Guidelines for new members

[JakeThomas]

First of all, on behalf of the Small Business Forum team + community members, welcome to the forums!

We're a pretty carefree bunch and like to go with the flow, we do have a few guidelines and recommendations to help you and others enjoy your stay.

Signatures
10 posts are required before a member can use signatures. Once you have made 10 posts, we recommend you edit your signature. Use these few lines to include your real life name, website, a few words about what you do and perhaps some contact details.

- To edit your signature head to the top navigation, click on forum actions > Edit Profile > Edit Signature (On the left navigation).

Update Profile
To allow other members of the forum the opportunity to learn a bit about you, it's a good idea to include some information on your profile. This can include an avatar (image of yourself which is included next to your posts), your profile picture, further contact details and some brief information about yourself.

- To edit your avatar head to the top navigation, click on forum actions > Edit Profile > Edit Avatar (On the left navigation).
- To edit your profile image head to the top navigation, click on forum actions > Edit Profile > Edit Profile Picture (On the left navigation).
- To edit your profile head to the top navigation, click on forum actions > Edit Profile > Edit Profile (On the left navigation).

Introduce Yourself
It is suggested that new members to the forum take a few minutes to introduce themselves and their business. This will allow other members on the forum the opportunity to get to know you better and tends to be a great ice breaker!

By all means share your website links and contact details so other members can get in contact - However, blatant advertorial posts that only serve as a promotion tool will be removed.

- To locate the new members forum, head to the main navigation bar, click on Forum > then under the "general discussions" heading, click on "new members".

Forum Tips
While Small Business Forum is not only a great place to learn about business, it's also a fantastic way to generate new business. You will find, that by being a regular, active, friendly and helpful member of the community that other forum members who are interested in your services will frequently contact you. Be sure though, that your signature and profile is up to date so they know how to find you! (See above for instructions)

Most importantly - Have a good time! Let off a bit of steam if you need to, complain about a client who is driving you up the wall or perhaps share stories about a great new contract you secured.

See you round!

- Jake

[Matthew Keath]

400 views, no responses? Thought I better make one.

Good tips Jake, well done.

[Burgo]

Matt you could have said more you know, like could all new members use English please as our resident OAP only speaks one language, and that it would be nice to communicate.
Another thing could Viagra please dont insult us by thinking we are all old and sexually inactive and please if you really need to advertise then space is available for a small fee.
There now that feels better have I forgotten anything ?
Then please feel free to say it.

[v2Media]

Here's a forum tip in general: bookmark the 'Search for new posts' link for the forum instead of the homepage. This way, when you click on your bookmark, the entry page lists all posts made since your last visit.

The new posts link for this form is: http://www.smallbusinessforum.com.au...e=vBForum_Post

[Burgo]

Thanks Mark, on my PC it comes up at the current date. However the Mac is different the page comes up the date I bookmarked it, so I will try your tip.
Love this forum even OAP can learn a thing or three

[MihadAli]

Thanks for the guidelines guys.

[Birgit]

Thanks Jake for these guidelines. I think I now will head over to my profile and check that everything is as it should be hahaha

[jameskendrick]

We're a pretty carefree bunch and like to go with the flow, we do have a few guidelines and recommendations to help you and others enjoy your stay.

[ronniewilliams]

Nice information JakeThomas and also good tips for new users thanks for sharing it.

[v2Media]

I might add another tip for all members, old and new.

This being a public forum, all content that you post is accessible to the public. As such, everything you say can be accessed, indexed and retrieved by search engines. If you don't want the public to know something, the public includes your business peers, potential customers and competitors - then don't post it.