Bloggers Your Small Business Should Follow

Let’s take this deeper

This isn’t going to be a blogger list post like you’ve seen before.

We’ve all at one time read something on Mashable, looked up the latest updates for a social site on Social Media Examiner or searched for social media management tips on Entrepreneur.

This won’t be a list of those top social media search sites. Or a list of the names of the people we know who speak at social media conferences.

Don’t get me wrong – I follow most of these people and read their blogs as often as I can. They’re always writing great content, sharing their marketing tips and giving us their experiences with the latest social updates.

This post isn’t a list about those people. It’s a list of bloggers that I have found who are just like you and me.

While a couple of these people are on the Social Media Examiner Top Blogs list, they run a small business and most look like they’re solopreneurs. They promote their online products and sell their coaching services. They understand what it’s like to ride the time management merry-go-round.

They do their research and write about how social media marketing affects their business and blog. They show us their numbers and give us screenshots of their analytics.

They let us know that even though they ran a full-force social media promotion, they only got 10 new Facebook fans and 25 new Twitter followers. And they’re happy to see the growth in their social presence.

I follow these folks because I see myself in their writing and I know that I’m not alone. They make me feel good about where I am in this great big social world.

Bloggers that I follow that you should add to your reading list

 

All things Pinterest

Whether you’re using Pinterest right now or trying to decide if you should jump in, Pinterest’s simplistic social site can make a huge impact on your small business. Pinterest’s visual marketing opportunities has pulled this social platform out of the usual group of second tier social sites.

Pinterest is more than just a place to plan your wedding or get a recipe for your next family gathering. It’s one of the best places online to convert users to buyers and it can bring a ton of traffic to your website.

When I run my Google Analytics report every month, the traffic my site receives from Pinterest is more than Google organic search, Facebook and Twitter COMBINED. I can speak from personal experience about the impact that marketing on Pinterest has done for my business.

Take a seat and spend some time checking out these Pinterest sites:

Oh So Pinteresting:

Cynthia Sanchez is a self-confessed Pinterest addict. Her blog posts contain an interview podcast as well as a Pinterest Tip or the latest Pinterest News (with great images to explain the changes or how to use a new feature.)

Check out these posts:

• Marketing Differences Between Pinterest and Instagram with Instagram Pro Sue B Zimmerman
• 10 Tips to Attract Pinterest Followers with Smart Feed with Susan Jackson of Ahalogy
• Creating Better Images for Pinterest Equal Big Google Payoffs with Vernon Ross of Ross Public Relations and Marketing

White Glove Marketing:

Anna Bennett focuses on Pinterest 24/7 and she constantly studies what’s happening in Pinterest. I’ve personally reached out to Anna when I have a specific Pinterest question and she’s always gotten back to me with the most updated information to help me out.

Take a look at these Pinteresting posts:

• 8 Ways to Sell More With Pinterest
• How to Effectively Use Tailwind’s Pinterest Scheduling Tool
• The Top 15 Must Have Pinterest Boards to Get More Followers

Blogging about Blogging

There’s no better way to share your content with your social media connections than with your own blog. And there’s loads of blogging information out there telling us what to do, how to do it and what to write about.

It makes my head spin to think about all the blogging blogs, blogging online courses and blogging coaches to walk you through the process.

Seriously, can I type the word blogging one more time in that sentence? But that’s what it seems like to me when I hit the Google search button with the key word blogging.

I’ve sorted through the search engines, scanned my feed in Pinterest and these two bloggers have grabbed my attention:

Blog Chicka Blog:

Meet Jill Levehagen, a blogger and a part-time Professional Photographer. While Jill does quite a bit of blogging about her photography tips (great info you can use to create your social media images!), it was her detailed blogging reports and posts about how to run a blogging business that pulled me into her site.

And when I found her posts about her experiences with Pinterest and how to keep pinning with the new Pinterest changes, let’s just say I was hooked.

Here’s just a taste of what blogging tips look like with a side of Pinterest:

• Pinterest Smart Feed Update: May the odds be in your favor
• What if I break my site? (Don’t freak out)
• How Do I Make My Site Secure from Hackers?

 By Regina:

Regina writes for creative business owners, bloggers, freelancers and “generally awesome people.” I’m sure that myself and most of you, my readers, fall into that last category.

I found Regina on Pinterest. As a visual marketing person and Pinterest addict, I kept noticing her gorgeous branded images come down my Pinterest feed. And when I clicked on the links, holy crap! The wealth of information she shares with us is beyond anything I’ve ever seen from other bloggers.

Take a look at some of these posts and tell me this doesn’t help you grow your blog:

• How to Launch a Blog on a Budget
• How to Get Serious About Blogging
• SEO for Bloggers: The Non-Techie Guide

Social Media Sites

If there’s one thing that’s constant in social media, is that your social sites are going to go through some changes. I admit that I check out sites like Social Media Examiner to get the latest updates and how to use these new features but those posts always leave me wondering how this affects small business owners.

So I found people who write about social media that are more like me.

Most are solopreneurs who write from personal experiences. They write about how the the changes affected their reach of their fans. They give us real numbers and give us honest advice about what worked and what didn’t.

Take a look at these bloggers I’ve found that give the real picture of how to grow your social presence:

Facebook with Claire Pelletreau:

I just recently found Claire when I was looking for some information to grow my new Facebook fan page. I watched one of her free webinars about Facebook ads and I was like, “Hello all my answers about how to make Facebook work for me! Where were you when my old fan page was dying?”

Check out these posts and see if this helps with your Facebook fan page:

• Facebook Ads and Your Launch: My Formula on How Much Should You Spend
• How to Target Facebook Ads: Gently Stalk People With Website Custom Audiences
• Landing Pages that Convert: It All Starts with An Aspirin

Twitter with Louise Myers (How-To Graphics)

I found Louise during my many hours of research on Pinterest. Even though she jumped into social media to promote her graphics work, she realized she needed to stay on top of all the social site changes to keep up with her marketing plans.

Now she shares with us all the information she learned and walks us through how to use these new features. Even though I’ve listed her as my Twitter person, when you check out her site, you’ll get the extra bonus of posts on Facebook, Pinterest, Blogging and loads of great time-saving tips about creating your graphics.

Here’s a sample of what you’ll get at her site:

• Need a social media plan? Grab this checklist.
• Best Kept Secret to Find the Best Tweets
• New Twitter Image Tools for Mobile

Instagram with Jenn’s Trends

Yes, another person I found on Pinterest!

{ Can you tell how much I use Pinterest for research? }

Even though Jenn (with two n’s) blogs about the current trends in social media, her main focus is Instagram. From her The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Instagram ebook to her Personalized Instagram Training program, Jenn is my go-to person when I have any questions about how to use Instagram for my business.

Check out some of her posts to learn more about how you can use Instagram for marketing:

• How to Create an Instagram Bio that Draws in Followers
• 5 Instagram Tricks You Don’t Know About
• Instagram isn’t Designed for Marketers – and I’m OK with that

Visual Strategies with The Branded Solopreneur

This blog site is one of my latest new finds written by Dre Beltrami. She’s loud and crazy and I love that about her.

Dre writes about design tips for us non-graphic people and her thoughts about what it’s like to be a solopreneur. But what really hooked me is when I read this line in her Meet Dre page:

I believe that visuals flat out speak louder than words.

I had a “Are you kidding me?” moment – another person who shares my love of visual marketing AND wants to help solopreneurs! Dre … you had me at Visual Strategies.

Take a look at some of these branding tips for your social sites:

• 4 Ways to Create Shareable Images Without Using Stock Photography
• The 5 Most Effective Types of Color Palettes for Branding
• A Blogger’s Guide to Branding Images

 

What do you think of this blogger list? Did I miss your favorite blogger?

Let me know who else I should be following in the comments below – my commenting program protects me from the daily spam monsters out there so it might not let you leave you a link. Please just write the name of the blogger and what they specialize in and I’ll look them up!

 

PS Are you struggling to create your own social media or blog post images? Creating your images can be intimidating but it doesn’t have to be. Register for the Social Media Images that Convert online course and learn the quick and easy steps to create your social media images in 30 minutes or less!