Disqus - Friends of peterstmartin

Re: Timothy Ferriss and The 4-Hour Workweek

Mari Smith — Sun, 27 May 2007 15:55:04 -0000

Ray - I can hardly thank you enough for recommending Tim Ferriss' book to me on our call last week! This book has *already* changed my life, and my copy hasn't even arrived yet! :) I've ordered the CD actually, so I can listen everywhere over & over. Tim's concepts are off-the-charts brilliant. I'm spreading the word about this new movement!

BTW, others may enjoy the excellent interview Yanik Silver did with Tim at http://www.surefiremarketin... - it's jam-packed with useful nuggets!

Thanks again, Ray, for all you do! You ROCK! :)

Cheers,
Mari Smith

Re: How to Do The Impossible: Create a Paperless Life, Never Check Voicemail Again, Never Return Another Phone Call…

Mari Smith — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 03:20:06 -0000

BRILLIANT! Tim, you are my new guru - LOL. My hubby and I just sold our beach home in San Diego (after 14 months on the market, I might add)... and we've decided to sell off all our belongings, buy an RV, and take a sabbatical (mini-retirement!) for 6, maybe 12 months or more! We've got our sites set on Alaska... then the whole of Canada & US. YAH! Sooooo, this blog post on going paperless was perfect timing - we're getting set up with all these fab resources. Thanks a gazillion!! (And we're busy devouring your book and CDs too!!) - this is totally changing our lives. :)
Cheers!
Mari

Re: About Mari

Mari Smith — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:02:49 -0000

Way to go!! Living your dream, eh? :)

Re: Top Ten Signs You’re Addicted To Facebook

Mari Smith — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:30:11 -0000

Way cool, Connie!! I just threw up this blog the other day and haven't officially 'launched' it yet. LOL. My pleasure to give you and Heidi a plug - you two deserve it. :)

I look forward to meeting in person soon enough... at the http://webcommunityforum.com event in Seattle, if not before!

Pssst, I'm just putting the finishing touches to my online Facebook intro class called "Facebook Fortunes" -- should be live within the next 48 hours at http://facebookfortunes.com.

Rock on!!

Re: Facebook for Marketers – It’s A Perfect Platform!

Mari Smith — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:23:20 -0000

Thanks for your comments, Jennifer & Jon. Glad to meet you in cyberworld! ;)

Re: About Mari

Mari Smith — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 01:55:57 -0000

Tee-hee, thanks heaps, Christine! :) When it all adds up, the mobile lifestyle costs are way cheaper then rent or mortgage! Hubby and I are both fairly frugal... I'll be keeping tabs on that gas as we progress.

Love your blog too.

Re: Facebook Launches Newsfeed Rating System

Mari Smith — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 22:20:32 -0000

At first I wasn't sure I'd be able to decide which to x and which to check, as I tend to skim everything.

But, as I went through my Feed, I found a bunch of stuff I've no interest in (like who's giving whom a gift, or news related to apps I don't have and don't care to add). So, we'll see - hopefully this nifty new instant feature will clean up the "visual noise" a bit.

Re: Happy Thanksgiving!

Mari Smith — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 23:16:33 -0000

Huge thanks to you too, Nick!!! I look forward to meeting you soon at the WCF event.

BTW, have you seen this awesome Thanksgiving video made by Sherman Hu: http://areyouthankful.com - it's really well done. ;)

Re: Small Businesses And Social Media

Mari Smith — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:42:36 -0000

Awesome post, Chris. Beautiful jewelry!!

My mom reads my blog and Twitters. Though she's on Facebook, she's a tad scared of all the news stories and privacy issues. My step-dad is about to retire and launch his woodworking hobby into a home-based business. They'll have a website, but I doubt my folks will do much with social media. Craft fairs are more appropriate for their marketing.

And that's what I believe it all boils down to: marketing. Each medium has its pros and cons. I love Facebook, but wouldn't use it exclusively.

Re: FTC Complaint Being Filed Against Facebook

Mari Smith — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:36:14 -0000

Ooooo, yes please - a global opt-out like, er, yesterday!

With the eyebrow-raising Facebook publicity of late, Mark would do well to implement such a welcome feature asap.

Re: How Do You Spend Time on Facebook?

Mari Smith — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:43:05 -0000

Almost all time is spent meeting and greeting people: making new friends, maintaining budding friendships, & seeking/responding to new ones. Sometimes it's overwhelming - just can't respond to everyone.

Plus, I like to find one or two useful resources to share with my peeps.

I too find FB a black hole, though - so I try to limit myself to one rabbit hole a day and, invariably, I end up with a stellar contact or resource as a result.

Now, to monetize all this!! :)

Re: You Won’t Win Friends With “Facebook Friend Bomber”

Mari Smith — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:36:28 -0000

Oh gawd, what a bunch of croc! Sadly, I think this is just the beginning of a slew of crappy products like this that scores of gullible people - with more credit on their credit card than sense - will actually purchase. Tragic.

I dug around to find who's behind this thing: Knox Crosdale (with a mere 53 FB friends) who calls himself Doc Hollywood. Sorry to see he also has a bunch of other similar products.

The whole "mass" thing takes away the purpose and intent of social media - to build relationships... real ones, not pseudo ones with complete strangers. Ah, hello? It's called spam.

(I did watch one of the sample videos and was amused to see the disclaimer at the bottom: "Important: Stealth Friend Bomber is intended only as an automated way of promoting yourself or band. In no way should it be used for spam." Hmmm.

Re: Is the Facebook Status Feature Just Like Twitter?

Mari Smith — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:08:31 -0000

Good question. It's certainly very similar. You can install a FB app to synch w/your FB status. (Just search for Twitter in FB).

Personally, I prefer using both for strategic purposes as FB Status is short 'n' sweet, but Twitter allows for (a bit!) more text, hyperlinks, ability to follow/be followed etc.

Re: Is the Facebook Status Feature Just Like Twitter?

Mari Smith — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:08:31 -0000

Good question. It's certainly very similar. You can install a FB app to synch w/your FB status. (Just search for Twitter in FB).

Personally, I prefer using both for strategic purposes as FB Status is short 'n' sweet, but Twitter allows for (a bit!) more text, hyperlinks, ability to follow/be followed etc.

Re: Write A Novel In Three Words

Mari Smith — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:50:49 -0000

I just installed this app and allowed it to publish to my feeds (a rare occurrence, but I was optimistic)... I should've read your post more thoroughly, Nick - about the sexual overtones and cheesy romance novels. Oh well. Maybe some great authors will be born from this app... but, sorry, I'm not holding my breath.

Re: The Power of Comments

Mari Smith — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:17:26 -0000

I tend to disengage from blogs that don't allow commenting. If I'm going to take the time to read the post and, if I find I have something to say in response, I love to post a comment. I really don't get Seth's logic at all.

(Though I tend to agree with Jenn about reading all comments before adding your own - there just isn't enough hours in the day to do so. I need to go back and review the section in Tim Ferriss' book on speed-reading!)

Chris, your new blogging concept is brilliant! Such a win for everyone - along with synthesizing the voices and perspectives of your community, it'd be like collaboratively raising visibility.

Re: PSA: How to Respond to a Facebook Wall Post

Mari Smith — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:07:33 -0000

Hear, hear!! Well done on alerting the newbies about Wall-to-Wall - it's kind of a duh, but I suppose some folks don't quite understand it.

And poking?! Euch! I have a zero-tolerance poking policy. LOL

I'd say my own pet peeve is frivolous app invitations, especially from people I don't know personally. (Ok, it's my own damn fault for adding them as friends).

Re: Video: Guy Kawasaki: Future of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Truemors, Twitter, and Hockey (4:42)

Mari Smith — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:51:04 -0000

Really well done, Jeremiah! Loved the location. Great questions.

2008 will be a very interesting year for marketers... I'm eager to see how Facebook evolves as more professionals come on board. Hopefully we'll see more apps to advance business and productivity.

Re: 5 Ways to Network in the Real World & Be Fabulous!

Mari Smith — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:52:42 -0000

Good ideas here, Jon. However, I'm a little shocked by #3 - sorry to be so judgmental, but can't say I even want to network with anyone who smokes. (I admit, though I'm a Canadian-born Scot, I've become completely Southern-Californiaized!)

I'm a total social bird - love it online or off. At in-person functions, I like to find out what the person I'm talking to needs, and see if there's a person or resource in my network I could connect them with.

Re: Will Facebook Become the Leader in Social Commerce?

Mari Smith — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:27:51 -0000

I agree w/the online shopping revolution.

In addition, a revolution in marketing: targeted marketing, relationship marketing, attention marketing.

I think, now more than ever, the small biz owner has access to the same opportunities as bigger companies. Facebook will transform how we do business in '08 and beyond. It already has for me.

Re: Email And Cellphone Contacts Are The Real Social Graph

Mari Smith — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:00:55 -0000

Hear, hear! :) "Nearly every causal business relationship becomes more substantive through email communication" - I totally agree. I have multiple email addresses (use Outlook), plus Gmail, plus use Facebook email extensively. PMB's are ideal for starting meaningful conversation, which can lead to phone chats, and in-person meetings. It's all about the relationship!

(BTW, I think that's casual, not causal?)

Re: Internet Marketer Hit By Car

Mari Smith — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 23:19:59 -0000

Wow, Michel - thanks for the heads up. This is so tragic. I didn't know Julie before now, but have sent her a special note. Whew, we never know how precious life truly is until a wake up call like this comes along. I hope Julie makes a full and speedy recovery.

Re: Profile Clean-up Tool Coming Soon

Mari Smith — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:45:10 -0000

Oh, yes please!!! I agree with Leon. The is great news for me as an active professional on Facebook. I've "nexted" some profiles if they take too darn long to load. And I think all the frivolous apps just make profile pages look trashy.

Sure, I feel for app developers, but let's face it I didn't get that making an app was the holy grail of FB... yet anyway.

Re: Who is a Public Figure?

Mari Smith — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:56:32 -0000

Yikes - sounds like a big fat gray area of the law to me. I'm of the belief *anything* posted online is for public viewing. However, that does in no way, shape or form provide permission for others to create false identities, profiles or comments.

What a tragic case - I hope the authorities take appropriate action. If the teacher is completely innocent, sounds like a tough one to clear. But if there's an iota of doubt... well who knows.

Re: 5 Starter Moves – Facebook LinkedIN and Twitter

Mari Smith — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:08:40 -0000

I'm reading Seth Godin's latest masterpiece "Meatball Sundae" - I think it's all too easy to get swept away in the latest buzz and trends without stopping to seriously consider the implications and whether these online utilities are the right tool for business.

For me, I'm a huge fan of Facebook... and I deliberately limit my activities to strategic relationship-building ones without engaging in the fluff or noise, as I call it. I'd say I'm using Facebook more like LinkedIN is designed to be used - for professional networking.

Used correctly, Facebook provides a real opportunity to increase visibility, establish a brand, and connect with key contacts... including customers. But you have to have a strategy going in. I've attracted over 400 students into my online class "Facebook Fortunes" that I teach on a FB app, Podclass. People are hungry to know how to use this platform effectively!