Networking is a great way to contruct your online business, and message boards are some of the best places for networking. Not only might you advertise your business (if allowed), you can learn more about selling , promotion or whatever subject pertains to your business. Message boards are also a great way to establish yourself as an expert and to contruct yourself a workable reputation. Relationships--business and personal--might also start from contacts made on communication boards. When putting up to message boards, there are a few things you should remember.
1. Do not spam! A lot of message boards do not allow blatant selling , but do allow sigtags. Make sure you read all rules carefully before affixing . There are communication boards that allow branding of any kind, however these are not very useful as far as networking or learning anything of value.
2. Do not flame! Message boards are a means for people to express different opinions and ideas. You should never insult anybody because they do not agree with your point of view. This is one way for you to lose all credibility for your business and your reputation.
3. Do participate in the discussions! You definitely want to get involved in the discussions and make yourself known. Answer questions whenever possible and give advice. People will come to respect you as an expert in your field and trust what you say.
4. Do treat others with respect! Always give others on the boards the same treatment and respect you would want them to give you. No matter how much or how little someone knows, they still deserve the identical respect as others. Always remember, you started out not knowing much either.
5. Do contruct relationships! I have "met" so many wonderful all the people since starting on the Internet! It is a grand way to contruct personal and business relationships. So go to the boards, initial a conversation and just have some fun, while building your business!!
Internet Marketing Boards:
http://www.williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi
http://www.free-publicity.com/cgi-bin alk.cgi
http://www.bizweb2000.com/wwwboard/
http://rimdigest.intranets.com/login.asp
Home Business Boards:
http://powerhomebiz.com/discussion/subscription.htm
http://attractionmarketing.com/discussion/index.html
http://www.ablake.net/forum/
You might find more boards at:
http://www.forumonecom.
http://www.delphi.com
Visit some of these boards, find your favorites and get to work building relationships, your business and your reputation!!
I hope this helps in your future branding decisions.