Clowns, Charlatans, and Social Media Name Calling

Posted on 06. Jun, 2011 by in Blog, gary vaynerchuk, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media consultant, social media consulting, social media marketing

There’s a lot of name-calling in social media right now, including Gary Vaynerchuk asserting that “99.5% of social media experts are clowns.” True, there are people out there (including many “name brand” social media consultants) that don’t have a lot of business expertise. This often results in companies getting too enthusiastic about social media per se, and not recognizing that social is a means to an end.

The goal is not to be good at social media, but to be good at business because of social media.

But don’t confuse myopia with thievery. Just because your marketing director or social media advisor can’t connect every dot in terms of how social supports your business objectives doesn’t mean they are without value or are out to deceive you. It just means that there are a variety of sophistication levels in the social media services business, the same way there are levels of sophistication in accounting, law, plumbing, auto repair, psychiatry, plastic surgery, tattoo application, and almost any other service.

Yet, an increasingly large portion of the cognoscenti chooses to spend time demonizing and denigrating the skills and backgrounds of others in the industry.

Play Your Own Game

Maybe it’s just the way I was raised, but I don’t see the value in that approach. Everybody is a teacher in social media, and everybody is a student. And there’s enough cookies in the cookie jar for everyone.Does it irk me when bad advice flows like water sometimes? Sure. But I suggest you play your own game. Let’s worry about providing our clients and companies the best possible outcomes, and don’t fret about whether somebody else’s clients or companies are getting what they paid for.(Video production by my friends at Real Simple Video. Super fast, inexpensive video editing and assistance. Check them out at realsimplevideo.com/jaybaer)