Dan Schawbel Always Has Something Interesting to Talk About

There are a few Gen Y blogs I follow pretty closely.  Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog always has a few juicy topics, interviews and great guest posts.

Just today, I read a guest post by another Gen Y I follow:  Scott Bradley.

Here is the post: Could Your Social Media Expert Be a Fake?

Very juicy indeed considering everyone and their brother now thinks they are a social media expert.  The part that I think Scott makes that is so important is this:  It’s one thing to have someone “set up” your social media accounts.  It’s another altogether to have someone who is really social media savvy and who can tell you/show you how to make money, expand your network or find top talent for your company using Twitter or Facebook.

This guest interview with Scott on Dan’s blog led me to another great post:  His Interview with David Meerman Scott About All Things Social Media. If you don’t know it, David has several great books AND he gives away a great deal of valuable information (free stuff!) on his site.   His free e-book download page is so worth a look.

My point to this post is that  so many Gen Ys always have so many great things to talk about…they keep me coming back again and again.  So, this is a great lesson to learn for all of us!

And…since I am a bit on the topic of “Social Media Experts”, I will leave you with a few things to consider before you invest your hard earned money in a so-called social media expert who is someone who just knows how to set up a Twitter account (I am NOT a social media expert and would never claim that, but I do work with companies who are asking this question.)  So, here’s a list of questions to ask during the interview.  If the candidate cannot give you great answers to these, then probably best to look elsewhere:

1) Give me 3 examples of how you have helped other companies increase their profits by using Twitter.

2) Please show me your own blog and how you use this to connect with other people AND make money.

3) What are the 3 biggest trends you have “heard” online in the past week, and how can our company tap into these conversations to expand our visibility.

4) How have you used consultative selling through your blog and Twitter to build your own network?

5) Give us 3 examples of how you have helped companies respond to negative PR about their companies on blogs, Twitter and Facebook

6) Describe in detail 3 examples of how you have effectively communicated with Fortune 500 C-Level executives online

Setting up Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In accounts are easy.  It’s the above that is more difficult, and you really need someone who has a strong business background, can easily connect to top decision makers (in both small business and large blue-chip companies) online AND who has a proven track record of actually helping a company become stronger and more profitable from helping that company navigate social networks.  AND…I do believe that this individual should have been actively using blogging and online networks for at least 5 years, preferably 10 years.  With this time, your social media expert should have been able to watch the ebb and flow of the process to know what’s coming next.