The theme for SOBCon last weekend in Chicago was the Return on Investment (ROI) of Relationships. As we learned from KD Paine’s presentation there are many ways to measure ROI, and in a successful business model that is the goal – to measure output in relation to input. It’s a difficult issue because, first, there has to be a clear definition of relationship and then what does the return actually mean? Are we dealing with dollar and cents as our measure or are we calculating visits to a website as our return? The answer to the question is situation specific and, having said that, I can really only talk about my ROI as it pertains to my weekend in Chicago.
I must admit I was very nervous about going to the conference. Although I have made lots of great connections online I am new to this and attending a “biz school” for bloggers was a little daunting. My take aways:
– Meeting people face-to-face strengthened relationships and took them to a new level of trust and support. And oh how we laughed!
-I learned things about the business of blogging: how to make money, practical skills, new techniques, and of many new services out there.
– I learned that having a lot of connections, investing in relationships with many different people from many different backgrounds and areas of interest’s leads to an incredible arsenal of resources. Putting these people in a room together created energy you could actually feel and almost see.
– I made connections, which will lead to future projects that may provide
employment.
– Days later I learned that the best take away was the feeling of being revitalized and knowing of all the support available in the SOB community.
– I learned that the conversation generated by the presenters, as with Brian Clark’s presentation, was even more valuable than the presentation itself.
I measured my ROI and am extremely happy with my return. The most valuable item? Definitely conversation. In the end isn’t that what we’re all trying to create? A conversation around our post, service, blog, product, idea, or self? ?
from: Kathryn Jennex aka northernchick
Joel Kelly says
May 7, 2009 at 8:18 AMConnections and relationships are definitely one of those things hard to measure the return on. I guess if you feel better off after having made the connection, or enriched through the conversation it’s a win, right?
Kathryn says
May 7, 2009 at 8:37 AMJoel – even better if you take that connection one step further & collaborate on a project that provides gainful employment!;) Thanks for stopping by.
Jenny Ambrozek says
May 7, 2009 at 9:02 AMWish I could have been there for the Return on Relationships discussion and KD Paine’s presentation. Perchance there is video?
I don’t know if anyone referenced but if you are interested in the topic you might find these recent research findings from IBM & MIT of interest: http://smallblue.research.ibm.com/projects/snvalue/
Separately I had the privilege of meeting Liz Strauss recently at the Business of Community Networking conference in Boston where Chris Carfi convened a terrific ROI panel. Michael Cayley, who was also a speaker did a thought provoking write up on the topic: The State of the Union- The New Economic Model
http://snurl.com/hhe59 [socialcapitalvalueadd_com]
Finally, at TheAppGap blog I reviewed Clara Shih’s “The Facebook Era” and the ROI issue is being explored in the comments:
http://snurl.com/hjmrg
Joel Kelly says
May 7, 2009 at 10:31 AMGood point.
Daniel says
May 7, 2009 at 12:55 PMYou really pour yourself in to SOBCon, Liz. It was a great event, and my one regret is was that I wasn’t able to go for all three days!
Jamie Favreau says
May 8, 2009 at 3:51 PMI think sometimes what people fail on is living in a one dimensional box. They only connect with people in their field and then fail to realize people are friends with other people who may be able to help them.