15 Reasons To Be Wary of “Expert” Blogs
Knowledge is like software. The best has the longest development.
While surfing for tips and tools for GigsList readers I found something disturbing. In the expert blogs many of them don't know what they are talking about. It disturbed me so much I had to write a 'how not to how to' blog about it.
I’ve been going through each industry at a time. Starting with the music industry, which has the most bullshit help blogs. But all industries should read this and be wary. How to spot a real expert and what advice not to follow and ways to prevent problems.
These are 18 reasons and tips and what to do about it.
1. Pretend experts copy and paste from other blogs. In some cases they misinterpret or puff up the blog with out of date info. Or blanket statements that have nothing to do with the entertainment industry. Always check for other sources of the same info and if it is relevant to today.
2. Some blogs that recommend older social media platforms, such Facebook for viral marketing. Today there are many: SoundCloud, Audiomack, iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, Bandcamp, Vimeo, Tidal. Any musician with internet access will tell you that.
3. Fake news blogs by fake “influencers” leave you and you business pushing shit uphill. Seek advice from people who do what you want to do. Not copied and pasted from copied and pasted from what somebody else copied and pasted about it.
4. Your advice expert should have a resume of at least 10 years in the field from the ground up. A college degree is optional, but it’s the field experience what counts. If they have grey hair the better because they've more experience and better honed skills. Industry pros with the most gigs under their belts are the most valuable as mentors. Because every gig is different, you need all the real-world tips you can get.
5. Social media platforms and music platforms will come and go. If you’ve been in the industry for 15 years or more promoting your stuff you will have experienced that. Myspace is the poster child classic example, which Facebook is becoming. How not to go with them is be on top of the latest and greatest get your music in more people's ears. And more likes and your site higher on search engines. And if a blog is recommending old platforms you know the blog's info on social media is out of date.
6. So-called advice experts say to share to FB groups. I do this for GigsList long term followers and I admit it is a pain in the tush. The amount of shares you need to make sales from FB is hundreds. This you will get blocked from sharing to FB groups and may have your account blocked altogether. Social media is good for auto posts and links back to your site for SEO ranking. But depending on it as an only marketing avenue leads to downfall. Been there done that, got direly disheartened and dastardly broke by it.
7. Social platform popularity and algorithms chop and change year to year. What's recommend today may not work next week, or sometimes tomorrow or even after you read this. Facebook changes their algorithms every year. Their 2019 update makes it no chance of getting viral unless you pay for it. The problem with paid posts is that they are paid for. And often so are their reviews and comments and likes on their posts, even on blogs.
8. It's more who you know to get business contacts and industry insiders who can help. Which means getting backstage and into greenrooms and wrap parties . The fastest way to do that is be a journalist for an industry business magazine like GigsList. As an arts and media, business journalist you can pick up the phone to request and backstage pass. You can ask deepest questions about almost any quandary or curiosity. Many answers will happily come for the free press. Free press being something you should strive for for your own creations.
9. You have to promote yourself and get into the inner circles to get connections to get gigs to make real money. Most all bloggers have never done that and don’t know how or that it is the way entertainment business works. If you are not an aspiring writer you can also intern in production or the office or other departments. This is where you can ask questions from the inside and see how it's done first hand.
10. There are youtube teaching videos about how to copy and paste from other blogs. Youtube titles such as How to Blog if You Can’t Write or How to Blog About Something You Don’t Know About. They don't check if sites they copy and paste are dead or expired. They also promote scams. Check the source of the information.
11. I found a video blog recommending a link shortener, which I thought was a good tool for GigsList users. I tried the link shortener as a user to double check it. I found it was porn ads and a hacker scam. And this vlogger has a very popular youtube channel. If you are totally paranoid use a VPN and a temp email address on a pubic library computer.
12. Of Digital Nomads bloggers I’m not sure. I did the backpacking in Nepal and India and Ibiza and the Canary Islands and other exotic places for a few years. After a while the money runs out, but you don’t want to go back to a day job in the suburbs or corporate city. So you start doing things for money you shouldn’t and get blasé about it. On the Digital Nomad’s defense, they are as scammed like you.
13. Without a few years in the field of what you are saying you are an expert about, you don't know. You have few ways of seeing or sensing if something is bull crap or not, or how or where to look.
14. You are scammed if you create endless content for somebody else’s platform and you are not paid. Social media brainwashes you to think it is not a scam. So create content that you profit from. Such as movie trailers for your book, or music, or film, or game. Let the corporate owned platforms read your fine print for a change.
15. Blogs and their social media pages are as much work to manage and market as magazines. Especially finding content, which is a main reason fakers copy and paste each other. Being hands on in your local industry you always have something original to blog or vlog or write a book about. GigsList is founded, written, and run by people who've done much of the real-world trial and error for you. Major festivals in San Francisco, MTV in Australia, EDM raves in Goa India, FM radio, celebs, circus, and more.
