10 Successful Entrepreneurs You Must Connect With

I love meeting and spending time with interesting entrepreneurs.

It’s especially fun to be around those who have achieved great success as I personally feed off that type of energy and it gives me something to strive for.

One of the things I recommend others to do is to connect other people in their network to help them grow their businesses or achieve their goals. I find it satisfying making introductions and actually seeing others succeed because of it.

This past week I was in Vegas speaking at the Perfect Business Summit (some top speakers and entrepreneurs from all over the world attended) and I got to meet some great new people but also hang out with some good friends.

If you want to learn from some of the best out there in different industries and levels of entrepreneurship, then I recommend you follow, reach out to, and connect with these individuals below. In no particular order, here are my top 10 entrepreneurs from this past weekend you should follow and connect with.

1. Ali Brown

I’d only heard about Ali from other successful women entrepreneurs who had been to her events, or been on her famous Ezine for years. So many women loved her so I was interested to find out what she was really like in person. I was refreshed to know someone in her position could be such a down to earth, and real individual. We had the same flight from Vegas to L.A. and I was even more inspired with her struggling personal stories early on from taking the leap to quit her job to become a struggling entrepreneur to now running a multi-million dollar business. Make sure to check out her Shine event, her blog, and follow Ali on Twitter @AliBrownLA as she is a quality person and business woman to know.

2. Darren Hardy

Success is Darren’s middle name. Darren spoke at the Perfect Business summit as well, and when I met him, he oozed success. Everything about the clothes he wore, to the way he spoke, to his posture showcased someone who is confident, and who has achieved great things. Darren is none other than the publisher of Success Magazine and author of The Compound Effect. He is definitely someone I’d love to learn more from, and I think you would get a lot out of him as well. Make sure to check out his personal site here, and follow him on Twitter @DarrenHardy.

3. Michael Schneider

I’ll have to admit, I’ve known Michael for about a year now (thanks to the intro through the one and only Shira Lazar) and we have become good friends. I’ve met up with Michael in L.A., London, and in Vegas during out separate business travels, and the guy has really taken over the world by storm with his start up company Mobile Rodie, a.k.a. the most powerful mobile app platform in the world. Michael knows a ton about all things mobile, and at the end of his speech someone told Michael he was so impressed the event was able to get him to speak and that it was the most informative information on mobile he had ever heard. Check out Michael on Twitter @MSFD.

4. Larry Benet

Larry Benet, or “The Connector” as he is know in the business world is one of the most connected people you can meet. I had heard about Larry’s famous SANG events where he had people like Tony Robbins, Tony Hsieh, Keith Ferrazzi, Jack Canfield, and every other successful author and speaker under the sun attend and speak at his events. I got to spend half a day with Larry at two different events, in cabs, Warren Whitlock‘s car, and it was fun to learn about the personal side of Larry. It made me see why so many love to connect with him and why he is successful at what he does. Check out his blog here, and follow him on Twitter @LarryBenet.

5. Dan Bliss

What can I say, Dan Bliss is the man. He is the founder of Perfect Business and the Perfect Business Summit which is one of the top entrepreneur events of the year. I had the pleasure to meet Dan at one of my L.A. networking events in early 2009 (I believe) and have had a lot of great conversations with him ever since. It helps to know that Dan graduated from Ohio State and since I live in Columbus and love the Ohio State football team, we get along perfect! Dan is another person who is extremely well connected and knows a lot about raising investment, and knowing the exact tools you need to start and grow your business. Check out the Perfect Business site, and on Twitter @perfectbusiness.

6. Pam Slim

Pam is a celebrity Business/Life coach and is also the author of Escape From Cubicle Nation. She is pretty much a rock star, and I got more relevant, useful information from her insights in our 20 minute conversation than I did from half of the business books I’ve read this year. She is an awesome person, great writer, fun speaker, and has that genuine motherly soul that makes you want to give her a big hug every time you see her. We have only talked a few times in the last two years, but I plan on connecting with her more often as I was reminded at how wise and relevant her advice really is. Make sure to check out her blog here and follow her on Twitter @PamSlim.

7. Matthew Lesko

Matthew is my hero. It takes a lot of balls to be on T.V. all the time, wear a suite with question marks all over it, and act like a mad scientist. The thing I love about him, (as Jim Kukral would say) is he gets your attention. In a world where attention spans are shorter and shorter, he continues to keep them. He has written over 100 books, and pushes the limits with marketing and infomercials. He had a number of great ideas about where things are headed in the future with T.V. infomercials and the shift to online marketing. As crazy as his clothes may be, he’s a bright guy. Check out his blog here and follow him on Twitter @MatthewLesko.

8. Alicia Dunams

I’ve also known Alicia for over a year now and we have connected a few times in person, but it was fun to hear about the latest things going on in her business. She helps individuals get more leads, sales and publicity by helping them launch their own book in a little less than a month. It’s pretty fun to get more press, and writing my own book (with co-author Frank Agin) has opened doors for me that otherwise wouldn’t have been open. Make sure to check out here site here and follow her on Twitter @AliciaDunams

9. Trey Pennington

Trey is someone I’ve had the pleasure of being on stage with during a social media panel. He is probably one of the nicest guys in social media that I know, and I think it has a lot to do with him being from the South (just kidding Trey). He has somewhat of a Southern accent, has the manners of a saint, and seems to have a smile on his face no matter what this situation. He has a dominating presence on Twitter, and just knows a lot about building a community (much better than myself). I see Trey all over the world speaking on a number of stages, and only see big things to come in the future. Make sure to check out his blog here and follow Trey on Twitter @TreyPennington.

10. Josh Ochs

I sat on the advanced social media marketing panel with Josh, and grew to like him very quickly. 1. Because he agreed with a number of the things I was mentioning in regards to LinkedIn and social media 😉 and 2. because he had a number of complimentary ideas to add to our panel that was more refreshing than previous panels I’d been on. He also used the word “nerd” or “nerdy” 27 times during our hour long talk, and because of that, I figured the guy was pretty cool. In all seriousness, Josh is the marketing pro behind Media Leaders, the international social event company that now operates in 15 cities around the world. Feel free to check out his blog here and follow him on Twitter @JoshOchs.

My Simple Recommendation

Follow these entrepreneurs, watch what they do, connect with them in person, and try to add value to their life or business. They each have unique talents, experiences, and connections that could make or break your next project or business. If you know any of these successful entrepreneurs yourself, please add a note in the comments section stating what you like about them, or how they have directly benefited your business already. Also, please share this article only with those who you respect, so they to can enjoy the benefit of connecting with these powerful entrepreneurs.