Okay, so a new prospect (who I happen to know well through my other business) came to me today to discuss her marketing and social media and wants me to develop a strategy for her to grow her business locally. During the session this afternoon she tells me about some Shift guru saying that blogging and youtube are a waste of time on a webinar she recently attended. ???? 

I was really blunt and said that was bad advice and then explained to her about content marketing and how it works. It’s interesting to me that people like this guy position themselves as social media experts whether they know anything about it or not. Do you agree or disagree with what he said/what I said? I’d be interested to know.

@casmccullough

I really think it all has to do with misunderstanding context and the level of experience the individual has with the concept being discussed. I try never to make a judgment on someone else’s “expert” opinion regardless of how bizarre their advice seems, IF it is someone else telling me about that expert’s opinion. The context of the original advice is key. And since I don’t know that context, I can’t issue an opinion.

In a client or student situation, however, I try to encourage learning always. But, try to get them to form a habit of focusing on what their immediate problem is, what their short and long term goals are, and the best and/or fastest way possible to help them reach those specific goals.

Everything else just causes info overload, mass confusion, and discourages learning over the long haul. It may very well be that the “expert’s advice” was totally appropriate for one specific situation, but not for theirs at the present time. But it could be perfect for a future situation.

I try to get clients/students to focus on their own needs analysis, put blinders on until their needs/goals are fulfilled, then go exploring for information again later. You’ve got to get use to putting on blinders when using internet marketing resources or you’ll always get distracted and derailed from your goals.

Soooo, I try never to diss other experts’ advice. I just try to put it into perspective, both for myself and others. Who knows, but that same “bad” advice may be exactly what’s needed on their next project, so better to not diss it when it’s just not applicable to their present project.

Robin Carlisle

@casmccullough I think @atlantarobin and @deairby hit the crux of the matter. It also doesn’t matter where the bad advice originates. Even if the source is not an “expert” if the person trusts the source, it will have credibility.

One of my favorites along this line is “social media” is free.

@atlantarobin So well said — doesn’t get much clearer than your post. Part of the distraction problem is that they’re all pretty much fun — but it’s way too easy to get tunnel vision or the opposite overload, and overload doesn’t help anything. And thanks for pointing out the context in which something is said. Major point, and all of us at some time are prone to hear what we think was said, not necessarily what was said, or meant. Reminds me of a quote from an expert I read once: “You may certainly quote me. But you may not interpret me.” Great thread @casmccullough. Thanks for starting this one.

@casmccullough Blogging AND YouTube? Usually someone says blogging is a waste of time because they hate to write, but then they produce large quantities of talking head videos. There are also those who “don’t do video” but keep generating text. I’m glad you set the record straight. Good content marketing is valuable information presented in a format that will appeal to your ideal market.

@casmccullough – I understand what you mean. I run into a lot of people out their claiming they can help people and giving really bad advice.

It’s ignorance is what it is. They don’t have the experience, and what little experience they do have is 3-6 months and then they come to a conclusion. We all know it can take a long time, and that’s dependent on your product/service and need in the marketplace.

A health insurance salesman may never have the same influence broadly as say a marketing company. It’s because their audience one has a broader audience. However, the health insurance company may have more influence with their smaller number of followers.

There are a lot of variables, and it’s easier for most to just make blanket statements without all of the facts. Plus, the experts business may depend on blogging/social media to fail because they need you to spend your money with them for other things.

There is always an agenda!

@rich-brooks 10K hours would entitle you to a lot I reckon. I don’t think any of us can claim that in social media. You’d have to be at it 24 hours a day for a year and then everything changes again. All you can do is try to keep up and keep sane. I also like your analogy about that athlete. Well said!

@donpurdum What concerns me is the amount of hype that so called gurus use to sell their thing. People get all stirred up and seem to follow advice and buy based on emotions and not on reason. 

I went to a media workshop recently where this happened. I have worked in PR for many years on and off, and went to the workshop for a refresher as I’d had a run of bad luck with releases going nowhere (not so anymore). 

What intrigued me about it was the way it was presented. All hype, loud music intros, rock star fever and a lot of talk about the presenter’s experience, family etc, lots of video testimonials thrown in for good measure, a little useful content at the end of the day but the whammy was that a good hour and half of the presentation was in trying to convince people to hand over their credit cards to purchase a six month hand-holding package.

Now, if I hadn’t already had a knowledge-base about publicity, I might have been tempted to consider it. I could see the appeal for business people who knew nothing about getting free publicity.

This whole style of presenting seems to be really common now and I can see why people who present in this way, get lots of sales. Unfortunately I see little substance behind it, but that’s just my very skeptical opinion.
(in saying this I don’t necessarily doubt the presenters’ sincerity. I just wonder why manipulation is still so widely used when it seems to me that a shift is occurring towards a more relational style of marketing)

@atlantarobin I agree!

Going through this thread reminded me of this quote, that I must have read over a year ago: “There is no such thing as a social media expert or guru”. Rich Brooks nailed it when he referred to Gladwell’s 10,000 hours required to truly become an expert.

Or perhaps you’ve heard of Gary Veynerchuk’s controversial quote that “all social media experts are clowns”. It goes along the same lines as what was raised above…

While I certainly don’t think all social media experts (?) are clowns, there are some who make it seem that way – @casmccullough your description of rock-star-like presentations had me roaring, I’ve attended such presentations as well and was not impressed!

Many folks on SME clubs are quite savvy, and there is a natural bias towards social media expertise – it’s called Social Media Examiner clubs after all, right? But I find that when I go out into the real world, and discuss with folks who don’t have marketing as a priority, job or career, there is still a LOT of incomprehension, doubt and fear with regards to this new digital world. A great opportunity for us to fill in the blanks and help, but also one for folks who may just improvise themselves as SM experts because they use Facebook a lot…

@donpurdum @fredericgonzalo I know Don and Frederic. Connecting with those who are dedicated to doing it right is why I’m in here : ) 
I like the word “practitioner” but tend to use the word “specialist”. Although, I wonder if that word is a bit redundant these days.
Thanks for the interesting discussion folks!

Hey there @casmccullough. yep I agree with the advice from @mike-stelzner  to refer her to the free chapter of his book, Launch – because it states the argument for Social Media quite eloquently and is easy to understand. It certainly convinced me! If I hadn’t read Mike’s book I wouldn’t be in this forum

It is interesting that people sometimes misinterpret what is being explained to them as well – which is why it is always good practice to remain non judgmental when hearing what others advise. 

@rich-brooks 10,000 hours…..well I certainly have put in way more than that many to learn my profession – I am a psychologist…..but I certainly don’t feel in any way an expert! Not that I want to disagree with Malcolm as I am a fan of his work!

Thanks for the link to Wes Welker’s bio – pure gold! 

@shantelturner-collins I wouldn’t say Apple doesn’t use social. They have Ping, afterall. And their evangelists certainly use social media. They also integrate all of their products with social media now.

@annfurnivall I think it really depends on your business and how compelling your blog is for your local audience. I met a guy yesterday who transplants trees for a living and he wants to expand the WOM for his business. He is the only one who does what he does in this region but he finds it hard to list anywhere because his service is so unique. He could possibly benefit from a photographic blog as well as Facebook but he honestly wouldn’t have the time. He’s out transplanting trees all day. In any case he wants to talk to me about building a Facebook presence. I probably won’t suggest a blog as he is time poor (He has a half decent website). I also have a local business and find the blog does engage local users but I don’t rely on that alone. I engage locally through networking, markets etc as well (well, at least I did markets when I first started… now I don’t need to). Thanks for your perspective on this.