Want the secret to digital marketing success? Don’t we all? I am going to share the secret today … are you ready?
Always. Be. Learning. Always.
I was at an event talking with another marketer about texting “marismith” to 33444 to download a free Facebook Ads Guide and she replied “I am a marketer, so I don’t need to be able to download the Free Facebook Ads Guide.” I almost fell out of my shoes (I would say chair, but I was standing after all). The only thing I could reply with was “ok”. I was stunned.
Begin rant …. Seriously, any marketer, digital marketer, brand manager, SEO person, etc. that thinks they don’t have anything else more to learn is seriously going to fail horribly…. end rant.
So now that I have shared the secret to digital marketing success, I will dive into the people and places I follow to learn the most.
My Secret to Digital Marketing Success is Those I Surround Myself With
1. Mari Smith
She is known as the Queen of Facebook and this title is not self-proclaimed. Facebook must agree because out of all the Facebook peeps around the world they asked her to tour the world and speak to businesses about how to leverage Facebook for Marketing in their Facebook education series.
2. Martin Shervington
He is my go to resource for anything Google+. Seriously, he has What is Google +: A Complete User Guide that covers pretty much anything you would like to know about Google+ and the best part is it is free. He even has a for peeps that needs more help.
3. Social Media Examiner
Yes, this is Michael Stelzner’s “Social Media Examiner”. I joke and say I want to grow up and be like Michael Stelzner. His website is a must check out site for anyone in this industry. They are usually the first to have something published about the new things in social media and his contributors provide A+ information. Social Media Examiner is host to Social Media Marketing World each year and the Social Media Success Summit.
4. Chris Brogan
Chris sends out a newsletter each week that makes me think about what I am doing in business and life. He will often times make us stretch beyond our comfort level to achieve new successes. Part of what Chris does is offer webinar trainings and education series to help business owners achieve their goals, do things they love and get paid while working toward it.
5. Neal Schaffer
Who doesn’t love this guy? I mean Neal has a background in sales, travels the globe, speaking and educating on digital marketing and gets paid to do it. Who doesn’t want this life? His blog Maximize Social Business is comprised of digital marketers just like us that are learning, loving and blogging.
6. Jerod Morris
Well… what can I say about Jerod that you don’t already know? He is one of the most humble people I know in the industry. Always making others feel good about themselves and their accomplishments, I think, this one of his missions in life. Jerod is the VP of Marketing at Rainmaker.FM, a podcaster before podcasting was cool, and all around influencer in the industry. He even hosts a podcast about podcasting.
7. Search Engine Journal
Loren Baker founded Search Engine Journal when guest contributing started gaining its popularity many years ago. Loren was contributing to multiple websites and found that instead of putting his best content out for everyone else to gain site traffic, he wanted to source his content in one awesome platform. Anyone that is anyone wants to contribute to SEJ and reads the blog to learn from great peeps like Larry Kim, Brent Csutoras and Neil Patel.
8. Bernadette Coleman
In full disclosure, yes she is a 50% owner in Rocks Digital and my boss at Advice Interactive Group, but that isn’t why I put her on the list. I have met lots of digital marketers and many that our CEOs. However, I hadn’t really met a digital marketer CEO that has a passion about their work, until I met Bernadette. She is not afraid of hard work and many times; you will see her doing the grunt work just like the rest of us. She is not afraid to edit, write, post, video, tweet or even do dishes if it is needed around the office. Bernadette works non-stop and is always watching the trends to predict the next best thing. We are on the cutting edge of digital marketing and she is the one that keeps us there and challenges me to be better.
9. Eric T. Tung
If you don’t follow Eric on Twitter and Facebook you are missing out. One of the things I love about Eric is he is smart and clever. He is always one of the first to test out a new social media site and invite as many as he can to join in the fun. One of the other things about Eric that I think is great is his keen ability to notice funny stuff happening around him and make it even funnier. Whether it is a sign he sees out somewhere, a photo he captures or a tweet online, he shares about it and takes conversations to a new level.
10. Kate Buck, Jr.
Kate was another one of those that was talking about and teaching about Facebook before it was cool. As a community manager herself initially, she understands the struggles that all social media managers have as business owners. She prides herself on being transparent and has a true passion for helping all of us succeed online. Kate feels like there are more than enough clients to go around, so she doesn’t focus on teaching us how to compete, but on how to be better together as a social community and individually as community managers. She even has a Social Media Manager Group we are all invited to join to support each other. No selling or self-promotion is her rule – it is about education and support.
So that was my top 10 and in no particular order, by the way. The fact is this list could go on and on for miles and your list should too. The secret to digital marketing success, as I stated above, is “Always Be Learning” and the more people you learn from the more success you will have.
That is the end of my story. What is yours? Listen. Learn. Apply. Let’s discuss below.
Want more secrets? Download our eBooks.
