The biggest thing that you have which they won't be able to build over night is your network. Giving them the tools they'll need doesn't necessarily mean that you're giving away your secrets. You're just providing them with the service that they're paying for.

Social media is constantly changing. The people that stay on top of it will be the ones who succeed. The ones that say, "OK, Twitter is the end all, be all" are going to be the ones looking for a job in a year or so!

I'm not saying teach them every trick in the book, but if they want to know more to be a little more self-sufficient, why not? More often than not teaching them some tips and trick won't make them leave you it will make them want to stay with you and refer others to you.

The reason is simple. You have become a resource to them as opposed to just a vendor. Someone they know, will answer questions and be there for them. That is much more valuable than just the lowest price. Keep up the good work!

So training really is key. That, and making them do it themselves!

So training really is key. That, and making them do it themselves!

Picking up the Radian6 mention is a true testament to how well your system works! And thanks for the kind words! I love the training wheels example – that's exactly what I was thinking when I was writing this.

I have a feeling that as we see more and more marketing agencies offer 'social media services,' they're going to try and control the interaction with ghostwriting and 'packages'. Being that social media is user based, I really don't think that the package approach is going to do anything but get a lot of marketing agencies fired. That's just my take on it, though.

For a company to REALLY succeed, the social media consultant is going to have to team up with the marketing department and lay out a framework. Once the campaign goes live though, it can change in a moments notice!

Really love how concisely you've outlined this here. I think a theme across so much of what you've spelled out is that social media consultants and advisers need to be the training wheels for a company, put together guideposts, and get out of the way. There's no substitute for hands-on in social media, and a great consultant will know and empower their clients to not only embrace the medium, but do it authentically and for themselves.

Thanks so much for the shoutout, and for the common sense approach here.

Cheers,
Amber Naslund
Director of Community, Radian6
@AmberCadabra