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If you're like most people, when you think of chat rooms, you probably think about a bunch of people who get together and talk about dating, relationships, etc.

Well, you'd be only half right, because chat rooms are so much more! In fact, let me give you the true definition of a chat room, and you'll understand what I'm talking about.

A chat room or forum (There is no difference. They're one-in-the-same) is a web site, part of a web site, or part of an online service, that provides a venue for communities of users with a common interest to communicate in real time.

Now the 2 key words in the above definition are "common interest". It doesn't have to be a dating chat room. There are a thousand different type of chat rooms out there. You can chat with other people who like the same things you like, whether it's Internet marketing, automobiles, babies, bowling or pets. Whatever the topic, there's probably a chat room for it somewhere.

Here's how chat rooms work: Chat rooms allow users to communicate with each other in real time (or live), as opposed to the delayed time you get with e-mail. A user enters a chat room, types a message into the computer, and sends it. The message is instantly displayed on the computer screens of the other users in the chat room.

Sometimes these venues are moderated either by limiting who is allowed to speak (not very common) or by having moderation volunteers patrolling the venue watching for disruptive or otherwise undesirable behavior.

So how can you profit from chat rooms? First of all, go online and find a chat room of interest to you, that ties in perfectly with your website. For instance, if you go on Google and type in the words "business chat rooms", Google will present you with 90,4000,000 pages. Typing in the words "automobile chat rooms" will bring up 2,390.000 pages. And typing in the words "pet chat rooms" will bring up 10,900,000 pages. As you can see, the possibilties are virtually endless!

Once you find a chat room you like, start participating in the discussions. Develop a friendly relationship with other users. Eventually, the other users will get around to asking you what you do. Now this where you have to tread softly. Go ahead and tell people what you do, but use the "softsell approach". Why? Because people in general don't like being "sold", especially from someone online they've never met. That's why it so important to give people a chance to see you in chat rooms, and get to know you, check out your website and view your posts on a bulletin board. You have to build a reputation with them first."

It's important to appear in the chat room at the same time every day or at least several days per week. Let visitors know what your chat room schedule is. If you play your cards right, you can become the "resident expert" visitors and regulars turn to for advice. And that's very good for business!