I’m always in the pulpit on this blog about giving value without demanding a return – but sometimes it really is nice to get something back for all your efforts. And let’s face it – none of us would be in business if we didn’t want something.
Figuring out what investments you’ve made and what the return on them is can be more of a fine art than a science.
What is an investment?
When you buy shares of stock, your investment is a monetary investment. The value of your investment then fluctuates with the price of the stock.
A lot of people don’t have much money to invest in their businesses, however – at least not upfront. What they do have is time.
They put their time into creating a website, writing a book, answering people’s questions on Twitter, and other things.
Any expenditure of your time is an investment.
But what is a return on investment?
It all depends what you’re trying to get out of your investment.
Maybe you want conversions (remember: that’s people buying stuff) from your sales page. In which case, you’re measuring two returns on your investment – number of pageviews and number of conversions. The first metric tells you how effective your advertising is being. The second probably tells you how effective your sales letter is. (Talk to this lady if you want advice on conversions.)
Maybe you just want good will or trust.
How to measure your ROI:
Take a look at the:
Testimonials you receive
“We love you!” (or “We hate you!”) emails
Number of downloads/unique pageviews
Number of comments on your blog
Number of Feedburner/RSS subscribers
How many people RT your tweets
Adsense or other ad revenue
Conversions (i.e. people buying stuff)
…or other things – again, depending on the return you want to achieve.
How to measure nebulous stuff:
Short answer: you can’t measure it with any degree of accuracy. There is no metric ruler for good will or trust.
Long answer: You may not be able to measure it to the millimeter, but it is possible to gather a rough estimate.
Are people happy to interact with you over Twitter and via email? Do they post interesting comments on your blog or spark discussions? If you invited one of these people out for a drink, do you think they would accept? Be honest. If the answers you come up with are mostly “yes” then you probably have some good will and trust built up.
Why would I want any return besides money anyway?
Love – no matter how strong – does not in and of itself put food on the table. Granted.
But people who love something tell others. People who love something give you free advertising. People who love the value you’re bringing them can give you valuable advice. People who love the value you’re bringing them are your best beta testers, debuggers, and market weather vanes.
All of this stuff will bring you money – eventually. When you build a reputation for providing great value to people (investing your time, money, and other resources to build that reputation), you’ll have a solid investment that will bring positive returns for as long as you’re in business.
Bonus: Case Study
Last week I had a call with the delicious and nutritious Crystal, of Big Bright Bulb. We had a great hour on the phone chatting about a project, amongst other things. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, but didn’t expect any monetary return from the conversation itself.
Next day, this came across my Twitterstream:
@acbowen I think explaining my project to you yesterday uncorked my brain
No problem getting the details straight & ON PAPER today. THNX!
That felt awesome. So I made a bit of a joke:
@bigbrightbulb New consulting offering: 45 minutes to uncork your brain. Root beer extra.
And Crystal returned with:
@acbowen Then I owe ya for a *POP* session ’cause I’m rolling in hot sauce over here! Send me a bill, eh? (Seriously)
She was serious.
After I thought about it, I realized that I DO love talking to people about their projects. Talking them down off the ledge, even, if they’re on one. Teaching them how to do stuff – or even just listening. So I revamped my technology coaching page – which will help me bring a huge ROI to future clients.
I got a super huge return on my investment – as did Crystal. Mutual trade to mutual benefit. It’s beautiful. 
