(Yes, I have a stack of Canadian Business articles to write about…)

Amber MacArthur is a bit of a social media powerhouse around here (ok, that might be a bit of an understatement) and part of that role involves doing the circuit to pimp her new book. In a Canadian Business interview with her she discusses how to hire, and best make use of, a social media consultant. (Which for the record I think is right up there with SEO consultant…)

I’m not a big fan of using an agency or consultant who will do all of the work for you. The best way to get up to speed with what’s happening in social media is to work with that person for a couple months to develop a strategic plan — what you’re going to do, what kind of schedule you need in place — and make use of their experience and their advice. But eventually you should run your own social-media initiative. There are lots of big agencies managing social media for companies, and that’s not always very authentic. To have the most authentic voice in social media, you want to have someone inside the company who is the face of your organization online.

Exactly.

This is the same for any sort of consulting work be it something as fuzzy as social media or technical like Selenium.

See also a description of how Brian Marick prefers to consult paying keen attention to the second last point – it is the most important one.