Ian Lurie, of ConversationMarketing.com is a hoot! I absolutely loved his post with a self-quiz about so called “social media” experts. So many folks are raising their hand in the “me too” attempt at earning some moolah. How does one really know the real deal from all the BS?
If anyone tells you they can GUARANTEE results – they are FULL OF IT! It’s nearly impossible to keep up – much less guarantee anything – with changing trends on the internet. Bah-ha! As Ian sez, kick’em in the groin! (just for being stupid)
Now, without further ado, here’s a excerpt from Ian’s post:
10 Questions to Evaluate a Social Media ‘Expert’
July 21, 2009 by ian
If you know more than 5 people, chances are you now know someone who declares themselves a social media expert. How can you tell if someone’s claim of expertise is legit? Here’s my quick quiz. Ask each question and take the appropriate action:
1: Do you have a blog?
If the expert answers ‘no’, that may be OK. Follow up with something like ‘Oh, you’re using Posterous instead?’. If they look at you blankly, end the meeting there. No sense wasting your time.
If the expert answers ‘yes’, get the address and go look. If they’ve been blogging for less than 2-3 years, and there’s no explanation like “I had to move my blog”, again, end the meeting.
Any social media expert has been somehow participating in the conversation for a long time.
2: When did you start in social media?
“6 months ago”. Yeah. OK. Bye.
“2 years ago”. Hey, not bad. Worth a chat.
“In 1992”. Er. Um. They’d better be referencing BBSes and Usenet.
3: What is social media?
“Blogging and Twitter and stuff”. Excuse yourself for a bathroom break and don’t come back.
“All of the conversations going on between people and people and businesses and such online”. Not bad.
“A trendy term to describe a new kind of mass media”. Totally acceptable.
4: What’s a social media campaign?
“Voting something to the front page of Digg using my proxy server and 35 computers”. Flee the scene, and get to a minimum safe distance as soon as possible. The Digg brigade may be on its way. Whatever you do, don’t hire them. While this is a valid tactic (I guess), it’s not a campaign. Nor does it generate long term results in most cases.
“Developing a great message and then reaching out to people, while giving them an incentive to ‘pass it on'”. Yeah, OK, keep ’em around.
“I have this great software that will put a link to your site on 21,000 forums and 10,000 blogs…”. Push them down the garbage chute. Don’t be seen with them in public.