Excuses are what you offer when you do wrong but don?t really care.
Excuses are the shoulders of the junior on your team.
Excuses are the lame attempts to cover your tracks.
Excuses are the charlatan?s way to pull the wool over our faces.
trust
The Commoditization of Expertise and Why You Should Never Trust a Guru
This is a guest post by Ryan Hanley.
The Internet is a canvas for Creativity…
Using the Online tools of today’s age, thought-leaders the World may never have otherwise known are given the opportunity to?paint their picture of success.
It’s amazing really…
But for as much as I love the Internet and the possibility for greatness it presents, there is a dark pattern forming that troubles me deeply. ?This may not be news for those of you that’ve been in the blogging game longer than myself… But its systemic and horrifying none the less… A true Internet nightmare.
The black plague of idea…
The rape of creativity…
The death of original thought…
The Commoditization of Expertise!
Everyone’s an Expert
So what’s this scourge of the Internet?
What could be so horrible that I would give it such a dramatic intro? Here it is…
Online… Everyone’s an expert. All you need is the most basic computer skills and an Internet connection and anyone can become an instant expert in the Online world.
How??
Easy… You call yourself a Guru.
That’s it.
Read a couple A-List bloggers like?Danny Brown?or?Marcus Sheridan,?regurgitate a few of their concepts, throw the word Guru on your About Page and BOOM… You’re an expert.
It’s that easy.
Now the truth is your blog will suck. ?But some people will find you and read your writing and consider you a thought-creator… then a dog will be kicked, a baby’s candy will be stolen and?an Angel will lose its wings.
Well maybe that last bit is an?exaggeration?but certainly all the rest.
The result is the Commoditization of the Expertise. ?A few great minds creating ideas and concepts that get chopped up and spit out over and over and over again… ?Their ideas, thoughts and creativity exploited by a thousand hacks trying to capitalize on a knowledge thirty public.
For a visual, picture the Pits of Hell scene from the movie Constantine?(yes… I’m an unashamed Keanu Reeves fan), now hold that image except replace the demons with bloggers and the lost souls with content.
Gruesome…
Why is the Commodization of Expertise a problem?
Over time it’s hard to discern the Expert from the Hack…? Marinate on that thought for a couple minutes.
Never Trust a Guru
In my very humble opinion… Guru is a terrible term.
I put Guru in the same bucket as Rockstar and Ninja. ?The first person to call themselves a social media Ninja was wickedly awesome and creative… everyone else since then is simply lame.
So my advice…?Don’t trust the Guru, trust the person.
“Ryan… A Guru is a Person?!”
Technically… Yes. ?But really they’re not. ?People who pump themselves as a Guru or Rockstar or Ninja are trying to play a roll. ?Guru is a costume… Guru is a character…
Guru is a front that attempts to tap into your inner desire for inspiration and success…
…and that makes a Guru dangerous.
The Guru calls themselves a Guru because they?re own content isn’t interesting enough or original enough or inspiring enough for people to see them as a Guru.
So they brand themselves Guru and instantly become an expert Online
Why Expertise Commoditizing Gurus are Bad for us All
(If this were my blog and not a Guest Post I’d call this section “The Rub”, but it’s not, so I won’t, but I guess I kinda did anyways)
Right now you’re probably thinking to yourself:
“Ryan… Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
or
“Ryan… You’re drinking some Hater-Aid”
But the truth is I have no intention of playing the Guru game and I have no idea what Hater-Aid is.
What I do know is?Expertise should be Celebrated.
We all know about Malcom Gladwell and the 10,000 hours thing, right? ?Basically, in his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell?(Google him if you?re not familiar)?theorizes that it takes a person 10,000 hours of practice to master a task.
10,000 hours is a lot…
What I want… What purpose of writing this post was when I first started is to provide a simple and sincere warning to those of you that thirst for knowledge Online.
Beware the Guru.
Don’t let the commoditization of expertise cloud your judgment when putting faith in a resource.
There are dedicated, inspiring individuals who’ve put in the time, who’ve done the work and deserve the title Guru.
Celebrate their Expertise.? Learn from them.? Allow their thoughts to help you shape your thoughts so you too can Succeed Online!
Thank you and Good luck,
Ryan H.
About the author: If you found value in this article, I encourage you to connect with Ryan on Twitter at @RyanHanley_Com or visit his website to read more about Content Warfare – Win the Battle for Attention Online. You can also subscribe to Ryan?s free newsletter, How to Blog Your Business.
Before We Believe You
We buy products and services every day.
Some we need, some we don?t. But we?ve heard good things about them so we buy them.
Who have we heard good things from?
Our friends. Our family. Our colleagues.
People we trust.
Why do we trust them? Because they?re not a mystery to us.
They don?t wear masks. They don?t hide behind veils. They don?t try and fool us with trickery.
They simply are.
You?re in business. You have a blog. You have a podcast. You want to be popular. You want people to like you; connect with you; follow you.
You want people to trust you.
We will. Just don?t wear a mask. Be yourself. Be true. Be honest.
We know you need to occasionally have your professional head on. Your business head. But does that mean you need to trick us? Does it mean you need to be the person you?re not, the business you?re not, the people we?re not?
No.
So wear the mask, but make it transparent. Wear the hat but make it your own. Pull the veil down but let us know it?s still you underneath. Make us trust you. Let us know who you are and that it?s you each time we talk.
That?s the way you?ll get our business. Our eyes on your blog. Our acceptance on Twitter. Our recommendations to our friends.
If you want us to believe, then make us believe in you. It?s not that hard.
Is it?
Image: GALERIEopWEG
The Art of Flying Blind
I was flying home from Utah earlier this year, and it included a stopover at Houston. The clouds over Houston were super thick, and it seriously looked like we were flying into mashed up cotton wool on our descent approach to the airport.
Because it was an evening flight, it was starting to get pretty dark and you really couldn?t see anything but cloud.
The pilots, for all intents and purposes, were flying blind. They were looking at the same cloud cover I was; they were seeing the same nothingness that I was. Except they were having to navigate 200+ people through it, of course.
All they had to guide them was the technology in their hands and a voice on the ground that was giving them their flight course.
Three people, putting faith in technology and each other, to guide a 30-tonne piece of metal through a sky of nothing. Trusting the voice on the ground that nothing would pierce through the clouds and into our jet; and trusting the pilots to do their job without fear of the darkness ahead of them.
We can learn from that, in everything we do. We have technology around us that makes our lives easier and helps impossible tasks become possible. But we need to trust the people that are around the technology as well.
- On our blogs, we need to trust our readers and invite them to share their knowledge with us. We don?t know everything; our readers can help.
- In our businesses, we need to trust each employee and involve them in the process. Sure, there will be moments that levels need to be maintained for some decision-making; but don?t keep employees in the dark while these decisions are being made. They?re our lifeblood; without our employees we have no business.
- Our online and offline connections put trust in us every day. They trust us to be open with them, and not BS them. In return, we trust them as well; we share their news and promote their content. We use the latest technology to do so, but it comes down to mutual trust and faith between people to enable that sharing in the first place.
We?re all flying blind; but if we build enough trust in each other, at least we can fly blind together and maybe guide each other home. Ready to fly?
We’re Watching
We’re watching.
We’re watching what you say; how you say it; and the conviction behind it. We’re taking in the words you use; the directions you’re giving; the recommendations you’re sharing. We’re taking you at face value and trusting what our ears hear and our eyes see.
Our eyes are our cameras and cameras never lie.
So next time you’re about to speak, remember – we’re watching.