Do those that can’t, twitter and teach about it?
Huh…. As the title suggests, this is another short post about social networking. I know some of the people that follow me are going to get a little upset, but I just have to describe my experience with Twitter.
Ok, so for the last few weeks I have been working on my Twitter page for Frontec/Me. I designed a page design and did nothing for a few weeks. Then I figured I better get cracking, because social networking is going to be a big part of the campaign we are about to launch for HybridizedIT.com, Frontec’s new cloud computing platform. So I started following people I, know in hope that they would follow me. I started doing some various tactics I developed (probably not the first to) to get a targeted audience of people that might be interested in what I have to offer. So things were going pretty smooth. I started racking up some followers. I have about 300 followers now which by no means is a large amount on twitter. I am not going for just a mass audience. I am going more for business owners, so I have a more selective following process.
At any rate, at first I had a few Social Networking and Twitter Consultants start following me. At first I thought, “Well I guess they are business owners”. Then another one started following me, then another one, then another one……..they just kept coming. I researched some of these people and some of these “Social Network Consultants” were teenagers. A social networking consultant that is a teenager? I can see the young kid now, sporting pants hanging below his behind, face plastered with acne and an iPhone in one hand and a computer in the other hand. Granted I know Facebook is HUGE and was started by a teenager who is a gazillionaire. But I think that is a rare breed.
Other “consultants” were all over the board; men, women, old, young, college students, jobless, etc…. Most of them had a lot of followers, which I guess is supposed to be a “testament” to their astuteness as a social networker. Of course looking at their followers you find every level of follower, most I imagine has no interest at all in their services.
I do not know the exact number but I would have to say at least a third of my followers on Twitter were so called “Social Networking Consultants”. So this begs the question. “Do those that can’t, twitter and teach about it?”
I do see the value of social networking and I am all for the free enterprise and the capital system. But come on…. If you were serious about Social Network Consulting, then you should at least have a website and should have a good portrayal of yourself; meaning no skanky or otherwise casual pictures. And I am sorry, you have to have a background and experience that remotely gives you experience. Sitting around late at night eating pizza and twittering, does not make you an expert.
I know the economy is tough but is it that bad that everyone has to be a self-proclaimed social networking consultant? In Google I typed “Social Networking Consultant”. In quotes and I got 43,200 hits. I am sure they go by other names as well. “Blog Consultant” got 28,600 hits. Looking at all these results, I still had trouble finding one. But heck I could go on my twitter account and find a ton.
Of course “”Tweeter Consultant” only got 4 hits from 2 separate sites. Hey I think I think that first guy is following me.
It seems to me that a social network consultant ought to know a little about Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization. I guess I am wrong though.
Well, I better get back to my twittering since I might be losing some now. 
Kindest Regards,
Todd Nielsen
Frontec Solutions, Inc.
Twitter Page: http://www.twitter.com/frontec