This ain’t our first time at the rodeo, folks.

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We do an awful lot of talking in social media about who’s doing it right, wrong, sideways. We get our feathers in a ruff when we think someone’s calling themselves an expert out of turn, or representing themselves as knowledgeable about social media if they’re really just a poser.

Is this really all that new?

There have been dumbasses in business since the dawn of time. Since capitalism was invented, there have been shills and posers and pretenders. There have been sleazy sales people, guys who got their education out of a textbook, women who have used their beauty before their brains to make something happen.

So why are we so shocked that there are people in “our” industry that are proclaiming themselves to be experts when they really aren’t? And why do we care?

You’re going to tell me that the lousy ones are going to ruin this for the legitimate ones. That the shillers are going to leave a sour taste in the mouth of businesses that are investigating social media, and that they’re wrecking it for the rest of us. That they’re undermining the credibility of our work and damaging the potential of this space.

Again I ask you, how is this any different than the crappy-ass web designers of yore that were telling businesses why they needed to get on the web for all the wrong reasons? Did it prevent everyone from doing it? No, but it made businesses consider more carefully why they needed a website, what they wanted from it, and look carefully for someone that could give them more than the cosmetic treatment. And I’d actually say that was a good thing.

Look, we need the craptastic shillers to showcase the good work when it’s done. We need examples of lousy results and scattershot tactics because the people that are really digging deep to do good work will eventually look that much more brilliant, and their results will be that much more compelling.

So rather than spending time rehashing the same territory and railing against the handful of smarms that are out there saying they can make you a million dollars and get you a jillion followers on Twitter, I’m going to let them have enough rope to hang themselves. They’re going to trip, stumble, fail to produce results and either get bored, skewered, or both.

And the companies that fall victim to that stuff? Maybe they ought to be doing a bit more due diligence in the first place. (Ouch, I know, but come on.)

In the meantime, I’m going to use my energy to work my butt off, share everything I know with the people that want to learn, do great work and hopefully provide great content, and contribute serious, number-driving results for my business. That, ultimately, is how I’m going to make these clowns irrelevant. Action. The kind of action that they just don’t know how to take.

You?

Photo credit: ReneS

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  • http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

    @Amber. I don’t think it’s a case of saying you’re “doing it wrong”, Amber (and I’m not sure if that was in response to my comment or Ari’s, or both).

    It’s more in the sense that everyone works differently and, yes, the proof will be in the pudding.

    But it’s clear that some of the tactics and approaches we don’t wish to use are working for some, so are they really “craptastic” if they’re successful for people that use them?

    Danny Browns last blog post..Soundbites and Snippets

  • Amber Naslund

    @Danny Ha, no it wasn’t directed at either. Just a bit of fun.

    My point, actually, in the whole post is really that telling other people how to do things is rather fruitless. There aren’t rules that should or shouldn’t dictate this space, and different approaches are bound to work for different people and businesses.

    I do happen to think there are shillers and sharks out there, but hey. If that’s what works for a business, all the more power to them.

    My focus is in saying that instead of wasting so much energy criticizing others for not doing things the way we’d like, instead I think we ought to be channeling our energies into doing the best work we can, and letting our clients and communities decide what works.

  • http://equi-works.com jerrilee

    Not a rodeo fan but I still like the title and your candor. Refreshing after-taste easily acquired from reading your blog.Made me hungry to go read more and found I was not disappointed. Full tummy..going home now.Tnx

  • http://equi-works.com jerrilee

    Not a rodeo fan but I still like the title and your candor. Refreshing after-taste easily acquired from reading your blog.Made me hungry to go read more and found I was not disappointed. Full tummy..going home now.Tnx

  • http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

    @Amber. Got you – guess I should go back to 3 cups of coffee in the morning, much more alert! :)

    Danny Browns last blog post..The Difference Between Heaven and Hell in Social Media

  • http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

    @Amber. Got you – guess I should go back to 3 cups of coffee in the morning, much more alert! :)

    Danny Browns last blog post..The Difference Between Heaven and Hell in Social Media

  • Pingback: Why we love Amber « Jon’s PR 1.5

  • http://www.thatdamnredhead.net Stacy Lukas

    Good gawd, I haven’t been here in so long I feel ashamed of myself.

    Ditto what you said, what everybody else said, and especially what @ShannonPaul said, “Rather than getting upset, I’ll keep my nose down, do good work and trust that the rest will take care of itself.”

    In time the charlatans will out themselves, and if anything, their claims of “expertise” makes me more conscious of my own degree of knowledge (or lack thereof). I am always learning and consider myself a student of social media as well as a teacher, and every time I see/hear somebody claiming that they’re an “expert” it only makes me want to read/learn more so that when the time comes, actions speak louder than words.

    Last week I was introduced as a “social media guru” for a presentation and I swear I almost sprained an eyeball and groaned out loud. (In fact, it was videoed so I can actually verify that once I get a copy of it.) However, at the end of the presentation I made it a point to the audience that there’s no such thing as an “expert,” and to never believe otherwise, because ideas are spreading so fast and there is so much out that that “expert” is an impossible title attain. I told them the only difference between me and them is that I have no friends around here and therefore spend way too much time online. ;)

    It’s not that I wanted to waste the energy decrying those who decry self-appointed “experts” like you point out in your post, but my audience was on a very, VERY basic level and I just wanted to give them a head’s up in case somebody tried to pull that on them. Is that so wrong?

    Stacy Lukass last blog post..Slides from Leadership Genesee presentation 4/2/09

  • http://www.thatdamnredhead.net Stacy Lukas

    Good gawd, I haven’t been here in so long I feel ashamed of myself.

    Ditto what you said, what everybody else said, and especially what @ShannonPaul said, “Rather than getting upset, I’ll keep my nose down, do good work and trust that the rest will take care of itself.”

    In time the charlatans will out themselves, and if anything, their claims of “expertise” makes me more conscious of my own degree of knowledge (or lack thereof). I am always learning and consider myself a student of social media as well as a teacher, and every time I see/hear somebody claiming that they’re an “expert” it only makes me want to read/learn more so that when the time comes, actions speak louder than words.

    Last week I was introduced as a “social media guru” for a presentation and I swear I almost sprained an eyeball and groaned out loud. (In fact, it was videoed so I can actually verify that once I get a copy of it.) However, at the end of the presentation I made it a point to the audience that there’s no such thing as an “expert,” and to never believe otherwise, because ideas are spreading so fast and there is so much out that that “expert” is an impossible title attain. I told them the only difference between me and them is that I have no friends around here and therefore spend way too much time online. ;)

    It’s not that I wanted to waste the energy decrying those who decry self-appointed “experts” like you point out in your post, but my audience was on a very, VERY basic level and I just wanted to give them a head’s up in case somebody tried to pull that on them. Is that so wrong?

    Stacy Lukass last blog post..Slides from Leadership Genesee presentation 4/2/09

  • http://lifeinmarketing.blogpost.com Anna Barcelos

    That’s been quite the topic around here – everyone’s a SM expert. I for one am not and I don’t even go there. I see the tweets that keep streaming by about this one said he was an expert and that one said she’s a guru, and as tempting as it may be to add to that fire, I’ve refrained. Mainly because my energy is being spent looking for work (yeah, that’s such a distraction LOL) and some of the companies I’ve been talking to simply arent’ there yet, which is great, because I’m not quite there yet with SM. Twitter does give you a good education on BSers vs. workerbees. Soon it becomes like one of those three dimensional pictures that you have to stare at – once you see the image clearly, you can spot it over and over. Thanks for a great post Amber. I always learn a lot here!

  • http://lifeinmarketing.blogpost.com Anna Barcelos

    That’s been quite the topic around here – everyone’s a SM expert. I for one am not and I don’t even go there. I see the tweets that keep streaming by about this one said he was an expert and that one said she’s a guru, and as tempting as it may be to add to that fire, I’ve refrained. Mainly because my energy is being spent looking for work (yeah, that’s such a distraction LOL) and some of the companies I’ve been talking to simply arent’ there yet, which is great, because I’m not quite there yet with SM. Twitter does give you a good education on BSers vs. workerbees. Soon it becomes like one of those three dimensional pictures that you have to stare at – once you see the image clearly, you can spot it over and over. Thanks for a great post Amber. I always learn a lot here!

  • http://blog.bronto.com DJ Waldow

    @Amber: Am I being lazy by posting my tweet as a comment?

    http://twitter.com/djwaldow/statuses/1467072184

    I just love the phrase, “craptastic shillers”

    Rock on.

    dj
    @djwaldow

    DJ Waldows last blog post..BrontoMail Returns

  • http://blog.bronto.com DJ Waldow

    @Amber: Am I being lazy by posting my tweet as a comment?

    http://twitter.com/djwaldow/statuses/1467072184

    I just love the phrase, “craptastic shillers”

    Rock on.

    dj
    @djwaldow

    DJ Waldows last blog post..BrontoMail Returns

  • http://www.twitter.com/zenaweist Zena Weist

    Damn, Amber, you nailed the reality of “our” industry spot on! The doers will keep doing and the annoying ones will be course corrected.

    And, great conversation via the comments as well. Love it!

  • http://www.twitter.com/zenaweist Zena Weist

    Damn, Amber, you nailed the reality of “our” industry spot on! The doers will keep doing and the annoying ones will be course corrected.

    And, great conversation via the comments as well. Love it!

  • http://www.southplattewebdesign.com Bill

    Craptastic – I love that you used that word.

    Anyways…over the past 6-8 years I have frequented a number of “web master” forums. The story is all the same, the “elite”, the “grunts”, the “experts”. Same holds with social media.

    The true measure? If you do an honest job and drive results that are measurable, sustainable, repeatable and work for your client, no matter geographic location, cultural diversity or vertical market, you’re doing it right.

    Try to black hat a process, scheme a scam here or there and otherwise just play in the muck and mire to drive results, the results will not be sustainable, repeatable nor will the deliver measurable metrics consistently.

    Bills last blog post..Pleaseretweet.me – All things Twitter

  • http://www.southplattewebdesign.com Bill

    Craptastic – I love that you used that word.

    Anyways…over the past 6-8 years I have frequented a number of “web master” forums. The story is all the same, the “elite”, the “grunts”, the “experts”. Same holds with social media.

    The true measure? If you do an honest job and drive results that are measurable, sustainable, repeatable and work for your client, no matter geographic location, cultural diversity or vertical market, you’re doing it right.

    Try to black hat a process, scheme a scam here or there and otherwise just play in the muck and mire to drive results, the results will not be sustainable, repeatable nor will the deliver measurable metrics consistently.

    Bills last blog post..Pleaseretweet.me – All things Twitter

  • http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com olivier blanchard

    Oh wow. Wow wow wow. WOW.

    Le wow, even.

    Amber, you just made my day. Again. :D

    olivier blanchards last blog post..The Channel 7 interview

  • http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com olivier blanchard

    Oh wow. Wow wow wow. WOW.

    Le wow, even.

    Amber, you just made my day. Again. :D

    olivier blanchards last blog post..The Channel 7 interview

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  • http://adamhcohen.com adamcohen

    Hey Amber – Once again you tell it how it is. In the services business in particular, it’s about the client. It’s about doing what’s right for the client and leveraging the best you can bring to bear for them. It’s about adding value. The rest will fall into place. I’ve been in consulting my entire career and that approach wins out every time.

    For those who proclaim the expertise without practical experience to back it up, my favorite expression applies: “Time wounds all heels.”

    Adam Cohens last blog post..Understanding How Social Media Impacts the Purchase Path

  • http://adamhcohen.com Adam Cohen

    Hey Amber – Once again you tell it how it is. In the services business in particular, it’s about the client. It’s about doing what’s right for the client and leveraging the best you can bring to bear for them. It’s about adding value. The rest will fall into place. I’ve been in consulting my entire career and that approach wins out every time.

    For those who proclaim the expertise without practical experience to back it up, my favorite expression applies: “Time wounds all heels.”

    Adam Cohens last blog post..Understanding How Social Media Impacts the Purchase Path

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