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It’s day twelve of the yeah write community following ProBlogger’s 31 days to build a better blog. We’re happily traipsing  through each day of July including weekends, and the summer series is running alongside our weekly writing challenges

Today’s topic and activity is to join a forum related to your blog’s topic(s).

Finding your tribe for a little give & take

In ProBlogger’s 31dbbb, joining a forum comes up as a method of finding a reliable readership. That’s completely valid, but it can be so much more. In various forums, I see bloggers cull ideas, ask for feedback, and throw out ideas — often with fantastic results. However, before any one member can expect genuine and useful information to take away, there must be a lot of giving that happens first. And I don’t mean saying: “I wrote a post about this subject a while ago — here’s the link!” In the case of forums, you’ve got to give the milk away for free for a while. Maybe even until the cows come home. 

Even in a forum, follow basic etiquette rules

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  • Avoid any raunchy, insulting, generally obnoxious language. Your family may totally get your sense of humor, but no one in a forum knows you that well.
  • Pay attention to structure and style. You want people to *read* what you have *written* eventually, right? Many will not bother visiting your blog if you answer in fragments or poorly edited posts. Offer up ideas and answers in complete sentences.
  • Do I even have to mention the ALL CAPS and misspelling issues?  Okay, good.
  • Avoid being the person who answers every single posting with “Me too!” or “Thanks!” or “LOL.” If you want to give acknowledgement or thanks without adding information, answer privately. 

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Finding and choosing a forum

Search Yahoo! groups, local message boards, parenting boards on a variety of topics, blogging communities like Write on Edge and The SITS girls are handy, and try out some boards on reddit Even setting up a linked ID for various news sites can start to feel like a community* of soul-mates. The Huffington Post, Salon, Jezebel, or your favorite on-line magazines and even towns can be fantastic.

ASK! Ask bloggers in similar styles and subjects about forums they enjoy. Use Twitter for a variety of ideas.

Can’t find the EXACT forum you want? (I’ll bet you didn’t look hard enough…) Then why not get a critical mass together and start your own

* Found the most-perfect-ever forum? Check out the archives before jumping in with both feet. Some forums have very strong personalities that may not be conducive to your goals. Don’t be afraid to hightail it out of there if it’s not for you. 

 Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Find a forum in your blog’s niche or a related topic and join it! If you’re already a member of a forum, ask a few questions or make sure to answer a few. 

We’d all appreciate it if you’d leave an annotated link to YOUR favorite forums, including the topic(s) it covers.

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