How many times have you heard something similar?
You know how the rest of this conversation goes.
“That’s exactly what we’re looking for. How will you go about doing this?”
“Oh, we’ll get you set up on Twitter, design you a Facebook page and a blog.”
“Yeah, a lot of brands are doing those things, right? We’re still learning, but we feel like we should definitely have those things. How do we measure our ROI though, isn’t it difficult with social media?”
“Well you can’t really measure ROI the way you would traditionally. Think of ROI has Return on Influence or better yet, change it to ROE and measure return on emotion. I can get you tons of Twitter followers, and countless hits to your blog.”
[A bit skeptical, but convinced they need to be doing “social media.”] Okay, that sounds good.
But here’s the rub.
Eventually this recession will end. Eventually HR/Marketing/Customer Service departments will realize social tools should be integrated into their entire organization. Eventually a former client, who’s still not convinced that you provided much value, will work with someone else or wise up and realize you were full of it the entire time.
Eventually you’ll be obsolete.
You’ll pitch your services all the same, but because you were insistent on pulling the wool over people’s eyes for the quick fix, people won’t believe you anymore. And nobody is going to come rescue your floundering Twitter consultancy, even if you chip in for their subscription to TwitterAdder.
Because early last week, I had the fortunate pleasure of attending Charlotte’s Social Fresh event, put on by Jason Keath and a slew of other awesome people. I really walked away with a lot of value and particularly enjoyed presentations by Keith Burtis, David Armano, Olivier Blanchard, and Spike Jones.
You could probably classify them all as gurus, but the truth is none of them would be caught dead calling themselves anything of the sort.
Want to know what all those guys had in common?
- They were funny
- They were approachable
- They admitted if they didn’t know something or were wrong
- They were conversational and open to critique, rather than pretentious know-it-alls.
- And yes, they were all genuinely knowledgeable about their subject matter.
And they were also well dressed. In fact, I told Spike that I was impressed with the impeccable style displayed by the guys down at Brains on Fire. He attributed it all to Geno, who I was able to meet at a Charlotte Social Media Breakfast earlier in the year. Both killer guys!
It’s so easy to get turned off by the overwhelming amount of people that are crying wolf, and it would be really easy for the real influencers to take advantage of that approach as well, but they don’t. And that’s why they’re successful and will continue to be successful.
These guys were a helpful reminder that shortcuts aren’t the way.
Do yourself a favor and put in the hard work now. Learn your craft, hone your skills, never stop learning, and always, always be authentic in your approach. And when you cry, your customers will come running.
Oh, and ask Olivier what he thinks about Return on Influence.
Photo Credit: Whitewolf Productions
The Social Media Guru Who Cried Wolf — http://bit.ly/XcMN6
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Great post Ryan, Good seeing you again @SoFresh. Excellent advice as always: put in the hard work now, learn your craft, hone your skills, never stop learning, and always, always be authentic in your approach.
.-= roy morejon´s last blog ..What Open Source Means to Social Media =-.
Thanks for the comment Roy! I enjoyed getting to BS with you for a bit at SoFresh as well. We’ll have to grab a beer sometime when I’m not dreading the 25 minute drive Uptown.
Excellent post Ryan. I think Social Fresh was an eye opener for all of us. I know the energy generated that day still has me looking for bigger and better ways to create a “movement” for our regional Goodwill. Your quote “be authentic in your approach” couldn’t have summed it up better.
Glad I wasn’t the only one that found a lot of value in Spike’s movements vs. campaigns presentation. Also, isn’t it great how the right event, presentation, blog post can reinvigorate us and push us towards action?
Great post, Ryan. Thanks for pointing out what should be obvious, but really hasn’t been touched on this clearly yet. I haven’t met a single person who knows their stuff (relatively speaking) in the world of social media and engagement who wasn’t a class act.
The posers aren’t so willing to admit when they don’t know something… and yeah, they usually just build a few SM accounts for you, produce some weak content, and leave you with the bill and no results.
Very well put. Great post.
.-= olivier blanchard´s last blog ..Why R.O.I. Best Practices for Social Media might just save the world as you know it. =-.
Thanks for the kind words Olivier, and for helping to inspire this post in the first place. I’m with you in that virtually every person who’s known their stuff, particularly in this social media sandbox, have been class acts. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Ryan,
GREAT POST! Read every word!
I agree…calling yourself an expert is probably the worst thing you can do. The term “expert” carries the tone of “I know everything there is to know, I don’t need to learn anymore, and this is why you need to listen to me.”
Not only does that make other people feel alienated…but also makes them feel intimidated to speak with you.
In my opinion…”strategist” is a far better title…because strategists are those who are always learning as the technology changes AND are willing to let a person know when they don’t directly know how to do something…
But in the end…pertaining to your scenario that you started off this blog post with…
I think what it comes down to is this…
Unless you can show a proven track record for traffic generated, and $$ made you are no different than any other “wannabe social media expert” spouting the same thing over and over again. (set up your twitter…facebook….blah blah blah)
When I am dealing with prospects I expect these individuals to ask me the “How am I going to make money?” question, and with that I respond with…go here and look at this…talk to this person and learn about the results I generated for them….I helped build this companies e-mail list from X-Y and they turned those leads into $X/month….I hit X digg front pages which generated a flood of backlinks and helped them rank in the search engines like so….look at this ($$ amount) business I helped this person create in 1 weeks using this stuff…after engaging in the technology for 6/months.
In the end…if you don’t have any results to back up anything that you are saying…differentiating yourself is going to be just as difficult.
…and in the end…those who think they can keep the wool over peoples eyes for a long time and still charge them for the service they are providing…will end up in the social media graveyard with all of the other web 2.0 startups that had to face the reality that they couldn’t make enough money to stay afloat.
::::Stepping off my soap box now:::::
-Scott
That’s pretty much the exact connotation I think of when I hear “expert,” especially if this so-called expert is self-proclaimed. And an excellent point with respect to the opposite reactions you can often encounter.
I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to detail out how people should go about demonstrating their value. I think this helps both strategists assuming that role, and people looking for someone to help them.
I for one, thoroughly enjoyed your soap box.
An old saying in advertising: “the quickest way to kill a bad product is good advertising.” On the one hand this idea comforts me. All the self proclaimed “experts” who don’t truly add any value will quickly be found out when they just can’t deliver what they promise.
On the other hand, I worry they may be ruining it for everyone. With so many claiming to be an expert in the realm–and the unqualified are usually the loudest–businesses may grow more and more skeptical. I firmly believe that as it continues to prove itself, online/social media marketing will grow in demand. However, in a sense it feels like all the posers are slowing the process down.
.-= Patrick Ambron´s last blog ..Finding a Career After College for the Rest of Us =-.
You bring up a great point here Patrick. These “so-called experts” aren’t necessarily just hurting themselves, but making people go back to what USED to work, and making them very skeptical about what the future of the industry holds. To your point… there’s definitely slowing us down.
So beautifully articulated, I almost did cry; but, not wolf! This guru/expert moniker is so overused and overstated in social media, that it’s….pretty sickening. is there such a thing as a social media bubble?
.-= Peter Robert Casey´s last blog ..Q+A with rising superagent, Jason Belzer =-.
Peter – First of all congrats on the credential Twitter/blogger for St. John’s are in order. That’s a great step for those of passionate about the intersection of sports and social media.
And to answer your question, I definitely think there’s a social media bubble. I think there’s a lot of people living in it, and I think it’s inevitably going to pop and a lot of people are going to be disappointed.
Ding-Ding-Ding! We have a winner!
Great post Ryan, you’ve exposed an ugly truth about those who are willing to call themselves experts in a field that is really too new to breed experts yet. Scott also made some excellent points about how to prove ROI before walking away from the client so that one isn’t crying, “Wolf!” and instead, is actually doing them a service.
I think for the most part you’re spot on Wendy, and I’ve been a proponent of that strategy for a long time, but now I’m starting to think a bit differently. I mean at this point I feel confident calling Brogan, Owyang, Monty and some of those guys ‘experts’ to some extent, with respect to at least components of this huge social media world.
Your quotes sounded frighteningly familiar. Once companies learn what questions to ask and become more educated themselves, those suckers who are crying wolf are going to be exposed for what they really are. Upon which time we will point and laugh when they are forced to remove “social media expert” from their Twitter profile 🙂
BTW. You definitely should have used the three wolf moon shirt as your picture. I was pretty disappointed myself. WTF, mate?
.-= Jackie Adkins´s last blog ..Break Time =-.
It’s kind of sad that it’s so easy to recite these conversations b/c we’ve encountered them so many times. You bring up something I wish more people understood, companies and consultants alike.
A companies’ strategy can’t just be “do social media.” They have to know what they want to accomplish, and the the consultants have to be knowledgeable enough to ask the right questions to extract enough information about the companies’ goals to help them construct comprehensive/integrated strategy that’s conducive to their success.
AND. Three wolf moon shirt was too predictable. Precisely why I didn’t go that route.
People aren’t going to figure out the crap that they are selling is crap until it is to late.
My opinion on this? Good. Enjoy it you stupid bastards.
I’ll quietly come in and clean up a lot of your mess and work with the clients to develop cohesive strategies, cheaper solutions and actual implementation.
Oh…and I’ll probably be cheaper then they are.
.-= Stuart Foster´s last blog ..Awesome is Not a Business Model =-.
Amen. It’s just a shame that good, albeit naive people get ‘taken’ for some of their hard earned money in the interim. Unless of course you help them earn it back tenfold eh?
I frequently feel that as soon as someone has to TELL me that they are a “such and such” or an “expert in this” or a “guru in that” they are probably talking at that point to convince themselves as well as others that it’s true.
This is such a great post because of the truth in it. Unfortunately, I feel like some companies will always be looking for “band-aids” and thus the snake oil salesmen will always have an audience for their wares. It will definitely deplete after awhile though.
.-= Elisa´s last blog ..#BrazenBlogCrush Contest Entries =-.
I think you’re right on both accounts. First, if you have to TELL me anything I’m already done with you. I don’t need to hear a 10 minute spiel about ANYTHING you’ve done in the past unless it relates directly to how you can help me attain more money for MY business. There, I said it.
And I suspect you’re right as well. Some of the best snake oil salesman might find enough people to prey on to get theirs, and that’s okay. I’ll keep my dignity.
Nice post, Ryan, and bang on. We’re at (or should be) the stage where consultants and businesses need to stop trying to push the Why, and go for the How.
The Why might sound sexy compared to the boring How, but it’s the latter that actually makes the pennies. About time more started to buy into that.
I probably sound like a broken record, but I always preach strategy prior to tactics. The tactics might be important, but without the strategy you can’t be sure you’ve aimed in the right direction. This seems a bit contradictory to what you’re saying in your comment, but I think they’re cut from the same cloth.
Everything has to work together from the beginning, and just because someone can tell you why and how to do something, doesn’t mean they can actually execute. I think that’s where the best rise above the posers.
Hi Ryan,
This was a great post! My colleagues and I always joke about people who include “social media guru” or “expert” in their bios because they are almost always the least clued-in group working in the space.
The So Fresh event sounds like it was a great opportunity! Any hopes for a follow up post with what you learned?
Take care!
Meg
Meg,
Haven’t heard from you in ages! Hope everything is going great, and that you’re keeping an eye on Nisha. You two are in the same office now right? At least same company? (I forget sometimes, forgive me.)
I always wonder if they just blindly pursue the $$$ or if they secretly hope that they’ll never be found out. Like are most phony consultants aware they’re full of it, and realize what they’re doing or are they so blind to the BS that they don’t know any better. That’d be an interesting discovery, I think.
And I have an excess of notes, but haven’t even had a chance to type them up internally for the office yet. If and when I do I’d be happy to share them with you.
I think you are all right about “work hard, learn your craft” etc. AND…
(can we disagree in social media? Is it still “social”?)
I do get a little uneasy about “the energy” of the complaint. It’s like “I’ve got the true religion and you don’t”.
I’ve seen now, a couple generations of the “new” new technology, or the new way of doing things right. The first people in with a level of experience always resent the next group.
“They haven’t paid their dues” or “They don’t know what they are doing” etc, etc, etc.
It usually comes up when we notice that someone outside the tribe is trying to join the tribe, and IS succeeding, and has succeeded in outselling us.
It’s kind of oddly contradictory too. It seems to me that the social media ethic is to share everything, and there seems to be no lack of best practices available, at our finger tips to learn. The barrier to entry is very low. That’s the whole “democratic” social media point, isn’t it?
I was a “video” guy first. The film guys loved to hammer us. But we did good work and ate their lunch because we got better results using the new technology.
There will always be people who “sell” better than others.
(Get with good sales people. Sales people rock! They are “influencers”.)
There will always be people who are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Someone here said that it all shakes out eventually. That’s true. In the mean time though “those people” have made the money AND learned the craft “the right way”. They probably got good results.
Perhaps one approach to consider: Everyone does good work.
Then we have to go do great work. And sell.
.-= Mike Coombs´s last blog ..Full Sail =-.
I can’t speak for everyone, but you can ALWAYS disagree with me. In fact I encourage it/welcome it because it ensure that I spend more time thinking through and challenging my own ideas.
I’m not sure we’re disagreeing here though unless you’re saying that it’s okay for snake oil salesman to profit as long as people keep giving them their money? 🙂
I agree that we often encounter push back from those people ahead of us. I think older generations frequently push back on people my age, citing entitlement and other things that just aren’t necessarily true (at least of the entire generation or as a sweeping generalization.)
Are those ‘lucky people’ you speak of actually that lucky, or is it possible they predicted the trend and were ahead of the curve?
And I’ll only say this about selling in the social media space. So many traditional, old-school sales people still rely on the hard sell. 3-4 e-mails (after not received a response since the last meeting or the initial e-mail) is ignorant. I’ve always had much better success with providing so much value that the additional opportunities, sales, upsales took care of themselves.
Ryan,
I am not privied to much of the information you all speak of, but I do find it interesting. Perhaps the key for you is to never be satisfied and continue to adapt as technology, people, and competition adapts around you. As for the generation to generation comment, I experience the same setbacks in my own field. It is only now through my own hard work and confidence that what I personally sell is true, that my own clientelle, albiet a much different one than yours, is beginning to grow with convinced, dedicated, and trusting students. It is my job to now provide that service in the best way possible because that is what I have sold and promised. So, when speaking of generational gap and seniority, if you will, patience, hard work, and perservenrance, in my experience, is the key. Then when you have put in the time and become that senior member yourself, you can remember how it was for you, and you can choose not to continue that trend of behavior.
I guess I like this topic.
My personal point on this is not generational at all.
My point hopefully better stated is a word of caution:
If people are truly professional frauds, that will take care of itself.
But very often, in my personal experience, the people who beat me for sales…
or who didn’t do things the way I thought was “the right way”…
the people I thought I knew better than and wanted to call “snake oil salesman”… were still pretty good.
They did a good job and they collected a well deserved check.
What I didn’t want to admit was this: I was outsold. I got beat.
++++++++++++
On the generational issue: I’m in school again because I think no one expects an old guy like…uh…me… to know this stuff even if he does. Hopefully, I can better market myself with a better and current education. But, even I tend to trust you young whippersnappers for expertise!
There’s your generational issue dammit!
Thanks.
.-= Mike Coombs´s last blog ..Full Sail =-.
Spot on and I can see many of the people that are on FB and twitter are running out of gas. I used to warn them that they may PLAY some NUT out of his last bit of cash and have the guy at their front door 🙂
The sad thing is that people still idolize these GOOFS 🙂
Nice article caught it off FB and sending it right back;)
Stumbled also
now just make your comments do followed like mine and you will be rolling 😉
Thanks
.-= John Sullivan´s last blog ..Commenting and backlinks =-.
Ryan, this was a great post, but foremost your blog kiks butt! I’ve gone through quite a bit of your archives in the past week. You really have a handle on your topics… Now a staple in my RSS reader.
Thanks again!
Keith
.-= Keith Burtis´s last blog ..Giving you FREE reign to pick my brain! =-.
Thanks for the kind words, Ryan. Yeah, without Geno, we’d all be dressing in kakis and button down blue oxfords with leather woven belts. It’s the Southern way, ya know.
Really though, it was great meeting you and you embody all the things you mentioned in this post and then some.
Keep on fightin’ the good fight, my brother.
.-= Spike Jones´s last blog ..Laying Down On a Sword =-.