25 Top Entrepreneurs & Businesses to Follow on Twitter (and Why We Should Care?)

Our thanks to the oDesk Blog for this compilation of stellar performers we may wish to emulate on Twitter.  The opinions expressed below are oDesk’s, but we endorse them entirely.

But before we give them the credit which they so justly deserve, why should we as businessmen and women even care?  Isn’t Twitter just a trivial website where large numbers of teenagers are wasting their time by ”following” the pointless meanderings of Britney Spears and Ashton Kutcher?

Absolutely not!

Twitter is a cultural phenomenon, showing its mettle as a social networking mainstay of equal importance to MySpace and Facebook, but with powerful and direct business applications nearing a par with LinkedIn.   If this seems like an exaggeration, it is evidenced by this one quick example:  Three of the top ten organizational Twitter users, who are currently “wasting their time” in this fashion, belong to CNN Breaking News, Oprah Winfrey and President Barack Obama. Over the last two years, these three organizations have marshalled nearly six million followers between them.

So, just perhaps, there may be substantial reasons to follow the usage patterns and procedures used by the following twenty-five Twitter devotees.  As they search for evermore elusive profits from their Internet businesses, perhaps they have discovered yet another reason for the explosive growth of social networking as a means of so doing.

THE TOP TWENTY-FIVE TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER

Guy Kawasaki:  Besides being managing director of Garage Technology Ventures and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine, he has 130,000 followers. Why we follow him: He has a worthwhile blog, How to Change the World. If that’s not reason enough, check out his archive of marketing posts. He knows what he’s doing.

Dave Snyder:  He’s the co-founder of Search & Social, an internet marketing company that has done extremely well. Why we follow him: Though he sometimes veers into the realm of personal chatter, when he talks business and marketing, he’s worth it.

Anita Campbell:  She is not only the editor in chief of Small Business Trends, she is an entrepreneur herself and consistent tweeter. Why we follow her: In short–and as her business suggests–she’s on the cutting edge of trends and her tweets are always on point, never off topic.

Bizzia: Of course, these are the tweets from the Bizzia website, which strives to bring news, strategy and business thought to entrepreneurs everywhere. Why we follow them: Simply put, you won’t have to go looking for the latest business news stories. Let the business news come to you.

Adam Toren: As the co-founder of business networking site YoungEntrepreneur.com, Adam has a lot to say about success in the marketplace. Why we follow him: He sticks to the basics and offers interesting articles. But if you already have YoungEntrepreneur Blog’s RSS feed, this would be overkill.

Evan Williams: We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the co-founder of Twitter, Evan Williams. Why we follow him: Sure he gives shout outs to celebrities, but he shares his wisdom sometimes and has over 800,000 followers. Genius entrepreneur.

Michael Arrington and More: The man behind the technology news titan TechCrunch is worth your time–even if you’re often hearing from someone else. Why we follow them: TechCrunch give you real-time valuable tech/business information–such as go get your vanity Facebook URL right this minute.

Fred Wilson: He is the highly successful managing partner of Union Square Ventures and you can check out his blog too. Why we follow him: Sure, sometimes he’ll tell you what Broadway musical he’s at, but when he dishes out advice or tidbits of business, you’ll be glad you hung in there.

Christine Perkett: She is the founder and CEO of Perkett PR, and received the PR Executive of the Year award in 2008. Why we follow her: Because by watching her style, you’ll know how you can benefit from Twitter, and because even Business Week follows her, that’s why.

Eugene Lee: He is the CEO of SocialText, which gave birth to Enterprise 2.0 and the first enterprise wiki. Why we follow him: He’s low on personal chatter and heavy on business and tech talk. What’s more, he’s not just promoting himself.

Bev Davis: This inspiring entrepreneur and founder of Sunday Cosmetics, shares her innovative thoughts and sometimes gets spiritual. Why we follow her: She shares links to entrepreneur success stories more than she gives shout outs, and she has built her own future–why not pay attention?

Rick Myers: In a time of unemployment, his job search site Talent Zoo has been a huge success. Why we follow him: This is not your ordinary tweeter. He tends to stick to business–international news, economic trends, etc. Read his tweets and you’ll know.

Becky McCray: She’s one of the authors at Small Biz Survival, and speaks from the experience of her own retail liquor store and cattle ranch. Why we follow her: Now and then she’ll tell you what beer she’s drinking, but she’s savvy and has business insights that make her a worthy guru.

Gary Swart: He’s the CEO of oDesk and an innovative businessman with a history at Pure Software and IBM. Why we follow him: Sure, he’s the boss, but he also keeps his eye on offshoring trends and the changing face of business. He’s fairly new to Twitter, but give him time.

Richard Branson: Well, he hardly needs an introduction. Why we follow him: He’s fascinating–we’ll say it. But he tweets quite often with fellow (albeit less wealthy) entrepreneurs in mind.

Tony Hsieh: He’s the brilliant entrepreneur (millionaire) CEO behind Zappos.com. Why we follow him: Though he enters a lot of personal tweets, following him will be a masterclass on how use tweets to strengthen a team.

Jonathan Schwartz: To understand this Sun Microsystems CEO, you can check out his blog. Why we follow him: If your business is software, Schwartz is one to watch. Plus, he worked his way to the top–is there anything more inspiring than that?

Loic Le Meur: To learn more from Frenchman Le Meur, who is CEO of Seesmic, you can check out his blog. Why we follow him: He’s into innovation and uses his tweets to provoke and gain feedback for business purposes. It’s a smart move.

Mark Cuban: His Blog Maverick was voted one of Business Punditt’s 50 Best Business Blogs of 2008. Why we follow him: Some days he’s all about personal chatter, but on others he tweets like an insightful businessman who knows he has a following.

Michael Michalowicz: Known as the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, Michalowicz’s blog and book have given him a mighty platform. Why we follow him: To be sure, his mission is to make you, a fellow entrepreneur, successful, and his tweets are composed with that in mind. Enough said.

Rand Fishkin: The SEOMoz CEO is a young Seattle entrepreneur who speaks internationally on the subject of SEO. Why we follow him: Amid some personal chatter, followers will find the rhythm and lifestyle that make a successful entrepreneur tick–and gain wisdom along the way.

Sumaya Kazi: Kazi is one of the youngest entrepreneurs on this list. She works for Sun Microsystems and founded The Cultural Connect. Why we follow her: At a glance, you might miss the buzz and get stuck on her age, but her tweets are like a mini blow-by-blow reality show on entrepreneurial gumption.

Steve Case: Case co-founded AOL–do we really need to say more–and started Revolution. Why we follow him: Case is still on the cutting edge of business, and even if you believe this is his assistant tweeting, the links and news are invaluable.

Rajesh Setty: He blogs at Life Beyond Code and he has founded several companies. Why we follow him: He dances the twitter line between personal rants, chatter and business. We like the business end the best.

Diane Hessen: She’s the CEO of Communispace, which manages over 300 online communities. Why we follow her: She sticks to business most of the time and keeps us well-informed. You can’t ask for much more from this savvy businesswoman.

And, if you’re still not following @odesk on Twitter, what are you waiting for? Don’t have time to Twitter? oDesk has 528 Twitter Professionals to help you manage your business’s presence on Twitter. Twitter is one of oDesk’s fastest growing skills, as we reported last month.

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