Over the past five years, an entire industry of consultants has arisen to help companies navigate the world of social networks, blogs, and wikis. The self-proclaimed experts range from legions of wannabes, many of them refugees from the real estate bust, to industry superstars such as Chris Brogan and Gary Vaynerchuk. They produce best-selling books and dole out advice or lead workshops at companies for thousands of dollars a day. The consultants evangelize the transformative power of social media and often cast themselves as triumphant case studies of successful networking and self-branding.
The problem, according to a growing chorus of critics, is that many would-be guides are leading clients astray. Consultants often use buzz as their dominant currency, and success is defined more often by numbers of Twitter followers, blog mentions, or YouTube (GOOG) hits than by traditional measures, such as return on investment. This approach could sour companies on social media and the rich opportunities it represents. "It's a bit of a Wild West scenario," blogs David Armano, a consultant with the Dachis Group of Austin, Tex. Without naming names, he compares some consultants to "snake oil salesmen."
Interesting comment piece on the dangers of throwing money at social media. I like the comparison between social media and high-risk investments, that may pay off but also may backfire.
I've never been entirely happy with being billed as a "social media expert" and prefer to describe myself as someone who understands and uses social media to network. Jonathan Worth's piece about how social networking is just the 21st century version of standing awkwardly in a room, holding a cocktail glass, reassured me that it's definitely worthwhile using these tools, but over the past couple of months, I've lost focus somewhat and have had the creeping feeling that spending time on Twitter and Facebook is literally just a form of procrastination.
As a result, I've started setting myself goals for each time I log in to one of the sites – four more followers for Photo Pro, contact a certain photographer, get retweeted by ten people, etc. As this excellent article in Business Week winds up summarising, having a fixed idea of what you're trying to achieve through your online efforts will definitely help keep you on the straight and narrow path towards your own vision of success.
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