Tired of those laundry lists? These are recommendations, not just retweets…

Here were the instructions:

Come up with a list of people you recommend for follow friday. Make a list of people you really interact with and a short blurb about why u follow them. 140 chars per description max.

@mosquitohawk #followfriday

#1
I follow @RavenJon because he has an awesome SEO toolset (@RavenTools) & is an all around nice guy with sharp spidy sense.

#2
I follow the hip @JoannaLord because she’s witty, has great taste in music & is a great contributor of social media & search knowledge.

#3
I follow the brilliant @steveplunkett because when he talks SEO tactics, you better be taking notes. Where does he get those great tidbits?

#4
I follow @jrcornthwait – He’s king in the land of HTML emails (& has good taste in food, design & isn’t afraid to call it like he sees it).

#5
I follow @carondelet of the Brute Squad because there’s always something to be said for someone who can exchange obscure movie lines w/ you.

#6
I follow @lookadoo because she cares. I also can’t wait to meet her in person at some future conference. Smart, motivated & entrepreneurial.

#7
I follow the ever-present @ShanaTweeting because she’s a social media guru and always has good insights, blog posts and thoughts to share.

@steveplunkett #followfriday

I follow @kimsherrell because she is an intelligent person who adds value to your twitter stream.

I follow @cyandle because he is my twitter homie.. #seo #ppc

I follow @zerbetron because she’s got that Boom Boom Pow and she is a fellow webmaster chair dancer.

I follow @melyssatweeting because she has a good brain.

I follow @jackleblond because he’s a good man, no b.s. yet open minded, good sense of humor and sometimes he even posts some cool recipes.

I follow @mandaotto because she is real and smart, and an amazing artist.

I follow @martinbowling because he has a great sense of humor, he’s quite intelligent and crafty.

I follow @lookadoo because she is a great friend, a good voice of reason and wisdom.

I follow @mosquitohawk because he has a good sense of humor and an interesting viewpoint.

I follow @dannysullivan because he is the walter cronkite of SEO.

I follow @blueyedmuse because she is smart, funny and tweets good stuff.

@zerbetron #followfriday

#followfriday For the best in geekery & nerddom, I recommend @geekgirldvia. She’s smart, funny, & knows enough about BSG to be dangerous!

#followfriday A nerd in search of love? Worry not! @geeksdreamgirl helps nerds & geeks find their perfect match. Super nice and lots of fun

Interested in SEO & Social Media? Follow @cyandle. Great guy and he’s always got fun and exciting things to say. He rocks! #followfriday

If you do SEO, & you’re not following @steveplunkett, you should get your head checked! He’s an SEO Jedi Master. #followfriday

@MichelleRobbins is a SEO smarty-pants, BSG nerd, super smart cookie & all around nice gal. I love her tweets & you will too! #followfriday

@lookadoo #followfriday

Learn all you need about Online Reputation Management & best practices in online marketing from @andybeal. His training classes kick it!

Get blogging, WordPress, SEO & many tech tips from @DazzlinDonna. Donna’s stream is like tapping into a business marketing coach!

Just received my autographed copy of “What Success Takes” by @garrettpierson! I had the honor of reviewing his book, changed my approach!

I am in debt to @pageoneresults for 2 hours of his SEO consulting time! I’m wiser & now broke! “Web Standards” should be his middle name.

Friendship & geekship combined, @professor is the genius behind @Blogsville. Don’t miss out on this blogging lineup!

@GlobalFusion is more than a specialist in Spanish SEO, he’s a thought leader. Admire his wisdom, approach & ethics in SEO.

I’ve learned a lot about using Social Meda sites from @BrentCsutoras. He knows the insides of StumbleUpon, Reddit, Digg! Add SEO, too!

The Social Media Queen is @TheNanny612! Don’t tell, but I have a #girlcrush on her!

Obsessed w/the science of search, @SEOdojo speaks to SEO geeks & wannabe-gurus! Reading his newsletter is on my TO DO list!

One of the youngest & earliest prodigies I’ve followed is @PluginID. He knows how to make money blogging & will show you how, too!

I started reading Barbara Rozgonyi @wiredprworks before Twitter. She’s become a friend and PR mentor!

If I had children, I would homeschool using Montessori lessons by @loribourne. I met her on SEOmoz & the friendship optimized from there!

Forget music! I tune in to the latest in search marketing on @WebmasterRadio @BrascoAtWMR is more than a radio genius! <3>

Get the latest analysis in search from @BruceClayInc by listening to @SEMSynergy every Wed! They translate SEO into understandable tidbits.

@Remarkablogger shares blogging, tech & SEO tips. His insights convinced me to learn Thesis, so here I am with a new theme to learn!

@martinbowling #followfriday

@oilman cause he always has some wild adventure

@persianwiki providing a great look at what’s really happening on the streets of iran

@oncee IT Manager in Charleston, WV always tweets awesomely helpful info

@jordankasteler has awesome insight to using social media in creative and new ways

@davesnyder it’s BIG DAVE nuff said :)

@rfr an incredible gifted designer, he <3′s>

@mandaotto #followfriday

@graywolf
a great go-to for all things seo

@tonyadam
all around great yahoo guy

@cshel
another very smart seo gal

@shanatweeting
great social media expert

@melyssatweeting #followfriday

@VegasWill
A great follow. Tweets all signal and no noise.

@FoundByPat
Super Dad. Really relevant tweets. Exceptional wit.

@StevePlunkett
Everything’s bigger in Texas – including his brain and the strength of his tweets – fun follow.

@cyandle #followfriday

@sspencer – his presentations always provide so much information for the audience…

@rustybrick – one of the top bloggers in the IM industry..

@dannysullivan – the father of seo; and always keeps his tweeple up-to-date..

@copyblogger – one of the top bloggers in the IM industry..

@oilman – always willing to help out other when it comes to learning new IM stuff i.e. paid links..

@StoneyD – always provides in depth posts regarding IM checklists..

@katemorris – great at PPC…

@yoast – always on top with his wordpress plugins..

@TheMadHat – can make a mean bacon explosion..

@streko – king of the porkroll..

@melanienathan – she knows her linkbuilding..

@davidmihm – great at teaching us local search..

@theGypsy – great at keeping us up-to-date on patent info..

@shanatweeting – even though she’s a mega phillies fan you can tolerate her.. :)

@professor – great at development work..

@davesnyder – knows his social media…and likes to cuddle from what i hear..

@graywolf – if i need a mean cake he could do it..

@Pamela_Lund – if you need custom USB flash drives she can hook u up..

@sugarrae – knows her affilaite marketing stuff..

@BrentCsutoras – knows his social media…

@andybeal – great online reputation mgt expert..

@brianchappell – knows his social media & online reputation mgt..

@yummyman – great at teaching us local search..

@lookadoo – a great all around person to follow..

@pearsonified – thesis king..

@bbille – always willing to help a brother out..

@pageoneresults – sphinn’s worst nightmare..

@JoannaLord – knows her PPC..

@wiep – master link baiter..

@GymJunkies – can pump u up..

@steveplunkett – mad IM scientist..

@martinbowling – great at development work..

@SmokinManBBQ – it always tastes better when the smokinman’ cooks it..

@itcn – can develop some great stuff..

@styletime – great at designs and wordpress..

Yesterday, a Twitter friend asked if anyone knew where to get mass-produced souvenir key chains he could brand with his logo that had a 24-hour turnaround time.  A quick Google search later and I had found a company who offered such a service so I sent him a message on Twitter with the companies URL.

Today, while in the midst of many other things, I received a reply message from who else?  The company I had recommended.

They obviously monitor Twitter for mentions of their url, brand and direct messages about them and respond as appropriate. Their response to me was a surprise, but it made an impression and I’m sure I’ll remember them in the future if I need swag to advertise an awesome new website (or other business venture).