I am loving this month’s theme of Taking Inventory/Re-Prioritization, because there are so many great things to write about on those topics. It’s not that April is the only time of year when we should be taking inventory of our lives and getting our priorities straight; it’s that with Spring and taxes and the weather warming up, I think we as people are generally more accepting of inward looks and contemplation.
Advice-Taking vs Advice-Testing
The title of this post and even the header above are a bit misleading. I don’t mean to be misleading but there are very few other ways to approach this topic. It’s misleading because it’s possible to test and take advice. But it’s also possible to take advice without testing it, and that is the thing I am taking issue with today.
In my online travels, I’ve come across an awful lot of advice-taking, but not so much advice-testing. I wonder why that is?
Let’s Get Specific
Lest you think I’m some sort of stubborn rebel who ignores medical and severe weather warnings, and things like that, let me clarify that I’m generally referring to business, and specifically referring to various forms of online marketing.
- How often do we NOT do something with blogging, social media, SEM, or SEO, because someone told us not to do it?
- How often do we DO something with blogging, social media, SEM, or SEO, because someone told us to do it?
- How many times do we royally screw something up, because we were just following advice and the advice turned out to be bad?
- How many times do we fail to experience promised success, because we were just following advice and the advice was ignorant at best or deceptive at worst?
These things happen, right? Of course! The error isn’t in the taking of bad advice, it’s in blindly taking bad advice that you have not bothered to test for yourself. That’s the error. The crime is passing on that bad advice that you haven’t bothered to test as if it were fact.
Example of advice-testing: Reading something about SEO or social media and applying it to one site or one post or methods of communication, and then evaluating the fallout for yourself.
Example of advice-taking without testing: Reading something about SEO or social media and hurriedly changing every single one of your sites or posts or communication methods before evaluating the fallout for yourself.
No stones to throw
I should also note that at present, my slingshot is empty. I am guilty as charged on all accounts so I am certainly not hurling stones in my pretty glass house.
How often do we test advice?
I’m going to be bold and go out on a limb, and guesstimate that many advice-takers and advice-spreaders don’t actually test advice. We only know what we know, and we are easily impressed by things like nicely designed blogs, social proof, and what our friends tell us. So we take the advice or pass it on via social channels. We don’t have time to test. Instead, we take. We take and apply and that is not even remotely close to testing because the most important part of testing is truly evaluating whether or not the advice was sound.
Fear is also a cause of the failure to test. When we are afraid, we tend to react quickly or in an overly-cautious manner. This is how really bad SEO advice tends to be spread, for example.
Is that okay?
Perhaps. I, for one, am an advice-tester. I am not easily impressed and therefore accept most advice with a healthy dose of skepticism. I will always honor and respect someone, but that doesn’t mean that I am easily impressed by what they are doing – no matter who they are or how many people like them.
I wouldn’t want someone to be easily impressed by what I am doing, either. I, like all other advice-givers, ought to be fully vetted.
The vetting criteria varies, though, doesn’t it? I think there are special situations where vetting is done beforehand; some advice-givers come pre-vetted. Curious to know your thoughts on that…
Anyway, these are just my thoughts. I am not always right. I am wrong, a lot.
Advice-Testing Champions
There are some people I follow who are worth noting. These are AMAZINGLY responsible bloggers in that while they offer advice, they are the first to test the advice, too. They also do not appear to be easily impressed, but rather are independent spirits who are willing to walk to the talk. You will find no knee-jerk reacting with these folks, and that is one of the tell-tale signs of someone who is more likely to test advice than just take it.
- Ileane Smith of Basic Blog Tips
- Kristi Hines of Kikolani and Mark Thompson of Search Engine Journal
- Justin Germino of Dragon Blogger
- James of The Average Genius
- John Paul Agiuar of JohnPaulAguiar.com
- Jo Archibald of Affordable SEO Tips and Tricks
- Kiesha Easley of We Blog Better
- Dev Sharma of TechnShare
- Hesham Zebida of Famous Bloggers
- Francisco Rosales of Social Mouths
- Brankica Underwood of Live Your Love blog
- Ana Hoffman of Traffic Generation Cafe
- Gail Gardner of Growmap
- Sarah Russell of Common Sense Marketing
- Danny Brown of DannyBrown.me
- Evelyn Parham of Become a Healthier You
- Marlee Ward of Metamorphoself
- Christina Linnell of A Closet Writer
- Libby Fisher of TheLibzter.com
Yes, yes, the last four are editors here but that’s part of the reason I chose them. Many on this list I have been following for awhile, and just a couple up there are people who have only recently crossed my path. If you know of any others, absolutely feel free to give them a shout-out.
Conclusion: 86 the Advice… on this one.
It would be completely ironic to sum up this post by offering my advice to you on advice-taking vs advice-testing, wouldn’t it? 
Instead, I will ask the question that I ask every now and then, which is, am I completely off-base here? If so, let me hear it.
Do you think there are times when it is okay to accept advice without testing it? What situations make that acceptable?
Ah, this really rings true to me! As a blogger who’s been at this for not quite a year here’s my take on the advice issue – it’s really hard at first (when you have no clue what your doing) not to follow the advice gurus. You want to do everything right, you especially do not want to make a fool of yourself. Then (if you hang in there long enough) you begin to realize that you’re making yourself just a little crazy trying to do what everyone is telling you – for instance, it would be interesting to know the ratio of “experts” who swear posting too often will drive your readers away, vs those who stand by posting daily. That marks the beginning of the questioning phase where you begin testing the waters and listening to your own instincts. Not for the faint of heart, but a glorious journey nonetheless!
Hi Tia,
You always know how to make my day! I don’t know how I missed this post!
Anyway, I’ve always been skeptical, sometimes to a terrible fault – I’ll be honest. I think that’s because I’ve had time to learn how easily language can be manipulated to persuade – in other words – WORDS mean nothing – I need proof! That’s probably why I’m so slow to try out new gadgets, new sites, new whatever… I’m always wondering… why exactly do I need that? If no one can answer that question for me, I usually just keep going.
Thanks for this totally thought-provoking post. It warms my heart to know that you consider me as an advice tester – means a lot coming from you.
I must admit, I’m an advice skeptic too. I’m new to blogging, and I think a lot of folks equate that with gullible. Hopefully I’ll be able to weed through the snake-oil shamans and find some like-minded souls. Thanks for your post!
Welcome, Raymond! Good to see your comment here.
I’ll borrow the word from one of our contributor’s latest posts – discernment. You and I are just discerning people in regards to advice! It’s good to be that way!
Thanks for coming. I was happy to find your blog and am happy you’ve found ours!
Tia
Well, I think you can judge the power of an advice by the person it emits it. You can hear a lot of advices but you don’t have to take them all for granted, there are a lot of people who offer advices and tips without experimenting them for themselves.
Also, you need to think of precedents, if someone is know as a good advice maker and most of the things s/he says are right and verified by other or even yourself, then it’s acceptable in my opinion.
Hi Tia!
Thanks for the mention. You know, I believe it’s important to be receptive to different ideas and theories. I think you can learn a lot from unexpected sources. That said, I also believe you have to run everything thorough your own filter (testing). The bottom line is that some things that work for others won’t work for you. More importantly, if you do things for the wrong reasons, you probably won’t stick with them (and consistency is a key element to success in any area).
Plus, taking advice from every Tom, Dick, and Harry – as it comes your way – can serve as a vast source of procrastination and productivity failure. So it’s important to pick and choose advice carefully.
This non-advice you’ve offered up here is solid.
Honestly, Tia, I am sick of all the advice.
Now, I think about what I need or want to focus on at the moment and I allow in the voices of people with whom I resonate . And even with that, I am at the point where I will only let ONE of those voices be the authority on something. In doing that, I unsubscribed from a lot of things – mainly the people who write really long sales letters and tell me how I need to do something “RIGHT AWAY!” I have a few sensational people who are still allowed in, but for the most part no more advice from the masses. Just following my heart and allowing people to give their feedback on MY plan.
Hi Monica – Same here. I don’t understand the sales mentality when it comes to email marketing; I simply tune it out. There was ONE time that I bought something as a result of someone sending a sales letter. It was a complete load of junk, and not only did I feel totally taken advantage of, but I lost a lot of respect for that person. So then I removed myself from his email list and decided against being an affiliate for him.
I like your approach and think it’s great. Knowing who resonates with you is what it’s all about.
Thank you Tia, both for including me and also for showing me a few new bloggers I haven’t come across before and don’t collaborate with – yet. Speaking of collaborating, I would love to work more closely with you if you can make the time.
Did you see the Cornell study that called attention to many of our close collaborators by name? I published a post about it that I’ll share in CommentLuv in this comment.
Hey Gail! No, I did not see that study! I will check that out; that’s incredibly interesting.
Tia, this is such an honor. I am so glad I made your list! I really do try to test everything before I recommend it and if I am in the first phase of testing I do say so. Not everything is made for everyone, but I love sharing my opinion on stuff I like and dislike.
Sometimes, I wish there was a Facebook like and unlike button on everything around me, lol. I really appreciate the mention and I will try to make it even more worth to follow me
You’re welcome, Brankica. You’ve earned a lot of respect!
Thanks for the recommend and it’s a great list of bloggers who I also follow. I am a one who really tries not to preach, but to just wade through trying various things and sharing my opinions and feedback along the way.
You do a great job at it, Justin. And as a result, you have a nice following and even make money doing it which is impressive.
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