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I had a great meeting with Brian Taylor, owner of Evolve YOUniversity (20 year business coach, owner, consultant, and turn-around expert; including several years as a master trainer with Tony Robbins and time management trainer for Steven. R. Covey) in which we talked about the new wave of marketers, also known as Social Media Guru's. They seem to be good at selling the idea of certain Social Media Platforms as the “end all be all” solution for entrepreneurs looking for instant success. With any marketing medium, it is important to not put all the eggs in one basket. In other words, don't just use Twitter or Facebook exclusively. They might be great for your business, but then again they might not and it could take 6 months before you find this out. When it comes to Social Media make sure you diversify your marketing efforts, try the Big Five (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and have a personal blog) and also other niche profiles. I have over 150+ personal profiles and some index better than others for certain keywords (don't believe me, Google: Shane Barker) but I know this because I watch my analytics and I am continuously testing different marketing methods. Then I evaluate where I get the most “quality” traffic and focus my efforts on those social media platforms. There is NOBODY that can look at your business model and recommend ONE social platform that will be “the one” for you. Recommendations are great but always diversify!
Another growing concern that I have is that these “Social Media Guru's” want to advise your business but have no business experience. Please be cautious about who you hire to advise you on your business ventures. Experience is NOT taking one week online training course. Just because you see them on some social profiles doesn't make them business consultants. Do your research and know that destiny will help guide you to the right professional. After all, you are reading MY blog. Hint…hint!
P.S. I have a real-world entrepreneur business experience! Try me!
Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, content marketing, and SEO. He is the co-founder of Attrock, a digital marketing agency. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your BLOG. I agree with what you say about Gurus. What I find amazing is: the real movers in social media do not seem to need their own services. For instance, there is a social media group in Sacramento who has a very skinny online profile. They don’t use SEO or SMO techniques to promote their own site but their clients come up HUGE online. Everything they touch goes practically viral. Ok I am exaggerating but you know what I mean.
So it is an interesting phenomenon that this SMO company doesn’t advertise anywhere I can find. But they are so busy I cannot meet with them. Fascinating.
Hey Steve,
That is very interesting what you said about the local Sacramento Social Media Group. In my opinion, the proof has to be in the pudding! If your own site does index well for certain keywords, then it is going to be difficult to convenience a client that you know what you are doing. Now if they have built their business up over the years and you have some past clients that are your evangelists, then that is gold and they can potentially bring you some new clients. But at the end of the day, you are your best business card and indexing online is extremely important if you want to find new, fresh clients.
Cheers,
Shane