Well, according to Webster’s, perhaps I am:
Expert: \?ek-?sp?rt, ik-?\
experienced2: having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience
So, maybe Ben isn’t the only “expert” around here after all. But…
The guru term, the real impetus for my mild rant, is ridiculous. Anyone that has ever worked with, or participated in a presentation, with me knows my two opening lines.
“Hello my name is Pat…All my friends call me Pat……and today if you would like, you can call me Pat”. Followed by, “I am not an expert and I don’t believe in gurus”….that hasn’t changed.
Let Your Work Do the Talking
I often tell my kids that when you’re good at something, you don’t have to tell people. It’s self-evident. Most folks that you hear brag about their intelligence, well, they’re most likely to be the biggest dumbasses you’ve ever met. Smart people don’t have to tell others they’re smart.
To be successful within the digital marketing field you have to be a continuous learner and spend huge amounts of time in the trenches. Stop learning for a second, and you’re left behind.
Self-proclaimed gurus are living a dream, and not the right kind either.
As Brian Chappell over at Ignite pointed out on Twitter and in his blog post over at Marketing Pilgrim, there are a ton of folks out there that view themselves as gurus. Interestingly, a great number of them are “social media” gurus …hmmmm.
Reminds me of the phenomena that 65% of the population think that they’re smarter than average. And 95% of statistics are made up on the fly. So, for these folks: when in doubt, make something up, use big, technical words, and claim to be an expert- instant guru!
p.s. Don’t forget to Tweet about how much ass you kicked when you realized you had reached guru status. It’s really quite impressive.
