What Does it Take to Be One of the Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers? Part 2

Forbes.com recently posted a list of the Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers. These influencers are not the powerhouses behind the world’s biggest brands or most popular celebrities. They are self-starters, motivational leaders and accessible social media experts with genuine influence over their active following. According to Peek Analytics, their individual pull, or influence, over their massive social followings ranges anywhere from 1000-3000 times greater than the average social media user.

Many of this year’s power influencers have either made social media their business, or are helping make social media your business. We connected with some of the Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers of 2013, to highlight how they’re using social media. Read “Part 1: What Does it Take to Be One of the Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers?” in this mini series.

Aaron Lee ~ Social Media Consultant & Community Manager

Name: Aaron Lee

No.5 Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers of 2013

Twitter: @askaaronlee

Bio: Social Media Consultant at Binkd, Founder, Editor and Writer of AskAaronLee.com, Co-Founder of Leneys and Community Manager for several businesses.

Aaron Lee stumbled upon the world of social media and blogging back in university. Creating AskAaronLee.com in 2010, his blog attracted small businesses and professionals looking for guidance right from the get-go. In sharing his journey on social media, Aaron teaches others how to avoid making the same mistakes, while constantly sharing his insight and tips on tackling the multi-faceted world of social media.

With his knowledge and sincerity, Aaron has attracted a global community of more than half a million loyal followers across multiple social networks. On the side, Aaron is co-founder of a women’s apparel company, Leneys, where he tests his social media and brand management knowledge and strategies for growth. He’s also Social Media Manager for Binkd, a social media promotional platform that helps businesses create and manage their social promotions using a variety of contests. In his spare time, he writes social guidance articles for a number of sites including Mashable, Social Media Examiner and Social Fresh, to name a few.

“I use social media to engage with like minded people, my friends and family, and to connect with new people from around the world. By building relationships with people, it has helped me learn from many experienced marketers and help grow my business. I believe that Twitter is about reciprocity, and with this in mind I have been following close 120,000 of my followers. My Twitter stream can get a little messy at times.”

“That’s where HootSuite comes in handy. The way I keep up with my Twitter stream is by keeping my Twitter lists as neat as possible. I have over 10 Twitter lists that I keep in touch with on a daily basis and with HootSuite I can monitor all of them simultaneously. I use them to listen to thought-leaders, news agencies, social media evangelists, fellow influencers and my readers – they help me to keep up with the conversation and keeps me alert about current news and movements around the internet.”

Renee Blodgett ~ Social Media/PR Branding Strategist & Thought Leader

Name: Renee Blodgett

No.12 Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers of 2013

Twitter: @magicsaucemedia & @weblogtheworld

Bio: Branding, PR, Marketing, Social Media Strategist, Consultant and Global Blogger. CEO/Founder of Magic Sauce Media, Founder and Managing Editor of We Blog the World, an online luxury and adventure travel magazine, Co-Founder of TravelingGeeks, and Founder of Magic Sauce Photography.

With over 20 years of experience in over 12 countries, Renee Blodgett is no stranger to launching and branding successful small, mid-sized and global companies. As one of the first bloggers in the industry, she represented and worked with some of the leading RSS and social media tool developers when they first launched in the nineties. Her market approach focuses on driving demand and traffic, creating brand awareness and cutting-edge strategies, building and nurturing customer relationships, increasing partnerships and sales and building loyalty.

In short, Renee just “get’s it.” She’s ranked at no.12 of Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers for two years in a row, no.6 of Forbes Top 20 Social Media Women Power Influencers, while her personal blog, Down the Avenue, is listed on the AdAge Power 100 list. When she’s not writing articles for her own properties, she contributes to the Huffington Post and the BlogHer network. As co-founder of TravelingGeeks, she collaborates with global technology innovators and influencers around the world to help accelerate innovation in new markets. In her spare time, Renee is a curator of TEDxBerkeley, one of the largest TEDx events in the country.

“I use social media to connect with people, to spur creative ideas and to discover what’s happening in the industry. It gives me a “pulse” read on a number of core trends and topics. Social Media is also a major traffic driver for my online luxury travel magazine, and a great way to toss ideas into the ecosystem to discuss with other thought leaders. It has an exponential effect and more importantly, it builds sustainable and meaningful relationships if you stay committed.”

“HootSuite is my daily tool to monitor all my online brands. It’s also a great way to respond to blog readers in a more pithy and direct way than blog post comments. Since our content gets pushed out through Twitter, we can learn what our readers find interesting or not, and can get instant feedback. HootSuite is a great tool to monitor analytics and find out what tweets resonate.”

Thank you Aaron Lee and Renee Blodgett for participating!

Want to know one thing these influencers have in common? They all use HootSuite. Try it now for free.