In my 5 part series I’ll center on who are the Top 5 Most Influential Thought Leaders in personal social brand, their specific areas of expertise and how they influence the social space.
I’ll be interviewing these individuals, sharing their views, recommendations, as well as my personal analysis relative to their impact on your branding experience.
As part of my personal learning process identifying the most notable thought leaders in the personal social branding I was challenged knowing what tools to use and most importantly what would provide me with accurate information! It definitely lead me down a number of streets, and I’ll say no one tool provided a single solution, but some were better than others… To help you, new to this world in general I’ve listed below the tools I used, my brief perspective and little about them…
Klout.com
Klout began with a very simple idea: Everyone has influence—the ability to drive action. Klout built on this idea to show anyone how he or she can influence the world and its future. Klout was founded in 2008 to empower everyone to unlock their influence. We come to work every day inspired to help people understand the power of their voices and democratize influence.
If you are looking for your personal standing within the social scene Klout.com was the best tool to provide this type of data research.
Wefollow.com
WeFollow is a directory of Twitter users organized by interests. … We Follow: A User Powered Twitter Directory …. Information on tech, business, organizations.
I found Wefollow.com to be the most helpful tool in understanding who the real influencer’s are within specific topics. It also provided the most robust amount of information compared with all the other tools.
Kred.com
Kred Story is a visual history of your Social Media Influence. Explore the posts, pictures and links that make you influential. See your full influence story and zoom in on meaningful moments.
Kred is an outstanding tool, providing the most complete data analysis across the board. It shows ranking, connections, influencer’s, twitter standings, traction and overall trending.
Peerindex.com
PeerIndex measures interactions across the web to help you understand your impact in social media. They measure online social interactions to determine your impact in social media and beyond. We do this because your voice matters. Because we value what you do and want you to be rewarded for your contributions on the web.
Peerindex was my least favorite of all the personal social research tools. The primary reason was the information provided didn’t capture all the individuals that influence.
The TOP 5 Most Influential Thought Leaders in Personal Social Branding
The ranking below was based on using the analysis tools mentioned above. Before diving into the list below please note their are many notable influential individuals that provide guidance, as well as influence on this topics. I did want to call out two exceptional individuals whom I felt you should research and follow. Notably Brian Solis @briansolis founder of FutureWorks, a well known speaker and author. The other individual is Jeremiah Owyang @jowyang. Jeremiah is part of the Altimeter Group, shedding incredible information and insight on disruptive technologies via the social mediums.
#1
@DanSchawbel
Founder at Millennial Branding, personal branding expert, #1 international bestselling author of Me 2.0, speaker, TIME/Forbes columnist.
Dan Schawbel is recognized as a “personal branding guru” by The New York Times, is the Managing Partner of Millennial Branding, LLC, a Gen-Y research and management consulting company. He is the author of the #1 international bestselling career book, Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future (Kaplan Publishing). Me 2.0 made the New York Times summer reading list for job seekers, made The Washington Post summer reading list, was the #1 career book of 2009 by The New York Post, is a #1 bestseller in Japan, and is also being translated into 10 other languages. His second book, Promote Yourself: The New Art of Getting Ahead, will be released in 2013 by St. Martins Press. In 2010, Dan was named to the prestigious Inc. Magazine 30 Under 30 list.
I’ve found Dan to be one the most visible individuals within the personal branding space. Dan it vocal across all social mediums and the focus of my first interview.
#2
@RizzoTees
New media dude. I love you more than bacon. @FalkHarrison VP Social Media, former CPA & CFO
Chris Reimer is an award-winning social media strategist and brings a unique background to the world of social media. He is VP of Social Media at Falk Harrison, a design agency in St. Louis, MO that specializes in branding, design and social media. He graduated from Marquette University in 1993 with a B.S. in Accounting, became a CPA in 1995, and then served as Chief Financial Officer of several organizations around St. Louis. In 2007 he started a funny t-shirt company called Rizzo Tees, and began marketing his shirts (and himself) on Twitter. A Facebook fan page soon followed, and then two blogs. The lessons learned by marketing Rizzo Tees exclusively via social media allowed him to make the improbable leap from CPA to ad man.
He was recently named 2010′s Most Influential Twitter User in St. Louis by STLTweets.com, beating out over 500,000 local Twitter users. Other awards include the The Riverfront Times 2011 Web Award for Best Twitterer in St. Louis, the 2011 BMA-TAM “Best-in-Class” award for Falk Harrison’s “Save Pratzel’s” social media campaign, and the 2012 Riverfront Times Web Award for the Pratzel’s campaign. Entrepreneur Magazine named him one of the top Twitter users in the world to follow if you’re new to the service. His Twitter community continues to grow and is now over 56,000 followers. Chris sat on the Board of the Social Media Club of St. Louis during 2010 and enjoys speaking to groups about social media and the impact it has had on his life.
#3
@JorgenSundberg
Social Media consultant & trainer for recruitment & HR. Penchant for LinkedIn, branding, jokes & quotes. Based in London, imported from Sweden.
He is the founder and director of Link Humans, a Social Media consulting company based in London and Paris. Clients include Adecco, Intel, DHL, Smurfit-Kappa, Givaudan and Matchtech Group. Jorgen was previously the European Sales Director at Red Commerce, the world’s largest SAP recruitment company. He helped achieve a turnover growth from £2 million to £55 million, a headcount growth from 20 to 110, the Virgin Fast Track award 3 years in a row and securing a private equity buy out worth £16 million. A regular conference and business school speaker on LinkedIn, personal branding and social recruiting, Jorgen has been interviewed and quoted in The Times, The Guardian & The Australian.
Jorgen is the Social Media expert for The Institute of Recruiters (IOR) and a prolific recruiting blogger. He founded The Undercover Recruiter in 2009; it is now the #1 recruitment and career blog in the UK.
#4
@sharifkhalladi
Sharif is author of The Social Executive and a digital marketing, social media and e-commerce expert with over a decade of experience. He was the founding member of two enterprises by the age of 25 and was recognized as “Most Versatile Entrepreneur of the Netherlands” by publishing giant Reed Business International in 2008.
Over the last ten years, industry leaders such as Canon Europe, Cisco, Mitsubishi,PriceWaterhouseCoopers, T-Mobile and Yamaha Motors have collaborated with Sharif and capitalized on his ideas and strategies, specifically in the area of digital marketing.
Sharif believes that by enabling others to communicate better and position themselves differently, he can help them successfully leverage the unique traits they have to offer the world. Being the best you can is one thing, letting the world know and truly making a difference is quite another
#5
@LethiaOwens
Personal Branding and Social Media Strategist, Measure Your Brand Attraction and Raise Your Irresistible Index for Greater Career Success and Business Profits.
As the CEO of Irresistible Inc., Lethia works with entrepreneurs to help them define, develop and promote their Irresistible brand. As a keynote speaker and leadership trainer, Lethia speaks to employees and leaders throughout the corporate environment, reminding them that we are each president and CEO of “Me, Inc.” It is up to each individual, as employee or manager, to take responsibility for their own success, recognition, promotion, legacy, reputation, etc.
Lethia actively inspires countless individuals around the world to not only discover and live from their unique gifts, but to use those gifts to build their wealth. She is ranked #8 among the World’s Top 30 Brand Gurus.
She went from being a high school dropout to graduating among the top of her high school class and received a Presidential Scholarship to attend Albany State University, where she was awarded a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science with Honors. She earned her master’s degree in Managerial Leadership with honors at National Louis University (IL) and her Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation from the American College (PA).
Lethia’s career has led her to direct the brand development, marketing, business development, leadership branding and/or communications strategy for industry-leading organizations such as The Boeing Company, Energizer, Monsanto, Unigroup, IRS, Macrovision, State Farm Insurance Company, Clark Oil, First Data Resources, Union Pacific Technology and Southwestern Bell and Coca Cola.
Lethia is a contributing author to the following publications: Leading the Way to Success (Define, Promote and Live Your Powerful Personal Brand); Yes You Can!; Empowering Transformations for Women; and 7 Points of Impact, is author of the book Strategies to Help You Think, Work & Live Powerfully! And creator of the Leaving a Leadership Legacy, the Building the Brand Called You!, andThe Dare to Be Irresistible: Embrace & Unleash Your Limitless Potential audio programs.
