Many business owners want to know about blogs. After a brief discussion about what a blog is, beginning with a definition and then an overview of blog as applications, the next question always is asked, “How much does it cost and what is the return on that investment?” This compound question is the most difficult question to answer for the business blogging consultant. The reason it is a difficult question is not because we don’t understand the question, it is because we don’t always know the answer. Each business has a different idea about what they consider an investment.
Shel Holtz has a great entry about Business Blogging and Return on Investment. Shel argues that:
But I would make the argument that the kind of ROI assurance executives want is not the kind of ROI accountants measure; we’re getting too hung up on definitions. The ROI in question here is more commonly referred to as a cost (or risk) benefit analysis. While ROI generally refers to the amount of money earned after all expenses are tallied, the risk-benefit analysis weighs the consequences of an action or expense against the benefits it will achieve. Because so many executives fear the consequences and don’t understand or recognize the benefits, I still think this kind of measurement is important.
Many CEO’s when purchasing a tool for a company know that the tool will cost an amount certain, and as that tool provides the company with the benefits of better and more efficient ways to produce their product or service, they realize that they have saved, earned, or deposited a finite sum. This is a hard number that can be grasped. This is not always the same with blogs. There are many costs to consider when deciding on whether to invest in a blog and many benefits as well.
Blogs are merely a different tool in the larger picture of the overall business operation. Businesses have budgeted for certain tools that help each section of their overall operation. Shel’s post mentions the use of telephones, a great example of a business tool. It is a communication tool that is used to converse with vendors, clients, potential customers and all manner of people a company talks to in its day-to-day function.Â
Kevin Dugan raises a great point in the comments of Shel’s post:
Shel – Calculating the time cost complicates the discussion and reinforces your recommendation to measure.
In a service industry, you’re acutely aware of billable hours and while it takes a few bucks and a “few minutes†to build a blog, it takes a lot more to grow it into a successful communications vehicle.
If I understand Kevin’s point, it takes an investment of time (manpower) to make a blog successful. Buying a tool is different if you have to fix that tool everyday, or give it an investment of time to make it work.  It takes time from other more productive responsibilities. We have addressed this issue here at One By One with many of our clients. Sure your investment is not much for the tool itself, heck some blogging applications are free and it costs next to nothing to make a blog materialize. The catch that we discuss and a situation we help companies address is that someone has to operate the tool. This is the largest part of the investment. We offer professional bloggers to companies that cannot make the sacrifice of providing a full or part-time employee to operate this new tool.Â
The investment in blogging has many faces as do the returns. A blog consultant can help your business sift through the costs and the benefits and then you can make a business decision based on that advice, but remember not every business will have the same model.
