I really get a kick out of forum discussions. Some of them turn into knock down drag out fights. And you know why that is? It's because people just don't know how to communicate. In this article, I'm going to give you an example (leaving out all names) and then give you some tips on how you can avoid such problems. You'll never completely avoid them, but you can avoid most of them.

Let's start with my little example. One person, at this forum I attend, started a thread explaining why people don't make any money online. He cited one of the problems as asking questions like, "How long will this take?" or "How many hours will I have to put in a day?" and things like that. His assertion was that these people were lazy and didn't want to do any work. Granted, many people who DO ask these questions are just that...lazy.

You would think that the members reading the thread, myself included, would "understand" the point the member was trying to make. Most did. But a few argued that these were valid questions from people who maybe worked a full time job and didn't have the time to put into a full time business. And yes, for these people, these ARE valid questions. But the initial post painted with very broad strokes and didn't account for these legitimate folks. And so the arguing began.

Had the original poster CLEARLY stated that he was not referring to people with other responsibilities who didn't have that much time to put into a business, all the arguing could have been avoided. At least a great deal of it could have. I'm sure somebody could have found something else to argue about.

Point is, by not clearly communicated what you mean, you open yourself up for these kinds of arguments. And believe me, I understand them and even pointed out why this was happening in the thread itself.

What you need to understand is this. When you are making the post you're making, your mind is in a certain place. You know where you are. Problem is, the other members DON'T. They don't know you're only referring to a certain group of people. So you need to make that clear.

In short, the more info you give in a forum post, the better the chances that you aren't misunderstood. So carefully think out your posts BEFORE you make them...no matter how angry you may be.

It will greatly help avoid scenes like the one I witnessed this morning.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Author SIG

Want to know what the 7 Deadly Sins of Internet Marketing are? Get my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/7deadlysins/7deadlysins.html and save your business from going down the tubes before it even has a chance.

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