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[Ep 203]\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re like me, you do a lot of writing and writing-related activities essentially for free. You craft social media content, articles for a blog, and guest posts as part of your plan.\n\nWe do these kinds of activities to educate, entertain, and inform. We hope to solve problems for readers, connect with them, share our ideas, and build bridges.\n\nAt the same time, we may be trying to gain visibility as a writer or increase reach into new audiences to help even more people. We might create a freebie to add subscribers to our email list or write articles on spec to beef up our author bio with stronger social proof.\n\nWe write books that may take years to complete before we even begin to search for an agent or publisher\u2014again, we\u2019re essentially writing for free long before the first reader plops down a credit card.\n\nIt\u2019s a lot of work.\n\nIs it worth it?\n\nHow do you determine if it\u2019s worth it?\nWhat\u2019s the Return on Investment\nAs host Anne Watson interviewed Crystal Paine for The Declare Conference Podcast, they discussed whether it\u2019s worth it to create \u201clead magnets\u201d for every blog post.\n\nCrystal advised listeners to look at the time involved in making them and the results you\u2019re getting. \u201cI\u2019m always looking at what is the return on my investment of time.\u201d1\n\nAnne asked, \u201cHow are you filtering what you think is the best place for you to spend your time?\u201d\n\nCrystal responded:\nThe ROI. One hundred percent the ROI. That is what I focus on. So how much time is this going to take me and how much money is this going to make me or how many new people is this going to bring in. And that might sound super selfish or something but that\u2019s what I have to do, because I have a very limited amount of time that I can focus on every day\u2026.2\nShe continued:\nMostly I focus on how do I serve my own audience well, and what are the few things that we\u2019re going to change this year that I feel are going to serve my audience best. And that\u2019s really my heart with everything that I do...I just really focus on providing content for my audience, serving my audience, building relationships with my audience, and trying to become better as a person by reading good books and sharpening my writing, critiquing myself on video and on podcasts and just constantly learning and growing as a person and I think that trickles down into everything you do.3 {beginning around the 24:00 mark}\nIs it worth it to publish a blog post twice a week and post on Instagram daily? Is it worth it to work for a year on a book that doesn\u2019t have a publisher? Is it worth it for you to submit an article to a magazine where you may not be paid?\n\nOnly you can answer those questions, based on how you measure your ROI.\n\nWhat are you getting for the resources you\u2019re investing?\nCrystal Paine\u2019s ROI\nAs you saw, Crystal Paine is running her ROI through her personal values and goals for her business. She asks:\n\n \tHow much time is this going to take me?\n\nThen she revealed the returns that matter to her:\n\n \tHow much money is this going to make?\n \tHow many people is this going to bring in?\n \tHow is this content serving my audience?\n \tHow is this activity helping me build relationships with my audience?\n \tHow is this activity helping me become a better person?\n\nRegarding that last point, you may recall Crystal listed activities like reading good books, sharpening her writing and speaking skills, and learning and growing as a person. She said, \u201cI think that trickles down into everything you do.\u201d4\n\nSo investing time in reading a book has a good ROI if it helps her grow as a person or writer.\nROI Is Personal\nROI in business relates more to investments bringing monetary results or company growth. But you may calculate the ROI in a more personal way, as Crystal does when considering books she might read next or the few podcasts that she listens to.\n\nListening, reading, creating\u2014it all takes time, so she\u2019s determined for herself what makes it worth her...