"Is networking actually worth it?"
It's a reasonable question.
Especially when someone is asking you to pay for membership.
If a business networking membership costs $399 a year, you should be able to explain why you're spending the money.
But there's a problem with how most people measure networking.
They measure activity.
Not value.
They count:
* events attended
* people met
* business cards collected
* LinkedIn connections
* messages sent
Those numbers might tell you how busy you were.
They don't tell you whether networking helped your business.
A better question is:
"What changed because I was part of this network?"
Networking ROI isn't just closed sales
A sale is obviously valuable.
But it's not the only possible return.
Imagine you meet somebody through your network who introduces you to a potential partner.
Nothing has been sold yet.
Has the conversation created value?
Potentially.
What about a founder who helps you avoid spending $5,000 on something that wouldn't have worked?
That's value.
What about an introduction that saves you three weeks of searching?
That's value.
What about finally completing a project because you had somebody holding you accountable?
That's value too.
Networking creates different types of returns.
You need to track them separately.
Five ways to measure networking ROI
1. Qualified introductions
Don't count every introduction.
Count the relevant ones.
Ask:
"Was there a genuine reason for this person and me to speak?"
Track:
* number of relevant introductions
* who you were introduced to
* why the introduction was relevant
* whether a conversation happened
Five relevant introductions can be more valuable than 100 random ones.
2. Referrals and revenue
This is the most obvious category.
Track:
* referrals received
* referrals made
* opportunities created
* sales generated
* retained revenue
* partnerships that generated revenue
But be careful about attribution.
If somebody meets you at a networking event and buys three years later, don't automatically attribute the entire customer value to the event.
Be honest.
The purpose of measuring ROI is to understand reality, not make the numbers look good.
3. Partnerships and distribution
Some of the best commercial opportunities aren't customers.
They're partners.
A partner might introduce you to an audience.
Recommend your service.
Create a joint offer.
Open a new market.
Provide distribution.
Share expertise.
These relationships can take time to develop.
That's why tracking them separately is useful.
A conversation today might become commercially important six months from now.
4. Faster decisions and avoided mistakes
This is one of the least obvious forms of networking ROI.
Imagine you're about to make a decision.
You could spend five hours researching it.
Or you could speak to someone who has already done it.
You might still make your own decision.
But you now have more information.
The network has potentially saved time.
The same applies to mistakes.
A founder saying:
"We tried that. Here's what happened."
can be incredibly valuable.
You don't need to make every mistake yourself.
5. Accountability and execution
This is another form of value that's difficult to measure but easy to experience.
You tell somebody:
"I'm going to launch this Friday."
Friday arrives.
They ask:
"Did you launch?"
That question creates pressure.
Useful pressure.
If membership helps you complete work you otherwise wouldn't have completed, that's part of its value.
Track it.
Your networking ROI scorecard
Keep this extremely simple.
| Metric | Monthly question |
| :--- | :--- |
| **Relevant connections** | How many genuinely relevant people did I meet? |
| **Qualified introductions** | How many introductions had a clear reason behind them? |
| **Follow-up conversations** | How many conversations happened afterwards? |
| **Commercial opportunities** | What referrals, partnerships or opportunities emerged? |
| **Decision support** | Which decisions became faster or better? |
| **Execution support** | What did I complete because of accountability or coworking? |
| **Financial outcome** | What revenue, retained revenue or cost saving can reasonably be attributed? |
You don't need sophisticated software.
A spreadsheet is enough.
The important thing is to track it consistently.
A simple $399 example
Let's say you pay $399 for an annual networking membership.
At the end of the year, imagine you've recorded:
* 18 relevant new connections
* 7 qualified introductions
* 11 follow-up conversations
* 2 potential strategic partnerships
* 1 new customer
* several hours of useful decision support
* a project completed through accountability
You shouldn't simply say:
"Networking made me $X."
Instead, look at the individual outcomes.
Perhaps the customer generated $2,000.
Perhaps one partnership is likely to produce another opportunity.
Perhaps the decision support saved several hours.
Perhaps the introduction created an opportunity that is still developing.
Now you have a much more realistic picture.
The membership doesn't have to produce a specific guaranteed amount of revenue.
It has to create enough useful value to justify the investment.
Measure at 30, 60 and 90 days
Don't wait a year to decide whether your membership is useful.
Review it regularly.
After 30 days
Ask:
Am I meeting relevant people?
If not, something needs to change.
Perhaps you're not participating enough.
Perhaps you're in the wrong community.
Perhaps your profile isn't clear.
Perhaps the members aren't relevant.
After 60 days
Ask:
Are conversations turning into relationships?
You're looking for follow-ups.
People remembering you.
People asking you questions.
People introducing you to others.
People continuing conversations.
After 90 days
Ask:
Has the network produced measurable business value?
That might be:
* a customer
* a referral
* a partnership
* an introduction
* better decision-making
* saved time
* completed work
* new opportunities
If the answer is still no, you need to understand why.
What a networking membership should NOT promise
This is important.
A networking organisation cannot honestly guarantee that somebody will buy from you.
It cannot guarantee that another member will refer you.
It cannot guarantee that an introduction will become a customer.
Those outcomes depend on too many variables.
Your offer matters.
Your positioning matters.
Your sales process matters.
Your follow-up matters.
The relationship matters.
What a good network can do is increase your access to relevant people and create more opportunities for useful conversations.
That's a much more credible promise.
The real question isn't "Will networking make me money?"
The better question is:
"Will being part of this network create opportunities, relationships and support that are worth more than what I'm paying?"
That's something you can actually measure.
And it changes how you approach networking.
You stop trying to collect contacts.
You start looking for relevant people.
You stop measuring how many events you attended.
You measure what came from them.
You stop expecting somebody else to generate your business.
You start using the network to create opportunities.
A network is an asset when you actually use it
The most expensive networking membership is the one you never use.
It doesn't matter how good the community is.
If you don't participate, have conversations, ask questions, help people, attend sessions and follow up, the ROI will probably be poor.
That's why choosing the right network is only the first step.
You also need a reason to participate.
At Business Networking Club, the aim is to create that ongoing environment through founder connections, member conversations, live sessions, practical support and opportunities to meet relevant people.
The objective isn't to promise you a certain number of customers.
It's to help create a network where useful conversations happen consistently.
If you want to experience that before making a membership decision, start with FounderMatch.
[Try FounderMatch free](/foundermatch)
You can also explore what is included in BNC membership.
[See BNC Membership](/membership)
And if you're still deciding whether a business networking community is right for you, start with the first article:
[How to Choose the Right Business Networking Group for Your Business](/journal/how-to-choose-a-business-networking-group)
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Jason Barrett
Founder
Business Networking Club