Having recently begun the process of starting my Virtual Assistant business, I found myself joining several on-line forums as a source of information and support.

On-line forums are meeting places on the internet where members pose questions or ideas for discussion.  They are not much different than “pre world wide web forums”; other than having a cyber location and web based method of communication.

Participation in an on-line forum is done by someone posting a topic to discuss, which is the start of a “thread”. A “thread” is a string of comments regarding the topic.

My recent ventures into forums have provided me with endless amounts of information as well as guidance and support. The only drawback I have found is from people posting items not relevant or in the spirit of the forum.

Every forum has an underlying purpose and rules on posting.  If everyone sticks to these two points, forums can be effective tools for all.

My favourite forum is VANA (www.vanetworking.com); its underlying purpose is to connect people interested in the Virtual Assistance industry. I enjoy the time I spend here and cannot describe how much it has helped as I start out in this new business venture.

The only time I do not enjoy this forum is  when people post topics that have nothing to do with the forum interests or are a blatant sales pitch (which generally most forums do not permit).  They create more work for the moderators who have to deal with them.

This morning in the VA Networking forum there were 3 such posts – one sales pitch and two “way out in left field” topics.  All three were posted by different members, who had joined that day and it was the first post for each.

As I read each of the posts, I kept thinking about the 20 or so junk emails I receive daily and figured that these “members” are probably people who send those emails as well.  I am fairly new to VA Networking, so didn’t throw in a reply even though I had a great urge to do so. By late afternoon I noticed all 3 posts had been removed. Obviously I was not the only one thinking these posts did not belong.

Forums can be great if everyone followed a few simple guidelines:

1. Read the group’s archives to see if this forum is of benefit to you.
2. Join the forum if you have a genuine interest in the group or subject.
3. Read the forum rules so you understand how to post and participate.
4. If you think the membership would be interested in your service/product; do not post a sales pitch, place an ad on the forum website instead.
5. Post relevant topics.

Most forum members I believe do follow these guidelines, I think what is really happening is that the spammers and scammers of the world are evolving and reaching into more and more areas of the internet to try and find their “customers”.

I just wish they would leave VA Networking and other groups alone.

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