Is your time spent on forums productive?

I don't spend much time on forums. I do hang out on this one only and that's only from time to time when I am really not busy with more important things. They can be addictive and you can waste a lot of time on them, but if you do this in moderation, you will benefit from it, in my opinion.

So, moderation is the key to a successful productive relationship with forums, IMO.

I think no better place to gain knowledge and experience than forums and the more you learn the more productive you'll be.

Meeting different people with different ideas will really increase your productivity faster than you could ever imagined

Far less productive, but I don't look at it that way, and that isn't my reason for spending that time, anyway. Some of the other time, that I do spend working on my business, is more productive because of the time I've spent in forums, though.

I think I'm happy with forums.

Not really these days. But it's okay, I can only be productive for a few hours in a day. Unless an idea sets me off into a manic obsession that is...

For a newbie, it's usually a time drain, at least before they get wiser and learn to optimize the time they spend on forums for improved productivity.

I feel like forums are like my email inbox, I have to distinguish the junk post from the important/helpful ones

You can gain great knowledge and overcome problems through forums but it can overwhelm the newbie with information overload.

When you are more experience you can learn to manage your time better and offer the advice to others that will then help build your reputation so this is then more worthwhile.

Depends on which forum.

There are several sport forums I frequent where my time is most surely wasted in writing long-winded tirades about the Yankees, Bill Walsh, and the entirety of Southern California sports.

... so, no. Nothing productive comes out of those visits.

Other forums (such as the Warrior Forum) are generally productive for me as long as I do not get lost browsing aimlessly or whatnot.

Spending time in this forum is not a waste of time. I give and get and I also get lots of work from members because I have created a solid reputation in here. I try to help others where I can and I learn where I can as well so there are many benefits to being a warrior.

Here we exchange ideas, share methods and techniques, build relationships, improve our reputation, etc... So, yes, I think the time we spend on forums can be productive and bring a great financial return in the long run.

However, it doesn't mean that we should spend the whole day on forums. It's important to be organized and don't let the forums stop us from accomplishing other tasks. Organization = money.


W

I think that's an excellent way to think about it.

I think it is productive. I usually hit the WF after 5PM as a kind of break from the day. I skim the topics, maybe make a comment or two and leave after 15 min to 30 min. I will hit the forum during the day if I run into an issue that I think fellow warriors might have an answer for. The only unproductive time is when I make a post and a moderator deletes it without telling what mistake I made so I can't learn from it. The amount of knowledge and the people that are willing to share it here is just mind boggling. All in all, this is a gold mine of information with a collection of incredible people involved. Love it.

Thanks, Ed

If I'm in another forum other than warrior forum. But if I'm here at Warrior Forum, no. Not really. I find the time I spend on this forum to be productive everyday. I'm not really a person who checks my FB profile every week. But I sure did make the WF my FB that I check at least 2 times a day even just a short while. I don't have any background in internet marketing. And this forum is a fountain of information for me.

Checking here lots of times doesn't that just teach me what I need to know for me to find it productive. But it also fuels my desire to move forward and learn the IM business no matter what. Reminds me that stopping now would definitely be something I might regret for years to come. Reminds me that spending more time here now is a whole lot better than spending them years later cause of regrets that I didn't today. Yes, I find it productive to spend time here even just a glimpse or so because checking here everyday keeps me inspired to continue learning what I must learn to become successful and that someday inspire others like how others here have inspired me.

Its a major time-drain, i spend to much time on forums, can't help my self, i am addicted

Usually, I spend 2-3 hours per week in this forum. Because I am working at Internet Marketing, it is almost essential for me to stay updated with WF. I think, it is productive for me because I am spending 2-3 hours per week only. People who are spending 2-3 hours per day here, "may" not find it productive.

Also, forums are always a great place to get answers of your question almost immediately. Productivity depends on how you see through it.

If you look at my indicator I have a tab opened here almost all day long. That doesn't mean I am here all day long.

I will usually write out a new email for a series and then pop over here to let my head quit spinning for a moment .. go back and read the email again before saving it. The WF is a necessary break for me and it improves my writing as I can read post and get into the type of mind frame I need to be in to write for a certain crowd.

Forum is a good place to learn and share a lot useful information. We could learn and help from each other.

I spent most of my entire year on anything forum-related, and I'm surprised it hasn't even disappointed me one bit. I like socializing with forum owners and helping them in any way I can through team effort. Forums has given me an insight of what the recurring visitors/fans has in mind, how many they are, and what they think. It allows me to reach my hand out and do the things that I love while creating revenue for myself. So is my time spent on forums productive? You bet it is.

I don't post on that many forums. I only post on less than 10, including this one.

Yes! Not only do I get quality clients from forums, I also learn a lot on forums. The information I get is not just technical (ex: identifying new traffic sources, branding strategies, SEO trends and news, and list building and management), I also get the most important help I need: MORAL SUPPORT. All of us are trying to scale the mountain of success. It can get quite lonely trekking up that mountain. Sharing experiences and bonding over shared challenges helps me get the strength to KEEP ON GOING. If you need an example of this, just look at my post on WHY MANY WARRIORS FAIL at http://www.warriorforum.com/mind-war...t-because.html

The SECRET to getting the MOST out of Forums is to give yourself a SET TIME budget to read and post. You will quickly TRAIN yourself to become an EFFICIENT reader and poster. It takes a while to get good at it but it is well worth it!

If you spend the time on forum, helping people who are seeking some assistance in getting things done. It will help you gain respect and confidence and in turn will help people seek your service. Personally for me, time spent on forums was of great help to learn a lot my self and to reach out to a community.

I am not sure yet, to answer your question.

I spend an average of half an hour in here each day. Each day is a new day of learning and exchanging ideas. It's a very useful forum but again, you have to be aware of the time and be productive. If you realize the value of the forum and utilize your time wisely, then you can certainly grow your business and knowledge. However, if you spend 5 hours in here not actually learning and implementing, then of course it would not be very productive.

Hi.

Forum can give us many benefit.

- We can get new friend.
- Can get new idea.
- Brainstorm our own idea by looking others.
- Find new business.

I only use forum to relax myself.

As long as you're not following a clear game plan, you'll always end up doing tasks that don't add any value to your potential edge. Browsing the forum for 2 hours a day is not going to make you successful, unless you do it on purpose, take notes and implement that which you've learned.

Without a doubt it takes a serious change in mindset to transform from a watcher to a doer. No wonder why so many are just watching things happen.. It's a lot harder to start doing things, especially for the ones who have the inborn habit to just watch, not execute.

The first thing you MUST have in place is a clear game plan or you go nowhere online (the same is true for everything else in life). If you're naturally a person with a short attention span the best you can do is adjust your attitude slowly. While this may sound like a tiring process, which it is, think of it as a process that will allow you to have higher attention in the long term.

Whenever you manage to have 15 productive minutes here, you're adding significant value to your edge and consequently add money to your bank account, which will sooner or later be there.

Forums accomplish 2 things

A gain of knowledge

or a source of traffic

This is what I use forums for

Ed

I only visit them when I've done everything else I need to for the day.

I'm very usefully spend time on this forum. Thank you very much!

I don't think its a time drain for me, because i read threads that interests me, that answers my questions, and from where i can grasp something new/important... Community discussion boards are great source of knowledge, because we meet like minded people... We share our success / failure with colleagues, and every moment we learn. So, that's something worth spending time for.

Yeah my time on forums are very productive. Get in and help others out, then bounce. Not exactly a science - just pure common sense. You will want to test and track also to make sure that your efforts are paying off for you.

Depends on the quality of the forum.
Here on warriorforum it's an endless source of knowledge. I learned a lot about IM on this forum. Even for motivation, some threads are brilliant - success stories, learning through hard work and so on.
Also, it's great to use forums for backlinks or direct visitors!

Warrior Forum has been the best time spent in all of internet marketing. I spent thousands of dollars on products, courses, before I found the Warrior Forum. I guess it just depends on where you spend your time and what your purpose is.

Dave

It depends on what you do on the forum, if you ACCURATELY answer people's questions you'll build up a solid reputation. If you're bringing value to the forum people will notice you and you'll get traffic to your site and it may open you up to a JV deal or something similar. Forums are also a great place to network with like minded people. Definitely not a waste of time.

To me the answer is yes.I have been active in different forums and I would say the best places to increase the knowledge base are being active on niche related forums.

Definitely yes! I've learned a lot from this forum, everyone has made a good answer...

Well that would really depend on you and what your targeting. As to me I joined forums which involves mainly about what I offer and sell. And usually I just spend 20-30 minutes a day for forums..

The Warrior forum is the only forum I visit because it is the only one I really like. I come here to get into contact with other people online, to learn what I ignore, and to help others whenever I can.

I’m not using forum posting as a free traffic source because the forums in my niche (mental health) are not friendly. There are forums only for patients, or forums only for professionals. I cannot visit forums for patients and give them my advice without being considered to be a spammer, and I find it boring to visit forums with professionals in my field because I disagree with their methods.

Thus, I come only to the Warrior forum once in a while, where everyone is friendly and where I can talk about internet marketing. This is not my favorite topic, but it’s a topic I care about because I’m a business owner.

Wish my field was internet marketing and I could also get targeted website traffic from this forum, but this is not the case.

I believe that if you are visiting a forum that belongs to your niche and helps you send traffic to your pages, this is not a waste of time, even when you spend a lot of time in this forum. However, if you are not participating of the conversations and you are only reading posts, then your visits don’t help you get traffic; only knowledge. Thus, you should be careful with your long studies because studying is good and necessary, but not as profitable as working.

See, to me, it is most of the time, as I usually go to forums after I get things done or when I need a break and of course, when I have questions. Which means I am learning new things related to my business, so you could say its productive in that sense.

well mate, if you want to create a name for yourself and attract some folks to know you than the forum is pretty good to do that!

I feel the time spent is productive. I'm learning new things when on them. And sometimes I teach things on them.

I'm a member of about 7 other forums. It's kinda hard to keep up with that many forums. But I somehow manage to post on them quite a bit.

Chad

It's extremely hard to quantify - be hard pressed to try and figure out a metric to quantify forum marketing ROI.

But, it's a good place to keep abrest of whats happening in our industry, to connect with others, and build a little brand strength.

That's the trouble with forums. My thoughts on IM would be vastly different if I didn't spend so much time in the forums. But from a cost benefit perspective, it takes a long time to find the diamond in the rough.