The 2015 Online 18

In 2014, I compiled a list of the promotional products industry online influencers. I used my knowledge of industry people to identify possible influencers and ranked them by their Klout score to help reduce my "bias." Unfortunately, I missed a few people. This year's list includes Klout score as a minor factor, but I (along with input from 2014 influencers) used other criteria to select and order the list.

This list is not perfect and there are many reasons that people are included (or excluded) and ranked where they are. I sought input from a few influencers to reduce my bias while at the same time, including what I personally find valuable. See the bottom of this post to see the key criteria I used to generate and organize the list.

The following 18 people are contributing to a meaningful online community and influencing thought leadership in and outside the industry. Each of them is worth following on Twitter and engaging on other social-media sites. Klout scores are in parentheses.

Here is your 2015 Online 18:

1. Danny Rosin - @dannyrosin (64)
2. Paul Bellantone - @Bellantone (61)
3. Kirby Hasseman - @kirbyhasseman (68)
4. Catherine & Mark Graham - @heymarkgraham (47)
5. Jon Norris - @jnnorris (53)
6. Jeff Solomon - @FreePromoTips (58)
7. Bobby Lehew - @bobbylehew (45)
8. Michele Bell - @ASI_Mbell (41)
9. Dana Zezzo - @danazezzo (66)
10. Danette Gossett - @MarketngTidbits (48)
11. Bill Petrie - @billpetrie (63)
12. Charity Gibson - @licensetoswag (36)
13. Bruce Perryman - @EUINC (54)
14. Steve Woodburn - @SteveWoodburn (51)
15. Denise Taschereau - @dtaschereau (43)
16. Jason Lucash - @jasonlucash (46)
17. Megan Erber - @MeganErber (61)
18. Sonya & Brian Beam - @sonyabeam (45)

My apologies to people that I inadvertently left off or where my judgment was not perfect. Even with the imperfections, these people are the #Online18 of 2015 and worth engaging with online and offline.