Comments on: 6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Brand Yourself as a Social Media Expert

By: mwaters5

mwaters5 — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:22:21 +0000

I am not sure I agree with this article either. The title may not be much but I have no problem picking up clients in my circle. Most business want to be in social media but they don’t know how to do it with a strategy that makes money.

I help business put strategies in place to make money.

The part I do agree with is that being a social media expert is a whole lot more than setting up a facebook and twitter account. Being a social media expert encompass multiple networks, multiple accounts with a cohesive marketing strategies.

By: Steve Sherron

Steve Sherron — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:34:36 +0000

No such thing as a Social Media Expert. Total B.S. What there is an over supply of is Social Media Sheep. All the sheep follow and link to and re-tweet a handful of the popular hoping to fit in. All the little bloggers out there afraid to lead but quite comfortable being some Guru’s little soldier.

By: Andrew Davis

Andrew Davis — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:55:49 +0000

Rob – MySpace has made a few billion over the years. FB still makes a substantial amount of money, just in global brand terms, the profit is not that much.

By: LaTronBrown

LaTronBrown — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:14:36 +0000

I completely agree with this posting. You hit the nail on the head with the second point. Personally, I believe people are underestimating the definition of an expert. To me an expert is someone who has demonstrated success and can reproduce results in various situations. Its not just simply being able to use the tools. Quite frankly, a large percentage of people our age are using these tools, perhaps not for business; however the usage, boils down to the same thing-”what are you doing?” If that is the case, then most of Gen-Y are Social Media Experts. Now, if people begin calling you an expert because you have given them some type of result that they have been looking for, then basque in your expertness; otherwise, don’t. Check out my blog posting on the “So called Social media Expert”:

http://latron.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/the-so-called-social-media-expert/

By: RIck L'Amie

RIck L'Amie — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:46:14 +0000

Great post Dan. I agree and wrote something similar on my blog. Are there knowledgeable people and companies with cutting edge ideas? Yes. But really, if someone claims to be any kind of expert, or uses words like guru of anything whether it’s a guru of marketing, advertising, sales or any service, be suspicious. That is a label that others should give you after you earn it. Here’s my post: http://www.marketingwithmoxie.com/blog/2009/5/26/im-an-online-marketing-expert-not.html

By: mark evertz

mark evertz — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:28:36 +0000

Hey Rob…We agree that sites aren’t turning a profit but to loosely say that social media isn’t profitable is just plain wrong. Ask the authors of Groundswell how unprofitable social media is. Ask Chris Brogan how his consulting gigs are going. The sites you mention are mere mechanisms for building your own personal or organizational brand…what you do with them or how profitable they make you is entirely up to you. Just please don’t become one of those guys that tells me how to turn 200,000 tweets into $200,000. I hate that.

BTW…I don’t make a nickel on any of my stuff and I”m totally OK with that. I do it for the pure release of meeting new people and vetting ideas. That said, if someone reads our interactions here or anyone else and offers me a job based on our dialogue then I’m cool with that too.

Let Evan Williams worry about the profitability of his own company…let’s you and me worry about how to use his technology to get whatever we need out of it to thrive. I don’t care if that’s money, friends, a stockpile of jokes or whatever makes it worth our collective while.

I getcha man…I just thing your focal point is too narrow.

Good luck out there.
Cheers,
Mark

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:11:14 +0000

It’s definitely a blanket statement, but one that merely reflects a blanket reality. After all, which well-known social media sites/services have ever turned an aggregate profit? (as opposed to an aggregate debt-shrinking quarter or two)

Friendster: no
Myspace: no
Facebook: no
Twitter: no
Bebo: no
LinkedIn: ???
Etc.

If even the brightest stars in the sector haven’t found a way to consistently stop the financial hemorrhaging, then it’s fairly clear that a proven method for monetizing social media has yet to be developed. Therefore, what are all of the self-proclaimed “experts” and “consultants” experts in exactly? What practical and quantifiable knowledge do such people possess which contributes to the core reason for the existence of these businesses, profits? Knowing how to generate headlines, traffic and/or large user bases is utterly useless without profits.

By: mark evertz

mark evertz — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:48:04 +0000

Dan,
This is great and so timely given that everybody with a Facebook account is branding themselves (keyword: Themselves) a Social Media Expert.

I’m going to let any follower, friend or adversary decide whether my opinions or interests provide value. In addition, I’ll share my ass off, validate opinions I agree with and raise an eyebrow on ones I don’t (Rob…seriously, “near universal money loser.” Stay warm under that broad blanket statement.) If that makes me valuable to somebody, cool. If not, equally cool. Until the book idea or new business project comes to mind, I’m just drafting off a ton of really smart people. Thanks for being out there and sharing. Cheers,
Ev

By: LinkedIn Profiles and Network Size as ONE test of a LinkedIn Expert or Social Media Expert « Integrated Alliances Social Media and LinkedIn Blog with Mike O’Neil

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:14:59 +0000

[...] Shouldn’t Brand Yourself as a Social Media Expert” that goes very well with this topic. See the post Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)My first week on Twitter after years on [...]

By: LinkedIn Profiles and Network Size as ONE test of a LinkedIn Expert or Social Media Expert « Integrated Alliances Social Media and LinkedIn Blog with Mike O’Neil

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:57 +0000

[...] Dan Schawbel of Gen-Y has a terrific post entitled “6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Brand Yourself as a Social Media Expert” that goes very well with this topic. See the post [...]