Selfish Media Experts
There has been a ton of Social Media Expert (SME) talk this past week; in fact, I haven’t seen this much banter out that “profession” since around the turn of the year. Full circle, I guess.
The Easy Disguise
It’s simple to appear as though you know about Social Media, but in the end, if you can’t actually deliver business strategy, an execution plan, and measurable results, you’re merely an ineffective evangelist that knows how to tweet. What’s it take to create a business strategy for Social Media? Try market research, for one. Developing an online brand personality for a corporation is another good step. How about the actual philosophy behind that personality? Determining how these plan segments will affect the path of execution and the outcome of those actions is also key.
Even more fun is to determine the outcome of your actions in a specified market without merely going through the motions from one client to the other, mirroring your actions of “oh, you need a twitter page, you need a Facebook page, and a blog”, repeat. That’s not building a community, that’s establishing the bare minimum platform for a company. Will be it effective? Surely, depending on how it’s used and how the company is portrayed.
Take in to account the necessities of the company you’re working with, profile the company, their demographic, identify relative trends for their market…
If you can’t do these things – just stop what you’re trying to do. Chances are you’re causing more harm than good, and keeping Social Media in the realm of “little kid in big sandbox” when it comes to Old Media, and even New Media.
Selfish Media
See, this is what bothers me. The clowns that are pimping their ability to make a Facebook page and sign up on Twitter as a service are killing an industry and market that otherwise is flourishing with opportunity for business. These selfish money chasing idiots are the ones that leech on to an otherwise skilled profession, learn just enough to be dangerous at it, and scalp businesses. They do it every day, and they ruin it for those that actually know what they’re doing.
Hey, Selfish Media Experts! You’re causing damage. Do you realize what it takes to regain the trust of a client? Probably not, but just imagine the energy that goes in to losing the trust of a client. Now amplify that by 100x. That’s what it takes.
Your grimy, bottom feeding type of person did the same thing to Systems Administration at the turn of 2000; and have been doing it to Web Development for ages, and frankly – it makes me ill.
Learn Enough to Help, not Harm
I’m not greedy. I don’t want everyone in the space that isn’t highly qualified to leave. But how about reaching out to people that are seasoned, and educated first? How about trying to learn the ropes before you hang yourself and others in your tangled mess? It’s really not that hard if you’re dedicated and truly love it. In fact, chances are, you’ll spend the same amount of energy faking your talent than actually learning it. So just suck it up, and learn what it takes to do your job right. Stop jacking up the Internet.
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That’s all for my Motivational Monday, end of 2009 soapbox, speech. New Year’s Resolution suggestion: Actually learn about what you’re doing.
