We have all heard this before in one form or another. It boils down to as long as I own this and you want to use it, you have to do it my way. No where is this saying more apparent than in the world of forums. There are many different reasons why someone would start a forum; no doubt the most common reason is to earn money. With the many one click install forum platforms now available, the numbers of forums have exploded.
The more popular a forum the more it becomes a target of spammers. Forum owners need to protect their forums and so they put rules in place. Rules can be a good thing for forums as long as they are not too restrictive. And if you find the rules not to your liking, you simply have a choice not to use it. (Granted, this article refers to free forums and not paid ones.)
Know what you are allowed to do and what you are not allowed to do. You must abide by the rules set out for signature links, posts, and replies. Some forums will not allow links inside of a post while others will. Just because you can add a link doesn't mean that doing so isn't against the terms of service. The forum moderators are waging a battle with spammers, intentional and unintentional, and they have no patience for honest mistakes. If you break the rules, you'll be punished.
Forum marketing is a time consuming venture. You have to find a suitable forum and register. Most forums require a certain amount of posts or that you have been a member for a certain period of time before you can start your own thread. If you are a newbie to the forum you shouldn't expect to have the same perks as a member who has made a 1000 posts. Reputations must be built slowly. It is time consuming but it can be well worth the effort.
And now for the bad news; forums are not a democracy. They are a dictatorship run by a few people known as Moderators. If a moderator wants you gone, he or she can simply ban you and you will have no recourse. Some forums are notorious for this practice. You may not have broken any rules and you may have a sterling reputation, but you can still find yourself banned. It can be frustrating and it can hurt your earnings. Is it fair? No. Still, the forum owner is paying for the hosting and the domain name. It is his or her forum and that means it is his or her rules; no matter how arbitrary. That is the tricky part.
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