In a guest post for MarketingProfs Daily Fix, Paul Dunay of Buzz Marketing for Technology asks How Long Does it Take to Become a Social Media Expert. Like anything else in life, the number of hours invested don’t necessarily make anyone an expert. Someone who truly understands will learn must faster than someone who does much which accomplishes little.
Before someone gets concerned about whether they can invest enough time to become an expert- or hires one – they might want to set some goals and define how they’ll measure results. You can spend thousands of hours on Social Networking and generate very few results to show for it. Ask yourself first what precisely you hope to accomplish BEFORE you get started.
Adam Singer of The Future Buzz commented on Social Networking Experts in that post about one instrument not being enough – it requires an entire orchestra. Understanding Social Networking is similar to understanding ecommerce Web design or the difference between a free blog and a highly customized effective blog. The differences are worlds apart.
There ARE real experts whose expertise can be measured like ecommerce Marketing Optimization Expert Bryan Eisenberg of FutureNowInc. Any business that has the resources and is truly serious about improving online marketing profits should immediately hire them to increase conversions.
Businesses with fewer resources should read their GrokDotCom blog and their books Call to Action and Waiting for Your Cat to Bark. [Reviewing those two books is on our very long to-do list.] We’ll also be researching other consultants who can understand and apply those books to recommend to small businesses. If you are or know of any do please let us know.
The effectiveness of Social Media is as challenging to measure as the effectiveness of branding. Neither happens overnight and neither may necessarily generate income although done well they will EVENTUALLY.
Social Networking can be used successfully for:
1) Driving Traffic
2) Developing Relationships
3) Finding highly qualified collaborators
4) Easy, fast connections with others who MAY be interested in working with you
5) Getting immediate answers (sometimes, if you know precisely who to ask AND they are available).
6) Learning from other experts
7) Listening to what others are saying about you, your blog, or your company
8) Being proactive in managing issues that go public
I’ve published over twenty posts on Social Media if anyone is interested in more detail. The others can be found by looking on any visit by finding Social Networking in the right sidebar under Blog Topics. As always, we invite you to add your insights and favorite related links in the comments of this post. The more we collaborate the more we all learn!
MORE SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS:
- The Viral Garden: Will The Real Social Media Expert Please Stand Up
- MarketingProfs: How Long Does It Take to Become a Social Media Expert?
