Forums can be a fascinating and exciting experience for a new marketer. The opportunity to network with other marketers, exchange ideas and maybe even form friendships, is one of the most wonderful things about Internet marketing. However, forums are not without their downside. Whenever you’re in an open community, you’re going to run into all types of folks. Some will be friendlier than others. Some will look for a fight at the first chance. The key to surviving these forums is knowing when to pick your battles. This article is going to explain why this is important as well as how to do it.

Let’s begin with the why. As a member of a forum, you are a guest at the person’s home, so to speak. As a guest, you will be expected to govern yourself accordingly. Now, having said that, some people just don’t care and will jump on just about every word that comes out of your mouth. If you retaliate in kind, what will happen, in many cases, is that you’ll both end up getting booted out of the forum…and with it, your chance to network with the other members. So for that reason, you want to mind your p’s and q’s. That isn’t to say you have to lay down and be a doormat for others.

That brings us to the “how” of picking your battles. This will usually come with experience. For the most part, there is only one thing that anybody can say to you at a forum that can be harmful to your reputation and that’s if a member actually says something about your character as a person, such as calling you a scammer or a crook. Then you need to defend yourself. The key is how to do this. The best way is simply to ask the person to show evidence to support their claim. Unless the claim is true, they can’t do it.

The important thing is not to get into a war of words. Be the bigger person. Bringing yourself down to the level of the attacker just makes you as bad as that person. By conducting yourself with dignity and professionalism, you’ll find that you can usually out think these bullies…most of whom don’t have the sense to come out of the rain. They act the way they do in order to make themselves look important.

It rarely works. Remember that before you decide to go off on one of these trolls.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

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