My mother had a great saying when I was a kid. “To thine own self be true.” In other words, be true to who you are. Since I always wore my heart on my sleeve, I never knew how to be anything else, so I wasn’t quite sure what the point was. However, as I got older, I began to see the point. Sometimes being yourself can land you in a lot of trouble. This is especially true when it comes to forum participation. If you’re going to participate in forums and if you ARE going to be yourself, be prepared for what may happen as a result.

I am a very outspoken person. Perhaps you’ve noticed. So when I have something to say, I just come right out and say it. I don’t beat around the bush. Some people appreciate that. Others call me everything from an egomaniac to words that I can’t print in this article. While I don’t appreciate the name calling, it is something that I have to expect if I’m going to put myself out there like that. There are only two choices. You either be yourself and suffer the consequences or you keep your mouth shut. Believe me, there are days when I seriously consider the latter.

You’re probably wondering, “What does this have to do with me?” Well, if you’re going to participate in forums, unless you just plan on being a wallflower and hang out with the rest of the folks who don’t say much, expect the things you say, especially if you have strong opinions, to generate some pretty strong reactions. If you’re not tough and can’t handle the heat, you’re going to find forum participation is not very pleasant. See, when people are hiding behind their keyboards, they have no problems saying things to other members that most would never say to their face. That’s just the way forum life is.

So before you decide on whether or not you want to make forum participation part of your marketing routine, understand that there are going to be consequences to your actions. This isn’t like a one way sales letter where the worst thing that can happen is that the person on the other side simply closes up your site.

Things can get very ugly at a forum.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

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