I have the distinct honor of interviewing Mari Smith, the guru of Facebook. She was such a pleasant person to interview. so forthright and giving of some great tips to help all of us with using Facebook to achieve connections.
I hope you enjoy my interview with Mari Smith, the Pied Piper of Facebook
I had purchased Margaret Heffernan’s book, Women on Top (formerly known as How She Does It) because it discusses the topic of how women entrepreneurs can work in any environment and find the ways to gain respect, support and acceptance.
When I read the book, I wanted the opportunity to share with my readers
T: Please give us a bit of background about you (where you grew up, where
you were born, and if you have any siblings)
Born in Texas, grew up in Holland, went to Cambridge University. I have
one sister, 5 years older than myself who is a psychotherapist.
T: For those whom are beginning writers (or those whom wish to write but
are apprehensive, what is your advice?
For years, people told me I should write. I didn’t, because I felt there
was nothing urgent I wanted to say. I started to write when there was
something I had a burning desire to communicate. It is very hard to make
a living as a writer and I don’t think anyone should do it unless they
have that burning desire, a great deal of discipline, and both some
money and some experience of life under their belt. At risk of sounding
highly unromantic, I think the first responsibility of any individual in
the developed world is to be able to support him or herself economically.
T: When did you start writing?
When I worked at the BBC, I did a lot of casual writing – working on
scripts, often writing them or writing bits of them, writing promotional
articles etc. But I started to write full time in 2002.
T: Please let us know your inspiration for the book?
I felt that there were a lot of issues around women’s careers that
weren’t being discussed, that many women and men had become blind to. As
I watched women struggle in traditional corporations, I felt that their
pain wasn’t being acknowledged or taken seriously but that it was
important and trying to tell us all something about the nature of
business today.
T: Can you share a few tips from the book?
1. Take money seriously. If you don’t, you become dependent which is
inherently infantilizing. Taking money seriously does not have to mean
it dominates your life but it does mean you need to understand your own
wants and dreams and that you have to take responsibility for achieving
those. No one succeeds alone, of course. But no one succeeds without
taking responsibility for themselves.
2. Acquire skills. Everyone has hopes and dreams and ideas but nobody
pays for those. With skills, you have something concrete and practical
to offer which means you get taken seriously. Confidence doesn’t come
from pep talks; it comes from achievements. And confidence is
self-generating. The more you have, the more you get.
3. Don’t think that having kids is an impediment. It is only if you let
it be. Most mothers work. Being a mother isn’t a license to quit the
professional world! One of my interviewees put it beautifully. She said
that for both her husband and herself to work was like a diversified
portfolio: it meant that, if one of them became ill, was laid off,
encountered some set back, it wouldn’t be catastrophic. They were equal
partners in the project of their family
T: So, what is on the horizon for you and your writing?
I’m working on several things at the moment. I’ve been commissioned by
the BBC to write 2 plays about Enron. This was my idea (silly me!) and
I’m looking forward to exploring the many issues which that business
disaster raised. The characters are great and the ideas are important.
I’m working on a book about business resilience – why and how some
businesses thrive in volatile times.
And I’m nursing an idea for a novel which I’m afraid to talk about….
T: Here is a question just for fun—what is your favorite food and why?
I guess I’d have to say bread. Which is a shame because I only have to
look at it to put on weight. But I live next door to a farm shop that
sells the best bread in the world.
T: How can others get in contact with you and purchase your book?
Both my books are available on Amazon.com. I always answer emails from
readers and my email address is in both books.
Thank you again Margaret for taking the time to share with us about your journey.
I wanted to provide a quick but valuable tip to help you grow your business.
So here is my suggestion when answering the question, “What do you do?”
*I do believe I did go over the minute mark…by about 8 seconds…sorry.
Here is the link to the Summer Edition of the WE Magazine brought to you by WECAI and Editor in Chief, Heidi Richards Mooney. —click here—>http://www.wecai.org/WEMagazinesummer2008.pdf
I was introduced to Andrea by the association with WECAI. I then went to her blog, The Nierenblog and commented on one of her posts.
I knew that she had a lot of insight about networking however, I didn’t realize just how much until I found out she has written 3 books on the subject: Non Stop Networking, Million Dollar Networking, Savvy Networking.
Once I read some of her blog, I knew I wanted to purchase her books. When I went to the bookstore, I was looking for her book, Million Dollar Networking, however, they only had Savvy Networking. Well, I wanted to have any book by her and once I read the cover, 118 fast and effective tips for business success, I thought, “This is perfect!”
After reading the book (easy read and FULL of tips), I decided to try and contact Andrea. I emailed her to tell her how much I enjoyed her book, Savvy Networking and would love the opportunity to interview her on the subject of networking.
Within 24 hours, I received a pleasant email back from her stating she was glad I enjoyed the book and graciously accepted my invitation for an interview.
Better yet–I received 2, yes 2 interviews with Andrea!
Here is my call with Andrea!
And she was gracious to answer some more questions in this text interview below:
When did you start your business?
I started in 1993. I had been a publisher for a magazine in the direct marketing industry and also had been a Dale Carnegie instructor for 14 years training people on public speaking, selling and communication skills and was also a speaker for many of my clients.
One of my clients- said “start your business and we’ll be your first client’. That lasted 2 days a week for 3 years and I worked with over 500 people at the company and I still work with many in different companies now.
It started to mushroom….
Please tell us what The Nierenberg Group is all about? We are a consulting business specializing in Presentation, Speaker and Selling Skills. I teach people ‘the art of networking’ to grow your business both as a training session that can be up to two days or a keynote speech where I talk about the 5 Everyday Networking Drivers for Success.
I’m an author of 3 books on Networking and Relationship Building and I speak around the world and with clients ranging from high end jewelry to NASCAR!
What made you wish to start your business? I love the challenge that you can create something and build on it everyday. I also practice every principle and skill that I teach from negotiation to time management to relationship building. I love connecting people and truly enjoy the challenge of learning and creating every day.
What would be your 3 top networking tips to let others who are new in business for themselves?
*Listen—don’t just hear–LISTEN!
*Follow up on Everything–even if you are rejected–make sure to thank them for their time
*Set a goal to realize that ‘networking’ is really a word for ‘life skills’–strive everyday to do one thing a bit different or better and grow from every opportunity.
What is the one subject that you would like to know more about either in business or in general? I have so many–however one that I study continually and you can never know too much is the stock market and international economics.
And what is next in the upcoming year for Andrea Nierenberg and The Nierenberg Group? Keep putting one foot in front of the other–grow-challenge to be better and we are getting ready to launch a brand new website with an on line store, new programs and products.
Here is a fun question just for fun sake. What is your favorite color and why?
I LOVE Fuscia! It is different, fun and makes me always stand out–which I like! 
In September, the Women’s eCommerce Association will celebrate its 5 Year Anniversary and Women’s eCommerce Days. We are planning a REALLY BIG event around the theme, “How to Grow a Million Dollar Business.” WE already have a lineup of exceptional speakers ~ including Tom Antion, Loral Langemeier, Andrea Nierenberg, Nicola Cairncross, Margaret May Damen, Kim Lavine and more. If you are interested in being a sponsor, email heidi@wecai.org.
If you would like to showcase your business all you need to do is donate a PRIZE to be given away(value of $15 or more) during the 3 day festivities and link to the event on your site/blog. Please email Teresa Morrow of Key Business Partners at keybusinesspartners@gmail.com and provide her the following information:
Showcases will take place on Friday and Saturday – times TBA.
Yesterday, I attended another wonderful eWednesday Chat and the special guest was Linda Ware, Author, Speaker and Coach.
Linda talked about Power Goals – the Power of Written Goals. She says that the action of writing the goals down is more effective in seeing them completed because you have taken the ACTION to write them down. She went onto to say, it is imperative to write the goals in such a way in order to ensure you will complete the goals.
She ran the attendees through a exercise where we stood up, closed our eyes and with a outstretched arm with pointer finger to the side. We were asked to turn our bodies as far as we could in the direction of our arm (I had my left arm directly out from my side with my pointer finger pointed outward) so I moved to the left. Then we were asked to open our eyes. Linda said, “Ok, see where your finger is pointing. Now, look about 1 ft further and come back to the beginning. Now close your eyes again and visualize what was the place at 1 ft further away. Do the exercise again and see where you ended up.
Well, low and behold when I did this…I did in fact end up 1 ft further than I had the first time. And that is the power of possibilities. We can go further many times than we think we can. It is about realizing it and then doing it.
It was a great exercise and had a great impact on me.
So when you are writing your goals—-choose them with positive and affirmation points. For instance, Linda gave this example “If you are trying to lose weight. Say to yourself each day. Today, I am lighter then I was yesterday. I am losing weight everyday. It is abit more powerful then I will….
It is placing the emphasis on I am TODAY doing this and have accomplished this, instead of the future of completing something.
If you would like to receive more information regarding Linda Ware’s programs such as Power Goals, you can visit her website.
Thank you Linda for wonderful presentation.
