Newsgroup Watching

One good way to give your site exposure is to troll newsgroups. Remember that dozens, hundreds or even thousands of people read a newsgroup on a daily basis. This means that you are communicating with a fairly large audience for free. Now, remember to keep your postings strictly on-topic and DO NOT SPAM. But you can always include a signature on your postings, generally from 3 to no more than 6 lines, which advertises anything that you want. And that's the key point. It's not spam because you contribute to the newsgroup.

Watch a number of newsgroups for a while. Find some newsgroups that are similar in topic to your web site, and just watch them for a week or two.  See what kind of posts are being made, what users are asking for, their complaints and wishes. 

You may have to do some jumping around, because some newsgroups are very active and some are totally inactive. In fact, many newsgroups will be active for a time, then all of a sudden stop, then just as suddenly, weeks or even months later, start up again. It's strange ... it seems that newsgroups depend upon one or two motivated posters, people who want that newsgroup to be active. This attracts people.

Once you've found some newsgroups and you fully understand the rules and regulations (both formal and information), then you can begin posting. Now remember, your job is to advertise your site, so be sure and include a signature on your postings. Otherwise you are not doing yourself much good.

In addition, since you are advertising, you want to portray yourself as an expert, as someone who knows what he's doing. You generally do not want to ask questions or act like a newbie - you want to be someone that the people in the newsgroup look to for advice and help.

Why? Well, if they look to you within the newsgroup, there is a good chance they will look at your signature, find your web site address, and visit your site. And that's what you want.

Keep your eyes open for questions that you can answer (and be sure you have the correct answer), help you can provide and advice you can give.  All of these things will improve your image as a master at your craft.

I'm going to reiterate something here. Do not post off-topic to newsgroups and do not spam. If you want to advertise AllAdvantage.Com, then post it to alt.make.money.fast or something, not to alt.arts.and.crafts. It's very tacky and not only will you be ignore but you might even be attacked. It's remotely possible that your ISP may cancel you if the infractions are gross and continuing.

It's also a good idea to keep your posts positive and to the point. Remember your purpose is to be an expert, not to get into childish flame wars and arguments. You want people to visit your site and buy your product ... leave the negativity to others.

What you will find over time is that a number of people visit your site based upon your newsgroup postings. It may not be a large number, but you will get visits. More importantly you will be communicating about your expertise and about your services in a non-spamming way.