Biggest Marketing Girl Crushes on Women in Social Media

According to Urban Dictionary, a "Girl Crush" are feelings of admiration and adoration a girl has for another girl. This is not a romantic "crush"- just a "Gosh we think these women are so smart & awesome; I want to be like them..." kind of thing. I think the New York Times article She's So Cool, So Smart, So Beautiful: Must Be a Girl Crush sums it up:

It refers to that fervent infatuation that one heterosexual woman develops for another woman who may seem impossibly sophisticated, gifted, beautiful or accomplished.

So after surveying the Wild Web Women Linked In Group - here are the biggest Social Media & Web Marketing "Girl Crushes":

Arianna Huffington is clearly one of the most influential women on Web today as the Editor-in-Chief of the well known online publication, Huffington Post. The site provides updates on current political news, business and entertainment to hundreds of thousands of readers each day. Arianna launched the site in May 2005 and has become one of the most recognized media brands on the Web today. Sure...she was named to the Time 100, Time Magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people in 2006- but now she is officially one of our Top Marketing/Social Media Girl Crushes! What higher honor is there? (We are kidding of course!)

When Miley Cyrus deleted her Twitter account in October 2009, it was a controversial decision that rocked the world! Whether you had to immediately check in with your junior high school psychologist, send a quick tweet to rally around #mileycomeback, or simply go out of your way to express how much you couldn't care less - we know you definitely tuned in to YouTube (Admit it!) when MIley took to the web to deliver an explanation to her fans for her sudden departure from the Twittersphere. While the teen sensation explained her need to "withdraw from cyberspace in order to make her personal life a little more, well, personal" in the form of an irresistibly catchy rap music video - this just wasn't enough for some fans, including a fanatic follower who threatened to kill her own cat Fuzzy if Miley didn't come back to Twitter.

But wait, there's more - Miley then went on to publicly declare that she's not really a fan of the Internet and that Twitter should be banned from the universe - which only kept driving the buzz. The "Hannah Montana" star grew up in the public spotlight as the daughter of country star Billy Ray Cyrus, so it's no wonder she now raps "I want my private life private"... a nice sentiment coming from a 16-year-old who's one the richest teens in Hollywood. So like, yah, good luck with that, Miley!

Journalist and social media strategist Lisa Stone co-founded the influential womens blog network, Blogher.com in 2005. Their mission: To create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community, and economic empowerment.

This massive blogging community empowers women bloggers to network, reach a new audience and find inspiration for their own work. Blogher now has over 38,000 members and 18,000 blogs registered in their community. As an added bonus they conduct regular conferences in person and through the web to help educate and to continue the conversation.

Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs -one of the biggest online marketing resources on the Web. She manages the wonderful "How To Articles" and case studies that some Web marketers have come to know as their "Marketing Bible". The site covers a range of business topics and provides valuable seminars and tools for marketing professionals to utilize. As if she does not have enough to do, she also blogs at The Huffington Post as well as her personal blog, Annarchy.

In case you missed it, Susan Boyle took the internet by storm this year and highlighted yet again the ability of the web to turn ordinary people into overnight sensations. The Internet superstar who was plucked from Scottish anonymity may not have won "Britain's Got Talent," but her authenticity and courage against the odds helped her win over the hearts and minds of cynics across the world! When the unconventional star took the stage, her beautiful voice belied her plain appearance and wowed 10 million TV viewers before quickly becoming one of the biggest YouTube sensations of all time.

Her touching rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables propelled her into the limelight where she remained true to her self - courageously redefining beauty, success, and celebrity. More than just a pop culture icon, the dowdy 48-year-old let her talent shine, proving that there is nothing more viral than genuine talent. The cultural sensation may have secured her music career by winning over internet fans one click at a time, but even more memorable is the incredible story of how she was finally able to find her voice.

Susan Bratton knows all about the importance of business relationships in the media, marketing and Web 2.0 world and works to share her knowledge with her enthusiastic following of marketers and entrepreneurs. She is the host of our favorite podcast, DishyMix: Success Secrets from Famous Media and Internet Executives - a program that gives successful media and Web business leaders a platform to share their tips and ideas on how to lead your industry, voted "#1 Best Podcast on Social Media" by Top Rank Blog.

She has helped to build the Personal Life Media, Inc brand, a network of blogs, podcasts and online self-help books and personal growth courses that cover a range of lifestyle topics from health and relationships to spirituality and career. She is the author of Talk Show Tips and has a new book coming, Masterful Interviews. Make sure you "tune in" to Susan Bratton soon.

There is a reason that Mari Smith is known as the "Pied Piper of Facebook" and is one of our biggest social media "Girl Crushes". Since launching her blog, Why Facebook, thousands of overwhelmed entrepreneurs and confused marketers (including some of the Wild Web Women) have turned to her for advice about Facebook & Twitter best practices. We admire her dedication to teach marketing professionals how to develop and build powerful relationships using social media and her philosophy has been a tremendous influence in this industry.

Her motto: "Relationships first, business second." Words of wisdom for all social media marketers.

Charlene Li is the founder of the Altimeter Group , a well known consulting firm based out of San Fransisco that serves business leaders by helping them to adapt and integrate social and emerging technologies into their organization. She is true authority in our industry and shares her expertise through her blog- The Altimeter, speaking engagements (she presents frequently at the top technology conferences in the U.S.), and her business bestseller she co-authored: "Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies".

She has appeared on media programs such as 60 Minutes, The McNeil NewsHour, ABC News, CNN, and CNBC and is frequently quoted by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USAToday, Reuters, and The Associated Press. She is currently working on her next book, "Open: How Leaders Win By Letting Go", to be published in May 2010 by Jossey-Bass.

"Mistakes in social media are inevitable - after all, you're building relationships and what relationship is perfect?"- Charlene Li

It is no secret- the Wild Web Women love Hubspot. Subscribe to their blog and participate in one of their Webinars, and you will understand why. Their approach to InBound Marketing has had a lasting impact in our industry and have influenced numerous Web marketers (including yours truly). Karen Rubin was nominated by one of our Wild Web Women in our Linked In Group for her work on Hubspot TV - a weekly video podcast covering all the inbound marketing news of the week with her co-host Mike Volpe.

We love her enthusiasm for her work, her accessibility (Tweet her at @karenrubin) and her dedication to reaching out and teaching small to medium sized businesses the value of Inbound Marketing practices and the tools to creating successful campaigns.

Heather is a true blogging pioneer- she founded her site in February 2001 (waaaaaay before it became cool to be a SAHM Blogger) and began chronicling her life as a successful Web Designer, then losing her job due to work related content posted on her blog, dating, getting married, moving back to Utah and starting a family. Her blog, Dooce.com, has become the witty and unofficial voice of moms everywhere. She titled one of her books: "It Sucked and Then I Cried" - which pretty much sums up motherhood on certain days!

Her honest and endearing posts along with the gorgeous photos of her day to day life has helped her to build a following of hundreds of thousands of loyal readers; and has become a true "Web-lebrity". Through advertising sales, she and her husband are able to support themselves well enough for both of them to stay home and raise their family. Dooce.com has been featured in numerous publications and is a prime example of how a regular person can build their personal brand one blog post at a time. The blog has been highlighted in Forbes.com and The New York Times.

Her advice: BE YE NOT SO STUPID. Never write about work on the internet unless your boss knows and sanctions the fact that YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT WORK ON THE INTERNET.

The "Wild Web Women" team at Web Marketing Therapy serves entrepreneurs and marketing professionals as a "virtual marketing support system" and education company, bridging the art and science of the Web to maximize meaningful results. They are great listeners, using their therapeutic ways to diagnose, prescribe and guide organizations into investing in marketing that matters. Their personality-packed approach makes organizations healthy and wealthy. Sign up for the Marketing Rx Newsletter (free therapy!) for healthy doses of marketing tips, tools, Webinars and plain 'ol no-nonsense, smart marketing advice.

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