Forum Frenzy — 10 Surefire Ways To Annoy People In MLM Forums
Do you spend time in forums like the one at BetterNetworker.com? I do. It’s a good way to keep an eye on the competition and learn something new every day. But It’s also a good way to get ticked off.
What do I mean? Well, other than the occasional mud throwing matches that happen from time to time… I also have a few pet peeves about forums. I’m sure you do to.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love forums. Some of the info people share is priceless. So I hope you give me a little license to vent here. Because when it comes down to it… I’ve made all these mistakes myself at one point or another.
And here they are…
10 Surefire Ways To Annoy People In MLM Forums
Terrible Typos. Okay, this might sound a little basic but I’m not talking about a typo or two in an article… it happens. I’m talking about honest to goodness typos in every paragraph. For some reason that just turns me off. Does it bug you too?
Solid Rocks of text. Some people… bless them… have never discovered subheads or how to break up text into bite-sized chunks so it’s easy to read. I wish mom warned me about these… before I went blind. It’s like trying to read a book printed on sandpaper by rubbing your eyes on it.
Professional Mud-Slinging. Okay, there’s nothing wrong with asking a question in a forum, but when people use it to stir up muck and drive traffic to their sites… it’s a little transparent and self serving. And besides if the old saying is true “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”
The Cynical Critic. This might sound a little cheeky coming from a guy writing a blog post criticizing forum posts but this gets out of hand. You’ll see people “duking it out” in the forums and it’s not good for anyone involved. Even if it is funny. Criticism is probably the fastest
way to make people hate you in forums.
Headlines That Suck. Have you ever clicked on a headline only to realize… “WOW… here’s a killer post I want to read… but I would never have known it existed because the headline didn’t describe the content inside.” Well, people almost always underestimate the power of a great headline. This is a big one.
Excessive Quoting. I know you’ve seen these… someone takes a whole post and replies to it by quoting the whole post in reply. Then they answer with two sentences and wait for the applause… it never comes. This is kinda like quoting William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and putting your name on the cover.
Bait n’ Switch Headlines. Headlines like “MLM sucks” then a first sentence that says… “Well, I don’t really believe this. I just wanted you to read my post.” I don’t know about you but this really peeves me. Most people hate being tricked.
Holier Than Thou. No I’m not talking about religion. I’m talking about replies that get into the philosophical implications and profound insights instead of answering the poor poster’s question. These replies usually take up a solid page… look like a brick wall of text and don’t make any sense unless you have a dictionary at hand.
Pushing Pills. You’ve probably seen this guy… he replies “Hey, I answered your post so you can go see how my MLM really helps you out. Here’s the link. In fact, I won’t even bother to write a real reply.” Man, please keep your links to yourself unless you are rock-solid certain you are answering a valid question with them.
“Pimping” Sig Files. Signature files that look like a pimp’s hat are another pet peeve. You know the stereotypical purple pimp hats with cheetah print you see at Halloween? Well, sometimes I get the feeling that people think this is the professional way to “pimp” their links. Please leave the fuzzy dice and red text at home. A rule of thumb: When your signature file is longer than your average reply… you have a problem.
Anyway, I’m sure you have your own pet peeves about forum posts. And I hope I didn’t offend anybody… but geeze… someone had to say something sooner or later.
We all make mistakes. At least I do. And everyday we become a little Better Networkers.
To your success,
Jason Better The “Better Networker”
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3 Comments
Judd Parco on November 27th, 2009
Gosh, I just went onto the BN forums after a hiatus, and most of what I read were negative messages and spam.
I have read so many gems on the jasonbetter site, but I am starting to feel like the BN forums are breeding grounds for spammers and haters.
Sorry to be so negative, but some people just don’t get it.
My personal pet peeve? Flaming. I think this is a mix of the “cynical critic” and the “mudslinger” one.
It seems that all they want to do is hate on everything!
Why can’t we all just be happy! =]
[Reply]
November 27th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I’ll second that.
“Why can’t we all just be happy!”
Still, I think the BN forums are
filled with some of the nicest
people on earth.
I’ve been to some forums and they’re
all spam. At BN… well, at least the community
jumps them and slaps spammers around pretty
quick.
[Reply]
20 Guidelines for Building Backlinks with Submission Sites | Web Traffic Solutions for Network Marketing | TrafficCpanel.com on October 24th, 2009
[...] Check out this complete list of practices that should be avoided when activating in forums. [...]