Netiquette, that means keep the width of your pictures to a maximum of around
800 pixels wide so you don't force your readers and potential customers to have to
"horizontal scroll".
3) Include an outline of your process
Spell check your writing. Use capital letters to start a sentence and end a sentence with a period. Don't type in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS as this looks like you're yelling at your reader. Break up large chunks of texts into smaller paragraphs, people won't tend to read HUGE chunks of pure text, but they will read short, crisp paragraphs.
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