Has that influencer on LinkedIn ever done anything besides post?

It’s a fair question!

By George Ellis

Scroll on LinkedIn for more than 15 seconds and you’ll see them. The so-called influencers with thousands of followers and tons of engagement on their posts. They have fancy icons and Premium designations and words like “Leader” and “Guru” and “Founder” in their titles.

But have they ever built anything real?

I’m not just talking about the AI Influencers™. Those are the most obvious, with their ChatGPT (Claude?) posts with cliche talking points about how AI is the future. Hopefully most people can see right through those individuals, if they’re actually humans at all.

I’m more focused on the social media and business experts who are so accomplished and have had such great success, they’re willing to spend 8 hours a day on LinkedIn sharing their thought leadership for free. Wow! So kind of them. But it does beg a few questions:

• If they really did scale a business 7x in just a year, why do they need more gigs?
• If their methods work for ANY business and they’ve had multiple exits, why are they offering courses for just $200?
• With their social media savvy, why do they never mention the names of the brands they helped blow up on TikTok or IG?
• Nothing wrong with writing a business book, but if that’s all the promote or talk about, it might be a red flag.

The point is: these people are not real. Their results are not real. If they were, they’d be detailing the brands and the clients. The CMO’s they helped look like geniuses would be the ones posting about THEM, and they wouldn’t be spamming LinkedIn with daily posts.

5 Ways To Know Someone Is A Real Business Leader or Social Media Expert

1. Check their connections. Then ask them for references.
2. Other people or outlets write about THEM.
3. Can’t believe a number or stat they shared? Don’t.
4. Listen to your gut. If someone is constantly talking about vague successes that sound too good to be true…you know the rest.
5. If they have a book, on AI, that sounds like AI wrote it: RUN.

In short, if you want real business growth, you need a person or agency that has done it before, and is willing to show receipts. Sure, we’d love that to be Bandolier Media (us), but even if it’s not, there are plenty of hard-working, reputable people out there with real case studies and real business results. And plenty more agencies or brand groups. Just look at Nostos, a collective of independent agencies full of smart people in creative, media and brand.