The “Guru” BS detector

Disclosure: This post may cross the Self-Promotion/Arrogance line. If yes, please flame me.

When it comes to Web Analytics, few (maybe none) are better than Avinash Kaushik. That’s why he is one of the few folks I follow on Twitter.

I saw this tweet a while back and it got me thinking (actually a moment of self-doubt of being revealed as a fraud), since sometimes people do call me a “guru.”

I tend to shy away from the term (that’s why I like Marketing Navigator), but I think it’s important to do a self-check every once in a while.

In fact, that’s why we have the Todd Newfield Award on this site, since his rule #1 was “Never believe your own BS!”

While there’s no doubt I talk about marketing, community, and technology a lot, I took a look at myself and said “do I really do it?”

Here’s what I came up with.

• Gretchen Rubin reached #1 on the NYT best-seller list (testimonial)
• JackBe became a Forrester “Groundswell” Award Finalist (CEO testimonial and VP/mktg and Commty Mgr)
• Microsoft pilot drove 20 deals/237 opportunities in 90 days for a new product-BPOS (testimonial 1, 2, 3 and 4)
• Microsoft project generated 559% ROI (testimonial)
• Global 360 creating a story that “sticks” and led to new opportunities (CMO and VP/mktg)
• Yes To Carrots increased average purchase price by 25% for 72% of their community members (CEO)
• Dan Pink went to top of Business Week best-seller list for Johnny Bunko (Dan's testimonial)
• and 5 WOM Slams 

Whether this makes me a “Guru” or a Guru is up to you, but if marketing is about perception (and it is), then having people perceive you as a Guru (or thought leader) and you being able to substantiate those claims with stories, facts, and evidence would seem to me to be a competitive advantage.

So, the Lesson:

1. Document your successes.
2. Get credible sources to validate your successes.

One idea: The Flip Cam has been one of my great acquisitions and I’ve been able to populate my YouTube NSM channel with authentic videos.