You’ve been grappling over social media and ROI for quite some time now….

Let’s get real.  Count on me to call out the elephant in the room.  That is what coaches do!  Here is the real deal: You are an entrepreneur who has a business to run, bills to pay, and zero time to waste.  You want to be sure that all your time blogging, twittering and hopping around social networking sites will be worth it in the end.  Am I right?  I thought so!  Let me assist you with flushing out what really matters:

You are very aware that people do business with others they know and like.

You have been hearing about how much relationships matter to business growth and profitability.

You also believe that the “investment” part of ROI is what justifies relationship building.

During my daily blog reading crusade, I came across an extremely interesting and content-rich comment stream at Social Media Explorer that brilliantly took on the issue of social media and ROI.  The dialogue was so interesting, I took the time to read each and every comment– all 93.  There was a lot of back and forth ranging from “it’s all about the Benjamin’s” to “relationships rule”.  And then I came across this comment:

“ROI on human interactions is always very tricky. I’ve worked in fundraising and development for years, and have always held that fundraising events cannot always be about the bottom line. It can’t be about just the dollar figure you amassed that night. Events are also about cultivation and engagement. I would spend time making sure everyone, not just the big donors, feel like VIPs because that guy who only bought a $20 ticket today, could be the guy who gives you $20K in 10 years. So how do you how do you put a value on that? Social media is the same. I run a blogging program at www.indium.com/blogs and I’m very keen for our bloggers to understand that the engineering student who asks a goofy question today, could be the head of a major customer down the road. Thankfully, all the decision makers understand that the blogs are not money-makers, they are perception-builders.”

Cultivation.  Engagement.  Making everyone feel like a VIP.  Blogs and other forms of social media are not money-makers, they are perception-builders.   And through perceptions we build relationships.

Someone said we are in a recession.  I choose not to participate, but here is what is real: The perceptions you create and the relationships you build today will lead to a healthy, profitable and sustainable business tomorrow.