PROskore Top 25 Twitter Accounts as of November 28, 2011

Part of what makes running a social network like PROskore so interesting is the ability to analyze large amounts of data.  As mentioned before, we've added PROskore Labs to provide insight into some of the trends happening on our network.

When deciding what to write for this blog post, I decided to run a quick report showing me the total number of Twitter Followers for everyone on our entire network.  Needless to say, I'm already impressed with the overall reach of our collective network. It's an impressive number (well into the tens of millions) and undoubtedly something we will showcase on PROskore Labs in the coming days.

For now I thought I would have some fun and rank the current Top 25 PROskore members who have the largest Twitter followings. Although you won't find Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga on this list, you will discover some fairly influential small business professionals who have the potential to directly impact your business.

PROskore Top 25 Twitter Accounts as of November 28, 2011:

68		Denny Ch Pratama pepatah Jakarta ID	ihatequotes 1015150 Followers
35		Chris Latko latko.org Bradenton FL USA	clatko 323780 Followers
58		Jason Ramsey Wig Superstore WICHITA KS USA	@Jason__Ramsey 115784 Followers
72		Edney Souza boo-box São Paulo BR	interney 109005 Followers
28		Bill Austin Arizona High Tech Talent Partnership Scottsdale AZ USA	wbaustin 97204 Followers
72		Petteri Tarkkonen Finn-ID Oy Vantaa FI	ptarkkonen 76933 Followers
85		Randy Gage Prosperity Factory, Inc MIAMI FL USA	Randy_Gage 75477 Followers
74		Trent Partridge 10Edge Ft. lauderdale FL USA	Media55 74066 Followers
79		Charles Lauller Agency 323 austin TX USA	@ChasL 71548 Followers
73		Rami Kantari Meirc Training and Consulting DUBAI AE	Ramikantari 69821 Followers
70		Jason Yormark Strategies 360 Seattle WA USA	jasonyormark 66612 Followers
57		Don Macleod Ideas4Rent Marketing,LLC Chatham NJ USA	ideas4rent 65937 Followers
63		Oleg Ilin Web-Feed.com Boston MA USA	onlinepro 64795 Followers
73		Lucas Wyrsch Swiss Business Club Zollikerberg CH	Lucas_Wyrsch 64289 Followers
93		Michael Q Todd Yabba GOLD COAST AU	@mqtodd 63582 Followers
45		Michael Stewart Jericho Technology PHOENIX AZ USA	@jerichotech 62974 Followers
73		Stacie Connerty The Divine Miss Mommy Atlanta GA USA	StacieinAtlanta 61819 Followers
48		Andy Nathan Social Media Blog CHICAGO IL USA	andynathan 61799 Followers
70		Kevin Henney Wayfire Media Half Moon Bay CA USA	khenney 61762 Followers
45		Lori Ruff Integrated Alliances Charlotte NC USA	loriruff 60829 Followers
82		John Jantsch Duct Tape Marketing Kansas City MO USA	ducttape 57604 Followers
53		Terry Rota Web Resultants Auckland NZ	tpr2 47830 Followers
66		Alex Lawrence StartupFlavor Salt Lake City UT USA	_alexlawrence 47063 Followers
29		Donna Marie Antoniaids ShesConnected Multimedia Corp. Boston MA USA	donnaantoniadis 44934 Followers
70		Paul Steinbrueck OurChurch.Com Trinity FL USA	PaulSteinbrueck 44623 Followers

Note:  Twitter popularity does not directly translate to a high PROskore score.  Remember, PROskore measures much more than social media popularity and includes important aspects of a professionals life.

What Next?

One of the questions that keeps popping up in my inbox from new members is the question of 'What Next?'  Meaning, now that they've completed their PROskore profile and established a baseline score, what exactly are they supposed to do with it?

That's a great question, and perhaps something we need to make more obvious on the website. One of the challenges we face with building our platform is information overload.  On the one hand we want to make the sign-up process as simple as possible, while on the other hand we want people to understand all of the reasons they should be doing it in the first place. It's tricky.

Above all else, your #1 goal should be to use your score
to generate new business for yourself.

Here are 5 things I would do right now:

1. Build your LOCAL professional graph.  Begin identifying people you know who are already on PROskore. We've made this process easy by suggesting the Top PRO's in your region.  By spending a few minutes determining who you know and don't know, you'll quickly build your professional graph locally. Remember, most business is done locally.
   
   'Knowing' someone on PROskore is our version of 'connecting'.  When you say you know someone, they receive an email notification asking them to confirm whether they know you.  Once confirmed, you are both in each others network.  The more people in your network, the larger your footprint inside of PROskore.  The larger your footprint, the more recommendations you are likely to receive.  The more recommendations you receive, the more your score is likely to increase.
   
   Also, invite people you know outside of PROskore to join you on PROskore.  Again, the larger your network (footprint), the more people there are to recommend you, and so on.
   
   
2. Tell the PROskore community what you NEED.  Think about the types of services you are in the market for (or industries you typically partner with) and we will match you up to other members who do waht you need AND who have also indicated that they need what you sell.  Each time there is a 'match', PROskore will send you an alert letting you know that there is a LEAD waiting for you.
   
   

3. Follow Up with LEADS.  The whole idea of joining PROskore and establishing a score is to help yourself generate business.  Dont' sit back and wait for opportunities to come to you.  Login everyday and use PROskore as a sales engine.
   
   

4. PROMOTE Your Profile.  Share it with your colleagues on other networks.  For example, when you earn a badge highlighting an accomplishment (e.g. Top 100 PRO), Tweet about it!
   
   
5. VERIFY Your Profile.  Consider verifying your profile by becoming a PRO+ Member.  Doing so, establishes additional credibility in the eyes of other PROskore members by confirming your authenticity.  Also, we'll do some nice SEO work on your profile to get it ranked on Google - which has the potential to market your business outside of PROskore.  This is a great way to improve your reputation across the Internet.

Learning Is Fun

Last week we were discussing a creative way to educate our members about how our scoring system works.  As our production team finalizes a short video tutorial due to be released next week, we thought it could be effective to do something fun. Enter PRO vs. PRO.

PRO vs. PRO compares two former titans of business to determine who has (or would have) had the higher PROskore.  For our first match-up we've created PROskore profiles for Dave Thomas (Founder of Wendy's) and Ray Kroc (CEO of McDonald's).  

As with every profile on our network the foundation for the score begins with analyzing past (and current) work experience and educational experience as well as business related social media influence (Twitter, Facebook Fan Pages, YouTube channels, etc.).  This left us with the third aspect to our score - PROskore activity and recommendations.  To accomplish this aspect of the scoring, we're leaving it up to the PROskore community to vote (recommend) who they feel was the bigger PRO.

Heading into the voting stage, Ray held a 3 point lead over Dave due in large part to McDonald's social media advantage over Wendy's.  That being said, Dave did create the 'Where's the Beef?' campaign that to this day still goes viral. But, will that be enough to overcome Ray's fast food dominance?   Go Vote!  http://www.proskore.com/prov1.cfm

Up Next:  Sam Walton vs. Walt Disney

Introducing PROskore Labs

This weekend we decided to hack away at some of our data to learn more about our users.  In the process, we realized that there will be many more opportunities in the future to share our data (and other internal projects) with the public.  For this reason, we've added a new section of the PROskore website aptly titled, PROskore Labs.  To view what's happening behind the scenes at PROskore, visit the footer of our website and click on 'PROskore Labs".

To begin, we've built some cool infographics that offer up some basic insight into our current user base.  Check back in a few weeks to see which new projects are happening behind the scenes at PROskore Labs.

PROskore Badges: This Is Not A Game

Late last week we unveiled our first wave of PROskore badges.  The badges are designed to highlight member accomplishments  both past and present.   The purpose of the badges are two-fold:

1. Badges Bring Context to a PROskore.  For example, when viewing the profile of a person with a 'Twitter PRO' badge, it's safe to assume that they are influential on Twitter.  Or, if someone is listed as a 'Networking PRO', one can assume that person is very connected.
   
   
2. Badges Bring Credibility to a Profile.   Much like a decorated military official, badges offer a great way to make a positive first impression.
   

Unlike the typical 'fun' badges that can be earned across other networks, PROskore badges have been designed to be straight-forward and professional.  PROskore badges can also be shared across other networks, websites, blogs and more.  Below is a list of the first 8 badges that can be earned.  We plan to create more in the coming weeks.

		Earn a Facebook PRO badge by having over 2,000 Fans on your Fan Page
		Earn a LinkedIn PRO badge by having 500+ Connections on LinkedIn.
		Earn a Twitter PRO badge by having over 5,000 Followers on Twitter
		Earn a Klout PRO badge by having a score of 70+ on your Klout Profile
		Earn a YouTube badge when you have 1,000+ subscribers to your channel
		Earn a Networking badge when you've connected to 100+ PROskore members.
		Earn a Top Local badge by being ranked in the Top 100 for your city.
		Earn an Ambassador badge for inviting more than 100 people to join PROskore.

PROskore Power Rankings - November 2011

Below is our second Top 25 list of the top PROskores on our network.  These 25 members have the highest scores across the entire network of over 125,000 members (currently). 

This list has changed dramatically from our first Top 25 list in October and includes some 'heavy hitters' including:  Dr. Ivan Misner (CEO of BNI - the largest business and referral network in the world), John Jantsch (author of the Best Selling book, 'Duct Tape Marketing'), and Jason Grilli (current relief pitcher for MLB's Pittsburgh Pirates and marketing guru).  Interestingly, 88% of the Top 25 are male with 20% doing business in California, USA.  

We suggest taking a minute to connect to these influential people.

PROskore Power Rankings - November 2011

96		Ivan Misner BNI Upland CA USA
86		Paul Green paulgreen.biz Finedon UK
85		Kim Beasley Social Media Tool Coach St. Louis MO USA
83		John Jantsch Duct Tape Marketing Kansas City MO USA
82		Jamshed Wadia Intel Singapore SG
82		Justice Mitchell Big Block Studios, Inc. Orlando FL USA
81		Charles Lauller Agency 323 austin TX USA
80		Marty Bennett EducationUSA Washington DC USA
79		Jason Knight Human Capital Strategies Mesa AZ USA
79		Trent Partridge 10Edge Ft. lauderdale FL USA
78		Dionisios Favatas Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates Washington DC USA
78		Jason Grilli Perfect Pitch Marketing Group Orlando FL USA
78		Victoria Kamm Viclen LLC Toledo OH USA
77		Steve Wiideman Enterprise SEO Experts Brea CA USA
77		Phyllis Zimbler Miller Miller Mosaic, LLC Beverly Hills CA USA
77		John H. Lee Bizivents.com Philadelphia PA USA
77		Cusic Daniels Charter One Hotels and Resorts, Inc. Sarasota FL USA
75		Steven Groves Social Marketing Conversations, LLC Englewood CO USA
74		Alexandre Inagaki Alexandre Inagaki ME São Paulo BR
74		Gerard Corbett Redphlag LLC San Bruno CA USA
74		Mike Cadogan iMeducate.com Perth AU
73		Antony Williams Royal Society of Chemistry Wake Forest NC USA
73		Fred McMurray Mediavine Marketing Chicago IL USA
73		Gregory Panos Panos Creative Malvern PA USA
73		Michael Johns Michael Johns Deptford NJ USA

Honorable Mention:  Toni Patton, Edney Souza, Michael Novilla, Chris Thompkins, Andy Drinkwater, Jason Yormark, Jacqueline Renner

PROskore also ranks members geographically.  Local networking is the heartbeat of business.  Login and see how you stack up against your local competition.