20 Most Influential People in Social Media

Thanks to Income Diary, you know who are the top bloggers, female entrepreneurs, and Internet millionaires under 30. Now it’s time to take a look into the world of social media – the who’s who of people you have probably seen around the social media-sphere a time or two while demonstrating their expertise in a variety of fields and others who you might just be hearing about for the first time.

By the way, I’m willing to bet that you probably know enough about social media right now to start your own side business.

Don’t believe me?

Check out Kate’s new video and see if you’re not convinced that a new (lucrative) side project is right for you.

Without further ado, here are the most influential people in social media.

Jay Baer


Google Plus 8,200+ followers
Twitter 44,400+ followers
Facebook 1,360+ fans
Jay Baer is a tequila-loving, hype free social media strategist and speaker. He co-authored The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter and More Social with Amber Naslund (she’s coming up on the list too). His blog, Convince & Convert, covers the A to almost Z of everything in online marketing from A/B testing to website strategy.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Lisa Barone


Google Plus 3,600+ followers
Twitter 20,000+ followers
Facebook 293 fans
Lisa is co-founder of Outspoken Media along with Rhea Drysdale & Rae Hoffman-Dolan. Her catchphrase is that while some people save lives, she saves brands. She is known for her honest industry observations, inability to not say what she’s thinking, and excessive Twittering. Her blog, Outspoken Media, covers affiliate marketing, blogging, Internet marketing, reputation management, SEO, and more.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Danny Brown


Google Plus 10,000 followers
Twitter 30,700+ followers
Facebook 5,000+ fans
Danny Brown is co-founder and CEO of Bonsai Interactive Marketing which offers integrated social media and mobile marketing solutions and applications to businesses. His blog is featured in the AdAge Power 150 and is one of Canada’s top marketing blogs as well. He’s well-known for his expertise in public relations, blogging, marketing, social media, and oddly enough, sheep.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Pete Cashmore


Google Plus 184,111 followers
Twitter 2,493,926 followers
Pete Cashmore is the founder and CEO of Mashable, one of the largest and most well known sites for digital, social media, and technology news. He has been recogized as one of AdAge’s 2011 influencers, Time’s 100 people in 2010, and Forbes as a web celebrity. He can find his latest on both Mashable and CNN.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Matt Cutts


Google Plus 102,400+ followers
Twitter 134,400+ followers
Matt Cutts is the head of the webspam team at Google, and generally recognized as the public face of Google. He’s the person SEOs love, love to hate, and love to mercilessly pick on at the same time. He blogs about Google (of course), gadgets, and SEO at his blog.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Guy Kawasaki


Google Plus 60,300+ followers
Twitter 402,000+ followers
Facebook 56,700+ fans
Guy Kawasaki is the author of Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, a former chief evangelist for Apple, and co-founder of Alltop.com, the site that brings the top blogs on virtually every topic imaginable together. If you happen to follow him on Google+, you’ll find he updates 10-20 posts per day, numbering them for each day.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Brian Moran


Google Plus 400+ followers
Twitter 1,700+ followers
Facebook 83,000+ fans
Brian Moran is perhaps one of the top people to go to when it comes to Facebook marketing. He built his website’s fan page to over 80,000 fans in under 10 months and now helps small businesses get off the ground with their Facebook strategy. His blog, Get 10,000 Fanscovers fan page marketing, Facebook advertising, and much more.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Amber Naslund


Google Plus unlisted followers
Twitter 43,700+ followers
Facebook 240+ fans
Amber is the VP of social strategy for Radian6, business and communications strategist, and co-author of the The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter and More Social with Jay Baer as mentioned above. Her blog, Brass Stack Thinking, covers blogging, branding, marketing, social media, and more.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

  • When Even Social Customer Service Isn’t Enough
  • Consider This: 24/7 Access, Work, and Social Media
  • Why You Shouldn’t Rely on a Social Media Ringer

Jessica Northey


Google Plus unlisted followers
Twitter 171,000+ followers
Facebook 3,300+ fans
Jessica Northey is a social media, broadcasting, country and music blogger / journalist who heads up Finger Candy Media. Her business helps celebrities, musicians, brands, and businesses use social media to accomplish their productivity goals.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Jolie O’Dell


Twitter 28,800+ followers
Facebook 419 fans
Jolie O’Dell is a journalist and start-up veteran, computer science student, and tech journalist for Mashable. Her personal blogcovers just about everything a personal blog could cover.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Chris Pirillo


Google Plus 53,800+ followers
Twitter 99,000+ followers
Facebook 30,500+ fans
Chris Pirillo is technology strategist whom tech enthusiasts trust to answer questions and lead discussions on the latest and greatest tech news. He launched the Lockergnome publishing network and began a web community for geeks. His blog all things tech and geeky!Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Amy Porterfield


Google Plus 3,500+ followers
Twitter 20,500+ followers
Facebook 5,300+ fans
Amy is an online marketing and social media consultant who specializes in Facebook marketing. She is the co-author of the brand new book Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies released in August of this year, and is a regular author on her own blog and Social Media Examiner as well as the creator of the Facebook Marketing All-In-One For Dummies program.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Trey Ratcliff


Google Plus 106,000+ followers
Twitter 25,400+ followers
Facebook 24,400+ fans
Trey Ratcliff is one of the most popular photographers on social media, and is mostly known for his HDR and travel photography on Stuck in Customs. He makes some pretty awesome videos using his photography on YouTubeas well.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Corvida Raven


Google Plus 1,400+ followers
Twitter 7,700+ followers
Corvida Raven’s is a speaker, consultant, and technology blogger whose goal is to educate you on the latest technology in plain English. Her blog, She Geeks, covers education, mobile, social media, web, and much more. She’s been recognized by Fast Company as an influential woman in technlogy, is known as a social influence as well.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Robert Scoble


Google Plus 143,700+ followers
Twitter 206,600+ followers
Facebook 27,000+ subscribers
Robert Scoble is a blogger, technical evangelist, and author best known for his blog Scobleizer. He is a proud employee of Rackspace, and proves just how much he loves talking to other geeks by publishing his own cell number on this blog and social profiles.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Mari Smith


Google Plus 20,000+ followers
Twitter 118,000+ followers
Facebook 49,000+ fans
Mari is a well-known social media speaker & trainer, chic geek & Facebook passionista, bubbly Scottish-Canadian, co-author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day and author of The New Relationship Marketing: How to Build a Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using the Social Web, and contributor to Social Media Examiner. Her blog on relationship marketing covers buzz marketing, email marketing, Facebook, personal branding, professional networking, social media, and more.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Michael Stelzner


Google Plus 6,000+ followers
Twitter 35,700+ followers
Facebook 59,200+ fans
Michael Stelzner is the CEO and founder of Social Media Examiner, one of the fastest growing blogs that is the authority for all things social media. He also is the author of Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Wayne Sutton


Google Plus 7,600+ followers
Twitter 34,800+ followers
Facebook 790+ fans
Wayne Sutton is an entrepreneur, advisor, and technlogy journalist. He helps individuals, startups, and businesses understand how to communicate on the social web. His blog, Social Wayne, has been ranked in the top 50 best tech and social media blogs on the Internet.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

  • What You Need to Know About QR Codes
  • 7 QR Code Marketing Examples by Major Brands, Music Artists, and Publications
  • How to Manage Social Media Success Like an American Idol Contestant

Gina Trapani


Google Plus 86,600+ followers
Twitter 175,700+ followers
Facebook 915 fans
Gina Trapini is an award-winning blogger, programmer, and co-author of Lifehacker: The Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, and Better. She is the founder of Lifehacker and created the ThinkUp app. Her blog, Smarterware, covers all things to do with great software.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Tamar Weinberg


Google Plus 16,100+ followers
Twitter 28,100+ followers
Facebook 1,160 fans
Tamar Weinberg is a social media consultant & trainer, blogger, and author of The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web. She is passionate for anything to do with the internet, social media, blogging, and gadgets. Her blog, Techipedia, covers all things social media and technology.Interesting Tips, Advice, and Shares:

Your Favorites

This is just a sampling of the awesome people in social media. There are many, many others in almost every field, niche, or industry imaginable. So my questions for you are:

  • Who are your favorites?
  • Who would would you like to add to this list and why?

[Image Credit: Sean MacEntee]


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