Marketing on forums without being labelled as a spammer

Hi I'm new to this forum and I am seeking help in promoting my website without being banned for spamming. I'm looking to making a little extra money for Christmas (Aren't we all) and I believe I have discovered a niche market in selling a certain themed calendar.
I have been doing extensive research over the last few months, and I have been advertising in a magazine aimed at my target market, as well as e-mailing loads of websites, and I have a good following on Facebook and Twitter.
What I am looking for is a real shot in the arm regarding my hits on my website. No matter how much I update Facebook or Twitpics or Twitter it barely registers on my statcounter. What I want is to raise my daily hits, hopefully in the hundreds or even thousands possibly. I could go around countless forums just joining up and putting posts all over the place, but the moment I do this I’ll just get banned for spamming. I have tried buying hits in bulk, but its a very ineffective way of generating hits, as I want all of my hits to be people genuinely interested in going on my website.
My website is scifi based and other than the calendar I am selling, anyone is free to go online and download my artwork, for use on mobile phones, desktop images, etc. I do have a terms and conditions page forbidding use for public broadcast, such as printed or any other form of visual media without my permission.

Now for my calendar: I have designed a UFO themed calendar, with 12 different images. I have had a lot of good feedback regarding my design, and have sold three calendar so far, not a spectacular amount I know. My problem is at the moment, I am not a printer so therefore I have to use an online company called Zazzle. They are very good, the only downside is the price of the calendars, which they decide not me. I paid £25 for a test print a week or so back, which I think is far too expensive for a calendar, given that everyone is struggling. It was a large format calendar, and there are smaller ones available at a cheaper price. However if you go into any retailer in the UK selling calendars you’ll usually pay around £10 no more. I know there is a niche market for these calendars which I can tap into, and I have searched the net, and there are similar calendars out there but nothing striking. I have also been in touch with a few calendar publishing companied who distribute calendars to the shops in time for Christmas, but so far they have blanked me. I believe it’s because they don’t see a market in what I’m selling.
The interest on the subject of UFO is huge especially on the internet. But there are also a huge amount of what I like to call closet believers out there who do not like to admit their interest in the subject publically. I myself have no wild beliefs or conspiracy theories I simply believe that our universe is way to vast for us to be the only life, and my beliefs are based on scientific research not a tabloid story.

Anyway what is an effective way of marketing on forums to generate sales such as this one without being labelled as a spammer?
Thanks
Jason Chapman
Scifi-design.com

 

Offer good content obviously...if you contribute people will respond

 

thanks guys

 

The big thing about forum marketing is to offer value in the post you respond to, and don't call attention to the links in your signature file. However, what you might find is that no matter how much value you add to a forum, you will often get your signature file removed from non-internet marketing related forums...so that is something to look at before you spend too much time on them.

 

Hi there,
the use of social media marketing has been embraced by the business community as the holy grail ,the set and forget,auto system of the future that's now, resulting in boat loads of cash just flooding in over the ether.
AND
I would say you are typical of the result.
But there is an answer.
First examine the phrase Social Networking
In order for us to use it for marketing you have to be social and network
having thousands of followers on facebook and twitter is meaningless .
Without those two attributes.
You have to have meaningful dialog.
You have to build relationships
People have to know you
trust you
and like you
Platitudes i am sure you have all heard before however its all true.
Therefore stop searching for that holy grail the next new thing that promises huge return for no effort they dont exist they never did
do this instead
Give all you followers be it facebook or twitter FREE CALENDERS
IN RETURN FOR THEIR EMAIL

You have to give value you have to build up your creedence stop thinking short term if you cannot afford to give away the calendars give them a pen or
if you cannot afford anything look for freeby giveaways online that complement your niche and direct them there first
imagine how you can position yourself to those followers build your relationship then and only then start selling them stuff forever!!!

Hope that helps a bit then
till next time
regards
Tom

 

Hi,
I do post wallpapers on twitter and facebook so that people are free to use them.

in regards to adwords, I am looking into this, however when I do a search for UFO calendars on Google, I occupy the top spot anyway, so is there any need for adwords.

I also went on Zazzle forum earlier and explained about pricing and affordability. Someone wrote back and said what makes Zazzle unique is that people can buy products they wont find anywhere else, so they will be prepared to shell out that bit extra.
thanks
Jason C

 

If you are selling something, offer some free samples to the forum members if they agree to post a review. You may want to contact the site owner and offer him/her a free sample to start with and go from there.

Or just go the google adwords route.

 

I think it's a very simple question.First,you need to read the forum rules carefully;then try not to break the rules of the forum when
promoting your business.When you're not very sure on something,you can also ask some experienced members for advice or directly
contact administrators here.

 

Is there a software for forumpromotion that you could use to help you with the organazing of forum marketing? Don´t think I would buy it but it would be fun to hear what others has to say about it

 

That's exactly what I plan to do next year regarding a book I am writing, I'll print off 20 copies and will distribute them according to different people for review.

I'm going to call adwords later today, to get more information, I don't quite understand the process, I know you pay them a set amount daily, however when someone clicks on your add you have to pay google, which makes me feel uneasy.
I was going to set a limit of £1 a day, around £30 a month no more than a standard mobile phone contract, however, if for arguments sake I get 100,000clicks on my add, how much do I have to pay google? this is what puts me off. Another problem with adwords is that yes, I may get 100,000 hits off it, but most people are browsers. I am more than happy for people to download my artwork for use for wallpapers etc, however when they see they have to pay for calendars they may turn their noses up, people are always looking for freebeis or the lowest price.
I did a car boot sale for a while a few years back, and it got really annoying when people would come up and offer me 20p for a DVD I paying £15 a year earlier. Anyway I'll have a chat to someone after at Google and hopefully they'll straighten everything out.

Hey I like this forum, hopefully I'll have around for a while.

 

Set your daily limit to something like £10 a day. This way there's no risk of losing a lot of money. Also you can put the price in your ad to get more people who are actually willing to buy it.

 

I did phone google earlier but they were about as clear as mud about adwords. I'll leave it for now.
I think the best course of action for now is to build up my reputation, on forums such as this one, without coming across as a deliberate spammer. I do get hits when I post on other forums. Its just a case of setting out a clear cut plan.
Cheers Guys.

Jason Chapman