So Genuine Chris has declared war on Odesk.

Say what?

That’s right – a war against the friend to freelancers. Right?

From oDesk:

oDesk enables buyers of services to hire, manage, and pay technology service providers from around the world. Buyers choose oDesk for top global talent, comprehensive management tools, and a flexible hourly payment model. Service Providers choose oDesk for challenging jobs and guaranteed payment. Every day, thousands of buyers and providers work together through oDesk — a unique company at the forefront of reinventing work.

So, it’s all gravy, right? I thought about signing up their and doing some freelancing myself – I saw a few mootools projects pop-up, and I fancy me some mootools development.

But Chris points out what another developer, Issac Kelly, had to say:

“God, it’s like dealing with people you got away from work to begin with.”

Dude. I didn’t leave Corporate Internet to be your bitch.

I know, I know. That’s not what oDesk is – right? I’ve never used it, but from the “quality” of what I’ve seen, I have mixed feelings about becoming involved. It’s really five-and-diming development – and as a developer that has had to take over tasks from the lowest-common-denominator (*cough*webconsultants*cough*) it’s easy to see that YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

So I should pay top-dollar for premium development?

No – you should pay what you can afford.
If you can afford someone at $60/hour you should hire someone at that rate – not the guy that comes around and tries to undersell your guy with “I’ll do it for $25″ – because very often if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

I’m not saying that maybe you’re luck – but very often those lowest bidders underbid and end up under delivering because they just meant to get you in, and then get you at the point of either:

• A) You’re stuck with them because you’ve wasted too much of your budget to start over.
• B) They’ve been paid and you end up going with the higher priced guy/company anyways, maybe with some savable work.

So what are you going to do about it, hotshot?

I’m not. I’m looking for side jobs, because, well, kid(s) are damned expensive.

But Chris says he’s got something coming:

I’ll find the work for all of you, I’ll get you paid what you’re worth, and I’ll make all of us rich in the process. I’ll be blogging about this as it takes shape, but it’s surprisingly concrete and specific in my head what I need to do, and how I’m going to do it. I am glad someone showed me what Odesk is because it’s everything that I’m not.

And he’s shown me before he’s not one to talk smack – so I’m going to be keeping an eye on this.

I’ve got to be honest – I’ve been really hard on anyone that introduces themselves as a “Social Media Expert.” I’m a little prejudiced, because I’m very familiar with Social Media and the social networking movement – I signed up for sixdegrees.com back in the day, I sought out the old school “party-lines” thanks to a phreak I knew.

That, to me, was the beginning of social networking. BBS were the original message boards. Hackers and computer nerds pioneered these ideas of getting people together across the country (and even the world) for the pursuit of knowledge.

Today we have Social Media Experts.

What are Social Media Experts?

Why, they’re experts in social media! To me, I always related Social Media as a skillset – they are part of a bigger role – much like how we don’t have HTML experts – they are part of a bigger role. They have the knowledge of the tool sets. They have a proven track record of showing how they apply their knowledge to various business functions, which creates value.

To be an expert – you must have experience, a track record! Now take a minute and visit that link. Read through The Personal Branding Blog – and if you have twitter I suggest you add @danschawbel as well (and add me too!). You can start to see his understanding the Social Media Experts of today will not exist in the short future.

What Social Media Is

Social Media is an extension of Public Relations, communications, customer service, business development… it’s a tool to be used, to be taught. You use your expertise to assist your clients – not to milk them for eyars, but to show them how to be capable themselves. You need to be an expert so you can teach them your skill set (and if you’re truly indispensable, they know you’ve got an eye for “the next big thing” so I’m sure you can inherit a new Web 3.0 title when those start coming around).

What Social Media Isn’t

Social Media isn’t all about networking – but it is one aspect. It’s about OPENness. It’s about communication. It’s not about hording information, or acting like you hold some secret. You don’t – and the more you horde your information, try and make yourself “indispensable” by creating vague propositions hiding behind a mask of “social media.” You’ll be out of a job if you don’t start expanding your knowledge and understanding, and become a teacher.

The secret is OUT!

Social Media Experts are all ready on their way out – we know it’s a matter of time as the “skill set” propagates out – but the true value you have to add right now – appying your knowledge and experience with social toolsets and networking – proving that you have more to add than just one area of “expertise” – that will show your true colors – your mixing of your expertise in multiple aspects will outshine this “web 2.0 title” and propogate to show that you’re on top of what’s buzzing in Web 2.0 and you’ll be buzzing when Web 3.0 rolls around.

So – all you Social Media Experts – shine on and show the world your not just a buzz word!