It's, er, over 5,000 percent. That's based on her calculation that her $14.95 / month account with TypePad triggered $1 million in new business for Forrester last year. Charlene, who's a principal analyst for Forrester based in San Francisco, blogs here. She gave an excellent speech last week at the NewComm Forum in Palo Alto. (Here she is answering audience questions on Friday March 3, 2006.)
I'm always studying other speakers to see what presentation techniques they use. Charlene's speaking style is notable for her warmth and authenticity - along with lots of Forrester stats to chew on. She mentioned her kids several times and also asked the audience for input.
When giving examples of corporate blogs she went deeper than showing a screenshot. For example, she included the text of a back and forth exchange between two commenters on GM's FastLane blog. Very effective.
P.S. Hope I got the ROI math correct. Figure $14.95 X 12 = $180. Meaning a return on investment of $1 million less $180. Could someone check this, please! Leave a note in the comments below.
a million minus $180 is still a million to me.
nice meeting you at NewComm!
-James
Posted by: James Kim | March 07, 2006 at 02:21 PM
Somewhat understated on the investment side - perhaps Charlene's time is worth something, likely more than the TypePad fees :-) Still an impressive return though ..
Posted by: Zoli Erdos | March 09, 2006 at 08:16 PM
Hi Debbie. I enjoyed your discussion: indeed I have had a go at putting some metrics on the ROI of a corporate blog and coming up with an equation that says whether a blog is worthwhile from an ROI standpoint. Love to hear what your readers think about the logic - you can find the equation and a discussion here: http://www.businessreviewonline.com/blog/archives/2006/04/the_roi_of_blog.html
Posted by: Jason Stamper | April 05, 2006 at 10:25 AM
This just goes to show the power of blogs in creating business, rather than simply expressing brand.
Bottom line: It's not about the "blog," it's about the communication. Kudos to Ms. Li!
Posted by: BostonScott | May 11, 2006 at 03:10 PM
I agree Charlene Li came across very warm and genuine in business meetings, and she has a heart :-).
Posted by: Helen Wang | July 25, 2006 at 02:25 PM
It looks great and the comments still say the same
Posted by: Hundeschule | December 10, 2006 at 01:44 AM