What does a social media consultant do?

I've been asked this several times as people try to figure out how iJump makes money: what do we actually do?

It's a constantly evolving field, but here's our current take on it - we help businesses understand and ultimately use the tools we call social media. We don't make the tools, and we don't sell them on behalf of others (although we are open to commissions and kickbacks - transparent, of course - from suppliers).

Ultimately, what we do is consultancy, helping businesses change their culture. Because the technology's the relatively easy part to implement. What's hard is the mindshift from broadcast, top-down control to a more democratised marketing message getting out.

So the short answer is - we get paid to understand how corporate culture changes, and how to use technology to facilitate that positive change.

Of course that's wordy management jargon at the moment - it'll take a bit more clarifying and thinking and more thinking to get it into plain English. But it's a start. And I think it's a pretty unique space that we can pursue, while everyone else focuses on the technology.

Update: Stephen Collins from AcidLabs has his own take on the question.