So you are a social media expert? Maybe in a room full of business owners or professionals I am the ‘expert’ on social media, but I would not call myself one. I prefer the assignment of proficiency or specialist to my name.

General Definition of an expert: http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/expert Doing something for 10 years or 10,000 hours http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expert Since Twitter has not been around for 10 years yet…I guess I can’t use the expert moniker but I can call myself a specialist! I can say that I am an expert in measurements and evaluations and statistical design models. I have done that for more than 10 years.

I was talking to Kevin Urie of Social Media Club of Seattle the other day and he asked me, “What do you think of the social media ’scene’ in Seattle?” Wow…that was a loaded question. I think it is great! I think it is exciting! I think it is an enthusiastic bunch of enthusiasts who are clamoring to learn more and more about all the latest gadgets and tools. But what I don’t see in many of the enthusiasts is a meaty need and driving desire to understand the potential of each new piece and how to measure the data points in meaningful ways.  There are lots of enthusiasts and great fans roaming the west coast proclaiming the power of social media but there are more zealots and practitioners than in the trenches analysts and tinkerers. That is why he and SMC Seattle continue to bring thought leaders together for their more formal presentations to help the enthusiasts and the thought leaders exchange ideas and build a knowledge base that promotes expertise and informs the casual user as well. Kevin’s leadership and the great group he surrounds himself with is bringing great value to the Seattle social media community. They offer something for the beginner to the most experienced practitioner in the field of social media and it is always innovative and exciting.

Next I had coffee with my friend who works with a government entity that won’t embrace social media because the bureaucratic chain of permissions is so great that it would take months for a single tweet to be approved for broadcast. The burden of understanding the immediacy of social media and the potential it possesses for their organization is so beyond them that they are skeptical about anyone in the business regardless of their skill sets or experience.

I moved on down the Seattle waterfront and had coffee with Warren Sukernek of Social Media Breakfast Seattle for an interview for my upcoming book on Twitter techniques and strategies. The conversation moved from the hows and whys to the vetting of not only Twitter followers for brand engagement but also regarding the person representing the brand itself. We both knew of companies that had hired someone’s niece or nephew still in high school or college to ‘Tweet’ for the company. We also knew of cases where a social media expert’s complete work history involved a stint as a bagger at Safeway and barista at the corner cafe. And the company wonders why their social media efforts are not working so well for them? SMBC’s last presentation by Sean O’Driscoll of Ant’s Eye View briefly addressed just that question as he went on to address pithier matters about measurement of conversations, etc.

This led to a lengthy discussion with my buddy David Grigsby a tech geek like myself who lives in the heartland of America. He and I chat almost weekly about the latest tools and techniques that impact small business on the web. Gist, Flowtown, Mailchimp, CRM, Odesk, you name it and we have turned it upside down and ripped it apart to analyze its effectiveness for small business owners. Not surprising we have also analyzed the ways and means of social media. We came to the same conclusion…measurable output is critical to success on any of these platforms

The most interesting thing that came out of all the conversations with these professionals is that there were some common benchmarks or standards we are looking for in the ‘experts’ we will work with, support or engage on behalf of our clients:

1. Must be a doer not a talker. Actively participating in the social environments they propose to represent for a brand. An abandoned or inactive Twitter account does not make one an expert. Tweets must bring value and encourage engagement at a minimum. Consistency is important as is output.

2. A true dynamic web presence that is optimized for find-ability. If you are in the business of building the web presence of a brand then you need to eat your own dog food. If someone ‘Googles’ you and you can’t ‘be found’ don’t call yourself an expert. You can’t because you aren’t.  As Nike says, “Just Do It!”

3. Social media projects are an integral part of a maven’s portfolio. Let your work speak for you. If you can’t point to anything you have done that is professional and represents your knowledge base you won’t impress anyone.

4. A polished, highly optimized, and professional LinkedIn profile is important to the vetting process. You will be assessed based on your strengths and weaknesses found on available online information. If you can’t be validated as a professional with appropriate education or experiences that align with what you claim, then you probably won’t make the cut.

This is not to say that there are not gems among the inexperienced. They get how it works. They stumble onto the one thing that not one of their peers has discovered as of yet. The technologies are in their infancy as are all the ‘experts’ that abound. We are all trying to differentiate who we are and what we do. None of us can claim to truly be experts at the moment. We are all practitioners building tools, strategies, and techniques built on our individual and collective experiences in the field. The reason that I won’t call myself an expert is that I am not that confident anyone is including the inventor of the technology, methods, or tools.

Your thoughts?