Archive for the ‘Twitter’ Category
Best Twitter Tips, Tools and Tactics of 2011
Monday, January 9th, 2012In just a few short years, Twitter has transformed from an odd little sort of public IM service where people posted what they just ate for lunch or what their cat was doing at the moment into one of the big four social networks and a significant channel for news, PR & marketing, politics and more. It has enabled revolutions in real life as well as in digital marketing.
Twitter’s 200 million users collectively tap out a billion tweets per week. Nearly 3/4 of active Twitter users are bloggers. More than 80% of U.S. governors, senators and congressional representatives use it, as do 87 of the Billboard Top 100 musicians. Twitter users are twice as likely to purchase from companies they follow than are Facebook users.
So how can marketers and PR professionals use Twitter more effectively? What’s the best way to build a quality, relevant Twitter following? Of the hundreds of third party Twitter tools out there, which are really worth utilizing? How can Twitter to used to support SEO efforts?
Discover the answers to those questions and many more here in 45 of the best guides to Twitter tips, tools and tactics of the past year.
Twitter Tips, Tactics and Techniques
40 Examples Of Creatively Designed Twitter Backgrounds by Tripwire Magazine
Got a boring Twitter background and need some inspiration to help you liven it up? Dustin Betonio here presents 40 “awesome and creatively designed Twitter backgrounds which use various and innovative illustrations to create a visually attractive and appealing look to their profiles” to get your creativity kick-started.
25 Suggestions For How To Use Twitter by Dave Fleet
Dave offers “25 ideas for ways you can get value out of Twitter, with a mix of business and personal focus,” such as meeting new people, staying on top of the news, influencing the influencers, and re-purposing content.
10 Twitter Features You Might Be Missing by GigaOM
Aliza Sherman highlights 10 features of Twitter that not all users may be aware of–including a few that may be news even to power users–such a list of helpful Twitter keyboard shortcuts.
How We Increased Our Twitter Followers By 250% – Whiteboard Friday by SEOmoz
Community manager Jen Lopez explains how SEOmoz increased its total Twitter followers by 250% to over 27,000 people. Hint: it helps to have a community manager.
Top 7 Ways to Save Time on Twitter by OPEN Forum
Noting that the top barrier to increased business use of social media is a lack of time and resources, Leyl Master Black shares “seven Twitter tricks from the pros that allow you to spend less time on the mechanics and more time engaging.”
20 Guidelines for Twitter Success by Global Copywriting
Sarah Mitchell presents 20 tips for success on Twitter, divided into four categories: Always Try To (e.g., answer every mention), Never Fail To (e.g., say “thank you”), Things NOT To Do, and “Keep in Mind.”
The Ultimate Guide to Twitter Marketing by Copyblogger
Curating the curator here, as Gabrielle Conde links to and summarizes 100 educational posts about Twitter, covering the gamut from setting up a Twitter account to using hashtags to marketing and prospecting strategies, from authors like Marian Schembari, Michael Brenner and the ebullient Diana Adams.
12 Most Stimulating Twitter Chats by The 12 Most
If you’ve never sat in on a Twitter chat, it’s quite an experience. If you have, you understand the metaphorical meaning of “drinking from a fire hose.” Think of those people-talking-over-each-other Sunday morning political talk shows and multiply it by a large number. In some cases, a very large number. Among the 12 best Twitter chats chosen here by Daniel Newman are Blogchat, hosted by Mack Collier; GetRealChat, moderated by the exuberant Pam Moore; and LeadershipChat, hosted by my fellow Lebronian Lisa Petrilli and Steve Woodruff.
The Right Way to Build Brand(s) via Twitter by iMedia Connection
David Sonn recommends a strategy combining a corporate Twitter account with accounts from key executives and other (properly trained) key individuals within a company to maximize credibility, interaction and business impact.
55 Tips to Get Retweeted on Twitter by ZoomFactor
The awesome Pam Moore supplies an extensive list of tips for getting retweeted more frequently and consistently, such as using your real picture, knowing your audience, knowing Twitter lingo, and making people laugh, cry, or learn something.
The Hidden Guide to Using Twitter Effectively by KISSmetrics
***** 5 STARS
The delightful Kristi Hines digs deep into Twitter, explaining how to do things like deleting a “Recent Image,” create customized RSS feeds from Twitter, use Twitter’s Advanced Search, search Twitter results using Google, get the most out of your Twitter bio and more.
Twitter: Marketers Still Struggling To Understand Social Channel by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Laurie Sullivan summarizes a report from Forrester Research outlining the challenges and opportunities marketers face in using Twitter effectively. One key finding: “Forrester analysts believe it’s not only the 1 billion tweets that matter, but rather the 6.2% of online adults creating 80% of the influence from impressions. The research firm calls these users Mass Connectors…Along with Mass Mavens—representing 13.8% of online adults creating 80% of the posts, comments, rating—they are small in number, but strong in power when it comes to influencing others.”
Twitter’s New Look and Feel
Twitter gets new, Facebook-like feeds & features by DevBeat
Jolie O’Dell summarizes the changes in Twitter’s new interface, such as the “new Activity tab, which shows all the non-tweet activity from people you follow. You can see new follows from your friends, friends’ retweets and their favorites.” Overall, the UI is an improvement—with the exception of losing the ability to see how many lists a person is on. Hopefully, Twitter listens to user feedback and restores that feature.
Twitter Just Announced Brand Pages and a Redesign – What are all the details and why does it look like Facebook? by iMedia Connection
Katelyn Watson explains how Twitter’s recently announced brand pages work, what Twitter is aiming to accomplish with the redesign, and the benefits brand pages will provide to marketers.
Twitter Tuesday: Twitter’s New Changes – What You Could Expect by Hubze Blog
David Foster summarizes Twitter’s design changes and new capabilities, including four-tab navigation and the ability to embed tweets on any website.
Twitter and SEO
The Tweet Effect: How Twitter Affects Rankings by The Daily SEO Blog
In this somewhat long-winded but thoroughly researched post, John Doherty describes a number of experiments he ran to determine the effect of Tweets on a page or blog post ranking. The conclusion? Even a single tweet helps a page or post get indexed more quickly, though it has little effect on rankings. Retweets from relevant and highly influential Twitters, however, can have a significant impact on ranking.
7 Key Ways to Optimize Twitter for Search by HubSpot Blog
Anum Hussain details seven techniques for optimizing your Twitter presence for search, among them, “Don’t completely believe the “nofollow” warning…both Google and Bing (have) confirmed that tweeted links are in fact a signal for a search engine’s organic and news rankings,” create a special list of Twitter keywords, and use 1-2 core keyword phrases in your bio.
Finding Twitter Followers and Interesting Twitterers to Follow
How To: Get More Qualified Followers on Twitter by Social Media Today
Tracy Gold suggests eight tactics for increasing your Twitter following the right way—gradually building a relevant group of followers by using best practices such as hashtags, retweets and replies, as well as creating and adding followers to lists.
How to Find Twitter People that Don’t Suck by Soshable
JD Rucker presents a series of steps, starting with defining your goals on Twitter, to help find quality people to follow on Twitter. Each section is divided into guidelines for personal accounts and for business.
How to Get More Followers on Twitter by Graywolf’s SEO Blog
Michael Gray lays out an effective seven-step fan for gradually building a relevant Twitter following, starting with “raiding” the accounts of competitive and complementary Twitter accounts and using tools like Raven Event Tracking and manageflitter.
Twitter for B2B Marketing
5 Ways Twitter Can Be Leveraged for B2B Search Engine Marketing by Search Engine Watch
Derek Edmond details five ways B2B marketers can use Twitter as one of their online marketing channels, such as for link building initiatives and brand monitoring.
9 Twitter Tips for B2B Marketing Success by Modern B2B Blogs
Maria Pergolino shares nine tips for B2B marketing success on Twitter, such as sharing the workload for the corporate Twitter account among several people, sharing valuable content, and using Twitter tools (see below) to maximize productivity.
Twitter for PR and Media Pros
9 easy steps to add Twitter to your PR mix by ragan.com
The illustrious Anne Deeter Gallaher lays out a nine-step path to Twitter expertise for PR professionals, including using TweetDeck to follow multiple topics of interest simultaneously.
4 Ways to Build Your Influence on Twitter by Laura Kinoshita
When building influence on Twitter, start by following 10-20 people with modest follower counts (which makes it easier for you to stand out) who are connected to a key influencer in your market, then gradually build an influencer map for your industry.
Twitter Launches Twitter for Newsrooms by BizCloud
A review of the Twitter for Newsrooms guide, designed to “help reporters get the most out of the micro-blogging service. The guide contains valuable resources that will educate journalists and media organizations on how to best leverage various Twitter tools for finding sources, publishing their stories, and also for promoting their content.” Something PR professionals may want to take a look at as well.
Twitter Tools
Headhunters Using Twitter – The New Productivity Check by Minervity
Though his English is a bit spotty, Richard Darell provides helpful reviews of eight tools corporate recruiters can use to evaluate potential hires (and the rest of can use to evaluate anyone) on Twitter, including Retweet Radar and Twitalyzer.
These Two Twitter Clients Are The Best Conversation Agents for Digital Marketers by iMedia Connection
Noting that “88% of small businesses and 74% of midsized organizations now use Twitter as their social media application of choice. However, marketers do have a preference when choosing their conversation agent,” Courtney Wiley reviews her two favorite Twitter clients.
15 Useful Twitter Tools for B2B Social Media by Social Media B2B
Frequent best-of contributor Adam Holden-Bache reviews 15 helpful tools for managing Twitter, including Twtpoll for polling, Tweetreach to see how far your tweets travel, and Backtweets for better Twitter search.
The Top Ten Twitter Statistics and Analytics Tools by Dead Dinosaur
Chris Norton sorts through the hundreds of Twitter measurement tools available and reviews his top 10 here, among them TweetStats and Twitterholic.
Two Great Twitter Visualization Tools: Twiangulate & MentionMap by Affiliate Marketing Blog
Geno Prussakov reviews two helpful tools for finding relevant new Twitter followers. Twiangulate, which looks very cool, lets you “see the biggest (or the most influential) followers of any two or three Twitter users, as well as mutual followers and mutual friends, compare lists, and do much more,” according to Geno.
5 Great Twitter Track Tools to Organize Followers by Search Engine Journal
Noting that unlike other social networking sites, Twitter is an “open-format chat setting that invites communication and connections with anyone who happens by. This is why you might need a little extra something to help keep track of all of your followers,” Ann Smarty reviews five helpful tools to help accomplish that task.
10 Twitter Tools to Increase Your Productivity by SloDive
Leo Widrich outlines the features of 10 popular Twitter tools (including his own Buffer App for scheduling tweets) as well as what makes each one “killer.”
Twitter Noise Reduction: The Twit Cleaner by Social Marketing Forum
Jim Ducharme review Twit Cleaner, a handy tool to help keep your tweet stream clean by identifying people you follow who are Dodgy (spam phrases, @ spamming, duplicate links etc.), Absent (o updates in a month, or fewer than 10 tweets), Repetitive (igh numbers of duplicate tweets or links) or guilty of other Twitter sins. You can also have the tool evaluate your own behavior to make sure you aren’t crossing any lines.
6 Ways To Monitor Your Brand On Twitter by OPEN Forum
Heather Allard discusses six tools for monitoring brand conversations on Twitter, including Backtweets, Monitter and Sprout Social.
Organize Your Twitter Following with Formulists by Business2Community
Kristi Hines explains the features of Formulists, “a service that will allow you to create customized Twitter lists and automatically update those lists with new followers that fit your specifications”—ideal for organizing large numbers of Twitter followers without manually picking through all of your followers.
How Twitter Web Analytics Will Help Your Business by PCWorld
Angela West looks at how Twitter analytics (based on their acquisition of BackType) work and the key benefits they provide to business users.
The 11 Twitter Tools and Apps I Use Every Day in 2011 by Business2Community
Neal Schaffer recommends HootSuite, Buffer, tweetspinner, Triberr and other tools for functions like SEO and content curation among his favorites.
14 Twitter Tools for Enterprise Business by Sprout Insights
In a slightly different twist, Susan Gunelius presents 14 useful Twitter tools based on the function that would benefit from them (Marketing and Customer Service, Human Resources, and Communications and Networking).
10 Tools to Significantly Increase Your Twitter Efficiency by arkarthick.com
Guest poster Leo Widrich details his top ten tools for Twitterers to “check out to step up your Twitter game and significantly increase your efficiency,” including Twinbow, Buffer, Tweriod and PeerIndex.
Twitter Facts and Stats
Twitter Growth Skyrockets, Settles Privacy Case With FTC by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Laurie Sullivan reports on some interesting Twitter statistics, such as that Twitter users now collectively post about one billion tweets per week, and mobile use has increased 182% in the past year.
Twitter Stats that will 100% get you tweeting by Carvill Creative
Michelle Carvill amplifies some stats to win over Twitter skeptics, among them: there are 200,000,000 registered Twitter users,with 450,000 new accounts created each day. There are 1.6 billion Twitter search queries every day. The majority of twitter users are between the ages of 30 and 49. And 67% of users are likely to recommend a brand they follow to others.
Big Brands Tested On Twitter Effectiveness by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Mark Walsh reports on an experiment by a digital agency “not to see whether corporate Twitter hands could answer tough questions, but to find out if they would engage in a conversation at all.” Among the findings: of the Fortune 50 companies in the study, 16 apparently don’t have corporate Twitter account. of the remaining 34, 23 responded to the test tweets, with GM, UPS and Best Buy responding most quickly.
Twitter: The Single-Greatest Relationship and Branding Tool by Bruce Clay
Guest author Shannon Downey extols the virtues of Twitter for enabling Tweetups and shares some interesting stats showing that brand followers on Twitter are roughly twice as likely as brand fans on Facebook to purchase a brand after following, and 50% more likely to recommend it.
Twitter’s Changing Complexion by iMedia Connection
Daniel Flamberg shares some fascinating intelligence on Twitter users, such as that:
- • 72% of active Twitter users are bloggers
- • 61% write at least 1 product review per month
- • 56% write articles for third-party sites
Twitter By The Numbers: Are You Listening to 100 Million Voices? by B2B Marketing Insider
Michael Brenner makes the business case for using Twitter, answers some common questions about the network and shares a selection of stats like: 84% of U.S. state governors, 82% of U.S. congressional representatives and 83% of senators use Twitter. 87% of Billboard’s top 100 musicians are there. And more than half of all Twitter users log in daily.
12 Ways to Avoid Being a Dork on Twitter
Thursday, November 17th, 2011Note: a version of this original post appeared previously on the B2B Twitterer of the Year (B2BTOTY) blog.
If you regularly read blogs like this, you’re probably already a Twitter pro. This post will be review for you. But, you also almost certainly come across new followers and others who haven’t attained your level of expertise. You know the type. You may want to pass this along as needed.
Complete your Twitter bio. You’ve got 160 characters to tell the world who you are, what you do, who you do it for, what you’re passionate about. Plus a link. Use it. Seems like a no-brainer, but it’s amazing how many people leave their profiles blank. Or type in something short and lame like “Always learning!” or “Master of the Universe.” Whether trying to be mysterious, or just lazy, it looks bad.
- Use your real picture. Find one that reflects you in your best light. If tweeting for a company, using a logo is okay, but accounts with a real person behind them tend to get more followers. Again, seems like a no-brainer, but it’s surprising how many people use photos that look like Nick Nolte’s mug shot, or worse – the default Twitter egg.
- Avoid stop words in your bio. Most people have figured out that “MLM,” “network marketer,” “work from home” and “Internet marketer” are synonyms for “spammer.” Don’t be that person.
- Avoid obnoxious words in your bio. Unless you are actually a Hindu mystic, have recorded an album that’s gone platinum, or are extremely skilled in the martial arts, avoid the terms “guru,” “rock star” or “ninja” in your bio. They are over-used and just kind of silly.
- Watch your following/follower ratio. The numbers will never be identical, but you don’t want to let them get too far out of whack. The worst case is when someone is following 2,001 people but has only like 300 followers and is on four lists. That smacks of desperation. Or like someone who’s ignored tips #3 and #4 above.
- Neber twet when yur drunk. It wont com out good an u will end up regrething it.
- Never tweet when you’re angry. If you’re tempted to do so, go get drunk. Then see tip #6.
- Retweet others! It shows you’re paying attention, helps build your network, and will make others more likely to follow you and share your content.
- Say “please” and “thank you.” It’s common courtesy, something people learn from grandma, but not always common on Twitter. Again, thanking someone for a retweet or an answer to a question makes it more likely they’ll do for you again in the future, and it shows followers you have manners.
- Know when to DM. A little bit of banter back-and-forth with another Tweeter shows you are social. Too much makes your Tweet stream look worthless. If the interaction goes beyond three tweets, it’s probably time to take it offline and use direct messages.
- Be careful with repetition. If you’ve come across something, or written something yourself, that is truly brilliant and deserves to be shared far and wide, it’s okay to tweet it more than once. Just be sure to 1) space your tweets at least an hour apart (preferably longer), and 2) tweet other content in between. Nothing turns off current and potential followers like a Tweet stream with the same message repeated over and over and over and…
- Don’t use automated welcome DMs. One would think that Twitterers would understand by now that automated DMs are pointless and annoying—but like some of the more regrettable music from the 1970s, they refuse to go away.
Bonus tip: be very careful with automation, not just on Twitter but any social media site. While it’s okay to automate certain tasks like using an app to pre-schedule tweets for off-hours, social media is fundamentally about engagement. In other words, unless you really are a broadcaster (i.e., it’s your job to tweet on behalf of CNN or Fox News)—don’t be just a broadcaster.
Following these tips will make you look classy and sophisticated to others on Twitter. Or at least not like a dork. As noted above, feel free to pass this along to anyone who demonstrates the need for it. In the meantime, got any tips you’d like to add? Feel free to share them in the comments below.
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The 2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men Reprise
Monday, June 6th, 2011Note: This post, a joint effort between Cheryl Burgess and me, originally appeared on the Blue Focus Marketing Blog last month.
Today, Tom Pick (@TomPick), Online Marketing Executive at KC Associates, who blogs at his award winning B2B Webbiquity, and I (@ckburgess – Blue Focus Marketing @BlueFocus360) present 50 remarkable men on our 2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men list. These men are indeed using Twitter to rewire and reorient the Web. But, by no means, is this list complete.
Tom contacted me a few weeks ago with this idea and we’ve been working collaboratively on this project ever since. So, as promised in Tom Pick’s blog, “2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Women”, in honor of mothers, our 2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men now honors fathers. Just in time for Father’s Day, as we’re pretty certain that every man on this list is a dad, has a dad, knows someone who’s a dad, or some combination thereof.
It takes a community to build a community
So much of building a community requires understanding people and engaging with them. Experts tell us the number one networking tip is to help others and they’ll return the favor — large or small. Adding explicit or implicit promises to a relationship up front can kill it before it starts. Perhaps our focus should be to gain credibility and trust — then work to build an enduring, meaningful relationship.
Now you may wonder, “How do we build a community?” According to Tom Grant, Ph.D, Senior Analyst at Forrester (@TomGrantForr) “You don’t build a community. You expand it.” He said, “Few communities appear ex nihilo at the behest of a technology vendor.”
Should there be an ROI on relationships?
Mother Teresa, a great innovator on relationships said, “Love does not measure; it just gives”. Twitter, not unlike Mother Teresa’s virtues of love, is a delicate ecosystem of real people. Some experts may want to rethink their advice and look deeper into the real meaning of relationships.
Social Networking: Like Falling In Love
Adam L. Penenberg’s (@Penenberg) Fast Company article: “Social Networking Affects Brains Like Falling in Love” examines research by neuroeconomist Paul Zak that suggests social networking triggers the release of the generosity-trust chemical in our brains: Oxytocin (known as the cuddle chemical). This should be a wake-up call for companies’ content on pursuing outbound marketing initiatives.
Revolutionizing Communication
“Twitter isn’t just changing how we communicate — it is changing how we innovate…It’s revolutionary because it brings 21st Century DNA roaring raucously to life”, stated Umair Haque (@umairh) Director of the Havas Media Lab and author of The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business. What’s most interesting is that Umair made this statement in June, 2009 when Twitter had recorded approximately 2.5 million tweets per day. Today, Twitter posts 50 million tweets per day.
Umair went on to say in his post “The business of business is to create value — and that’s why Twitter’s not playing the tired, old game of value extraction. It is trying, instead, to create a more authentic kind of value — and to do that, you need ideals. Twitter pursues its ideals — democracy, peace, equity — with the quiet intensity of a true revolutionary.” Since 2009, we have seen revolutionary wars and unspeakable natural disasters. Umair is not only an innovative thinker but a man with astounding vision.
Ecosystems Rewiring: Real Relationships and Feelings
Twitter has become one of the most participatory public mediums in history and continues to grow exponentially as ecosystems of real people rewire with real relationships and feelings.
Now, along with Tom Pick (@TomPick) and myself, we would like to introduce the recipients of the 2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men Award.
Sean Gardner – @2morrowknight
Humanitarian and co-creator of the #TwitterPowerhouses Series, and #TwitterCharityFacts. Blogger for Huffington Post and @op_editorial, Marketer, Do-Gooder, Master Surfer! Sean was also a #MMChat guest, sponsored by @TheSocialCMO
Adam Vincenzini – @adamvincenzini
Senior consultant at London-based agency, @ParatusComms. Blogging at COMMScorner.com, TheNextWeb.com and PRDaily.biz. Originally from Oz.
Dan Higgins – @AdScientist
A digital and advertising strategist, Dan is passionate about new technologies and creativity. Currently, he is a Medical Officer in the @USArmy in Kandadar. His “first love” is advertising and when he returns home, he will be looking for a job on Madison Ave. Couldn’t name all of our favorite #Nifty50 creative guys, but we think Dan represents all of them for us. Dan had sent me a long list of his recommendations for #Nifty50. He thinks we’ve picked one name from his list, but what he doesn’t realize is that we’ve picked Dan to represent all the Mad Men. Dan, Madison Ave is waiting for you when you get home! |Dan’s LinkedIn Profile | Dan’s Tweets – On May 12, 2011 Dan tweeted this: @CarlRWarner @ckburgess I am officially an Army Medical Captain! |Dan is not always able to tweet b/c of responsibilities or out on missions…but here are a couple more of my favorite tweets from Dan sent on 5/21@AdScientist: ‘What is beautiful about social media are the relationships that can be built/started, conversations shared.’|Another special tweet he sent 5/21 @ckburgess I can’t wait to get home from Afghanistan to buy his book, #WeFirst, and not just follow his twitter and blog. @SimonMainwaring NEW POST by Cathy Waters @cathywaters May 19th Blog – Dan is the Man: Advice on Finding Marketing Jobs in the Digital Age
Marty Weintraub – @aimclear
Marty Weintraub is president of aimClear, an Internet-focused Advertising Agency. His company provides traditional & social pay-per-click (PPC) management, natural search optimization (SEO), social media/feed marketing (SMO) and online reputation management (ORM) services to national clients. An avid search marketing blogger, he’s written extensively for SearchEngineWatch, SearchEngineLand, SEORoundTable and others. His popular “home” publication is aimClear Blog. Marty’s an international speaker at Search Engine Strategies (SES), Search Marketing Expo, SEMpdx and PubCon conferences. A musician by trade, Marty is well known for recording dolphins, wolves, loons, water environments and setting them to global acoustic music.
Alex Romanovich – @alexromanovich
Founder of Social2B, social media marketing integrators and consultancies, with emphasis on Enterprise and B2B Social Media, SEO and SMM, and defining metrics and measurement systems, aligning traditional metrics with social media metrics. CMO at EuroSpaClub International. Advisory Board Member at The CMO Club. Contributor to the Social Media Marketing Magazine – B2B Column. Consults major corporations on social media strategies, reputation management strategies, risk management strategies, and social media growth and scalability in manufacturing, healthcare, IT service, technology, publishing, and CPG industry segments. Consulted on social media and reputation management strategy with Dow, Hearst, IBM, Time/Life, & Barnes&Noble. Founder of Social2B Labs – a new and emerging social media accelerator for companies and innovators targeting Enterprise and B2B solutions.
Andreas Ramos – @Andreas_Ramos
Andreas Ramos is the Director of Strategy for Acxiom Corporation and lives in Palo Alto, CA. He is an industry expert in the areas of SEO, interactive and digital technologies and author of Search Engine Marketing and several more books. He co-founded two Silicon Valley search engine marketing agencies and is a frequent speaker at search marketing conferences. Andreas’ blog includes a great list of favorite words and meanings from multiple languages. One example, the word: Aware. This is a Japanese noun, pronounced ah-WAH-reh, which means a sudden, brief awareness of the brevity and fragility of existence, such as a glimpse of a herd of deer running softly through a forest or noticing the sheen of moisture in a woman’s eyes. His blog also includes a beautifully written personal account of the night the Berlin Wall fell.
Andres Silva A. – @andressilvaa
Marketing Professor at Universidad Andrés Bello and DuocUc. SMM, Consultant and Speaker. CEO at SMMChile and CM at Ingelab ltda. Andres is a social media expert. Ranked No. 1 Marketing Professors in the world by @SMMmagazine. Andres is always recommending his favorite tweeps and blogs, but now we’re recommending that you read Andres’s blogs at marketinghighcompetition.blogspot.com and blogmarketingchile.com and follow him. Andres’ insights and knowledge inspires not only his students, but everyone that follows him.
Arik Hanson – @arikhanson
Arik is the principal at PR firm ACH Communications, a digital PR consultant, blogger, co-founder of HAPPO, and (along with #Nifty50 award recipient Missy Berggren) co-founder of the Minnesota Blogger Conference – #mnblogconf
Aaron Lee – @AskAaronLee
Aaron Lee or more known as Ask Aaron Lee (@askaaronlee) on twitter is your average Joe but with an extra-large social media addiction. Competitive by Nature, Positive Minded, Marketing Student & part time social media manager.
Billy Mitchell – @Billymitchell1
Billy Mitchell is a partner and senior creative director at MLT Creative, an Atlanta-based B2B marketing agency. As a B2B marketing specialist, Billy is a recognized expert in B2B inbound marketing, and is very active on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. He is also the curator of the top two B2B marketing lists on Twitter, and his lists are number one on both Listorious and Mashable. He contributes regularly to the B2B Ideas@Work blog for MLT Creative.
Michael Brenner – @BrennerMichael
Michael Brenner is a Sr. Director of Global Marketing for SAP. He is the author of B2B Marketing Insider, a contributor for the SAP OnDemand blog and also a co-founder of social news site Business2Community.com. Michael has been working in marketing and sales for over 17 years in various roles where he uses customer insights to drive sales, ROI and customer loyalty through effective sales and marketing strategies. Michael believes that companies need to become more social, and that marketers need to stop focusing on just their activities and put the customer first. Follow Michael on Twitter @BrennerMichael and Facebook.
Christopher Burgess – @burgessct
Christopher Burgess – Senior Security Advisor at Cisco; co-author of Secrets Stolen, Fortunes Lost; writes on Online Safety, Hunger and Human Trafficking on his personal blog, Burgessct.com, while also professionally blogging in both Huffington Post and Cisco Security Blog addressing social network/media security & privacy issues touching our personal and professional lives. Christopher is an often sought speaker, who addresses the unsavory side of social media not touched by many.
Chuck Martin – @chuckmartin1
Chuck is Director of the Center for Media Research, MediaPost Communications, a NY Times Business best-selling author, CEO of Mobile Future Institute and mobile advocate. He’s brand manager of the Mobile Insider Summit and a frequent speaker nationally on mobile and mobile marketing. His newest book is The Third Screen (Marketing to Your Customers in a World Gone Mobile).
Danny Brown – @DannyBrown
Co-founder and partner at Bonsai Interactive Marketing. Speaker at TEDx and is regularly quoted in publications and news media, including Marketing Magazine, Canadian Marketing Association, Philadelphia Inquirer, Fast Company and City News Toronto. Award-winning marketing and social media blogger. Founder of 12for12k.org.
David Aaker – @DavidAaker
David Aaker is Vice-Chairman of Prophet, Professor Emeritus, UC Berkeley, the creator of the Aaker Model™ and a recognized authority on brands. David has published 15 books and his latest is Brand Relevance. On David’s blog you will find more information on Brand Relevance as well as all his other books he has published. In addition, David’s blog provides the reader with a steady-stream of thought-provoking marketing content.
Jason DeRusha – @DeRushaJ
A reporter and anchor for CBS affiliate WCCO TV in Minneapolis (the top-rated newscast in the Twin Cities); Jason hosts the station’s popular “Good Question” segment. He’s also active in social media and was named as one of the Twin Cities Top Titans in Social Media in 2009.
Eric Fletcher – @ericfletcher
Eric is the CMO at McGlinchey Stafford, a business law firm with nine offices in the U.S. He is a Communication and Marketing veteran, with a career that spans radio and television broadcasting, agency partnership, film & video production, and professional services consulting. His personal blog focuses on strategic marketing, communication and values in today’s market. In addition, Eric writes a column for SMM Magazine, and contributes as part of the “Crew” at The Social CMO Blog.
Blair Semenoff – @Flipbooks
If you ‘ask’ @AskAaronLee about Blair he would probably say that Blair is one of the 50 Most ReTweeted Twitter Users of All Time. But Blair isn’t just a cool guy that everyone loves to RT, he’s a “Twitter Psychologist” & “Viral Marketing Scientist”. He is currently creating a global social media agency & is searching for funding.
Frank Strong – @Frank_Strong
Frank is a PR & marketing guy full-time, infantry officer part-time, Pats fan all the time, political news junkie anytime. Visit Frank’s blog, The Sword and the Script, a blog that studies the application of marketing, PR and social media.
Glen Gilmore, Esq. – @GlenGilmore
Glen is a power user on Twitter with over 100,000 followers. He is an attorney, social media best practices strategist and adjunct professor at Rutgers University. Principal of Gilmore Business Network, a NJ-based social media consulting firm, and also a practicing attorney. He is the senior social media marketing advisor to Memphis-based Howell Marketing (@HowellMarketing) and to Harrisburg-based Deeter Gallaher Group (@AnneDGallaher) public relations and marketing firms with clients ranging from Fortune 500 to small businesses and non-profits. Glen served as mayor in Hamilton, NJ, during the 2001 anthrax attacks when the regional postal facility located in the community received and distributed anthrax-tainted letters. Gilmore was featured in TIME magazine for having established an emergency treatment clinic to care for more than 1,000 postal workers who had been exposed to the potentially-deadly anthrax substance.
Holger Schulze – @HolgerSchulze
Based in Washington, DC, Holger is director of marketing for information security vendor SafeNet. He is the founder and manager of two highly successful and active groups on LinkedIn, the 20,000-member B2B Technology Marketing Community and the 78,000-member Information Security Community.
Jeff Ashcroft – @JeffAshcroft
Supply chain expert and social networking pro Jeff Ashcroft is a key thought leader in many fields including retail, supply chain & disruptive technologies. Jeff is the true social media visionary who created The Social CMO, a blog that brings 35 senior marketing minds together and is now one of the Ad Age Power 150 Marketing sites. Jeff also founded & hosts #MMchat one of the most popular tweetchats every Monday at 8 pm EST. That is why @theSocialCMO is aka @JeffAshcroft.
Jeff Bullas – @jeffbullas
Jeff Bullas is a Chief Digital Evangelist with a passion to make a dent in the digital universe. Jeff makes social media and digital marketing simple without the gobbledygook. Visit Jeff’s blog, www.jeffbullas.com for fresh social media insights.
Joseph Zuccaro – @joezuc
Joe is a B2B Marketing consigliore and president of marketing automation services provider Allinio. Joe is the brainchild of B2B Twitterer of the Year Awards, @b2btoty debuted over two years ago. In keeping with Twitter’s crowd-sourcing spirit, the @B2BTOTY awards are based on votes from thousands of Twitter users and on each B2B creator’s Twitter strategy. Enjoy reading Joe’s blog.
Ken Banks – @KenBanks
Publisher, Ken Banks, is a seasoned online and offline publisher and is the Twitter power source for his blog @SocialNetDaily. Ken’s blog and tweets are social media news you can use. Ken understands the growing intersection of social media and business. He is listed as the 16 Brilliant Business Minds on Twitter in the Huffington Post. He is an inspiration to his followers.
Kent Huffman – @KentHuffman
Kent is the CMO at BearCom Wireless as well as the Founder and Co-Publisher of Social Media Marketing Magazine (@SMMmagazine) and a published author. He serves in advisory roles for the CMO Council and @TheSocialCMO. He is the publisher of The Top Professors on Twitter, The Top Authors on Twitter and The Top CMO’s on Twitter. Kent spearheaded the creation of BearCom’s company blog, BearCom Bulletin at Blog.BearCom.com. The blog will be formally hosted by BearCom’s virtual Chief Technology Officer, Meg A. Hertz, the mild-mannered tech geek who, when needed, morphs into superhero Wireless Woman. Kent is releasing the fifth issue of @SMMmagazine, and recently talked to SplashCast host Renay San Miguel about the magazine.
Kevin Randall – @KevinBrandall
On Twitter, Kevin (@KevinBrandall) brands himself simply: “All-Brand guy at Fast Company.” That’s an understatement. When Kevin broke news on politicians using neuromarketing, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Huffington Post and GOOD Magazine followed. When not writing for Fast Company, Kevin develops strategies at Moveo to turn client businesses into fast brands. Google invited Kevin to lecture their marketing executives—after they ‘Googled’ the term “B2B Branding“. Check out Kevin’s recent Fast Company project, Face the Nation: How Sensory Logic Sees Secrets In Candidates’ Mugs. And speaking of presidential faces, Kevin is quoted in a Forbes story on Trump’s brand value. Having worked previously at Interbrand to build brand value for name-brand companies, Kevin is also an accomplished ‘Naming guy’. So picking Kevin here was just good, nifty branding. BTW: Kevin is a fellow member of the #LeBronians team “drafted” by Robert Rose (@Robert_Rose) in FollowFriday & Who’s The Lebron In Your Strategy –Maybe It’s You.
Lee Odden – @leeodden
Lee is the CEO of TopRank Online Marketing. He is one of 25 online marketing experts featured in “Online Marketing Heroes” published by Wiley and has been frequently cited for his search & social media marketing expertise by The Economist and Fortune Magazine. He’s an active thought leader in the search marketing industry. Lee has contributed to top industry publications such as Mashable, iMedia Connection and Yahoo Search Marketing Blog. A sought after search marketing, social media & PR industry speaker, Lee has keynoted Online Marketing Summit, Social Media Junction and Search Exchange on the intersection of Search, Social Media and Content Marketing.
Epirot Ludvik Nekaj – @LPlus
Epi is a pioneer in the crowdsourcing ad model, and Founder & CEO of Ludvik + Partners @LAdvertising in NYC. Under Epi’s leadership, his agency has landed several clients in B2B and B2C to personal branding services for high caliber CEO’s like John Basil Georges and QR Code ad campaigns like Tissot Watches. Today, Ludvik + Partners is one of New York’s hottest boutique ad agencies built 100% on the crowdsourcing model. FYI: Never forget the first time I met Epi. It was at the Twitter Shorty Awards (NYC) in 2010. In the midst of a maddening crowd, Epi appeared with his quick smile and offered me my first Twittertini to congratulate me, it was a moment I’ll never forget. Prior to that night we were Twitter pals, but since then we’ve become good friends. In case you would like to attend a couple cool events on June 7th, during Internet Week NYC (June 6th – 13th, 2011), here are two discount codes for you: “Using LBS to Boost Your Biz + WE FIRST Book by Simon Mainwaring” 15% Discount Code: #LBSBoost and Crowdsourcing AD Biz + WE FIRST Book by Simon Mainwaring 15% Discount Code: #CrowdAdBiz .
Mack Collier – @MackCollier
Mack Collier is a strategist, trainer and speaker who specializes in helping companies better connect with its customers via social media. His motto: “Don’t focus on the tools, focus on the connections that the tools help facilitate.” Mack founded and moderates #Blogchat, the largest Twitter Chat on the Internet. His goal is to help clients create those connections with their customers, and nurture them into relationships that help grow their bottom line. Mack is a frequent contributor to the website Marketing Profs and his writings have been referenced in several mainstream publications and websites, including MSNBC.com, Ad Age, CNET, and The Boston Globe. Mack has presented at some of the top social media conferences including SXSW and Marketing Profs Digital Marketing Mixer.
Mark Ragan – @MarkRaganCEO
Publisher of PR Daily and PR Daily Europe, the only daily news portals designed specifically for corporate communicators. Mark’s domain, Ragan.com also addresses Healthcare Marketing and Communications News and conducts a distinguished series of conferences to the communication and social media world. Mark personally drives his many conferences on communications and social media.
Mark Schaefer – @markwschaefer
Mark is a talented marketing consultant and adjunct professor for Rutgers University in New Jersey and has seven patents. Mark blogs at businessesgrow.com and is the author of The Tao of Twitter. He is also a recognized Twitter Top 10 Marketing Professor.
Mark Burgess – @mnburgess
Mark is an experienced digital marketer, social brand strategist, speaker, blogger and educator. He is co-founder of Blue Focus Marketing, a social branding consultancy that helps brands realize the benefits of social media marketing. Utilizing an innovative model, delivers customized on-site social media workshops. He is also the co-author of Ad Agencies Winning New Business 360, which has sold in 25 + countries worldwide; based on a proprietary strategic blueprint with emphasis on social media. Mark has been quoted in the WSJ and The New York Times. Mark’s career spans marketing, advertising, and professional services consulting. Mark led the PwC Global Web team. At McCann, headed the flagship L’Oreal and Sears accounts. Mark is a Twitter Top 40 Marketing Professor. Mark teaches Executive MBA and MBA marketing and advertising courses. He has won two EFFIEs for marketing excellence and DMA ECHO Awards.
Mike Volpe – @mvolpe
Mike is the CMO at HubSpot in Boston, a marketing software company. According to Brian Halligan (@bhalligan), “Mike has built a scalable, inbound lead generation machine for HubSpot,” Brian stated that Mike, “played a critical role in growing our customer base from a dozen beta customers to over 4,500 in four years. Last month alone we got 38,000 new, inbound leads to feed to our sales team. That’s inbound marketing in action.” Volpe is also credited with using inbound marketing to create a top marketing software industry brand that has won more than 30 industry awards, been featured in over 20 business and marketing books, and boasts one of the largest online communities of any SaaS company. Mike hosts an award winning weekly live marketing video podcast HubSpot TV. He was featured in a Harvard Business School case study “HubSpot: Marketing and Web 2.0“. He enjoys talking about marketing, appears frequently as a marketing speaker and blogs at blog.hubspot.com. Mike enjoys golf and playing recreational ice hockey and is a fan of the Patriots and Red Sox. Check out @TomPick’s blog at Webbiquity on what he learned from Mike’s HubSpot Webinar.
Patrick Strother – @PatrickStrother
Strother Communications Group since 1992. Teaches PR at the University of Minnesota. Digital Marketing, Higher Ed, Sports, Art, Public Affairs and loves playing the Guitar. He’s a Twitter Top Marketing Professor.
Philip Hotchkiss – @PhilipHotchkiss
Philip is a very passionate writer. 3x startup guy, advisor, board member. Past adventures CPO @Klout, CEO at Talkingpoint, president @MarketWatch, founder/chairman/CEO at BigCharts Philip’s. Not sure how many children Philip has nor all of their accomplishments, but I do know he’s very proud of his 8 year old son playing classical piano. On May 22nd, Philip tweeted his talented, classical pianist son’s YouTube debut on his GatorKeys channel playing Kabalevsky Etude in A minor No. 27 Op. 3. It’s moments like these that makes communities feel like family.
Philip Letts – @philipletts
Philip’s passion in life is crowdsourcing. He is an entrepreneur and head of blur Group, a creative services exchange where businesses and brands source marketing and creative campaigns from a crowd of experienced professionals. Although his Twitter profile proclaims he is “crap at surfing” that may because a) there’s no surf in the UK or b) he is too busy making waves in an industry vying for dominance over Madison Avenue.
Gary Schirr – @ProfessorGary
Gary Schirr is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Radford University in Virginia. His research passions are innovation and co-creation. Prior to joining academia, Gary worked for a Wall Street firm in Chicago and Singapore and as CMO for a succession of online startup firms. Now a third-career marketing professor, his interests also include service innovation, social media marketing, cross-cultural marketing and, entrepreneurship. Gary has the distinction of being ranked #3 in the world among Twitter Top Marketing Professors. Gary blogs at Service Co-Creation. He recently received a grant to develop a hybrid SMM course for RU, crediting his twitter and blog community which cooperated to crowdsource his grant application.
Scott Galloway – @profgalloway
Scott Galloway is Professor of Brand Strategy @ NYU, Founder of L2 Think Tank, Red Envelope, Prophet Brand Strategy and Firebrand Partners. Scott’s L2 think tank helps brands navigate the changing marketing landscape through events, research and advisory services.
Robert Rose – @Robert_Rose
Rob is the Founder and Chief Troublemaker at Big Blue Moose. Rob excels at innovating creative and technical content marketing strategies for his clients. He’s the Strategist in Residence and brand advisor for the Content Marketing Institute, a featured writer and guest blogger for the online magazine iMedia Connection. He is a frequent keynote speaker, guest blogger and brand advisor, and co-author of the book “Enterprise 2.0: How Technology, E-Commerce and Web 2.0 Are Transforming Business Virtually”. Rob is a research fellow with Coburn Ventures, a community of experts discussing and innovating current trends in Technology and investing. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) Software Division, and was a founding member of the Executive Council on Software-as-a-Service. In our opinion, Rob’s most “notable” achievement and in keeping with Rob’s title, “Chief Troublemaker”, was his creation of #LeBronians team FollowFriday & Who’s The Lebron In Your Strategy? — Maybe It’s You.
Simon Mainwaring – @simonmainwaring
Simon Mainwaring is founder of We First, a social branding consulting firm that helps companies use social media to build communities, profits and positive impact. His new book We First comes out in June explaining how brands and consumers use social media to build a better world. He is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, Worldwide Creative Director on Motorola for Ogilvy, Fast Company blogger, international speaker, AdAge Power 150 member, contributes to Huffington Post, GOOD Magazine and Mashable and is a self-proclaimed “idea geek”. He blogs at http://simonmainwaring.com/and is committed to supporting a We First community of brands, non-profits and consumers using social technology to scale positive social change.
Steve Akins – @SteveAkinsSEO
On Twitter , Steve is known as a guy who is super friendly. He’s always quick to engage with you when you show up in Twitter chat. In real life, he is a SEO, developer, entrepreneur, struggling poet, gastronome, explorer from Chicago. Steve will be launching a new website soon. Can’t wait Steve!
Steve McKee – @SteveMcKee
Steve McKee is the president and co-founder of McKee Wallwork Cleveland; a full service integrated marketing firm that Advertising Age recently recognized as one of ten top small agencies in America and that has twice been awarded the American Marketing Association’s EFFIE Award for marketing effectiveness. He’s the author of When Growth Stalls: How it Happens, Why You’re Stuck and What to Do About It; writes a monthly advertising advice column for BusinessWeek.com, and has been published or quoted in the New York Times, USA Today, Advertising Age, Adweek, Investor’s Business Daily and the Los Angeles Times, as well as in dozens of newspapers and magazines throughout the U.S.. Steve has appeared on CNBC, ESPNII, CNNfn, Bloomberg TV and network television affiliates in more than two dozen cities across America and is a popular corporate speaker. Steve also blogs at Stalled, Stuck or Stale: The Blog for Brands That Don’t Have It All Together.
Steve Farnsworth – @Steveology
Steve is a senior corp comm practitioner and has worked with Apple, Mitsubishi, Philips, and THX. He consults with TV producers, documentary film makers, and authors on building audiences for their projects by using social media. Steve is currently the Chief Digital Strategist at Jolt Social Media. Steve also delivers on-site training and workshops designed to help his clients and their employees effectively integrate new school marketing with their traditional mix to increase brand loyalty and shorten the sale’s cycles. He is a director with the Silicon Valley Brand Forum, and regularly blogs and speaks on organizational adopting of social communications. As @Steveology on Twitter, he is nationally ranked in the top 5 for public relations, inbound marketing, and branding.
Steve Woodruff – @swoodruff
Steve refers to himself as the Connection Agent. He creates Opportunity Networks – communities of people committed to supporting one another, learning from one another, and opening up doors of opportunity for personal and professional advancement through trusted referrals. Two business networks — Impactiviti and the Connection Agency — have been launched. Steve is also the co-founder (with #Nifty50 Woman @LisaPetrilli) of #LeadershipChat, a growing community on Twitter born out of #SOBConf.
Ted Rubin – @TedRubin
Many people in the social media world know Ted Rubin for his enthusiastic, energetic and undeniably personal connection to people. On May 1st Ted announced leaving OpenSky and accepting the position of Chief Social Marketing Officer at Collective Bias, a company he has worked closely with for two years since meeting the Founder, John Andrews, through the blogging community and whose Advisory Board he joined a few months ago. Ted is on the Advisory Board of CollectiveBias, OpenSky, and SheSpeaks, is a Social Marketing and Engagement Advisor to Big Fuel Communications, and a Social Marketing Strategist and Brand Evangelist for Zuberance, a company that identifies, mobilizes, and tracks Brand Advocates. Ted is the most followed CMO on Twitter and has one of the deepest networks of any marketer in the social arena. ROR is the basis of his philosophy…It’s All About Relationships!
Olivier Blanchard – @thebrandbuilder
Olivier helps companies develop, build, integrate, manage and measure Social Media Programs. He also helps companies manage their reputations online and offline, and establish leadership in their markets. His Twitter profile tells us: “Pray that I never become your competitor’s secret weapon.” Check out his blog. Also, highly recommend his book, The Social Media ROI.
Tony Karrer – @tonykarrer
Tony Karrer is considered one of the top technologists in the e-Learning space. He is an experienced CTO and his work in social media, e-Learning and Performance Support has won awards and has led him into engagements at many Fortune 500 firms. Tony is a frequent speaker at industry and academic events. Tony blogs at Social CTO.
Trey Pennington – @treypennington
Trey is all about delivering your brand story. Trey’s motto: “DON’T just tweet! Transform your marketing with STORIES. Story gets attention. Story gets SHARED”. Trey is a marketing pro, speaker, author, and dreamer. If you’re not connected to Trey either on Facebook, Twitter or haven’t met Trey IRL, then you’re missing a lot. Check out his blog to learn more about this amazing guy. You won’t be disappointed.
Umair Haque – @umairh
Umair is Director of the Havas Media Lab and author of The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business. He also founded Bubblegeneration, an agenda-setting advisory boutique that shaped strategies across media and consumer industries. Umar is not only an innovative thinker but a man with astounding vision.
If you have missed the#Nifty50 Top Twitter Women, click here.
Award recipients who wish to display the #Nifty50 badge on their own site may do so by clicking here. If you need a different size, contact @TomPick
COMING …Two Blogs You Don’t Want to Miss – COMING in June!
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Myth Busting on Twitter
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011Your Twitter followers really want you to sell to them. You should only tweet your own content. To keep your costs down, it’s best to just automatically tweet all of your press releases and sales messages.
Really? Of course not! But these are only some of the more obviously fallacious beliefs still unfortunately extant in the Twittersphere. Check out more of these erroneous notions (and countervailing truths) in 7 Twitter Myths Busted, my guest post on Arik Hanson’s Communications Conversations blog.
Arik is a Minneapolis-based PR pro who works with big consumer brands, co-founder (along with #Nifty50 recognee Missy Berggren) of the Minnesota Blogger Conference, PRSA member, regular contributor to Mark Ragan‘s PR Daily, and general social media rock star.
So check out the 7 Twitter Myths Busted post, because you never get a second chance to beat a dead horse with a mixed metaphor.
The Nifty 50 Top Women of Twitter for 2011
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011Few phenomena have ever spread as far and grown as rapidly as social media; obviously, this has tapped into something essential to our nature. What is it? The answer may come from the email marketing field. According to a recent study by email service provider Aweber, four simple words virtually guaranteed to get an email opened are: “You are not alone.”
That is what has driven social media adoption. From freedom seekers living under oppressive regimes connecting with each other and with people around the world who support them, to individuals with uncommon viewpoints or highly specialized professional interests connected with the like-minded anywhere on the globe, social media is about not being alone. It’s a way to find and form relationships with others who share our particular interests and passions, whether down the street or on other continents; interesting people with whom there has been no practical way to engage before.
Talking recently with Cheryl Burgess (@ckburgess)—partner and CMO at Blue Focus Marketing, a B2B social branding consultancy firm in Bridgewater, New Jersey; 2011 & 2010 winner of the Twitter Shorty Awards in Marketing; and author of the Blue Focus Marketing Blog—we were both struck by how many of the same people we know through social media (and we both learned about some interesting new people to follow as well). Many of these were other B2B marketers, but others were social media experts, journalists, PR professionals, or just plain fascinating personalities.
Cheryl and I thought it would be a great idea to collaborate on this special social media project—and so the process began for creating the 2011 #Nifty50 List of Top Twitter Women. We decided to recognize and share the names of some of these noteworthy individuals with our respective readers and followers, starting today with 50 remarkable women (just in time for Mother’s Day, as we’re pretty certain that every woman on this list either is a mom, has a mom, knows someone who’s a mom, or some combination thereof).
One source of inspiration was Twitter’s Top 75 Badass Women by Diana Adams (@adamsconsulting) and Amy D. Howell (@HowellMarketing), a list on which Cheryl was honored. Though it’s a remarkable list, to keep ours distinct we haven’t duplicated any of Diana and Amy’s picks.
Next month, we are following up with our list of 50 men, just in time for Father’s Day. This list will be posted on Cheryl Burgess’ Blue Focus Marketing Blog. Whatever your role in social media, we hope you find this list valuable in expanding your knowledge and your network.
Jennifer Aaker
@aaker
Jennifer is the General Atlantic Professor of Marketing at the Stanford Graduate School or Business, and author of The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways To Use Social Media to Drive Social Change
Diana Adams
@adamsconsulting
Diana is a USC grad now based in Atlanta. She heads up Adams Consulting Group, a technical services firm specializing in Apple Macintosh desktops, servers and laptops. Diana writes for BitRebels.com and InkRebels.com, and as noted above, her post on Twitter’s Top 75 Badass Women was one source of inspiration for this #Nifty50 list. She’s smart, personable, sometimes controversial and never dull.
Alicia Arenas
@AliciaSanera
Hailing from San Antonio, Alicia is founder and CEO of Sanera, a professional development and training firm for sales and business leaders. She describes herself as a “small business coach, speaker, corporate trainer, blogger, singer, lover of life, dreams, family and God.” Alicia is a warm and outgoing social media pro and creator of March Marketing Madness.
Allison Mooney
@allimooney
Allison lives in the New York City area and works with the Marketing team at Google to explore the changing face of media, mobile and consumer behavior, drive new thinking internally, and communicate Google’s visionary concepts to wider audiences.
Ambal Balakrishnan
@Ambal
Ambal is co-founder of ClickDocuments, based in Silicon Valley. She’s an entrepreneur, marketer, blogger, and alum of Wharton and Purdue. Her Connect the Docs blog—frequently featured on the B2B Marketing Zone—is a platform for her own thought leadership content as well as frequently solicited insights from other B2B bloggers.
Amber Buhl
@amberbuhl
Director of Sales for @klout. Though fairly new to Twitter, Amber is active and highly engaging, and her following is likely to grow quickly. A USC grad, Amber’s past includes stints at Hulu, Yahoo!, and the E! Entertainment Network.
Amy Nelson
@AmyPioneerPress
Amy serves as social media editor for the St. Paul Pioneer Press as well as the Features/Travel editor for the newspaper. She’s an informative and prolific Twitterer, and active in Twin Cities social media.
Ardath Albee
@ardath421
A B2B marketer, strategist, writer and Author of eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale. Friend, mentor, and source of inspiration. Also an expatriate Minnesotan now living in southern California (we miss her, but can’t blame her).
Angie Schottmuller
@aschottmuller
Interactive Minnesotan skilled in web strategy, conversion rate optimization (CRO), e-commerce, SEO, social media, QR codes (she knows a lot about QR codes), design, UX, analytics and inbound marketing. Angie is also a Search Engine Watch columnist and speaks at national events including SMX, SES, and OMS.
Becky Denniston
@Becalynd
Expert Community Manager with the Focus Expert Network, a network of thousands of leading business and technology experts who answer questions and post thought leadership content. Becky is also an MBA Candidate at San Francisco State University with a strong appetite for Social Media and Marketing.
Jenara Nerenberg
@bopsource
Jenara is an Asia-based filmmaker, organic farmer, and freelance journalist for Fast Company magazine and CNNGo, as well as a Harvard and Berkeley grad. She’s interviewed the famous and not-so-famous from high fashion superstars to up-and-coming designers to UN leaders, literary giants, cashmere producers, and royal mistresses, and her work has also appeared in TIME, BlackBook Magazine, and NextBillion.
Maria Popova
@brainpicker
Brooklyn-based Maria calls herself an “interestingness curator and semi-secret geek obsessed with design, storytelling and TED.” She’s also the editor of Brain Pickings and writes regularly for Wired UK magazine, The Atlantic and Design Observer.
Connie Bensen
@cbensen
Connie is the Community Strategist for the Alterian (formerly Techrigy) SM2 social media monitoring platform. She’s been named by Forbes.com as one of 20 top Women Social Media & Marketing Bloggers. Connie recently migrated from the frozen tundra of northern Minnesota to much balmier climate of Minneapolis.
Deirdre Breakenridge
@dbreakenridge
Diedre is the president of Mango! Marketing, author of PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences
Deborah Weinstein
@DebWeinstein
Deb is a journalist-turned-PR pro. She’s president of Strategic Objectives, an award-winning PR agency in Toronto. And she’s energetic and inspirational on Twitter.
Eileen O’Brien
@EileenOBrien
Eileen has more than 14 years of digital healthcare marketing experience. She is an opinion leader on social media, and has been invited to speak at industry conferences and quoted in publications. As @eileenobrien she moderates the #SocPharm tweetchat on Wednesdays at 8 pm EST which discusses pharma marketing and social media.
Ekaterina Walter
@Ekaterina
Oregon-based Ekaterina is a corporate social media strategist as well as a “speaker, connector (and) passionate marketer.” She’s also a frequent guest-poster who’s written bookmarkable pieces like 9 Ways to Sell Social Media to the Boss.
Ellen Hoenig Carlson
@Ellenhoenig
Based in New Jersey, Ellen is focused on simplifying consumer and healthcare marketing for “elegant solutions in a complex world.” Though she writes mainly on pharma-related subjects, her blog topics also include branding, family, fundraising, innovation, leadership, and Twitter.
Ellen McGirt
@ellmcgirt
Ellen writes for Fast Company magazine and helps run the 30 Second MBA site.
Elise Segar
@Esegar
Connecticut-based Elise is active in social media, an enterprise technology sales and business development pro who is passionate about inside sales and sales strategy. She’s a fellow member of the #Lebronians team “drafted” by Robert Rose in FollowFriday & Who’s The Lebron In Your Strategy – Maybe It’s You.
Gail Nelson
@gail_nelson
CMO with Siegel + Gale, a brand strategy, customer experience and design consulting agency in New York.
Gini Dietrich
@ginidietrich
CEO of Chicago PR agency Arment Dietrich, author of spinsucks.com, Vistage member, author, speaker, communicator and writer of amazingly entertaining and insightful rants like Get Rich Quick! Lose Weight Tomorrow!.
Gretchen Rubin
@gretchenrubin
Based in New York City, Gretchen is the best-selling author of The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
Heidi Cohen
@heidicohen
Heidi is a fascinating marketer who shares practical advice about marketing and life from New York, NY.
Jill Konrath
@jillkonrath
Minnesota-based keynote speaker, sales trainer, motivator, creator of fresh strategies for selling to crazy-busy people; author of SNAP Selling (#1 Amazon sales book) and Selling to Big Companies
Judy Grundstrom
@JudyGrundstrom
Minnesota social media rock star, Business Development Director at Pixel Farm Digital, founder of the annual Twin Cities Top 10 Titans in Social Media awards, talk show regular on myTalk 107.1, and never boring.
Karen Emanuelson
@KarenEman
Karen heads Reciprocate LLC, a small business marketing consultancy in Minneapolis. She’s an expert in social media marketing (particularly LinkedIn optimization), a small business advocate, trainer, speaker and coach. She’s active in local community and business organizations as well as social media.
Katie Rosman
@katierosman
Katie reports on technology and pop-culture for one of the world’s greatest newspapers—the Wall Street Journal—and is the author of If You Knew Suzy: A Mother, a Daughter, a Reporter’s Notebook
Eve Mayer Orsburn
@LinkedInQueen
Eve is the author of Social Media for the CEO: The Why and ROI of Social Media for the CEO of Today and Tomorrow
Lisa Petrilli
@LisaPetrilli
Based in Chicago, Lisa is CEO of C-Level Strategies Inc, CEO Connection Co-Chair, Leadership & Executive Marketing Consultant, and #LeadershipChat co-Founder. Like Elise Segar and Cheryl Burgess, Lisa is a star of the #Lebronians team.
Liz Strauss
@LizStrauss
Liz is the founder of SOBCon, a brand strategist and leadership trainer based in Chicago. She’s also an insightful, prolific and generous social media presence.
Lorna Li
@lornali
Officially, an expert in inbound marketing, online visibility and personal branding, via social media, SEO and SEM. Also big on green business marketing. Unofficially – friendly, smart, and writer of many highly bookmarkable blog posts.
Lucretia M. Pruitt
@LucretiaPruitt
Living in and tweeting from beautiful Denver, Lucretia refers to herself as a “random muse, speaker, ex-CIS Professor, social media devotee, geek, mom, wife, & insomniac.” Lucretia is a highly engaging and sophisticated observer of technology developments.
Lisa Grimm
@lulugrimm
Digital PR Specialist for the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, Lisa describes herself as “a gal constantly awed by the intricacies of human behavior. Love my family, peeps, dogs, film, food and learning.”
Mari Smith
@MariSmith
Mari (like Ferrari) describes herself as a “passionate leader of social media, relationship marketing and Facebook mastery,” but most of us know her as the ultimate guru-ess of Facebook marketing and co-author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day
Missy Berggren
@MarketingMama
A phenomenally busy yet amazingly prolific blogger, Missy is a marketing pro at healthcare network Allina, co-founder of the Minnesota Blogger Conference, and is also active social media as the MarketingMama.
Martine Hunter
@martinehunter
Idea generator, b2b marketing professional, creative director, process engineer and writer at MLT Creative in Atlanta, as well as a mother, friend, sister, daughter, diabetic, crocheter and jazz fan. She’s also really nice.
Sally Church
@MaverickNY
Sally is a scientist with Icarus Consultants in New Jersey, a pharmaceutical / biotechnology-focused marketing strategy firm. She blogs about marketing strategy, market research, science, oncology, hematology and immunology.
Michelle Tripp
@michelletripp
Working and tweeting from New York, Michelle is a creative director, brand strategist, and author of The BrandForward Blog. She spends her time exploring the future of advertising, social media, and emerging technologies and just being pretty cool.
Jennifer Preston
@NYT_JenPreston
A staff writer for the New York Times, Jennifer writes about the use of technology and social media in politics, government, and real life.
Susan Kang Nam
@PinkOliveFamily
Splitting her time between New York, Andover (MA) and elsewhere, the dynamic Susan Kang Nam is founder of Cebisu Research Inc., a member of Andover’s Harvard Club, founder of Boston-based career club Salty Legs, “an entrepreneur, former recruiter and non-profit advocate who grew up in Asia (Korea, Japan) and US (Hawaii, California, New Jersey, NYC) and since 1994…using the world wide web exploring different platforms to engage in various of conversations”—and a classical pianist.
Laura Fitton
@Pistachio
Prolific Twitterer, Bostonite, CEO and founder of the oneforty social business software hub, as well as co-author of Twitter For Dummies
Rebel Brown
@rebelbrown
Rebel has been a marketing and business consulting for more than 20 years, is a popular speaker and author of Defy Gravity. She’s also a self-described “spiritual seeker, horse crazy, ski freak, and animal lovin’ nature gal.”
Rebecca Corliss
@repcor
Based in Boston, Rebecca is a singing Inbound Marketer with all-in-one marketing software platform developer HubSpot. She’s also a founder of a cappella group Common Sound. And yes, she is a rock star.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter
@RosabethKanter
Harvard Business School Professor, author of SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good
Stacey Acevero
@sacevero
A social media communications manager for PR/social media monitoring provider Vocus in Washington DC, Stacey runs the popular monthly #prwebchat on Twitter. She is a former model, auxiliary member in the U.S. Air Force, and a self-proclaimed “SEO nerd” who loves NASCAR, steak and rock n’ roll. Definitely one of the most awesome and unique bios in social media.
Anita Campbell
@smallbiztrends
CEO of Small Business Trends, an online small biz community reaching over 250,000 each month. Anita tweets from Cleveland, Ohio, the hometown of rock n’ roll.
Liana ‘Li’ Evans
@storyspinner
Liana describes herself as “an online marketing geek girl who loves all things social media.” She’s a top expert in social media and SEO, and the author of Social Media Marketing.
Wendy Blackburn
@WendyBlackburn
Wendy is a blogger and digital marketer focused on the pharmaceutical industry. She’s an executive vice president at at Intouch Solutions, a marketing agency serving the pharmaceutical, animal health, medical device, and similarly regulated industries.
Wendy Marx
@wendymarx
Based in Trumbull, CT, Wendy is an award-winning PR and marketing communications executive who helps B2B companies become well-known brands, and a truly engaging social media personality.
There you have it, the Nifty 50 Women of Twitter for this year. To keep it to 50, we had to leave off some deserving names—it was a tough call. Maybe next year…
Watch next month (close to Father’s Day) for the Nifty 50 Men of Twitter for 2011.
