The 2008 Beijing Olympics are a forum for the most talented athletes from around the world. With so much worldwide coverage and millions tuning into NBC every day we have begun to see direct response advertising created almost instantly after a popular athlete makes history or brings home gold medals. We have seen it with Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. One may be a swimmer and the other a track star but they both equal big direct response advertising dollars.

The commercials seen on NBC may not be infomercials but the commercials accomplished the same result and that is selling more product. According to the New York Times, NBC paid 900 million dollars to be the main TV host of the Olympics. Almost a billion dollars was the price they had to pay for some of the best direct response advertising in history.

For the small entrepreneur, 900 million dollars seems unfathomable but it does not cost that much to get your message heard. The point of this post is to show that using forums that have a large viewer base are the best ways to make sales. Popular social forums are a great place to gain exposure.