We don’t recommend masquerading as one of your customers within an online community – life’s complicated enough without pretending to be Bill from Maidenhead. Instead feel free to contribute to the debate but as far as you can avoid the sales pitch. Your bound to come off the worse for that.

Instead if you feel it appropriate declare your interest as a supplier wanting to make your product better. Don’t go dropping your URL everywhere – some websites will ban you and others might start a boycott.

Just because you don’t have a loft full of junk you are trying to sell doesn’t mean you can’t sell your products or services on ebay.

Increasingly e-bay is being used to promote service businesses. It’s cheap and easy and is a huge community of online enthusiastic e-bayers.