Forum Posting for Pay

April 13th, 2008 by Cynthia

If you spend a lot of time on the web, chances are you already post to some forum. Maybe it’s work related, or for a TV show you’re a fan of, or maybe it’s a forum about your favorite hobby. It’s fun, it’s social and you learn things along the way. But for people who own and run forums, keeping them active can be quite a chore. That’s why many forums pay people to post.

Paid forum posting has been around a long while and it seems to be getting more and more popular as forums fight to be number one. Some forums are just starting out and want to make it look like less of a ghost town. Others are hoping a burst of new blood will jumpstart a lagging forum. This is all good news for you.

Forum posting usually pays between .10 and .50 a post. For this, your posts must be well written and on topic and generally they must be consistent (you get paid for a bulk - say 50 at a time.) In addition to forums, there are also people who hire blog commenter’s, which is quite similar.

To get hired as a forum poster you must generally be over 18, a native English speaker and educated enough to create a post that makes sense. It’s freelance work and can usually be done in your freetime. There is a certain amount of record keeping involved (that’s the part I hate) — tracking all of your comments and submitting the URL’s to the company to get paid, but otherwise it’s all about the post!

FINDING A FORUM POSTING JOB

There are a number of places to look for these kinds of jobs. First, there are companies that specialize in this type of work such as Kickstart Your Forums. I’ve never worked for them myself, but they do seem to be a legit company with a good track record. To work for them you must prove your interest by posting to their own forum 15 times before applying. That weeds out the curious and those that give up easily.

You should also check Craigslist in the writer category and some of the webmaster boards such as Sitepoint. They often have adds for this type of work in their Looking To Hire section. (As I write this there’s a brand new poster looking for someone to write for a Freelance Forum.)

As always, be careful of scams. Most will pay through Paypal and you need to trust your instincts before signing up with any of these companies.

Like many online jobs, forum posting isn’t a get rich quick scheme and it’s not likely to pay your rent, but it is a good way to earn some extra cash if you love the social atmosphere of forums and forum posting.