I really liked “3 Ways to Know if You’re Dealing with a Real Social Media Guru” by Doyle Slayton of SalesBlogcast.com. Simple, obvious, one of those “Ah-ha!” items you get when something is simple and obvious but, to be honest, only after somebody else has said it. 
With all the talk about who’s an expert in one thing or another, Doyle suggests an obvious way to tell for yourself before you hire somebody as a consultant or expert. Three simple steps:
- Get the top three social networking sites they participate in and follow them.
- Observe their activity for about a month.
- Have them provide you with hard numbers and statistics for the type of traffic and returns their online efforts are producing.
That’s really good advice. It’s also a great answer to a problem I called “A Drop of Credibility in an Ocean of Experts” a couple of months ago on my main blog.
Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software and Bplans.com. Follow him on Twitter @Timberry.
