Hey Ryan,

It's a good question. I don't have any specific way that I have ever really quantified it beyond looking at conversion rates.

To be honest, what I really look at when it comes to the "tribe" are blog comments and shares on blog posts. I don't have a specific conversion ratio that I look for or anything, but I like to see a strong and growing presence on the blog comments. I think that is a good reflection of how many people are truly engaged. I think it's more telling that Facebook. But that may just because i don't really work Facebook. It's hardly scientific but I have found that if I use a blog post to set up a promotion, my sales seem to be around 3 to four times the number of blog comments. Not including my own. So if 50 people leave comments leading up to a promo. I feel like I seem to sell 150 - 200 items. Again, I've never really combed over that. But I've noticed that it's about where things seem to sit for me.

I personally think that when someone leaves a blog comment they are essentially trying to show you that they support you and that they are in your camp. You'll notice in my posts that I really try to encourage the comments. It's the best way of having a real conversation with your supporters and create some social proof at the same time.

Interestingly, I just spoke to Chris Rempel about this and asked him if he is aware of any predictive correlations like this. (If you don't know him, the dude has sold millions of dollars worth of info products and really knows his shit). He said that he used to think about that stuff but really feels that there is just no way to predict things, at least for him. He referenced a recent post he did where he just mentioned a product and sold $200 copies as a result. He said there was one comment about it. So who knows. But it has seemed to be a good indicator for me.