by Charlotte L. Hanna CMO/Director of PMR/CMBS Global
ROI has long been the term used for measuring the Return On Investment in business. But, in today’s market, Return On Influence may be equally as important.
Mark Schaefer has written a book entitled Return on Influence. He says that in the past a speaker’s audience was a group of people who passively sat in the auditorium and listened to what the speaker was saying…but “Now, I am talking to an audience of audiences.”
- Isn’t that an intriguing thought? I was drawn to find out just what Mark meant by his statement. Here is what I discovered…
Those attending events and conferences across the country and around the world, are not just sitting in rooms soaking up what is being shared from a stage or from behind a lectern, they are sharing what they are hearing as they sit there – with their own audiences – in real time!
Think about it…
I recently attended an event hosted by Suzanne Evans in Orlando, FL. A lot was going on at that 3-day event, but what struck me was how many attendees were Tweeting key-phrases being shared by Suzanne and Facebooking the results of their break-out-sessions as they occurred. They were networking online while physically attending a networking opportunity. They were influencing others as they were being influenced!
We are all under the influence at any given moment of our lives.
If you are involved in online marketing, you realize that without influence there is no progress, no growth…and usually very little satisfaction, right? Influence determines what path will be followed.
Ever since you were a child, you were under the influence of someone. Parents, Grandparents, Teachers – maybe even a bully or two – someone or something has always influenced your life. We all grow and make progress according to the levels of influence we experience. As a result, the choices we made as children – and maybe even now – are based on those influences… whether we like it or not.
Return On Influence has been experienced by all of us at one time or another and it has been of exceptionally high value when the influencer has operated from a position of caring and giving – rather than taking.
If you have learned the hard way about the impact of influence, it can still work to your favor. It’s possible to learn from the bad as well as the good influences and to become better and stronger at what we do. And when we learn something beneficial, we then have the opportunity to teach others about those benefits. We become the influencer that someone else is needing and looking for. Suddenly, what we offer becomes sought after.
Do you see how this can work?
If you have never thought of yourself as an influencer… begin today to see how becoming known as an influencer in your market can impact others and impact your business.
- Network appropriately
- Give more than you take
- Be the expert at what you love to do
- Be a person-to-person business owner
- Be willing to be a positive influence – even in negative situations
The traditional definition of ROI is Return On Investment, a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or number of investments. Gains/Returns divided by Costs.
Return On Influence can also be measured. Consider the Gain (or increase) as additional clients and Return as repeat customers and sales. I can almost guarantee that you will never fully benefit from the traditional definition of ROI unless you recognize the importance of Return On Influence. Today’s market is looking for Influencers.
