Return on my blogging investment

Nope. There isn’t a “hard ROI” on my blogging investment…but there sure has been a soft one! Let me explain.

In 2004 I decided to jump into blogging feet first not knowing if there were rocks six inches underwater (thus why not head first!) or if it was 50 feet deep. Turns out it was a hundred feet deep and — as a former high school swimmer and later a scuba diver — knew that I could handle it regardless of depth.

Though many others had seen it a long time before I had, there was a knowing that this thing (blogging as part of a larger participatory culture who were into vlogging, podcasting, gaming, social connections, et al) was part of the biggest shift in human communications I was going to see in my lifetime. I felt absolutely compelled to be on the field vs. sitting in the stands like I had during the first phase of the internet.

I got crap from buddies. Quizzical looks from partners and colleagues when I tried to describe what it was and why I’d invest the time in it. Queries from my bride like, “So…*why* are you spending so much time blogging?”

Part of my desire to blog (and later to podcast) was to live it, understand it from the inside out, and play. Looking back over my career, I’ve often wondered what would’ve happened had I followed my heart and passion into journalism or broadcasting. A tiny part of me felt fulfillment from participating and being in the game.

Then the soft returns started. People started reading and referring to my blog. Others (at the “C” level) took my phone calls since I could pitch ’em by phone or email and point them to my blog. The result was, “Hmm…this is a guy that “gets it”,” and they’d talk to me. My personal branding was out there since the essence of Steve Borsch came through much more so than a resume, a proposal, a phone call or other usual methods of connecting with others. I’ve learned a ton about the participatory culture in all its phases. The infrastructure. The opportunities and possibilities. The future.

As I’ve accelerated off on my own working closely with entrepreneurs, small and some midsize businesses over next generation internet technologies and the explosion of ways to connect and collaborate with others, my blog has been my calling card. It’s been my “street cred”, my way to engage in conversation and a powerful way to toss my consciousness out there and connect with others thinking many of the same thoughts. There is no way I’d be doing what I’m doing, connecting with so many clients, if it weren’t for my blog.