Ultimate Twitter List for Online Marketers

Twitter has grown tremendously.  I have found it to be a great source of information, and continue to discover new ways to using Twitter for marketing purposes.  I decided to put a list together of suggested people to follow based on my experience, and broken out by category.  Let me tell you, this wasn’t easy.  Sadly, I’ve forgotten many.  Just when I thought the post was complete I put my head in hand realizing I’ve forgotten someone else.  That is where I’d like to ask for your help.

The Ultimate Twitter List for Online Marketers

Of course there are other lists out there, and I typically refer others to Google when they ask who to follow on Twitter.  I knew the day was coming to put such a post together.  However, I am just one person.  Who do you think is worth following?  Are they on this list?  Please take a moment and share yours in the comments at the bottom, it would be a great help.

Note on Categories: Many of the creative people featured here, are skilled in many areas, and there is overlap.  For simplicity sake, I elected to put one person per category- what I saw as their best fit.  

A Word on Links: There are some links in the descriptions to relevant information, some are affiliate links.  A sticky issue, I thought long and hard about including them, as I did not want links to detract from the value of this post.  That said, I believe the resources they link to are valuable, and can be helpful to many, adding more value than any commissions we might receive.  Should they result in some monetary benefit, we’ll be better suited for future valuable posts.

Affiliate Marketing:

Willie Crawford- Founder, The Internet Marketing Inner Circle – http://TIMIC.ORG
Shawn Collins- Co-founder of Affiliate Summit conference & Co-Editor-in-Chief of FeedFront Magazine
Affiliate Summit- The premier affiliate marketing conference since 2003.

Blogging:

Darren Rowse- One of the top bloggers who blogs about blogging from downunder. A must follow for any blogger.
Brian Clark- Runs a blog with an emphasis on copywriting tips for online marketers.
Jack Humphrey
Sherman Hu- New media GenX Dad, with great skills.  One of the first people in Internet Marketing that did a regular live streaming show His tweets keep me up to date on events I’m unable to attend, thanks Sherman.
Yaro Starak- Another great marketer from downunder, creator of Blog Mastermind and more recently Membership Mastermind (currently closed), Yaro has a down to earth style, and is a real pro online marketer.
Maria Reyes-McDavis- Savvy entrepreneur who truly gets social media, one who has exploded on the scene in recent months.  Her website even hosts a calendar of Twitter Chats (tweetchats).  Nice work Maria.
Liz Strauss- Exceptional blogger, blog coach, and all around nice lady.  Puts on an annual conference called SOBCon – biz School for Bloggers.

Branding:

Krishna De- First met Krishna on YouTube, believe it or not. Turns out she is from Ireland, and has a vast experience in marketing, particularly in branding.
Ben Mack- Some people don’t like Ben’s style or approach, putting that aside, he has a brilliant mind.  His thoughts on product development, branding, and making customers heroes is very compelling.
Dan Schwabel- The leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. Author of Me 2.0, blogger, speaker, publisher & social media specialist at EMC.

Business:

Rich Schefren- Guru to the Internet Marketing gurus.  Brilliant mind, voracious reader, practical strategies and tactics.  His latest report stopped me in my tracks (it’s here).
Ken McArthur- Best-Selling Author, Marketing Expert, and creator of IMPACT.
Anita Campbell- (no relation) CEO, Small Business Trends, an online small biz community reaching over 250,000 each month.

Copywriting:

Michel Fortin- Has written for some of the top Internet Marketers in the world, and has sold a LOT with his written words.
Ray Edwards- First met Ray over 3 years ago at an event where we sat down for dinner.  Beyond being an outstanding copywriter, he also is a lover of technology.

Email Marketing:

Eric Graham- Known as the conversion doctor, Eric has a reputation for just that, helping his customers convert more traffic into buying customers.
Aweber- Ok, if you have ever looked at list management provider, you probably have looked at Aweber.  They aren’t perfect, but are one of the best.  You can read their Twitter stream for customer interactions.
Jason Henderson- The only person I met who carries the MarkteingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide with him…
iContact- A fairly new player who has burst on the scene in the last couple years.  They have had their bumps along the way like many internet service providers, but are worth looking into.  Similar to Aweber, you can read their stream for customer interactions, they also seem pretty involved in their local community.

Entrepreneurship:

Guy Kawasaki- When I think entrepreneur, I think of Guy Kawasaki.  Although his bio says he’s a magazine rack curator, he’s much more than that.  Be sure to checkout what he’s doing with Alltop, and submit your site for listing there if you haven’t already.
Carrie Wilkerson: Carrie is all about practical inspiration. Her bio says it well, “My Mission? To educate, empower, encourage and entertain men and women in business through speaking, writing, connecting and coaching! Profit w/Purpose!“
Deb Micek: Co-Wrote Twitter Revolution (find it here) with Warren Whitlock and operates the BLOGi360 service.  Beyond being a business coach, she also has also published some humorous Twitter (addiction) videos.

General:

John Jantsch- Founder and creator of the innovative Duct Tape Marketing site, and book Author.
Andy Beal- Founder of Trackur.com, author of Radically Transparent, editor of MarketingPilgrim.com, and marketing consultant.
David Frey- Innovative, brilliant, and seems to be an example of good balance, family and work.  Well known for “The Small Business Marketing Bible” in recent years he has taken off with Send Out Cards.

Getting Started Online:

Eric Holmlund- Also a successful copywriter, I recently spent some time with Eric and his family.  He’s fairly new to Twitter, and did a very thorough and impressive Twitter survey with his subscribers. Very down to earth guy, online and offline.
Ed Dale- Like many listed here, Ed could easily span many categories.  He is most known for his 30 Day Challenge, where he has helped many make their first $10 online in 30 days…without spending a dime.

Other Marketers:

John Reese- First individual to sell $1M online.  I am a traffic secrets owner
Alex Mandossian- Works with coaches and authors teaching them to sell more with their telephone…and more.  Alex produces more free content online than anyone I know.
Jeff Walker- He is the product launch master.  Coaching the most successful launches online.
Ryan Deiss- Has had several successful product launches, is a big picture guy, yet practical and very down to earth.
Matt Bacak- Fellow Ohioan, and savvy marketer, Matt has honed many skills to succeed online.
MarketingProfessor.com- This is the branded Twitter page which I currently operate.  Glad to have you.  Product reviews, share strategies, consult, coach, and vet goods.

Pay Per Click Marketing:

Perry Marshall- Perry put out his share of content when it comes to Adwords training (find out more here).  He is fairly active on Twitter as well.
Kirt Christensen- Has created software tools, and runs a company helping local clients make the most of their PPC campaigns.
Frank Rumbauskas- His Bio doesn’t say much about PPC, but he is another Adwords Expert worth following.  Like many online, he has other areas of expertise, Frank’s is sales.

SEO:

Aaron Wall- SEOBook is what Aaron is most known for, one of the most popular and affordable training sites out there.  And you can get to know the man better by following him on Twitter.
Bill Austin- I recently interviewed Bill.  He has been doing SEO and affiliate marketing for a long long time.
StomperNet- A little known company in the Internet Marketing space .  They do a great job helping people get and convert traffic.
Brad Fallon- Brad has done a lot to educate online marketers with his freelinereport.com and many other venues, he has had great success online.
Lee Odden- Working primarily with corporate and small business, Lee is someone to follow and learn from.

Social Marketing (the marketing of social causes online):

Mari Smith- The “Pied Piper of Facebook” she also knows her way around Twitter.
Joel Comm- Author of Twitter Power, Joel has done a lot online since his days at Yahoo games.
Warren Whitlock- Co-Author of Twitter Revolution book seller, great guy.  I recently talked with Warren, and he gave some great Twitter Tips.
Dr. Ron Capps- Been around for some time, focuses on Niches, and very active in Social Media.  Ron was very gracious in response to spam messages being sent from his hacked Facebook account earlier this year.
Dan Hollings- One of the first Twitter-prenuers out there.  He has an interesting Twitter browser toolbar as well.

Social Media & Technology: (properties and services facilitating social marketing online):

Chris Brogan- Contrarian marketer and highly respected among bloggers and social media leaders alike.  He recently deleted his Facebook Fan page.
Dan Zarrella- Does Twitter behavioral studies, has created some nifty tools for Twitter (and more), and works at Hubspot.
Chris Lang- Google Friend Connect, and Google Social expert.  Much of what I know about Friend Connect I learned from Chris Lang.  Only person I know with Friend Connect widgets for social interaction on sales pages.
Paul Colligan- New media specialist, podcasting, and social media in general.  Creator of PremiumCast new media distribution service.
Robert Scoble- Technology enthusiest, and blogger.  Early adopter of emerging technology.  Been using Twitter for some time has over 20K updates (known to crash Twitter servers a while back by sending a tweet).
TechCrunch- Breaking technology news here.
Amber MacArthur- Tech TV journalist, content strategist, speaker, and all around savvy girl.
Mashable- Anything social media news is here.
ReadWriteWeb- Web technology and social media trends.
NetTuts – Web development tutorial site
engadget- Gadgets.  Some for fun, some for marketing.
eMarketer- Research and Analysis of emarketing related trends.

Video Marketing:

Julie Perry- She has been marketing online for some time, and finally revealed her YouTube Secret Weapon, she is also a great example of success and triumph.
Perry Belcher- His videos are most compelling, and selling.
Gary Vaynerchuk- Started out helping at his family wine shop.  Leveraged the internet and social media to grow the business.  Does videos daily as founder of Winelibrary.com

Certainly You Have Other Suggestions for this list?  Please chime in with your input below.
*Image Credit, carrotcreative

Technorati Tags: marketing with twitter, twitter for business, twitter lists