Recently I had the opportunity to explain a difficult concept in marketing to a Legal Nurse Consultant using my new found passion….the Food Network.  Lately, I have been into all things cooking! (Ok, not more than shoes, but close.) I LOVE the show Cupcake Wars and have baked more than one batch of the sugary confections in the last few weeks. So when the opportunity to combine a marketing lesson with a foodie reference, I jumped at it.

The real definition for ROI (Return on Investment) according to investopedia.com  is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio. 

The return on investment formula:

In the above formula “gains from investment”, refers to the proceeds obtained from selling the investment of interest.  Return on investment is a very popular metric because of its versatility and simplicity. That is, if an investment does not have a positive ROI, or if there are other opportunities with a higher ROI, then the investment should be not be undertaken-

Well, that’s sure a mouthful, huh? In terms of marketing your LNC practice, ROI is always about getting the most return from the investment you’ve made in your marketing efforts. Here is one of the best examples I can think of to hammer home the point of ROI.

I recently picked up a magazine at my parent’s house from February, 2011. In it, there was a Valentine’s Day recipe for homemade marshmallows. I thought that would be an absolutely perfect thing to make on a girlfriend’s weekend. So I eagerly started making the list of ingredients and reading the directions. The article indicated that they were easy to make a really cheap…just $.15 cents per serving.

Well, I read on. To make homemade marshmallows you need quite a few ingredients and about 8 hours of time. I was so disappointed. All of that work and time invested and the recipe only makes 24 heart-shaped confections

? The rerun on my investment of cash, time and work do not make it worth it. I can run to the store 5 minutes from my house and buy a bag of jumbo marshmallows for $1.99 and a heart-shaped cookie cutter and achieve the same results in fifteen minutes. 

ROI is about working smarter not harder. It is getting the most of your investment or choosing another more profitable path. With the time saved by not making marshmallows myself I gain about 7 ½ hours and save some money in ingredients.

When marketing your Legal Nurse Consulting practice keep in mind that not all marketing efforts garner you the results that you expect. Some offer more benefits for less money and others are very costly with no real tangible results.

LNCPracticeBuilder can help find ways for you to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to marketing your LNC practice.  For more on building a remarkable Legal Nurse Consulting or Life Care Planning practice, subscribe to the RSS Feed for the Blog and my Email Newsletter. Follow us on Twitter, join our LNC/LCP Group on LinkedIn, or friend us on Facebook. We also offer one on one practice coaching as well as amazing LNC/LCP marketing materials, website design and social media page designs. Email us or call (317) 426-1170.

In case you wanted to try for yourself, I have included the recipe below. Good luck with that.

Heart Shaped Marshmallow Recipe from ALL YOU magazine, Feb., 2011

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons plain gelatin
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Red food coloring, optional