Is your mastermind group, freelance consortium, small business collective or non-profit organization invested enough in success to sponsor a member to attend SOBCon?

A famous African proverb states it takes a village to raise a child. In this economy, it can take a collective to finance the fantastic opportunities that Successful and Outstanding Bloggers (SOB), Biz School for Bloggers offer.  SOBCon 09 is a great value for the depth of talent gathered at an intimate event of this size. Where else are you going to interact with a number of gifted bloggers and marketers at this level of expertise, for that price? The key word here is interact. SOBCon 09 isn’t about theory, SOBCon is about putting theory into practice, starting right there at the convention. How much money have you spent on books that you never read or pod casts that you never listened to much less integrated into your work? What value do you place on not just on facts and information but interaction and implementation? How can you share that value with your community, collective or organization so it is in their benefit to sponsor you?

If you are a small business owner, a free lancer or a non-profit, the scale of your business might cover conference fees but the added expense of lodging and travel might appear to put this opportunity beyond your grasp. When I looked at my budget, it was beyond my means but I believed in its value. People that I knew, trusted and admired encouraged me to go. I have used the inspiration and wisdom that others gained at SOBCon 08 as a reference in my own posts like Blog naked? blog privacy and vulnerability arose from reading Sonia Simone’s post Feel great naked about putting yourself into your blog. It made sense to me and ever since I read that post, I have wanted to go to SOBCon Biz School for Bloggers.

I also value my own skills as a teacher and consultant. I believed that if I went to SOBCon 09, I would return to my courses with new skills and perspectives that would add merit.  I figured out the total expenses of my trip and asked my students,

“How much is it worth to you, for me to go to SOBCon 09 and incorporate what I learn there into my classes?”

They responded with their wallets, in amounts ranging from $5 to $100. Now, I am less than $100 from my goal. I am registered. My airplane tickets are booked. My hotel and roommate/dogwalker situation is secured. On May 1st, I will be at SOBCon 09!

I recognized the potential of SOBCon 09 and convinced my community of students to its value. What will it take YOU to convince your community, collective or organization to sponsor your SOBCon 09 Biz School for Bloggers?

The theme for this year’s SOBCon is “ROI on Relationships” and how it relates to the business blogger.  If you have your MBA, ROI is probably part of your everyday vocabulary. If you are a small business owner, the acronym ROI maybe new to you but the underlying concept of calculating the return on your investment of time, money and resources is not. It is a core business concept and one that helps determine your profitability.

When I talk to someone about starting a blog for their business, the savvy business owner often asks me:

• How much is it going to cost?
• What will it entail?
• How much time will it take?
• How will it impact my bottom line?

The first three questions relate to the investment and the last one relates to the return. All are important and valid questions but when it comes to blogging it can be difficult to quantify the direct impact on your bottom line.

Why?

Sure, you can track the traffic from your blog, you can monitor conversions and you can count the sales from your blog but that is only part of doing business. The strengths of blogging lies in the opportunities to initiate, develop and maintain relationships with your customers. The time and effort that you spend on your blog is rewarded with an informed and engaged customer base.

When evaluating the return on your investment into blogging, be sure to consider the impact of relationships fostered there.

1. The cost of finding a new customer and making a sale  versus making a sale to a return customer
2. Your advertising costs versus word of mouth promotion by your customers, be it via their own blog, the phone or over the garden fence
3. The influence a satisfied and engaged customer has with friends in making purchasing decisions
4. The value your customers attach to being heard and their issues addressed
5. The suggestions and inspirations for your business that come from your customers comments and interactions on your blog
6. The feedback from your customers to help you adjust your inventory and/or services to best meet their needs more efficiently
7. Cost savings in terms of money and reputation when you can quickly address problems with your product or business
8. The intrinsic value to your and your employees in actively engaging a satisfied clientele.

These are just an inkling of the ways that blogging, with a focus on customer relations, can impact your bottom line.

Want to know more about the potential of ROI in relationships for business bloggers? Well, so do I! This post is part of the #blogitearnit promotion at  Terry Starbucker’s site, one of the cofounders of SOBCon. You can join the conversation early and save $200 off your registration for SOBCon 09. Hope to see you there!

If you have taken any of of my online blogging classes, you have hear me talking about some of the amazing blog innovators that will be at SOBCon 09. Successful Outstanding Bloggers Convention (SOBCon 09),  is Biz School for Bloggers and will be held May 1-3, 2009 in Chicago.

But in true Liz Strauss style, the speakers, as awesome as they are, are not what makes this business blogging conference such a wonderful opportunity. What makes it so special is that this  blogging conference  is all about communication and implementation. This is not a conference where you are expected to absorb all of this information in a lecture hall and then try to apply it on your own at home. After presentations, participants will work together in creating strategies and action plans for their own businesses as well as the sponsors.

I am really excited about how this conference is set up. It mirrors my own philosophies about teaching and learning. In my online classes, I try to provide students the opportunity to practice the content of the lessons and encourage participation in the class message boards.  I want to be able to attend SOBCon 09 so I can learn there, practice there, implement there and then bring the new knowledge back here and share it with my students.

I have some obstacles in my path to SOBCon 09 and I have spent a lot of time debating whether those obstacles are surmountable. I even asked about SOBCon 09 as an exercise on my student’s I Ching blog! I have talked to a couple of the speakers who agree that it will be challenging, but not impossible for me to participate.  Some of my students have expressed their support in my attending SOBCon, so I decided to make my intent to attend official. I am now actively seeking solutions to making it happen, including sponsors. I am asking my students to consider if they want to invest in that knowledge and help send me to SOBCon 09. If you want to make that investment, you can can chip in here!