The internet is a like worldwide community connecting individuals who share common interests who would otherwise probably never meet. There are groups and forums dedicated to just about any topic you can think of. As an online marketer, the main benefit of finding a group or forum related to your niche is that you have a group of people you know will be interested in what you have to offer.
But you can't just join these groups and forums and spam people with “buy now” messages. If you do, you'll probably get banned and will be unable to participate again. When you find groups or forums relating to your niche market, sign up and spend some time looking around, posting introductory messages and reading what the other members have to contribute. Reply to some posts and get to know the members of the forum first.Try and be genuinely helpful and establish yourself as a knowledgeable expert.
Then when you’re ready to start promoting your product, you’ll have a much more receptive audience. While you are syill establishing yourself as an expert, take note of what the group likes and dislikes, as well as the topics that interest them enough to spark long discussions. Take note of the general demographics of the group as well. What is the “average member” like? This helps you to get a better picture of your target market in order to serve them better.
Here are some places to get started finding groups and forums:
Yahoo! Groups: This is a directory of groups and forums hosted by Yahoo, and is searchable by category or keyword. Yahoo! is a very popular provider of free group sites—you may even want to consider starting your own free group so you can learn more about your target market.
MSN Groups This is another online community of groups and forums, with an index that is divided by subject and search box to make looking for your topic at hand a cinch. MSN also offers free group and chat room creation as well.
Google group search: Google Groups works a bit differently, because it maintains separate engine listings for web sites, images, and groups. Simply type in your topic or keywords to find groups related to your niche. Like MSN and Yahoo, Google gives you the option to create your own free groups.
Delphi Forums: is a directory of internet forums, and is also searchable by keyword or topic. You also have the option of creating your own free forum if you wish.
All the best.