One of the things I love best about working with solo professionals in marketing their businesses is that I learn something new just about every single day. The whole arena of online presence-building, interacting with peers and potential clients, building new communities — it’s ever-changing, and because its central source of power is a diverse group of human beings, it’s always challenging.

Yesterday, I got challenged on Twitter.

At first, I was stoked. A legitimate issue was framed — if a bit confusedly and hastily — on one user’s blog. The issue, at least as far as I was able to discern it from the blog post, was basically: what form of disclosure do former attorneys who no longer practice law and now serve as marketing consultants owe the legal community?

I was excited because, see, this is the beauty of social networking, to me! You can actually talk to people, get conversations going, discuss, debate, hash out, and things change as a result.

I responded on Twitter because the author of this piece seemed to be online at the time, and because it was an interesting question. I was ready for a good, solid debate on this point, and hoped we could maybe even add something of value to the community.

High hopes — noble, even, maybe — but, alas, not to be. It quickly became apparent that this person’s chief issue wasn’t what I thought it was. Or maybe it was but then he changed his mind? I’m still not really sure — to be honest, some of his tweets were awfully muddled and came one on top of the other in rapid succession.

That’s not generally considered good use of Twitter — my guideline is “if it takes more than four tweets to say it, write a blog post.” And I should have taken my own advice in this instance, but instead, let myself get dragged into what started out as civil debate, but in four turns devolved into a complaint about the pricing of Res Ipsa Tweet, and then from there fell completely out of the realm of civil discourse altogether, becoming a dogpile of ad hominem attacks and sexist slurs. Those, I just don’t respond to.

So, for the first time in my entire history with Twitter, I blocked someone. Two someones, actually.  It was easy to do and I don’t regret it a bit — my twitstream is much more peaceful now, even though it’s just as active and responsive as it ever was. Sometimes, to be blunt, it’s just time to take out the garbage.

But here’s the thing: It did get me thinking about something else. And since that something else is related to Twitter, kind of related to social media generally, and related to the ebook I just published, I’m going to go ahead and write about it here. This is the “challenge” referred to in the headline.

My Challenge to You

Somewhere in the flurry of tweets exchanged yesterday, one point was thrown out but sort of lost in the ensuing tsunami of childishness. That’s too bad because it bears some further reflection.

It’s this: Is there such a thing as a social media expert?

For the record I don’t think I’ve ever laid claim to any kind of label. I’ve mockingly referred to myself as “Head Muse” here or a “Blawg Coach” once in awhile but I’ve never liked or wanted labels like “guru” (ew), “expert” (whatever…), etc. But the meaning behind the word — a person with a certain level of expertise who can achieve reliable results, let’s say (loosely) — that’s something worth discussing.

Those cyber-pups yesterday  (sorry — folks like that come off as a group of little nippy puppies, yapping and biting at ankles) think that the book’s price — $47 now, $67 later – is absurd. They think there’s no way there’s $47 worth of value in that book — at least, that’s my best guess as to what they think. (Another problem with being a bully: no one really understands you when you’re all sarcastic and offensive. No communication.)

I think that’s a valid question.

Of course, I do think that there’s plenty of value in the book, the worksheets, and the bonuses I offered. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have put my name on the book, much less offered it for sale here.

But I’m willing to let you decide.

Here’s the thing: despite what the first “sparring partner” thought yesterday in his blog post, social media marketing has been around for quite a while. It’s not new. What it is, though: constantly evolving. It’s hard to keep up with new developments, even when this is all (or the majority) of what you do, as it is with me. I’m constantly struggling to keep abreast of new technologies and practices, and to further develop my skills.

SP #1 thought that you — meaning the average busy solo or small firm lawyer reading this blog or looking at Twitter as a marketing tool — should just go search for information freely available on the web, put it all together yourself, and basically learn by doing.

Frankly, I agree — that’s certainly a valid way to go. Knowledge earned by doing often stays with us far longer than that which is handed to us. That’s why I always try to show my clients how to do it themselves, instead of doing it for them. That’s how I learned to blog, ten years ago. That’s how I learned social media and social networking. That’s how I learned CSS and HTML/XHTML.

Let me reiterate, so there’s no confusion on this point: There’s nothing wrong with this approach!

If you have the time, that is.

But a lot of us don’t. And that’s OK, too. They need a little extra assistance, and there’s nothing wrong with that, either. A lot of us didn’t grow up teething on MySpace as some folks did (ahem) and learning this stuff takes a slightly different approach for us. (At 43, I’m kind of in between the two extremes, but — yes, sometimes, I have trouble seeing the utility in the latest SM/SN site, too.)

Res Ipsa Tweet is something I worked very hard on, and I’m proud of its contents. I’m proud of the approach it advocates taking with respect to SMM/SNM. Hell, I’m proud of myself for doing it and completing it. I’m not going to let Twitter bullies stop me from trying to help folks who need it, whether those folks are lawyers or bankers or real estate agents or maids any other kind of service provider.

I’m just not. And I suggest you don’t let them stop you from getting the help you need, either.

But what I am willing to do is something kind of radical. I thought about it all night long — “do I really want to do this?” “Am I crazy?” (Yes, and probably.) And here it is:

I’m going to let YOU tell me what you think this book’s worth.

Now, I thought about simply giving it away for free, with the understanding that readers would come back and donate whatever they thought the book was worth, but I believe it’s important to expect value for value given, and to not completely devalue your own hard work. (That’s why I don’t suggest you do your cousin’s will for free, too.)

So here’s what I’m going to do instead:

1. I’ve lowered the price to $7. Yes, that’s seven dollars, and that’s not a typo. (And of course, I’ll refund $40 to anyone who bought it before I changed the price.)
2. I’m extending the bonuses to the first FIFTY people who purchase the book. I’m doing this to get a bigger sampling of “subjects” who can evaluate the checkup/review service — hopefully a wider sampling will yield more meaningful results.
3. The catch is this: by purchasing it, YOU AGREE to come back here in six weeks after implementing it and let EVERYONE know what you thought. Was the package – the book and the social media checkup service — worth $7? Was it worth $47? What about individually? I’ll post all comments (as long as they comply with our comments policy) whether negative or positive. You don’t have to reveal your “true identity” if you’d rather not, but you do have to be honest.

I think that’s more than fair. I believe in my work, and I think I provide a real service. Frankly, if I didn’t, I’m not the kind of person who could get up in the morning and keep doing it. I’d rather go wait tables at Harry’s Pancake House.

And I’m hoping — and this is really why I’m doing this — that we can start a real discussion — a CIVIL one, for grown-ups — about social media marketing and whether and when you need help to do it right.