Sharing what you know, Vol. 2

Last week I wrote a post about the importance of sharing what you know. I've gotten several comments, both online and in private, for which I'm grateful. The point of this is to have a conversation, after all, and I hope that you'll join in with your own thoughts!

One person asked me why all of the examples of "teachers" in my post were men. That really struck me because I didn't think it was true. At first glance, I admit, it appears that way: my dad, the fisherman, my brother-in-law, of course all of them are clearly men. But I also mentioned my Twitter community, and they are overwhelmingly women. Of course you wouldn't know that unless you checked out who I'm following on Twitter. So I decided to tell you about a few of the fabulous women AND men I follow and why I think their tweets (and blogs and sites) are worth sharing.

• A business and lifestyle expert, Donna Maria Coles Johnson is the go-to guru for balancing work and home life. The founder of the Indie Beauty Network (to which I belong), her blog connects the personal with the professional, providing lessons from everyday life to help small business owners. Her tweets are timely: @indiebusiness

• Jessica Knows Something You Need To Know—It's what the site says, and it's absolutely true, so bookmark it right now! Today is day seven of Jessica Smith's 15 Days of Marketing; click to start at day one and be amazed. Follow her at Twitter: @JessicaKnows

• Kayla Fioravanti from Essential Wholesale, formulators of hundreds of natural and organic cosmetic bases, writes a blog with the motto: Learn it, Live it, Pass it on! Always an inspiration...don't forget to follow her tweets at @essentialU


• If you've ever considered starting a web-based business, you must sign up for the E-Commerce Diva's newsletter. Jamila White is the E-Commerce Diva, and her newsletter offers tips to increase web sales. She also has an archive of free e-commerce articles at her site. Jamila's tweets are educational and entertaining, and you can follow her at @EcommerceDiva

• For those of you crafty people out there who are interested in making your own Christmas gifts, take a look at The Soap Queen's blog and see all of her tutorials for soaps, scrubs, salts and other gift ideas. Then visit her site at Bramble Berry for all the materials you'll need for your projects. You can follow The Soap Queen (Anne-Marie Faiola) at Twitter: @brambleberry

• Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is the brainchild of Peter Shankman, CEO, author, speaker, and grand-scale-connector-of-people. If you know anything about anything and want to offer that expertise to the media, check out HARO. And follow Peter Shankman's tweets at: @skydiver

• For crazy good content about writing online, for bloggers, e-tailers, and anyone who uses social media of any kind, Brian Clark's Copyblogger is the best. Period. Read it, learn it, and follow his tweets here: @copyblogger


• Ever have questions about how to use social media to accomplish particular goals? Ever wonder just how generous one person can be with their knowledge and insight? Visit Chris Brogan for lots of information, tips, and advice, and follow his tweets: @chrisbrogan

All of these people offer tremendous amounts of information and services every day at their sites, blogs, and on Twitter, and lots of it is given freely, just to help people out. This is by no means an exhaustive list of teachers, though, so please offer your own examples in the comments below!