Quotes on Blog ROI
'Ve been reading quite good articles on the subject today and wanted to remind & share some of them :
Charlene Li, Forrester Research
"Q: Is there a standard ROI for blogs? A: Nope – sorry, it isn’t that easy! Just as there isn’t a standard ROI for a Web site, there’s no standard for a blog. It depends on what the goal of the blog is and also how much investment the company (and the blogger) puts into it. "
"So for me ROI is this: increasing Knowledge (for free) , advancing Career, connecting with smart + talented people, staying on top of the industry "
More below
"You don't have to justify the ROI of your pants, or mail system, or infastructure. But for many many organizations, blogs are not seen as part of the infastructure yet."
" I think you dont have to calucalte the ROI. Its not about ROI. Its about infrastructure. Indeed, its imperative to calculate the blogging costs (time, layout, ...) and compare it with the tipping point. The tipping point of blogging communication. Some corporation will invest if 10% of his customers communicate this way. Some will wait longer. Think back to mailing systems, when your first customer asked for your e-mail address ;-) Nothing happend. But when your 1000th customer asked for, you asked your IT guy."
Harry Joiner, Marketingheadhunter
"To quote Warren Buffett:"I don't need to know a lady's weight to tell you if she's fat or not."
Likewise, the general benefit of your blog seems obvious, while the exact ROI may be harder to pin down. Certainly if it weren't for visionaries (like Shel Israel) praising it and giving you link love -- which also boosts your Google rankings and page rank -- I never would have discovered it.
I'd bet that the "soft" benefits include testimonial power and a possible increase in speaking engagements and media mentions. These things create a "halo efect" around both you and Forrester. The "hard" benefits include direct referrals and the added organic SEO traction.
Of course, there's no way to test the ROI without taking down your blog to assess the drop off in these benefits. Bad idea.
While the debate rages: I don't have any money to give you as a client, but I certainly might refer many of my clients to you -- 95% of whom are members of the Internet Retailer 500."
Eric Baillargeon, Inlogicalbearer
Reminding one practical idea to get one ROI number, being that a " Contact address of any blog or any other contact information on Web site should be UNIQUE to that media. "
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