COME ON!! I told you NOT to read this. Making money can become addicting, and if you continue along the road of actually reading this relatively long post, you might get the disease of the inflamed Paypal account.

Well, since you insist on continuing to read this, I will try to live up to the title of this post. What you are about to read applies if you are trying to get referrals in a forum such as the Free Lunch Room or Anything4free. Your trade thread plays a big part in sealing the deal. Take the advice listed here, and you will reap the benefits.

If you are logged into the Free Lunch Room forum, you can see my trade thread by clicking here

Your Trade Thread Title

I never realized how important my trade thread title was until my second sticky. I was prepared, sitting at my laptop, ready for a bunch of trades. A day had passed and I had only gotten a handful of inquires. Worry was beginning to set in. Was I really not going to make a good amount of money on my sticky days? I had hyped myself up so much in the preceding days, that this was an unexpected SHOCK. Maybe things were just slow for everyone. But then I looked at the other stickied trade threads, only to see that they were getting significantly more inquires than I was.

I then asked myself the following question: What were they doing that I wasn't? I looked at those that were getting a lot of hits and then it suddenly hit me. My trade thread TITLE was focused on my long term success, their's were focussed on immediate gratification.

I realized that although people wanted long term success, they were more enticed to click on your trade thread when you can let them know what you can do for them quickly. As disappointed as I was in my fellow trader, I decided to do a test.

Before, my trade thread said something like “I've made $12,000 in 2 months, let me teach you how”. I changed it to “Make $200 to start, I've made $12,000 in 2 months, let me teach you how”. As soon as I did that, I started getting hits left and right. I could not leave my computer for 10 minutes without getting a message from a trader. It was ridiculous. However, let me share some key points when it comes to your trade thread title.

  • People that want to make money online, want to know the quickest way to make money TODAY. Most people aren't as enticed by long term success – at least, that's not what gets MOST people to click on your trade thread title.
  • It is my job as a freebie trader (if I want to make money) to use that fact to entice someone to click on my Trade Thread title. HOWEVER, I think it is more important to not take advantage of new traders. We need to TEACH them that the quick way is not the way of success, and that if they do not take their time, they can do themselves more harm than good.
  • If your title says make $200 to start, make sure you have a definite outline that can show the trader HOW they can expect to make that $200. In my case, I outlined that by doing the 6 sites I suggested, they would make $200 to start method 2. I also had proof of other traders that have made that amount of money with me within a week or two.

What goes in your trade thread

Who are you?

Ok, so we have gotten past the title, with a good mix of immediate and long term benefits. Now lets get to your trade thread. I strongly believe that the FIRST thing someone wants to know about you is that you are a real person – someone that they can identify with. For this reason, I start my trade thread with a very BRIEF description of who I am. It is also good to have a full profile, with an avatar that is an actual picture of you.

What do you have to offer?

After the introductions, I like to focus their attention on the benefits they will get by working with me. In this industry, those who are to be successful are those that are in it to help others succeed. Show that you are ready, willing and ABLE to teach them how to be successful and you will have new traders knocking on your door. Well, at least sending you PMs. Once again, let me emphasize – TRAINING IS ESSENTIAL. People want to learn.

What sites are you working on?

After you've gone through why they should work with you, you need to let them know what sites you are currently working on. There are a varying perspectives where this is concerned. My opinion is as follows – Do not overwhelm traders with a bunch of sites. I like to focus my referrals on a few sites, because it eliminates confusion. It is good to have a lot of sites in your portfolio and to also mention that you have many others, in case someone already has the sites you list in your portfolio. I just think that less clutter is better.

I want to work with you. How do I do that?

It's always good to include in your trade thread, how they are supposed to contact you if they are interested in working with you. This, of course, is governed by the rules of the forum, so make sure you understand those rules. For example, at the Free Lunch Room, you should say that they should post a reply OR send you a Private Message (pm). You can not tell them to do both.

Trade Thread No-no's

Now that we've looked at what goes into a trade thread, lets look at things that you should NOT do (in my opinion).

  • Do NOT make your trade thread too long (kind of like this article). People do not want to read your entire life story, or to have to do a whole bunch of scrolling just to see the sites that you are offering. Actually, my trade thread might be bordering on the side of being a little too long. I'm considering shortening it a little.
  • Do NOT let the colors and design distract from the purpose of your trade thread. Make it easy to read.
  • Do not fill your trade thread with clutter.

So there you have it. Go out there and make your trade thread. And let me know how your results are. I'd be happy to hear.

About the Author Leslie Samuel


Leslie Samuel a business coach for high-performing entrepreneurs. As the host of the Leslie Samuel Show, he teaches how to build an online business. "Changing the world one post at a time” is the mission he strives towards. As a former university professor, he has a passion for education. He's the founder of Interactive Biology, a blog and YouTube channel dedicated to making biology fun for students and teachers. As the head of training for the Social Media Marketing Society, he helps social media marketers get the training they need to stay on the leading edge of social media.

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