Giving advice on forums, how to make it less time consuming?

I like to visit different forums for advice and to give advice but I feel that I am doing it quite
inefficiently. It seems to be very time-consuming. Does anyone have any advice on how to make it less time consuming and easier? Tools? Techniques? Apps? Short cuts? Any advice would be much appreciated

 

I skim topics. I read whatever that interests me. Reply only when I have something I want to say.

A lot of my forum reading is done when I'm flying. So for me it's a great way to kill some time.

 

Each week think of 1-3 topics you want to learn about. Search in the forums for these topics and set a time for yourself -- say 15-30 minutes in each to absorb the information you need.

I kind of do this the same in giving advice -- find one area that I am very comfortable with and commit to 15-30 mins or 5 posts when I log in.

I find the actual time buzzing at you is very helpful to keep you in check so you are not in here all day.

 

I don't think there's a tool that automates forum posts, even if there is, the post most likely will appear like a spam. Search the topics you are interested in, open them in a new tab prior to posting a comment or asking a question - so you can still search for a few threads. Commit like 15 - 20 minutes doing this.

 

I do it first thing when I get up, devoting 1 hr to it. Then I switch to my own business. Develop your own routine and it won't seem like a time waster.

 

Before you start digging into individual posts, just scan through some pages of posts to see which ones have the most views and responses...

You can start with those before you worry about the less clicked on posts..

 

Scan the forum, think of a topic that you can start, something that interest you. Have a short break and think of the topics you were able to scan and then post. For me that way is less time consuming.

 

Thanks very much everyone! Your advice really help!

 

It is better to stick with sub forums that pique your interest.

For me on this DP, I stick with the general business and the general marketing sub forum. Scan through the threads, place my cursor on any topic of interest to reveal what the post is all about. Reading the preview determines if I will open the thread or not.

Conclusively, it is better to have a plan and stick with that plan. Either you allot time to what you do on the forum or discipline yourself by the number of posts. You can decide to either make 5,10 or 20 posts a day or 1hr, 2hrs etc. The choice is yours.

Occasionally, you may want to start a thread if you have some good information that you will like to share with people as well apart from responding to other people's threads.

It is better you stick with a plan so you don't waste your time on the forum.

Hope this helps