I had an interesting conversation about community management with a co-worker yesterday. We talked about how it can turn into an extremely public role – depending on the brand and the duties. Our discussion turned to public perception and our responsibilities outside of the brand, and I thought it would be interesting to explore that here.

Having a heavy social media presence means you’re extremely exposed. The problem with this is that there are times you have to be really careful of what you put out there. My presence on Twitter, Google+, Facebook and even Pinterest isn’t limited by what I’m doing for the brand. I also have a heavy personal presence. Each account is handled differently, but there is a constant in that people read what I put out there and sometimes what I put out there is a direct reflection of my brand, even if I’m on my personal account.

The company I work for, BlogWorld & New Media Expo, works with a lot of different brands and P.R. companies. We have to rely on these businesses for sponsorship and couldn’t put on our conference without them. So not only do I like to show them support via the brand account, but I also remember this with my personal accounts.  For example, let’s say I had a bad experience with Brand X. The last thing I’d want to do is bash them on the social networks. Even though it’s my personal account and my personal experience, they may remember this if they ever decided to consider sponsoring or exhibiting at my conference.

Sometimes I feel like I have to keep a lot of things in check because I don’t want them to come back and bit me in the butt later.

• I love my job but there’s always the chance something can happen. If I’m someone who isn’t positive, or is vulgar or abusive on my social networking accounts, a future client or employer may decided I don’t have the right temperament for the job.
• I enjoy a good gossip session with my friends but I also know if I share someone’s personal information, even during a “promise not to tell” type gossip session, word will get out and I’ll be seen as someone who isn’t trustworthy with certain information.
• I enjoy socializing and going to conferences but if I drink and it gets out of hand, I’ll be seen as someone who doesn’t conduct myself in a professional manner when I’m representing my brand at an offline event.
• I enjoy sharing stories about my family, especially my wonderful, precocious son. However, I know that there’s a fine line between sharing and oversharing and if I’m seen as someone who releases too much information about my self, what kind of company secrets will I give out about the brand?
• I enjoy taking photographs with my friends and family and posting them to Facebook, but I share with friends, relatives and business acquaintances alike on that network. So in addition to filtering, I’m careful about what I put out there. Not that I do the drunken, barely dressed thing, but if I did, my judgement and common sense would be put to question.

You might be thinking most of the items bulleted above are personal and have nothing to do with my job, my brand’s sponsors or potential clients or employers. However, that’s not the case. If you’re going to accept a public role, you absolutely have to be careful of what you put out there. In this world, reputation and trust are everything. If I can’t be trusted to make good personal decisions, I certainly can’t be trusted to make good business decisions.

Do community managers have a responsibility to the brand outside of your regular nine to five duties? How do you keep it professional when you’re being personal?

Now, you may think it’s a silly analogy, but I think there are many important comparisons. Who you trust, who you put your loyalties behind, and what those people do (or don’t do) to repay that trust and loyalty all play a part in the overall mood of the community. If you don’t act in the best interests of your people, anarchy and chaos ensue.

Behold, 5 community lessons from Game of Thrones.

Warning: May create a spoiler or two.

1. When you have the trust of your community, it’s a good idea to stick around

Community managers are torn in different directions. Everyone needs us for something. Though our first loyalty is to the brands that hired us, we also have a loyalty to the people in our community. There is no task so important that it should keep the community team away from the people.

When the community is abandoned, two things happen. The first thing is that people lose faith in the brand and discontent sets in. They complain and eventually they leave for greener pastures.  The second thing that can happen is someone else can appoint himself community leader and take over. This leads to resentment. If you build a community you have to stick with it. You have to talk with your people every single day. You have to give them a reason to put faith behind you and your brand. If they think you don’t care, they won’t care. It’s as simple as that.

Why should there always be a Stark in Winterfell? Because as soon as the Starks began to leave Winterfell everything fell to crap. Now those Starks who aren’t dead are stuck in some pretty gruesome situations and Winterfell has fallen. Even if they come back, their community is a pile of smoking ruins. Don’t let this happen to yours.

2. Just because you’re in charge doesn’t mean people will like you

My way or the highway may work in Kings Landing, but it won’t fly in an online community.

People appreciate leaders who are caring, show compassion and look out for the general good of the people. Leaders who are mean, abusive, and are in it for themselves find themselves dead or overthrown. If you’re not a people person, consider a different career. Community managers need to think about others more than they think about their own personal agendas.

Joffrey Baratheon may be powerful but no one likes him, and even more important, no one trusts him. Make decisions and interact with the best interests of your community in mind. Don’t be that guy.

3. With the right nurturing your community will grow over time

Ok, so your community is kind of small, but that doesn’t mean you’re a failure or that you should step aside. A community doesn’t have to be an overnight sensation to be successful.

If you take the time to learn about the people who make up your tribe and do the right thing by them, you’ll achieve a wonderful steady growth. Being in charge doesn’t mean pontificating to the masses and making up silly rules, it means taking the time to gauge their wants and needs. When you have the trust, respect and faith of your community, and if  you’re welcoming to all, you’ll notice a good, steady growth. Over time you’ll achieve the numbers you hoped for, and you’ll have a reputation of being the best at what you do.

Danearys Targaryen may lead a small group of followers but they’re extremely loyal because she takes care of them. Plus she has dragons, and that kind of rocks.

It is known.

4. Too many crowns only lead to confusion

Westeros is an interesting continent.  It has the warmth of the South, the cold beauty of the North, and even a few Wildings and White Walkers beyond The Wall to mix things up a bit. But do you know what it doesn’t have? A community united behind one single king.

People just can’t up and appoint themselves as leaders, they have to earn that role. Moreover, when everyone wants to be king, it gets to where no one knows who to put their faith behind. In this social media age, everyone is looking for a title and sometimes those titles don’t make a bit of sense. It’s better to not be in charge than to be one of five people vying for the crown. Having more community leaders and moderators than you have members is kind of silly.

If people are confused they won’t stick around and if you’re good at what you do you’ll earn your title. The iron throne isn’t built for comfort. If you’re going to seek it out, be sure you’re ready for all the aches and pains that come with it.

5. The right team makes all the difference

Varys, Littlefinger, and anyone with the last name “Lannister” all have their own agenda, none of which match up to be in the best interests of the community they help to govern.  The community manager is only a small part of what makes a community tick. There’s a whole team of customer support, marketing, editiorial, and operational people to help things run smoothly.

You may only know your community manager’s name, but rest assured there’s a whole awesome team behind him or her. When everyone works together, the community is positive and productive. When they’re off to pursue their own agendas, that disconnect and discontent also reflects on the community. If the team behind the community doesn’t care, neither will the people who makes up the community.

It’s all about trust. Robert Baratheon’s council didn’t have it and look where they are now. But don’t worry. I won’t spoil that one for you.

Are you a Game of Thrones fan? What lessons can you take from it?

There’s a scene in the movie “Julie & Julia” where Julie jubilantly shares with her co-workers how she received her first comment. After watching that, I remember telling my husband how much I could relate to her excitement because I felt the same way after receiving my first comment on my first blog. In fact, over a dozen years later, I can tell you it’s still just as wonderful to have someone stop and respond to something I posted.

I often think about new bloggers and wonder if they feel the same excitement as we did in the old school. Back in the day we didn’t have the social networks. We didn’t have retweets, shares or thumbs up icons. We didn’t have buttons encouraging you to follow us or share our stuff with your friends. If folks wanted to respond to our writing, their first inclination was to comment, not “like.”

Our early blogs had dozens, if not hundreds of comments, and links from other blogs who also wanted to discuss what we wrote. These responses tell me a lot more than a quick “like.”

Comments say “thank you”

Don ‘t get me wrong, “likes” are cool. They tell us people dug something we wrote. But to me they’re quick acknowledgement. They’re like saying thank you when handed a gift over taking the time to handwrite a thank you note. They’re appreciated for what they are.

On the other hand, comments say a lot more. Comments say “Thank you for writing this post, it made me think.” Whether you agreed with a blog post or status update or not doesn’t matter. What matters is you took time to read the darn thing all the way through and respond in kind. When you’re a writer, hoping, praying, someone will read your stuff, this means more than anyone can ever know. Comments are like stopping and saying “hello” to a neighbor instead of walking by with a wave.

Most of us scan content all day with nary a reaction. Comments are the difference between a scan and a read. When someone comments after a blog post or status update it means they were paying attention. It doesn’t matter if the content resonated in a positive or negative matter as much as that it reasonated. Stopping to offer an opinion, whether positive or negative, tells us you care about what we do and say.

When we write something and you respond it tells us we touched you. That’s the best gosh darned feeling ever.

Comments are giving back

You may be thinking to yourself, “well, wait a minute. I click ‘like’ when I like something, why isn’t that good enough?” It’s not that it’s not good enough. We appreciate likes very much, but they’re like drive by approval. We absolutely appreciate the support but sometimes we like to know why you gave us that thumbs up. Sometimes people hit “like” after a well – written piece, even though they don’t agree at all. A “like” doesn’t tell us this. Comments are feedback. They tell us how you feel about what we’re doing. We like our likes, but we love our comments.

I’m so busy sometimes I forget to blog.  And I’m the first person to hit “like” after reading a good blog post or status update. After thinking about this, though, I’m going to take more time to think about what I read and comment in kind. And I’m going to work harder to respond to the people who take the time to respond to me, because comments work both ways.

What makes you determine what gets a quick, drive by “like” and what receives a more thoughtful response?

Community love isn’t a sure thing. There are days when you post and no one participates. You use the best stuff in your arsenal too. You’re funny, you’re smart, you ask intriguing questions and yet, despite doing everything but yelling “COMMENT! DANG IT!” it’s as if no one is paying attention to anything you do. The worst part is that you’re hired to build a community. Your job is to get folks to “like” your Facebook page, comment on the blog, follow you on Twitter or retweet your links. But some days, despite your best effort and thousands of friends and followers, it just doesn’t happen.

It’s so frustrating.

Communities are so fickle. One day they show up in droves, the next day it’s virtual crickets. And community managers do everything they can to find the special formula to make it work. We study our community to learn their most productive online times of the day and we spend time analyzing keywords and entry pages. I think something people don’t often understand is the science and logic behind community management. We can’t just post a couple of lines and expect community to ensue, we have to work hard at making it happen -and the hard part is if we look like we’re trying to hard then we look like tools. Each community is different and it’s up to each community manager to learn as much as they can about the people who are liking or friending them in order to have a productive community.

Sometimes, if I see a brand post on Facebook, Twitter or a blog and no one has responded I like to drop a comment or give them a retweet because I know how frustrating it is to try and foster conversation and it doesn’t happen.  It’s like that tree falling in the forest thing. If a community manager posts on the social networks, and no one responds, is there still a post? It’s like giving a talk to a packed room full of people but when it’s audience participation time everyone leaves.

That never feels good.

Whether we’re cultivating our own communities or managing them for someone else, we live for the likes, retweets, and comments. Our jobs depend on them. Because even though we know we still might be achieving certain goals through our social media efforts, if the people in charge don’t see community participation they often feel we’re a failure.

Every community manager has a bad day. It’s not necessarily a lack of skill or the inability to foster a conversation. Sometimes, it just doesn’t happen.

• Don’t take it to heart, it happens in the best of communities. Just not every day.
• If it’s a one time occurrence or happens only now and then, it’s not an indication of community apathy.
• Community participation isn’t always a measurement of success, if your community is still positively reacting with sales or a good word of mouth vibe, they’re still paying attention.

However, if it happens more often than not, it might be cause for concern.

• For newer communities you may need to give it time.
• For more established communities you may need to find different topics of discussion, or research your community to discover optimal posting time.
• If you have a good community turnout on certain networks but not others, you might consider dropping that one network as there’s a chance your community just isn’t into it. (But give it time, don’t just drop a comment or two and give up.)

I think the worst thing we can do is force community. When we beg for comments, we kind of look silly. Asking “Anyone?” or saying “Doesn’t anyone have an opinion on this?” two hours after the day’s topic was posted is only calling attention to the fact that there’s no comments. Sometimes, it’s fine to just chalk it up to a bad day.

Do you ever have a slow comment day with your community? How do you revive the conversation?

You may be thinking Twitter chats look like a bunch of noise and I’ll tell you that so far from the truth. Twitter chats, when done right, are organized and professional. The best chats have a good moderator to keep things on track.

Why should you take part in a Twitter chat?

10. Gather ideas

Twitter chats are inspiring. With so many great minds gathered in the same place you can’t help but walk away with business ideas, blog fodder, and collaborative efforts.

9. Learn who the top people are in a particular niche or industry

Most Twitter chats feature a weekly topic and guests who are ahead the game in their respective field. This is a chance to network and build relationships with the people who are getting things done in a big way.

8. Become a part of a community

Each Twitter chat is a different community. Here’s something else; when you’re involved in a Twitter chat you’re talking with a large group of people in a specific niche which means you now have a bigger list of contacts for your community and more people with whom to share your passion.

7. Jump in any time

It doesn’t matter if you show up late or if you’re shy, Twitter chats make it easy for everyone to have a voice.

6. Gain new followers

Unless you act like a tool, you’re sure to walk away from a Twitter chat with some new followers. If you really have something valuable to add to the conversation, you’ll find yourself with an onslaught of new friends.

5. Have an enlightening conversation

The purpose of a Twitter chat is to, well, chat. But about a specific topic. So not only do you get to hang out with people who share the same interests, you can share your passion as well.

4. Share your own expertise and (dare I say it?) influence

One of the beautiful things about hashtag chats is how they’re so interactive. Rather than observe, we’re active participants. We’re able to add our own point of view, even if we’re not the guest of honor. That’s not meant in a braggy, boastful way, but in a way that allows us to contribute.

3. Learn something

Walk away with something of value from each and every Twitter chat. Whether it’s inspiration for a blog post, a fact you want to look up later, or someone you want to get to know better, these chats are never a wasted experience.

2. Make new business contacts

Most of the chats I attend have to do with some form of business, and through them I made so many important contacts. There are a few speakers I want to investigate for BlogWorld, some community professionals I’ll enjoy interviewing for my book, as well as other important connections.

1. Meet new friends

The best reason to join a hashtag chat is all the connections you’ll make beyond business connections. You meet so many intriguing people, some who will become good friends.

Twitter Chat weapons of choice

Here’s the thing: Sometimes Twitter chats can be difficult to keep up with because there’s so much information flying by so fast. You need the right tools.  I like to use Tweet chat, an app created specifically for hashtag chats that continuously refreshes itself so you can keep up. Also,  use the search function Twitter management apps such as HootSuite, Tweetdeck and Seesmic to keep up.

Recommended Twitter chats

Since you’re probably here because you’re into blogging, community or general social media, I can recommend these chats for you:

• #BlogChat – Sundays at 9:00 p.m EST  – Speakers and topics of interest to bloggers.
• #SpeakChat – Mondays at 9:00 p.m. EST – Public speaking tips and discussion.
• #cmgrchat – Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. EST – Discussion for community managers
• #BWEchat – Regular time TBD – BlogWorld Expo chat. After the first successful chat, we’re determining a regular time to keep it going.

Do you take part in Twitter hashtag chats? If so, tell us why, the benefits to you and your favorite chats. If you don’t take part in chats, share why as well.

When I lived in Queens, I witnessed a triple homicide and ended up having to testify in court.  It was a hard case to prove, though. Because out of an entire block filled with people, very few of of my neighbors wanted to get involved. Some were afraid of repercussions, some didn’t want to be bothered with having to deal with a trial and some didn’t want to take time off from work or from their daily schedules.

The web is like that sometimes.  I’ve witnessed pile ons, mob mentalities and personal attacks and the victim in most cases has a wide assortment of friends and followers, but no one who is willing to publicly have his or her back. In public, the subject of the attack or heated discussion appears to stand alone. In private he is receiving Skypes and emails showing support.

Why is this?

Why are we so afraid to publicly state our affiliation? Are we afraid to get involved? Are we afraid we’ll be attacked as well? Back channel support is welcome and important, but so is front channel support. It tells the folks who are on the front lines you have their back and you care enough to defend them.

In a public discussion, why do you take support private?

Discuss…

One dilemma I’m facing as I research and gather notes to begin writing my book, “Online Community Management for Dummies” (sick of hearing about it yet?) is how I keep repeating the term “online community” or “community.”  It was drilled into our heads in writing school that we need to break out the thesaurus in order to not sound tedious and repetitious.  And I am. But collecting words that mean “online community” is more of a challenge than one might think.

Take the word “clique,” for example. Not everyone sees this as a positive word because it often implies exclusivity, and many online communities are welcoming to all. Ditto “tribe.” This is a more hip term for online community, one that’s widely used at this juncture, but there are plenty of people who see it as something that doesn’t allow for outsiders.

Thesaurus.com has an interesting list of synonyms for “community” but not too  many fit:

• Association
• Body politic
• Hamlet
• Commonwealth
• Company
• District
• Locality
• Neck of the Woods

See what I mean?

To me, a community is a group of like-minded people who work and share together. I don’t think the definition varies much online and offline.

As so many of my online friends, my own online community, are also into this community thing (see, I’m overusing the word again) I thought I’d reach out on the social networks and see what others thought about the lack of usable terms for online community. I asked folks to suggest their own.

Here are some of the terms we came up with:

1. Tribe – Probably the most popular term being bandied about the web, most people think it’s cute, but plenty of people said they cringe when they hear it used because they don’t see it as a positive.
2. Collective - A favorite as it indicates the true spirit of community.
3. Clique – To many, this indicates exclusivity.
4. Members – This is what I call the people who make up a community (another overused term in my writing) but it does indicate a sense of belonging.
5. Group – General term, works but kind of vanilla. Still, I’ll use it from time to time.
6. Murder – Another name for a flock (of crows, according to dictionary.com) but it’s a little too negative and violent for me. What do you think?
7. Flock - Not sure how I feel about this one. It sounds religious (see: congregation) but I don’t mind it either.
8. Congregation – Might be too religious for some.
9. Klatsch – Fun, kind of folksy and Linda Richman-ish but might be a good name for a small, tight knit community.
10. Gaggle - Which Jodee Redmond described as a “disorderly or noisy group of people,” but reminds me of a flock of geese. A community of geese?
11. Pack – Has a kind of wild inference, what do you think?
12. Pod - Suggestion of a few tweeters, I’m not sure that when I see “pod” I think “community.”
13. Clan – Another word for “family.” Could work – I think I like it much better than murder.
14. Mob - I don’t think I want my online community to be described as a mob. I get a torch and pitchfork vibe.
15. Posse – Hmmm. Have to think about this one.
16. Cult - Come and drink the Kool Aid.
17. Gathering - Like it. Has a sort of company or family picnic sort of feel.
18. Club – Indeed, a club is a community but is it too exclusive?
19. Circle – Like it – like “circle of friends.”
20. Crew – A group of people working together? I can see the benefits.
21. Friends – How can I find fault with that?
22. Advocates – A nice word for folks who are feeling the vibe and spreading the word.
23. Team - There’s no “I.”
24. Folks - While a comfortable term, one I use a lot, I tend to use it more for individual people than an entire community.
25. Participants - Like members I find this term to be more about the individual than the entire group.

What are some words you can think of for online community?

The other day, I wrote a post calling b.s. on retweets. The post, which was intended to be a discussion of the value of the retweet, and was intended to explore if a retweet is more valuable than a blog post or giving to a charity, (because influencers are often judged on how many retweets they receive with each tweet), read like I was calling folks out for not doing enough.

I regret my words.

Mostly I wanted to explore how to go beyond a retweet but because of my sensationalist headline and talk about whether or not a single retweet is really influential, it read like I was calling out folks for not reaching into their pockets or blogging about our cause. That wasn’t my intention and I feel really bad, so I removed the post. I don’t like removing posts, and I hate when bloggers backpedal, but the SXSWCares campaign is near and dear to my heart and I didn’t want to minimize anyone’s contribution, especially if the most they could afford, or feel comfortable with is a retweet.  I don’t want to make anyone feel bad about not contributing to a campaign they don’t believe in and I certainly don’t want to bully anyone into donating to my cause. That I ended up losing the respect of someone who I respect very much really hit home.

I hope you understand.

So because I’m feeling a bit remorseful right now and truly regret my post, I thought maybe we could use this weekend’s discussion as an exploration of the value of a retweet.

There have been times when someone influential retweeted a blog post of mine, and received dozens of retweets in response, but no actual traffic followed as a result. So perhaps the retweet got my name out there a little bit, but is it less valuable because no one visited my post? (Even though so many people endorsed it with a retweet?)

I’ve seen folks retweeting links to charity campaigns and I often wondered if they actually gave to those campaigns or if they’re just retweeting because someone they respect online asked them to do so. Indeed, the #SXSWCares campaign raised almost $90,000 as of this writing,  and I have no doubt we wouldn’t have raised this amount without the many retweets we received. (For which we’re so grateful.)

So, while I still believe that retweets don’t last very long, and something like a blog post is more valuable, that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in the value of a retweet. Are they indicative of one’s influence? Probably, because the folks who are considered most influential receive the most retweets. Are they valuable? I’ll argue that it depends on the campaign. Folks don’t always click on links, so maybe they weren’t influenced to do more than retweet. However, spreading the word about a cause or charitable event is never a bad thing.

Your thoughts?

I often talk about passion. I’m one of a small percentage of people who are able to achieve success through passion.

My passion for writing led to my passion for blogging and social media. But let’s make no mistake, while I do believe that we should all find our passion, and that we would all be happier if we were passionate about our jobs, realistically we need to go where the money is.

My family has been extremely patient with me. Starting a freelance writing career and subsequently becoming a professional blogger and social media professional took time. Lots of time. If my husband had a different job, things might have been a lot different. I might not have been able to pursue my passion or, I might have had to set aside an hour or so after the day job to write and blog.

Passion is important for sure, but what happens when the passion isn’t making any money. Realistically my family always comes first and if I had to give all this up and go back to an awful office job in order to help make ends meet or pay for my son’s college, I would.  Money trumps passion in this instance. I have to earn enough to help pay the mortgage or put food on the table. Passion drives us, but it doesn’t necessarily put money in the bank.

Is it worth it to be a “starving artist?” Is doing what you love more important than skipping meals or bad credit? What is more important? Passion or profit?

I’m fortunate enough to make a living from that which I’m passionate about, but if it didn’t pay the bills I wouldn’t be here.

How about you?

I have something on my mind and I think it’s time to get it out in the open. If you follow me on Twitter or follow the BlogWorld Expo Facebook page, you’ll know I’m not down with all the expert bashing lately. While I agree that it’s easy enough for folks to call themselves a “experts” online, that doesn’t mean no one can use the title at all or give credit where it’s due.

• There are plenty of people out there who have many years of experience, both in and outside of school.
• There are plenty of non-degreed individuals who have been practicing their crafts for so long, they are indeed, experts.
• Truthfully, while I know there are many shysters out there, I rarely see anyone calling himself an “expert.”

Let’s take it to Dictionary.com, shall we?

expert (ˈɛkspɜːt)
— n
1.	a person who has extensive skill or knowledge in a particular field
— adj
2.	skilful or knowledgeable
3.	of, involving, or done by an expert: an expert job

So what’s the problem, here? Again, I don’t see too many people calling themselves “experts.” However, the people who are true experts? The one’s who should be using that title but are afraid to because they’re not allowed to say they’re an expert for fear of backlash? Most of them qualify, according to the above referenced definition.

Extensive skill and knowledge.

Here’s some of the truly silly stuff I read recently regarding experts:

• If you’re an expert, you’re not allowed to say you’re an expert: Why? Is there an Expert Police patrolling the Internet determining who can call themselves experts and who can’t? Why bother getting a Ph.d or spending twenty years working at what you love if you can’t call yourself an expert? Who judges – and what makes them qualified?

• Just because you haven’t done something in a while doesn’t mean you’re still not good at it: I read something along these lines this week. So a marketing expert left his business for six months to do something else but it didn’t work out. Now he wants to come back and teach marketing online. Except the Expertise Police say he’s unqualified because he’s been gone for six month. Silly right? I love to crochet and I’m quite good at it. However, I didn’t get any crochet time in this season because I’ve been so busy. Does this mean I can’t teach my neighbor to crochet? Look, just because you haven’t done something in a while doesn’t mean you aren’t staying fresh. Are you keeping on top of trends? Are you taking refreshers? Are you taking care to learn new techniques and keep track of all the players? Then what’s the problem?

• You’re only an expert if you command a high pay check and have the stubs to prove it: I’m sorry Mr. Gates. You’re unqualified to own that company because you don’t post your paystubs or customer testimonials on your personal blog.

• Blogs equal authority: Just because someone blogs every day doesn’t make that person an expert. But people are smart. They know the difference between someone who is experienced and has expertise and someone who isn’t so experienced but is offering some tips based on what she’s learning. Both are qualified to blog, but only one is a true expert.

• You can be an authority in more than one topic: Someone can be an expert in freelance writing and social media. Someone can be an expert in rocket surgery and geology. We can take an interest in as many topics as we like, and even become experts in those topics.
• Unless you do it full time you’re not an expert: Says who?

Here’s the thing. We’re all grownups. Most of us can smell a rat from pretty far away. We know that just because someone hangs up a sign, it doesn’t make him an expert. However, that doesn’t mean we should turn our noses up at the people who call themselves experts, because many of them are. I’ve been doing this online thing for over ten years and in that time I have seen very few people use the word “expert” as their title. Yet everyone is bashing true experts, people who really deserve that title.

If you worked hard to get where you are, be proud of your expertise. Hang your “expert” flag high and don’t be afraid to wave it wide and proud. If you’re a true expert you shouldn’t be ashamed to use that tile regardless of what the Expert Police tell you.

So let’s discuss. What makes someone an expert and who determines expertise? Do you believe people who call themselves experts?

What’s wrong with being an expert?