I can pick up the phone and make a cold call and talk to someone who I might be able to get business from; or I can create a Twitter account and follow people who I might be able to get business out of.

The next best thing that a person can engage in is referred to as the opportunity cost of doing the best thing (more desirable) and ignoring the next best thing to be done.

So which is the best thing? Which is more effective?

Opportunity cost is a key concept in economics because it implies the choice between desirable, yet mutually exclusive results. Which is desirable? Making a cold call or reaching out via Twitter to someone you might get business from? Which is a more effective use of your time? Are the results mutually exclusive? Maybe. But not immediate.

The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in ensuring that scarce resources are used efficiently. If I have 2 phones and 2 computers with 2 Twitter accounts-which will be more efficient in the long run? Or the short run for that matter.

You see, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs:  it can be the real cost of  lost output or lost time. Twitter can be quite  inefficient when it comes to working it into the prospecting flow of your work day and treating it like you would your outbound marketing. You have to know how to use it correctly. It compliments, but it doesn’t replace.

Try selling that to an SMB