Maybe a better way to ask this is hanging out in your favorite forum addictive
? My favorite forum is the Warrior Forum. It certainly can be addictive going there and hanging out all the time.
To me the most important thing in forum marketing is to separate out when you are there to have fun and when you are there to work. You may be more effective in forum marketing if you schedule an allotted amount of time to hang out in your favorite forum.
For example if I am working from 5:00-9:00 p.m. tonight I would block off from 7:00-8:00 to go to my favorite forums.
When I get there I'm looking to accomplish a couple of things.
1. Learn and keep up to date on what is going on in my niche.
2. Market my business by participating in the discussions in a meaningful way.
One of the great things about the Warrior Forum is how much you can learn. There are so many smart people in this world that are willing to come online and share what they're doing to make money online that I would be a fool to not check out periodically what's going on.
Sometimes I will also participate in the discussions. I might post something in a thread that catches my eye. I make sure to offer a useful comment that someone would read and find helpful.
Very rarely do I start a thread, but I do like to participate in existing ones. The marketing aspect comes in play because I have a signature file that people can read that directs them to my website for more information. I hope to make money when they get there.
Forum marketing is not unlike social networking in some ways. How many people waste hours and hours every day on Facebook?
The average person spends 57 minutes a day on Facebook and that includes people like me who do not spend much time there. That will let you know how many people spend a lot more time then 57 minutes everyday.
If you use social networking for business purposes you need to be careful that you are not wasting a lot of time on your Facebook page when you could be doing something else within your business. I understand that not everybody uses Facebook for business. If it's something you do for enjoyment, like my wife does, then there is no business benefit to Facebook or any social networking site anyway.
In summary, yes forum marketing can be addictive. This is o.k. as long as you are there to work when you should be working and not there just to hang out and pretend you are really working.