Comments by Tom Pick Subscribe

On Seven Expert Social PR Guides and Tips

Thanks JC! Greta point, teams can be structured with any mix of internal and external talent. The key is to coordinate efforts for maximum online visibility and impact.

On Seven Expert Social PR Guides and Tips

Hi Kent - Seth's great, but overexposedl. I've tried to highlight some voices here that deserve to be heard but don't quite have Seth's level of fame.

On The "Social Media Certificate" - Smart Move or Scam?

Totally agree Allan. The ability to demonstrate results is far more important than any piece of paper.

On 28 (of the) Best Twitter Tips, Tools and Tactics of 2012 (So Far)

Thanks Rosemary! The white paper looks interesting - I will check it out.

On The "Social Media Certificate" - Smart Move or Scam?

Certificates can be helpful but it's important to evaluate the source before spending any money. It's not even always a matter of "you get what you pay for."

On How To Write Your Social Media Plan in 8 Steps

Mike - good post, overall a solid plan. In an organization of any size, quite a bit of social media use is already happening, possibly "under the radar" with no formal coordination. So a couple of key pieces to a a strategy are drafting a social media policy for the organization (the master list of "shoulds and shouldn'ts" as well as "musts and mustn'ts" for social media use within the company) and an inventory of what's already in place (I spoke to one billion-dollar company where HR had set up a company Facebook page; the marketing group discovered it only through an external audit).

Also, make sure to update your stats. Facebook now has well over 800 million users. Twitter has close to 500 million total, though only about 100 million are classified as "active" users.

On Best Social Media and Digital Marketing Research and Statistics of 2011, Part 1

Thanks Rohn! It would be an honor.

On another topic dear to your heart, I haven't quite made the leap to delete my Klout profile yet. But I'm really thinking about it. Hard habit to break.

On Klout Responds to Questions and Critics

Mike, great post, but the responses are pathetic. Sorry, but Megan sounds like she attended the BP school of PR: no apologies, no (real) explanations, no acknolwedgement that Klout screwed up (big time), no promise to make things right. Klout has lost all credibility at this point. Their competitors will benefit.

On What Does Social Media Success Look Like?

Excellent post Jeff, and I guess great minds (or maybe your great mind and my just-okay one) do think alike - I wrote this post about a month ago: What Does B2B Social Media Success Look Like?

On The "Social Media Certificate" - Smart Move or Scam?

Chris - I hope no offense was taken. Certainly there are real social media experts qualified to provide training (though I think you'd agree there are far more self-proclaimed experts than actual). And training has value. I've presented at seminars and I hope expanded the knowledge of the attendees.

But as Marjorie points out, "Since there's no governing authority that determines standards in social media practice, such as what exists among other professional certifications, it's very possible for just about anyone to open up a certification program and claim legitimacy in the space." So while your program may be perfectly legitimate, someone down the street with a tiny fraction of your knowledge could today offer a competing certificate program.

Enployers have no way of knowing whether the candidate got a "good" certificate or a bogus one - or, as you pointed out, how much work they actually put into the course. Therefore, the certificate in many cases is likely to be virtually worthless to the company, or to the prospective employee.

On 5 Reasons I’m Thankful for Social Media

Point taken Matt. It should have read that an interesting point of view and knowledge to share gives them an opportunity to be a star, not implying that such an outcome is guaranteed.

On 5 Reasons I’m Thankful for Social Media

Thanks Alan. I think it takes the perspective of having been around the block a few times to appreciate how social media has opened up the world. It's hard for 20-somethings or younger to recognize what a departure social media is from previous communication media, having grown up with it.