I recently stumbled upon Stuart Bruce's "Top ten ways not to choose a social media consultant". Bruce offers some solid advice for anyone looking to hire a consultant, advisor, or otherwise "expert" in the social media field.

My favourites:

• They describe themselves as an expert. This space is so new and changing so rapidly it’s impossible to be an expert, at Wolfstar we only claim to be ahead of the curve.
• The first thing they talk about isn’t how to integrate social media into overall corporate communications strategy or public relations plan. Just like traditional public relations or marketing communications you’ve got to focus on the business objectives and what communications can do to achieve them.
• The first thing they advise is you should start a blog or Facebook group. Focus on the business and what you want to achieve and then think about the tools and the technology.
• They promise you quick results and instant success. Online, social media and social networks are all representative of how society and the economy is changing, you’ve got to be in it for the long haul.

Be sure to check out all 10.