Blog · The Tally
Benefits and advantages of networking
Networking costs time and seems not to pay off right away. That's why almost everyone puts it off — and why it's worth taking a close look at what you're spending and what you're buying.
Published 6 October 2021 · revised 16 August 2026
The real tally
Soft money and hard money
Two kinds of cost, and most companies only look at one.
Hard money
It's cash: the campaign, the cost per click, the trade fair. You see it in the bank, you put it on the balance sheet, you cut it when you have to cut.
The cost of a click on Google went from $3.63 to $5.26 in three years, and in B2B the cost of acquisition has grown 222% in eight years. (WordStream/LocaliQ 2025, SimplicityDX 2025.)
Soft money
It's time. The two hours spent at a meeting, the follow-up call, the coffee with someone who might never be useful to you. It doesn't show up on any line of the balance sheet, and that's why it seems free when it's actually the only thing you're truly spending.
The common assumption is that networking costs a lot of soft money and returns little hard money. The tally, done properly, says the opposite — on one condition: that someone keeps track.
What it buys
Three things hard money can't buy
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The impression of quality
People pay more for what they consider better, and that judgement forms mostly from how others talk about you. Your name moves from person to person, and it arrives with more trust at every step.
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The right to ask for a favour
A solid network is made of people you can ask for a hand when you need one. Asking is itself a proof of trust, and like every proof of trust it strengthens the relationship instead of wearing it down.
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Already-qualified contacts
Whoever reaches you by reference already knows who you are and what you do, and in many cases expects your call. The negotiation starts from a point cold contact never reaches.
One word at a time
"Social capital" has an accounting name
The 2021 article was already half-right on the wording: it talked about building social capital. It was missing the second half — that a capital comes with a balance sheet.
Social capital
It describes the substance well — bonds and trust accumulated — and says nothing about how it's counted. It's a sociological concept, not a line item.
Relational capital
In the discipline it's the accounting name given to valuable relationships: the store of trust and connections a company already possesses — clients, suppliers, staff, and each of their networks (relational capital).
And since it's an asset, it's accounted for at year end: the Relational Balance Sheet states how many relationships were activated, how many references were created, what they produced and with what method it was counted.
It's the Fifth Law applied to soft money: if you don't measure it, it will keep seeming free.
Soft money isn't free. It's just the only kind no one counts.
The first step
Where your company stands, as a number
AIRA-SCAN© measures the relational capital your company already has: ten questions, three minutes, no registration. Your browser calculates the score and it shows immediately, with the areas where you lose the most points.
The extended report then arrives by email, and within one working day a person calls you: you look at the result together and assess whether the Stoic Analysis AIRA-DX© makes sense for your company. It is free and limited to twelve a week, so it is not owed to whoever does the check-up: it is decided by both of you.
Prefer just talking about it? The number is 0549 888808.