by Pete Deutschman, Chief Buddy

How you refer to yourself has everything to do what how others perceive you and your abilities. Self referral has to be founded in reality, be proven and most important, be honest. I am an entrepreneur. I have started and run several companies starting with a DJ business in High School and I am most happy when I can see the impact of decisions made real time.

This week’s Business Week article titled “Beware Social Media Snake Oil”, is spot on. Let’s call these snake oil sales people the “Harold Hills” of our time (see the video below for reference).

Since entering the digital marketing and communications world 13 years ago (wow), I have seen a lot of smart people who call themselves experts, gurus or evangelists. These self proclaimed heroes see an opportunity to capitalize on market opportunity and pounce.

As an entrepreneur I can appreciate the desire to generate new revenue channels and get excited by opportunities. However, good entrepreneurs (Note: I didn’t say successful, I said good) posses a secret sauce that allows them to detect BS and see through smoke and mirrors.
It is not a skill you learn in business school. It is not a skill you learn from your parents (even if they were entrepreneurs). It is a skill you are born with. Like @GregGrunberg’s character Matt Parkmen, you need to unleash the innate gift and use it for good. (Note: I am a HEROES geek).

In the article they call out some of the self-made “Gurus” who collect thousands of dollars to show up and speak to organizations looking for the silver bullet. Most of us have attended these events. It’s true that many of the speakers are not teaching anything new to the audience, but rather being dynamic individuals who know how to read a room. Like Harold Hill, they found the pain point and capitalized on the situation.

I am more in the camp of approaching Social as just another channel, albeit a wonderfully dynamic and exciting one, in need of utilization as part of a larger strategy. We (those of us who practice digital communications) need to be responsible about how we are presenting ourselves and sharing information. In new client meetings at The Buddy Group, we often tell clients there are no “experts” in social media..it is too new to be an expert. However, we are experts in online, in communication, in brand building. So, that makes us ideally suited to shepherd their brand in the ever changing social media space.

Without responsible communication, we as an industry run the risk of being characterized, much as Harold Hill, as nothing better than snake oil salesmen.

Pete Deutschman Pete is Chief Buddy at The Buddy Group. Twitter @mybuddypeted

This post is the author's opinion and not necessarily that of The Buddy Group™ (unless it's about ice cream - they never disagree about that).