There are some things in life that you don’t realize how bad it really is until it happens to you. It’s like one of those allergy stricken people, you can see their eyes all watery and hear them sneeze every minute, but until you suffer from allergies it’s really hard to realize how bad it can be. Well, today’s post talks about one of those things and it relates to social media. We are in a dire need of help as far as differentiating between the real “social media guy” and “fake social media” guy goes. I know there are many fake ones out there ripping people off, but I didn’t really see it as a huge problem until I came across someone who wanted my help to brand himself as a “social media expert.” I will share a few things with you as to what happened and such. Buckle up.
Few days ago I received an email from a guy who is planning to launch a blog to help out small businesses and like to utilize the power of social web. The email was nothing but inquiry if I would be interested in offering content related to social media and how to capitalize the user base of different paltform for sales, etc. I don’t write often these days. The only blog I regularly contribute is FreelanceFolder and the reason is because I have been a part of it since the very beginning (launched in 2007). So mostly my work is related to social media campaigns, content optimization, brain storming, branding, etc. which I do only if a client agrees to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Anyway, this guy wanted me to write. Well, social media marketing is certainly something I enjoy doing and talking about, and since I haven’t really had time to write on my blog I thought I would write on his. And hey, a little extra money wouldn’t hurt either. I took him up on his offer and agreed to contribute to his blog.
Everything was fine and dandy and I sure as hell was pumped. First off I would get to write about something I enjoy and second it would make my wife happy since she gets a little more to shop around with. But this all changed when I received an email asking me to write a 25-30 page report on social media marketing for small business. This is where it got crappy, I am quoting part of the email below,
The reason I’m willing to pay top price for the report to be written by someone like yourself, instead of someone from elance.com or guru.com, is due to the fact that this report would be given away for free, but with the goal to help brand me as a top expert in the field.
At this point, I was shocked. Why? Read the text above again. This guy wants me to write, produce content and write reports occassionally so that he can help himself brand as a “social media expert,” that’s why. I was totally baffled. I mean he can hire writers, get top notch reports out and then brand himself as someone who knows his way around social media, get some speaking gigs, land some clients and rip the hell out of innocent people and small businesses. Ohh hell no, I wasn’t going to be a part of that. So I gave him my skype address so we could chat for a little bit so I could get a bit more out of this person.
So the person happens to be a best selling author of some book that I have never heard of. I think it’s something related to credit score and such. So first, if it’s true the person sure is a respected member of the community, I would like to think. We chatted for about an hour and I went back and forth with questions and acted like I was interested in it. Meanwhile, I kept asking questions to see what his real intentions were. Like I said above the intentions were pretty clear, brand himself as a “social media expert” with someone’s help.
Well, I just wanted to share this with you cause we all know there are fakers out there, but man when you come across one yourself the way you look at things change. I mean this guy has money, he can use money to get anyone on board and help start a booming social media business while taking all the credit. I wouldn’t have a problem if he was trying to leverage social media for his business or something along that line rather than branding himself as a social media expert, but that in my opinion is immoral and totally unethical.
Anyway, this was a rant and I am about to hit the hay. I just had to let it out. Also I didn’t mention the guy’s name cause he was really nice when I told him I wouldn’t be able to do so cause it’s unethical. There was no confrontation of any sort, it was a civilized conversation but my only problem was him trying to brand himself as a social media expert with the help of someone else. Hell, I don’t claim to be an expert on anything (wait actually I am quite good at handing my paycheck to my wife, so am an expert at being a smart husband) but I do know how to utilize these platforms and have been doing this for years.Thought I would get this out of my system.
One more thing. I get a lot of client on a regular basis. As I said before, I have most of my clients sign non-disclosure agreement so many have no idea what I am doing or who I am working with. However, my clients will vouch for my work if need be. It amazes me that I get so many emails offering me work simply based on my twitter activity (it’s freaking crazy). I seriously would like you all to be careful when choosing someone to work with you when it comes to social media. Even if they can’t provide you with their client name at least get some feedback about them before shelling out money.
And finally, the state of social media certainly is much worse than I really thought. Guess what? It’s just going to get worse as time goes by. It’s upto you to be wise and make rational decisions cause if you don’t, be ready to go bankrupt with your business.
note : I am sure the person who I am talking about will end up reading this post since he follows me on twitter. You know who you are. I have been nice enough not to release your name but if you would like to confront this post and talk about it publicly, I am all for it.
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Hi, My name is Ritu. I am a member of SMA (Social Media Anonymous) ;-) & help bloggers and businesses utilize the social web. 
I’ve never heard of someone wanting to have the entire premise of their career ghostwritten. This gives a whole new meaning to the concept of cheating to get ahead.
Glad it was you — probably a lot of folks out there who would have churned out a fancy report full of buzzwords but no actual insight, and he’d have been enabled to practice his new trade based on that.
This is despicable, but not surprising. People have been lying, faking, plotting and scamming for almost as long as humans have been on this planet. No one should be allowed to call themselves an expert in anything without having earned the title with hard work and properly attained knowledge. Unfortunately, however, people get away with this sort of thing all the time. It’s sickening. I just thank God that it’s not as easy for doctors, especially surgeons, to get away with this behavior.
To the unnamed gentleman: I urge you to rethink your strategy. It may seem cliche, but it really is far more gratifying to pat yourself on the back when you’ve gotten where you are without stepping on the backs of others. Sadly, I feel that my words may be lost on you, since you obviously had no qualms about what you intend to do and readily admitted that you want to use people to avoid doing the hard work yourself, but I have to make the plea anyway. Don’t dupe people. It really doesn’t take much to learn the basics of the social media world, and with a little extra work and research, you can be an honest expert in a short period of time. If that still doesn’t appeal to you, then just remember this: Karma is a [bleep], and none of us are immune to having our bad deeds bite us in the butt sooner or later.
To Ritu: Good for you for standing on solid moral ground! I applaud you for making a wonderful decision. Bravo, my friend!
On one hand I can see your ‘client’s’ point – he sees an opportunity and is willing to put his money behind his belief. I can respect that.
On the other, unless he has the foundation and acumen to pull off his brand promise, then it is specious at best.
I would appreciate an honest counter-point from your ‘client’, anonymous if need be, to discuss this openly and honestly.
If not this person, would you be willing to open this discussion up to others who might want to pursue it? I’d be game… I think it has traction.
Cheers!
Mark Montoya
@MarkMontoya
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
Mark, I am kinda confused…care to explain?
It’s unfortunate but not really surprising. This no doubt happens in every industry to some degree, especially now with the Internet and the amount information at anyone’s fingertips as well as the technological advances that will occur over the next several months? years? . Through in some capital and you really can become whomever you want to become. Recognizing the genuine from the fake will become increasingly difficult as we venture forward and only strong vigilance, and doing a bit of homework will help you weed out the real from the unreal