Marketing Contractor and Worst Social Media Mistakes: Ask a Marketing Expert

I wasn’t able to attend Ask a Marketing Expert this week, but it went great without me.  Roz Moore asked about the benefits of being a marketing contractor versus an employee.  Mark Eduljee, from Microsoft, asked what is the biggest mistake businesses make in social media.  Both great questions, so let’s see how our team of experts answered.

Marketing Contractor versus Employee

Hi everyone, I am a marketing contractor who is looking for some career advice. I’m weighing the pros and cons of being a contractor versus being a full-time employee. I’d love to know what your thoughts are about this. Also, do you think its best to hone in on a specific area of marketing expertise (social media, internet marketing, strategy, etc.) or have a broad range of skills. My goal is to one day make it into the CMO chair and just trying to figure out how to get there! Thanks!
– Roz

Steve Wiideman I think it depends on your personality type. With traditional companies, entrepreneurial personalities don’t typically blend well.

If it’s the benefits thing that you’re pondering, there are dozens of equal or better healthcare plans out there for the self-employed.

Roz Christina Moore Thanks, Steve! And what do you think about honing in on a specific marketing area of expertise? I’d love to know your thoughts about this as someone who is an expert in a particular area, SEO!

Steve Wiideman Provided that you are prepared to stay up to date with industry changes and technology enhancements, being niche focused can be very rewarding. In my industry, changes happen daily (I kid you not), so I have to follow tweets from other industry experts, vendors (Google, Bing, Foursquare, Twitter, FB), and RSS feeds from bloggers & news sites (Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, SEOmoz, etc). I need to be at or participate online with major industry events (SES, SMX, ASW, CES, Webmaster World, etc), and actively produce content to show the world that I’m staying abreast of what’s happening. When possible, I engage with other experts, survey thought-leaders and hope and pray for blog comments from industry leaders to show credibility.

However, if you chose a field like carpet-making or basket-weaving, your job will to be to constantly improve your product, delivery methods, customer satisfaction and to hand-off the marketing to a trustworthy agency. You will be charged with being the innovator of progress in your field and earning mentions from carpeting magazine or basket-weaving times (if such thing exist).

Or if you’re just a worker, you’re just a worker and being an employee might be the best route. You’ll definitely have more family time, less job security, and have to do what you’re told, regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree. 🙂

Roz Christina Moore I appreciate your honesty and insight. I have taken the plunge into various career and entrepreneurial decisions in the past without seeking adequate advice. This time, I’m using wisdom to know that its best to ‘ask a marketing expert’ to get the best info that I can!

Worst Social Media Mistake

I’m off today, so I can join… and seems like today is when everyone is out enjoying the sun 🙂 Question: What do you think is the single biggest mistake companies (or individual branding efforts) make when using social media?

Steve Wiideman The biggest mistake is using SMM for revenue instead of brand marketing or customer service (listening).

Angela Hausman Not understanding their audience — what they want, what they need, their pains, etc.  Also, using social media as a channel just like advertising and public relations rather than a vehicle for building trusting relationships with consumers.

Ask a Marketing Expert

So, that’s it for this week.  Remember, we hold Ask a Marketing Expert every Friday from 12-3 (EST) on the EVENTS tab at Marketing That Works.  Anyone can be an expert – so don’t wait to be asked.  Everyone is welcome to ask questions related to marketing — whether you’re a student, an entrepreneur, or work for a big company.  Invite your friends, colleagues, and students to join us.

it’s FUN … it’s FREE … it’s FRIDAY ……..