Industry Influencers You Should Know 

Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook…powerhouse players of the social media world. If you currently follow your friends, favorite celebrities or athletes, you may want to add a new slew of real estate superheroes to your list.   

• Chris Smith -as a former employee of Inman News, Chris is one of the foremost influential names in real estate. He founded Curyator, an INC 500 fastest growing company specializing in digital media for real estate agents. As a former employee of both move.com and dotloop (acquired by Zillow for an estimated $108 million, this industry expert took his knowledge to a new level. Curyator specializes in building websites and generating seller leads for sales agents. Chris is also the best-selling author of The Conversion Code, which was co-authored by dotloop founder Austin Allison. Chris is nationally renowned and a highly sought-after keynote speaker. I was lucky enough to meet him at a tech conference in Cincinnati. I later joined a live Q&A with him and was the winner of an autographed copy of his book! I must say, I was a bit star struck. If you want to stay on top of your game, follow @chris_smith on Twitter. 37k followers can’t be wrong. 
• Grant Cardone -started as an expert in the automobile industry, later Cardone proved that his strategies for building sales and profits suited be expanded to corporations and real estate investors. Today he is a best-selling author, speaker, and the star of the hit show “Undercover Billionaire." The series features Grant who is given $100, a cell phone with no contacts and is forced to move to a new city. Then, he is asked to start a million-dollar business in under 90 days. Spoiler alert: something tells me he will succeed. 
• Jimmy Mackin is a co-founder of Curaytor with the aforementioned Chris Smith. Jimmy delivers the latest real estate insight in a highly digestible and actionable form. He has been featured in such major publications such as Forbes magazine and The Huffington Post. Listening to high-tech talk with Jimmy is like listening to your best friend give you advice. If you are thirsty for a new podcast, subscribe to The  #Watercooler on YouTube for advice you can implement immediately into your career. New episodes coming soon so stay tuned! 
• Gary Vaynerchuk -aka Gary Vee…it is rare this happens to me, but I am at a loss for words. Gary has been my go-to for the past 15 years for not only digital marketing expertise, but also for life motivation. He has a fresh perspective and even fresher (and at times controversial) delivery of his “golden nuggets.” As a European immigrant, Gary took his dad’s liquor store in New York from a brick-and-mortar operation to a multimillion-dollar web-based empire known as The Wine Library. These days, Gary is the CEO of VaynerMedia, which offers digital marketing and strategic planning. PepsiCO, GE and  Chase Bank are a just a few clients who trust Gary with growing their bottom lineGary is a major player on every social platform. Be one of his 2.2 million Twitter followers, watch #AskGaryVee on YouTube or listen to his podcast. You may have just met your new best friend. 

These industry giants are worth your attention. They are the movers and shakers of digital marketing. They are the first to share cutting edge news in technology, social media tactics and creative ways to build success. As they say, “if you’re not first, you’re last.” Be the first to know by visiting our Career Corner. It’s time to make your move.