MallowImage by mbgrigby via FlickrFor any interest, hobby or gardening need, there are many online forums of people just like you, full of questions and advice.  These forums include those devoted to lawn and landscape maintenance.  If you are a professional in the lawn and landscape business, then these forums can be a fun and economic way of keeping your finger on the pulse of your industry.  But even an amateur gardener can learn a lot from lawn and landscape online forums.

Finding Them

It’s never been easier to find lawn and landscape online forums, thanks to search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Ask.com.  If you can remember life on the internet before search engines, when all you had were link directories (if that), then you are probably shuddering at this moment.  All you need to do is type “lawn and landscape forum” into your favorite search engine, and soon you’ll be spoiled for choice.

How To Choose

If you are a professional, then try to target those forums that claim to be for professionals.  These forums are also open to non-professionals (which can lead to getting you some business), but brace yourself for some stupid questions and some name calling if any poster has a chip on their shoulder.  Although some flame wars are inevitable, try to avoid lawn and landscape forums where almost every thread includes a flame war of some kind.  You don’t need the stress.

Most importantly, you need to see how active the lawn and landscape online forum community is.  There should be many recent posts, preferably in the last week.  If you see that the last post was over a month ago, then this is a big neon flashing sign that hardly anyone bothers to check out this forum.  You are better off leaving it for a more active one.  It’s a better use of your time.

Take time to read the FAQ page to see what topics are and aren’t allowed.  There also may be rules on whether you can put links your website on the signature of your posts are not.  If you can, do so, as this is great free advertising.  You already know that your target audience is interested in what you have and will be more likely to go check out your website than even if you advertised in other ways.

Choose a free lawn and landscape online forum.  There really is no reason to have to pay to be on a forum.  You do want to be sure that you have updated your computer security software before you go checking out anything online, let alone lawn and landscape forums.

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