I began the journey of owning a home based business several months ago. Like many others, I found the task of marketing my business overwhelming and frustrating. Without marketing, you don't make sales, and without sales, you can't profitably run your business.

After spending countless hours on the computer and throwing many dollars down the drain, I learned one very important thing: You must combine mass marketing with a personal touch.

There are many great marketing tools you can use to achieve mass marketing including pay per click engines, placing ads, buying leads, banner advertising, and exchanging links just to name a few. While these methods can produce positive results, they lack the personal connection many new business owners need to build a true customer base.

On the other hand, personal touch methods such as emailing your family and friends about your new business can be a great way to start spreading the word, but this approach may not help you reach enough people to give your business the jump start it really needs.

So where did this lead this flailing entrepreneur? Message boards.

I initially visited message boards to get help with my marketing dilemma. In the process, I realized this was not only a place to exchange valuable information with other home business owners, but this was also a great place to market my own online business.

Not only did I find plenty of message board group members willing to give information, I found many interested parties for my own business. Soon, I realized that not only was I becoming a more educated marketing guru, I was introducing my new business to many new friends (and customers).

By joining message board groups, not only will you find a new outlet to advertise your business, but you will also build credibility among your peers.

Follow these simple steps to begin utilizing message boards to market your home business today:

1) Visit a search engine and do a search on message boards. 2) Click through to the message boards and search for forums related to work from home and/or your specific type of business. 3) Join a few message board groups. (Note: Some message board groups will allow you to post without being a member, but membership increases your credibility). 4) Post information about your business. Remember to give specific instructions about how to reach you including email address, Web URL, etc.