There seems to appear a new self-proclaimed expert, Social Media Expert, LinkedIn Expert or Twitter Expert about every hour or two. They shout it out, present what might be their first Webinars or presentations and seem to forget that the world can see whether or not this is true.
One’s profile and network are among the truest indicators of expertise. Here are some things that you can do to see if these claims are brick solid or a house of cards about to fall under their own weighty claims.
LinkedIn:
Is their name clean, free of Non-name Text like an E-Mail address?
Do they have a Professional Photo? Any photo at all?
Is their Profile Complete?
Do they list Web sites and are they NOT defaulted to “My Company”?
Is the Personal URL to their profile personalized?
Does their Summary reflect their abilities?
Do they even have Specialties listed?
Are Jobs and Education listed all the way back with real data included?
Are the Interests and Groups/Associations sections completed and “formatted”?
Are they a member of any LinkedIn Groups? How many? More than 20?
Does their Contact Settings area tell you how to reach them?
How BIG is their Network? If it isn’t at 500+ you can stop right there…..
True LinkedIn experts cannot have small networks. Should probably be 2,000+.
Are their connections being shared?
Twitter:
Is their Twitter ID something that makes sense?
Can you find them when you search Twitter (try their name)?
Do they have a respectable Picture showing?
How many Followers do they have? Should be 1,000 or more AT THE LEAST!
How many are they following? Should be within 50% of the Followers.
How many updates have they done? Should be well over 500.
Does their Twitter profile tell you what they do? Free of mis-spellings, Include URL?
These are the requirements for a B-level Social Media Expert, LinkedIn Expert or Twitter Expert. Maybe we will do a posting for an A-level Expert sometime (see the A-level players below).
We suggest you use this as a litmus test to gauge tour experts. Here a few we recommend you look at.
Check out these true LinkedIn and Social Media Experts:
Mike O’Neil, Denver, 25,000 connections, 12,000 followers
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoneil – Twitter @mikeoneildenver
Lori Ruff, Denver & Charlotte, 11,000 connections, 12,000 followers
http://www.linkedin.com/in/loriruff – Twitter @loriruff
Viveka von Rosen, Ft. Collins, 6,000 connections, 13,000 followers
http://www.linkedin.com/in/LinkedInExpert – Twitter @linkedinexpert
Dave Westfall, Denver, 9,000 connections, 1,000 followers
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davewestfall @dewpointe
Dave Reingold, New Jersey, 7,000 connections
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davereingold
Brad Hanks, Denver, 13,000 connections, 3,000 followers
http://www.linkedin.com/in/bradhanks – Twitter @bradhanks
Chip Lambert, Phoenix, 3,000 connections, 1,000 followers
http://www.linkedin.com/in/raymondchiplambert – Twitter @chiplambert73
Rich Fiene, Minneapolis, 12,000 connections, 1,000 followers
http://www.linkedin.com/in/richfiene – Twitter @richfiene
Lonny Gulden, Minneapolis, 9,000 connections
http://www.linkedin.com/in/lonnygulden
Neal Schaffer, Los Angeles, 15,000 connections, 9,000 followers
http://www.linkedin.com/in/nealschaffer Twitter @nealschaffer