In today's Internet marketplace, forum marketing is one of the most effective methods of marketing available. No matter what niche you're in, you can do this type of marketing. You'll have a hard time finding a niche without active forums though some will have more than others.
Some business owners also prefer to skip this option in pursuit of other 'high value' methods of marketing. As an Internet marketer you can use this method to meet many of the goals you set for yourself.
Make your first step one that involves establishing a good reputation so that you'll be viewed as an authority or expert in your niche. Lacking either one will render your results to less than desired. But you can't really get noticed as an authority without first being seen. Unfortunately, you don't have an infinite number of hours to devote to a forum. This, after all, is only one part of a much larger marketing strategy.
It will also annoy regular members if you come on strong and make a ton of posts in a matter of hours. So time your visits when there are the most members present. You can make half a dozen or so thoughtful posts answering questions or contributing something valuable. There are several golden rules with forum marketing, and one of them is to give value and be helpful. But consider that when you provide value, you'll be helping someone or more than one person. There might be plenty of reasons that others will be resentful towards you. It could be that you seem like a pompous know it all. But it just depends on how you present your knowledge in the forum. Yes, you might know a lot about your subject, but don't come off as a know it all. If people do not feel right about you, then it will have a bad article source effect on your forum reputation. It will not matter how good you are if people do not like you.
Don't even think about networking on a forum until you know who the 'top dog' on the forum is, so to speak. Most of the time there are a few people who could easily claim this role. There is some influence to this based on the sheer number of forum members too. There are some large marketing forums that have been around a while, and there are many people who have social influence. It really will vary from one forum to the next-often the influence bringers are moderators. When it's a moderator you'll see a lot of people trying to curry favor. It's these members that you want to develop relationships with above all others. Even though forum marketing can be productive and fruitful, it's not anything that will bring you overnight success. But, it might happen sooner depending on the forum and your product. Some forums will allow marketing, which will make you plenty of quick cash.