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.