It is slow but when I get clients from social media I do earn at least quite a substantial amount. I was just contacted last evening and I sent a quotation to the client who wants me to run them through a personal development session. I will charge $50 for that. I am yet to get myself a good client on forums because what most people want is to earn money unlike getting value. Most people on paid-to-post forums concentrate on the reward program, unlike learning. So they hardly spend money or buy stuff from other forum members.
Not until people start taking forums seriously and building credibility we have a long way to go to trust forums for building solid business and credibility that is why you will find most people with avatars as their profile, at least if they put a business profile they can be taken seriously. But a cartoon face who will be willing to offer you a $500 deal with a cartoon on your dp and zero business profile. Social media is still a little more credible than on forums.