My teachers in the 2.0 world

It's pretty hard to learn if you don't identify your teachers.  In school, they were for the most part either chosen for you or limited to the school you went to, your major, or in my case the time of day the classes started.

In this new world, you can sample the teachings of many.  Blogging on the web has made that world a lot easier, as has the world of Google searching and SM launch pads like Twitter.  Over the last few months, I have tried to so what they tell you to do in the world of social marketing ---engage, and even more important than that --- listen.

So after reading, and listening, to a lot of folks, I have gravitated to a few who have brought humor and insight to their writings.  And even more important to me, have quickly taught me however unintentional how I can apply social marketing to work and play.

I have decided to include their recent posts on my "blogroll" down the left side of this page so you can "listen" as well.  They are:

• Beth Harte: The Harte of Marketing - Beth understands how all this stuff works together and explains it in and easy to understand way.  @bethharte

• Amber Naslund: Altitude Branding - Amber's unique way of taking every day examples and applying them to social marketing is easy to follow and makes it easy to learning @ambercadabra

• Mack Collier:  The Viral Garden - Great insight on social marketing and its platforms and besides any guy who can Twitter the Bill Cosby Himself concert film line by line and make me laugh hysterically is worth listening to.  @mackcollier

• VCU Brandcenter: Brands & Culture - Gotta push the hometown product.  Manned by Brandcenter faculty member and brand expert Kelly O'Keefe.  The unique insights from the number one advertising and brand school in the country.  (Kelly, need your Twitter ID).

If there's one thing you learn quickly in the world of social marketing is that sharing knowledge is good and expected.

You then quickly learn a second thing, to thank the folks who are doing the teaching.  So thanks to these folks and I hope you will learn from them with me.

Comments

[mack collier]

Thanks for the mention Jon! And remember that we're learning from you too, we are all in this together, right?

[Amber Naslund]

Jon,

Can I just say "holy crap??". Seriously, I'm so appreciative of your kind words. The most gratifying thing about working on my blog is when someone says they've found something USEFUL. That's still amazing to me, and I couldn't be more grateful for your support.

On the flip side, I learn from the people in my network, every day. That's not just the names everyone knows, it's the people who are working hard in the trenches to make sense of all this stuff and teaching ME about what they learn along the way. It's a powerful cycle, and I'm so happy to be smack in the midst of all of it.

So glad we've connected, and looking forward to lots of great conversation to come.

Best,
Amber

[Arik Hanson]

Good idea--Amber, Mack and Beth are three people I follow closely as well because of their smarts, insights and, to coin a word, "approachability." The great thing about interacting online--never before have you had the opportunity to connect with minds like this in this way.

I might also suggest a few new PR "professors" in case you're not already following:

* @DannyBrown
* @DaveFleet
* @KellyeCrane
* @prsarahevans

Good luck!