Gone are the days where chat rooms were solely for dating, or uniting unusual interests…
Today pretty much every industry profession sports a wide variety of forums or chat rooms available for people to share knowledge, ask for advice and gain opinion on a range of matters.
I really recommend taking some time to investigate these types of sites as they can offer a fantastic opportunity to share expertise and generate additional interest in your business.
Forums could be particularly useful to you if you’ve explored other social media platforms and not found that they fit with your business, time or style.
Three areas where forums can be used:
- As a PR I often go on to PR and Marketing related forums and offer advice to those looking to write their own press releases, secure some press coverage, or write new copy for their brochure or website. I don’t do it to persuade them into becoming a client, I do it to offer help and support, because I know I can go to similar sites and ask for advice and receive a hugely helping hand in return. As many people who run a small business will know, the sharing of this type of support is absolutely invaluable. Indirectly I receive requests for more information about my services from others who have read the posts and whether it’s just a bit of guidance or a request for a quote, it’s a great way to expand your communications.
- An optician client of mine is interested in using forums, again not directly to gain clients as he’s not a nationwide operation. However in his situation it’s a great way to find out what questions people have about their vision needs and which areas are poorly addressed online. This serves as an opportunity to tailor the information and advice on his own website to the types of areas people are interested in.
- For those in heavily regulated industries such as finance or law, some additional research is required. Remember that you are always responsible for the advice that you give online, the same as if you were face to face with a client. Read the small print of the forum you’re interested, contact the moderators to find out what you can and can’t do. Once you’ve checked it all out, these types of forums can be a great place to offer your expertise, and if you find it is well received, why not use it as a stepping stone to contact your local business supplements or magazines to offer advice on a regular basis to readers.
So if you do one small PR activity this week, spend some time researching business forums – Google your industry profession + forums and see what you come across. Be guided as to the popularity of the site by the number of posts and number of people currently online. Also, the forums on LinkedIn are a good place to start.
Register and lurk in the background for a while – it’s perfectly acceptable!!! Once you get a feel for the people, the regulars and the topics of interest, start posting responses that you feel will help people out.
And remember, just like all of the other social media tools – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn – this isn’t about sales – you’re not there to sell, you’re there to help, support, gain trust and build your reputation as an expert in your field.
Finally, online conversations in chat rooms are often picked up by search engines, so just remember that you need to be happy that whatever you say could come up when someone Google’s you – if you don’t agree with a discussion, walk away and find a more engaging topic to participate in.
One small end note; as the popularity of this type of online discussion grows, so does the technology available. Coveritlive.com for example allows you to embed a real time chat platform into your website or blog so you can host live discussions. If anyone would be interested in a live chat about PR or anything related let me know!
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