When I first discovered the online world almost five years ago, it wasn't long after that I also discovered one of my favorite areas of that New World.

Newsgroups.

Now I know there has been plenty of talk and information regarding newsgroups recently.  Usually when you hear about newsgroups, you hear about how to advertise, you hear about how often newsgroups are spammed, and you hear about people extracting e-mail addresses from them.  When I discovered newsgroups, the thought never entered my mind to try any of these types of things.

Newsgroups are for ongoing discussions. I loved that.  It was great to find a group that discussed things I was interested in, to see the same people posting almost daily, and to see a decent level of intelligence in the postings.  The groups that I participated in were very much like a community, I could bounce ideas off people and hear other viewpoints
on things.  Now my attraction to these groups may have quite a bit to do with the fact that I love to write.  I like being able to read something fully, read it again if need be, and take my time answering.  With newsgroups, you can do that.  You can check your spelling, you can reread what you write to be sure that it makes sense, and you can fix it if you need to before you send it.

Let me give you an example of how this helps in business.  Let's say that you offer website Design services.  Let's also assume that you are like me in the fact that you enjoy having someone else to bounce ideas off of, brainstorm with, or just in general talk to.  In that case, you might decide to start frequenting the newsgroup alt.html.  So you start reading the posts currently there, you hang out for a few days just to get the feel of things (this is correct way to enter a new newsgroup by the way). You Discover that everyone there is discussing a topic that you love.  So what do you do?  You start participating of course!  Maybe you see a question posted that you know the answer to.  Answer it.

Answer it clearly, intelligently, and nicely. Give them other resources to followup with such as book references or website URL's, if you have them.

Do not advertise.  Just be helpful.  Sure you can add a signature file, but keep it simple.  Sometimes, your name and a simple website address is all it takes.  Your company name, and a short slogan is fine as well though.

Now you may be wondering why you should take all of this precious time to help someone else. Why should you answer their questions while not putting a plug in for your own services? There is probably some official name for this type of advertising, but I think of it as Passive Advertising.

You may be asking, "How can you call this advertising?" Think back to what your mother or your grandmother may have told you as a child: you can catch more flies with honey then you can with vinegar.  By being nice, being openly helpful and friendly, you gain attention.  This is especially true in newsgroups because there are so many glaring ads
everywhere you turn. Do you like pushy salespeople, or those that help you without pressure? You've heard of helping charitys to get your business known, correct? This is the same theory, only exercised online instead of off.

If your advice in the newsgroup is good, while at the same time your attitude is good, people will look for your signature file to see if you have a web site.  They may be curious about the new person or they just want to see what the competition is.  Sometimes they want to see if you're as good as you sound.  You never know when those good leads will
come, someone could ask for more information about your service the very first time they see a post from you.  Usually this happens after people have seen your name around for a while, and have liked what they've seen. Believe it or not, other people that frequent the same newsgroup may end up referring you occasionally as well.  Assuming they like the
content that you have on your website, or they like your services, they may mention you in passing when they're helping someone else.

Suprisingly, leaving your signature file off of a posting occasionally can also generate interest.  I did this it by accident one time on a private discussion board.  I answered someone's question but I did not link to my web site or leave any information in a signature.  Later that day, I saw a response to my post from a friend.  His post basically said something to the effect of: "Now, now don't be shy! Tell them about your services too." This was not contrived, false, or set up in any way. This was an advertisement for me without my even trying.  It was one of the best forms of advertising too: word-of-mouth.

Using the alt.html example above, some people actually try to blatantly advertise Web Design services to this group.  Needless to say, the people that actually get inquiries and leads are the ones using Passive Advertising.

Does passive advertising take extra time and effort?  Yes.  Is it worth it?  Yes.  Helping others, answering questions, and just in general having a good attitude, generates interest.  Generating interest generates leads.

Kathy is the owner of SasEz! Publications and Design http://www.sasezdesyn.com  SasEz! announces the opening of a brand new Business Tools Site! Take a look at http://www.businesstools4u.com  It may have just what you're looking for!

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Wanda Loskot - Success Connection
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Professional business coach, author & speaker specializing in Internet marketing.
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