Top Influencers & People to Watch – Volume 7

In the seventh edition of the Top Influencers and People to Watch series of showcase blogs, we’ll be taking a closer look into the experience and marketing savvy of such notables as Mari Smith, Neal Schaffer, Diane Hessan and John Lee Dumas, all of whom can be considered social media thought leaders that know something about entrepreneurship. Becoming a recognized professional in a certain industry is often a journey that begins with a deeply-imbedded passion – and that is perhaps the most important quality these experts exude as they constantly maintain the dedication and discipline required to be at the top of their game.

Mari Smith

As a social media thought leader and premier Facebook marketing expert, Mari Smith is often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook” and hailed as one of the most influential and knowledgeable new media thought leaders in the world. In fact, Facebook recently partnered with Mari to facilitate and teach at its Boost Your Business series of live half-day training events across the U.S. Forbes named her as a Top Ten Social Media Power Influencer several years in a row as well, and she currently resides in the top five. Ms. Smith is also the author of The New Relationship Marketing and co-author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day.

Neal Schaffer

Neal is a recognized innovative leader in the world of business social media, and in addition to being named one of marketing’s 10 biggest thought leaders by CMO.com he has also been recognized as a Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer two years in a row – as well as a Forbes Top Five Social Sales Influencer. Additionally, he’s the co-founder of the social media industry’s definitive conference known as the Social Tools Summit, gearing up to soon launch his newest venture entitled the Social Media Center of Excellence. As an author, Mr. Schaffer is best known for his definitive book on social media strategy, Maximize Your Social: A One-Stop Guide to Building a Social Media Strategy for Marketing and Business Success.

Diane Hessan

CEO of the Startup Institute, Diane is a successful entrepreneur, marketer and author who has spent her career as a business executive while co-authoring the book Customer-Centered Growth: Five Strategies for Building Competitive Advantage. She is also Chairman of Communispace, where she reigned as CEO for 13 years – but some of her greatest accolades have come in the form of acquiring the Pinnacle Award from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Most Admired CEO Award from the Boston Business Journal, Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year and landing third on The Boston Globe’s Top Women in Technology List.

John Lee Dumas

A young entrepreneur now living the dream, John is the founder of the Entrepreneur on Fire show on iTunes, where he and his girlfriend Kate Erickson produce the daily audio-only podcast with the help of three full-time virtual assistants. He accomplishes the bulk of his production in just one day (per week) in which he schedules and records seven to eight weekly shows. His newest project, Podcasters Paradise, is a community and a set of resources to help launch other budding founders and hosts, and each Friday he hosts a free Google Hangout session as an introduction to “Paradise.”

It would be unfair to characterize these movers and shakers’ lives as “entirely easy;” marketing a successful company, book or online funnel takes effort. But if these leaders have taught us anything, it’s the notion that hard work always pays off… especially in the marketing sector.