If there are only a few publications, chances are they're pretty important. First of all, I'd check to see how many pages per issue are devoted to your particular line of business. Then I'd start by tracking what your share of ink is in those pages versus the competition. I'd also look at your share of favorable and negative coverage, share of favorable positioning on issues like "good quality," "strong financials," and "solid management team."

I'd also look at a measure that we call "cost per minute spent with prospect." If you are using a variety of ways to reach your prospects, i.e. trade shows, advertising, sponsorship and PR, I'd take the quarterly budget for each activity, divide it by the total number of contacts you make in that quarter, and then divide it by the average length of time a customer spends with your brand during each event. For example, if going to a trade show costs $50,000 and 1000 people come through your booth and spend an average of 5 minutes each the cost per minute spent with prospect is: 1000 people x 5 minute each = 5000 contact minutes. $50,000/ 5000 = $10 per minute spent with contact. An ad costs $25,000 and is seen by 10000 people who spend 30 seconds reading it would total 10000 x .5 = 5000 contact minutes. $25,000 / 5000 = $5 per minute spent with contact. -KDP