Named By Forbes: Top 25 Marketing Influencers To Watch In 2017

What a humbling experience.

Forbes recently released a list of 25 Marketing Influencers to watch in 2017.

Seeing my name next to the industry experts I look up to and study is amazing. These are the people I learn from, the ones I consider to be masters of their craft. 

In the past year, I feel like I have really found my stride as not just a digital marketer, but an artist, author, and thought leader.

What's funny is that I never set out to be a "digital marketing expert."

The whole reason I got interested in digital marketing was because I wanted to know how I could share my story with the world. How I could promote my book, Confessions of a Teenage Gamer, without selling out to a big publishing house. I wanted to know how I could get into public speaking, how I could build an audience for myself, how I could "go my own way," so to speak.

And of course, along the way, as I learned how to do it for myself, I realized I had learned the art of digital marketing.

Or, as I like to call it, the art of Personal Branding.

I truly believe the best digital marketers are the ones who do it for themselves, first. 

The real thought leaders aren't found at "social media networking events." They aren't the ones who put the word "expert" in their bios but haven't shared any new content in two years. 

The people who speak from experience and actually possess valuable knowledge are the ones who hustled their way, starting at the bottom.

I built an Instagram following of over 20,000, from scratch.

I became a Top Writer on Quora for two years straight by writing content every single day.

I have had work featured in every major publication because I grinded my face off. I studied every publication and what content they shared. I studied the best content writers. I wrote hundreds upon hundreds of blogs, for free. I chalked it all up as practice. 

So the fact that I now find myself on a list of Marketing Influencers is somewhat ironic, since it never really was my intention to be known as a "marketing influencer."

All I wanted was to share my story with the world.

I suppose that's just called marketing.

If you want to share your own unique story, if you want to build an audience, if you want to share your work, your passion, and become a true thought leader, then learn from the ones who have done it for themselves, first. 

To contact me directly, shoot me an e-mail: cole@nicolascole.com