Author: Carlos Gil / Source: Entrepreneur
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Honest question: What’s the business benefit of seeing your name on a list?
It’s one that I’ve long asked colleagues of mine in the marketing industry and never seem to get a direct answer besides “it helps establish credibility.”
In my years of working for companies like LinkedIn and Winn-Dixie, in corporate social media roles, not once has a “top list” helped me land a job, if I have to be blunt.
Perhaps I’m old school, but I’ve always perceived one’s credibility in business to be based on hands-on experience (where someone has worked) along with results-driven work outcomes (what he has done) and professional references (who can vouch for him).
We’ve all seen these lists before, from the “50 Online Marketing Influencers to Watch” here on Entrepreneur.com to others on credible industry sites and people’s blogs, too.
The issue with these lists is that most of them aren’t based on scientific data but instead on the authors’ interpretation of who they perceive to be influential. The dangerous part about the list game is when you see a person put on her Twitter or LinkedIn profile that she’s the world’s foremost expert on a platform and without fact-checking the…
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