Who are the top Internet Marketing Gurus that are putting out the best content and changing the industry?
It’s tough to discern the mediocre from the best, but there are a handful who stand out.
I’m sure I’ve left some top-notch players off the list, but in my opinion these 12 guys have dominated the digital marketing world and have helped me progress the most.
Top 12 Internet Marketing Gurus
1. Frank Kern
Blog – FrankKern.com
Arguably the best direct response and internet marketer out there.
Frank Kern is a legend to the internet marketing industry. His laid back style and unfiltered personality makes him a huge hit.
He was a broke door-to-door salesman who never finished college and lived in a single trailer.
After failing online for some time, he did keyword research and discovered a market of people wanting to teach their parrot how to talk.
So he hired a freelancer to write a book called, “Teach your parrot to talk,” and it became a HUGE success.
After that he never looked back and has done as high as $18 million dollars on a product launch.
2. Gary Vaynerchuk
Blog – GaryVaynerchuck.com
His start as an entrepreneur began at a young age when he setup lemonade stands around his neighborhood.
He would ride his bike and collect money from all the stands at the end of the day.
Then he moved onto selling baseball cards.
Eventually, he turned his Dad’s family liquor business into a multi-million dollar empire – Wine Library.
He’s high energy and loves the hustle.
Author of big hits: Crush It! and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.
3. Ryan Deiss
Blog – DigitalMarketer.com
Pronounced “dice”… Ryan is the founder and CEO of Digital Marketer, speaker, and consultant.
After graduating college, he only lasted 6 months at his first job before quitting and going all-in with his online business.
Now he serves thousands of products and services to thousands of customers in different markets and countries.
4. Russell Brunson
Blog – DotComSecrets.com
Russell is an internet multi-millionaire and leader of DotComSecrets.
He started his own business when he was still a student at Boise State University.
One of his first products was a DVD teaching people how to build a potato gun.
He took the skills he learned marketing that product and has transformed himself into an internet marketing guru.
Today, he teaches tens of thousands of people all over the world on how to start, build, and market their business online.
5. Darren Rowse
Blog – ProBlogger.net
Darren stumbled into blogging in 2002 and became hooked on expressing his thoughts, beliefs, and ideas on different subjects.
After working 3 jobs and blogging part-time as a hobby, he “accidentally” started a Digital Photography blog and discovered AdSense and the Amazon affiliate program.
At one point, he created as many as 20 blogs focusing in different niches and was able to go full-time in 2005.
Now he’s a go-to authority in the world of blogging at ProBlogger.net.
6. Pat Flynn
Blog – SmartPassiveIncome.com
Pat Flynn’s story is one of the greatest in the industry
Once upon a time, he worked a 9-5 job at an architecture firm and loved the work he did.
He started studying for an advanced degree, but was bored making notes and flashcards, so he decided to use a blog instead.
However, the economic crash in 2008 forced his company to let him go, so he had no job, a family to provide for, and a blog of architecture notes that didn’t seem relevant anymore.
Or was it…
He found out his blog was getting crazy amounts of traffic from other architectures who were studying for the same exam.
Long story short, he organized his notes, created a product from it, and sold it on his blog.
He made a killing.
Now he has a podcast, creates niche sites, and teaches others how to do the same.
7. Neil Patel
Blog – Quicksprout.com & KISSMetrics.com
Facebook
Twitter
Neil blogs at Quicksprout.com and is the co-founder of Crazy Egg, Hello Bar and KISSmetrics.
Neil was a first generation Indian in America and saw entrepreneurship all around him growing up. This rubbed off on him.
He tried many things growing up – selling burned CDs, reselling automotive part, and even going door-to-door selling Kirby vacuums.
Eventually he got into internet marketing and creating software that tracked and analyzed data for businesses.
He is now working on growing KISSmetrics into a billion dollar company.
His biggest words of wisdom, “You don’t have to be rich to be happy. You just need to love what you do.”
8. Rand Fishkin
Blog – Moz.com
Ever heard of Moz? Yes, well it’s time to meet the owner of this awesome blog.
Rand reigns over the search engine optimization domain in the internet marketing world.
He started by lurking on the major SEO forums, and now he’s an addict of search and social on the web.
Moz initially started in 2002, and after a decade it has turned wildly successful.
9. Seth Godin
Blog – SethGodin.com
Seth is quite an authoritative figure in the online marketing world.
He is an American author, entrepreneur, marketer, and public speaker.
He stresses over the need of having an honest marketer and consumer relationship in order to possess an effective marketing style.
He is the author of 16 popular books including Purple Cow and All Marketers Are Liars.
10. Mark Hoversonmark-hoverson
Website – LifestyleDesignNetwork.com
Name almost any authority figure in the internet or network marketing industry, Mark Hoverson has probably worked with them.
From broke, qualifying for welfare, and having neighbors buy his family groceries, to earning over $10,000,000 (yes, million) in 5 years.
He is a master at direct response marketing and founder of many entrepreneurial movements, such as the Lifestyle Design Movement and LIMITLESS, a program designed to build up young entrepreneurs.
11. Matt Lloyd
Blog – AskMattLloyd.com
Matt built his own startup company, MOBE, out of his bedroom in Perth, Australia which has gone on to do over $50 million in revenue and has over 100 staff employed around the world.
He made his first million online at the age of 25 and is now an 8-figure earner who runs the most premier home business company in the online marketing space.
On his blog, he answers daily questions from internet marketers on how to start, run, and grow an online business.
12. Eben Pagan
Blog – EbenPagan.com
Eben is an American entrepreneur, author, and speaker, best known for teaching dating advice under the stage name – David DeAngelo.
He’s widely known for his brand Double Your Dating, but he has started 10 successful businesses from scratch.
He teaches personal productivity, business strategy, marketing techniques, money psychology and wealth creation on his website.