Mari Smith › Comments

"Hey Steve - thanks for your viewpoints. For sure valid and useful! I think social media could easily be called people media. Copywriting, speech communications, email marketing, online marketing, customer service, etc. etc....anything that touches PEOPLE, are all an integral part of social media. As Erik Qualman cites in his new Social Media ROI video, "social media touches every facet of business and is more an extension of good business ethics." This blow-up of late has been most instructive. By overlooking the, um, "difficult" personalities, there are some gems being shared and we are listening at ISMA. ;-)" - Mari Smith

"Yes, for sure - ISMA will benefit tremendously from the collective feedback. Though some aspects of it were tough to stomach at the time (!), there really have been some excellent suggestions for improvement... including retooling the title. ;)" - Mari Smith

"Ah, thanks Jason - what a lovely thing to say. Indeedy, I agree wholeheartedly about the "serving the community well" assessment. Whenever I do my talks and get off stage - I imagine you'll agree as a fellow speaker - the strokes are lovely and feel good at the time... but they don't really help us to grow and become even better. It's when folks provide constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement, that real growth can occur... provided we take action. ;)" - Mari Smith

"Thank you, Whitney. I appreciate your props." - Mari Smith

"Thanks heaps for the tweetout and your kind words here, Mary. You've summed it up in one phrase - "if you have a market who values your training." Not only that, but time will also prove that the market for our grads will value the training they received. It's early days yet... but I have time, and patience, to deal with the naysayers and fencesitters. It's a brave new world and we're shaping social media together, collectively, collaboratively... nobody "owns" this space. As one of my mentors T. Harv Eker says, "How you do anything is how you do everything" ~ Kudos to Jason for publishing an intelligent post on this topic. My respect for him as an SM leader has elevated even further as a result." - Mari Smith

"Jason, your thoughtful post is such a valuable contribution to this industry discussion. I think one of the challenges with the "concept" of social media certification is folks make assumptions that anyone could just go through a course, hang up a piece of paper and start consulting. But it takes in-the-trenches experience to make a solid, credible professional... in any industry. It's results that matter, not the piece of paper. So you have a Catch22 - similar to when you leave school and go get a job: the prospective employer insists you must have experience. How do you get experience without a job? At ISMA (and my Mentor with Mari program prior), our students, graduates and instructors form teams, collaborate and work with real clients to gain tremendous collective experience and real case studies. Each individual draws on their own area of specialty and experience in related industries. We are fortunate to work with many high level clients in this way and produce significant,..." - Mari Smith

"Well, of course I agree, Olivier. ;)Certification, it seems, will always be a polarized topic ... certainly in social media.You mention "we" and "us" so many times here - why don't we collaborate, crowdsource, create community? Build something powerful than any single person could ever do so? I hope you know my and Mark's intent with ISMA was never to provide the "only" organization and most definitely not to make this about one or two individuals. I wonder if we'd approached you many months ago to be on our Board of Advisors where this whole conversation would be now?! LOL.Frankly, I think it's a good thing the industry-wide discussion is unfolding.(And, if I wasn't so busy leading training programs and doing speaking engagements - you know, working - I might spend more time commenting on your other blog post. LOL!)" - Mari Smith

"Hilarious!! I love it – thanks for the comic relief. Of course there’s somewhat of a serious undertone, but hey – great writing style, Damien!! I may even send my peeps here." - Mari Smith

"Olivier et al,Per our Twitter exchanges, here is my initial response to your points in this post:First, I intentionally held off adding a comment here as I felt the tone of the post (including title and image) were unnecessarily harsh. For those who know me well, my natural disposition is extremely positive - even when dealing with challenging situations. But I did not wish to be drawn into what initially appeared to be a destructive discussion as opposed to constructive.I believe constructive feedback is one of the most profound ways to grow as a human being and as an organization. But, I feel strongly about doing so in a civil, respectful and professional manner. The very nature of social media is transparent - and, as leaders, surely we can conduct ourselves with good manners.1) The history behind the birth of ISMA:What's missing is the backstory which I'll elaborate: I first entered the SM world around May 2007, when I received an invitation to participate on the alpha team of a..." - Mari Smith

"OOeeee, I HEART Souplantation!!! Awesome post, Casey and I love creative social media initiatives that really involve the customers like this and build on the existing community and brand loyalty." - Mari Smith

"Hey Rhys – fun post!! I’m a mega fan of blinging up tweets. LOL! For PC’s, I often refer peeps to http://alt-codes.net – keyboard shortcuts rock. For Mac’s, on your Browser: click View > Special Characters to open a pop out that you can simply copy & paste for tweets, Facebook updates etc. And for both Mac and PC a fun bookmarklet is available at: http://thenextweb.com/2008... Wheeee – let the bling run free!!" - Mari Smith

"Excellent compilation – completely agree with your choices, Ritu!! I’d add new social media online magazine, http://socialmediaexaminer.com by Michael Stelzner. I also like http://readwriteweb.com and http://marketingprofs.com – though not exclusively social media, they definitely include cutting-edge SM posts. And along with Nick O’Neil’s allfacebook.com, Justin Smith’s http://insidefacebook.com is excellent. (I’d include my whyfacebook.com if I blogged more frequently, lol!!) Cheers, @marismith" - Mari Smith

"Totally genius!! I’m so getting this for all my preso’s! Thanks a mil for the headsup, Olivia! (presumably the computer has to be connected to the internet!) cheers, @marismith" - Mari Smith

"Olivia, what a delight to meet you!! I just came here from Jeff Hurt’s blog post about you and your fab book, and I’d like to express my gratitude to you!! Your generous 62-page ebook with NO optin is an incredible gift. What a demo of moving the free line – and uber packed with very useful info for anyone who ever gets in front of a group, live or virtual!! Thanks a million. Two thumbs way up!! @marismith" - Mari Smith

"Neato!!! Awesome inspiring post with many great suggestions. Hmmmm, I’m off to implement a few. Thanks heaps, Debra!" - Mari Smith

"Heheee - I love your humorous style, John!! :) I'm going to link to your post here from my 21 Keys to Profitable Relationships, as remembering (and using) people's first names is actual Key #1!!! Your advice is sound across all social networks - when I was first building up my Facebook friends, I would take a similar approach to what you're suggesting insofar as I'd actually read the person's profile and find something we had in common or unique that I complimented them on. It's amazing how far that personal touch goes, eh! :)" - Mari Smith

"You ROCK, John!!! Ohhh my, I'm truly honored to be among your Five Fab Femmes of Social Media ... heheee!!! Really great getting to know you a bit more via Twitter and Facebook. I love your branding - who wouldn't want to hang out with the Helpful Guy! :)" - Mari Smith

"OMG Gareeeeee -- my heart is full and I have tears in my eyes just looking at the pics in this slideshow. What a beautiful thing to inspire and empower our youth with your awesome book!!!" - Mari Smith

"Chris, this ROCKS. I love the simplicity yet power of the ARC Method. And I’m thrilled to see you teach other bloggers how to unlock their inner blogging genius!! You go guy!" - Mari Smith

"Excellent post, Coree!!! There are so many creative ways to let people know about events via social media – I love what Warren says that there will always be more people who wish they could’ve attended, so involve them via social media!! I find events I attend that don't encourage (or even - gasp - allow) tweeting are just not the same at all. I LOVE to be able to share nuggets and live-tweet a really good keynote to share with my followers so they can attend vicariously! I find it's also a great way to retain the content better because I have to pay super close attention." - Mari Smith

"Really excellent post, Nathan!! I think now, more than ever - with social media being so prevalent and the fact we live in an attention-based era - learning to make *best* use of each 24 hours we're blessed with is truly a fine art. I love your ABC system here and the very valid points you make about the importance of focusing on what you love and what you're really good at and just outsourcing the rest!! I like to think that by outsourcing I'm also helping others to bring their gifts and talents to the world too as we all love doing different things! :) (Having said that, learning to let go and trust and allow myself to be fully supported is a work in progress for me!!)" - Mari Smith

"Lisa – kudos for taking a stand and speaking out!!! Oh wait, that’s what you do. hehe!! Seriously, I’m right there with ya on the part about not being able to add my $0.02. It’s the #1 reason I’ll rarely ever use the new Twitter RT feature. I’ve gotten into the habit for some time now to add my comment in [square brackets] at the end – otherwise, I think it makes the RT kinda bland. Like, “here’s something I found but I can’t be bothered making my own comment” and just tossing it into the pond. So, granted, we can choose to RT the “old-fashioned” way (heh!)… ;) @marismith" - Mari Smith

"Oh dear, Alan – the only begging I’ll do is begging to differ. LOL! We obviously do not know one another well at all. I absolutely adore my community and love it when they support me. My relationships are reciprocal. Many upstanding members of the online world request votes/nominations – in fact, Mashable encourage this with their blog badges etc. Um, I notice you don’t include a last name or link to your blog/site? I’m curious if you’re one of my twitter followers – do you actually read my tweets? Facebook updates? I’m guessing not. Mari Smith´s last blog ..Thinking Of Running A Contest on Facebook? Think Again!" - Mari Smith

"Yay, Naomi!! The Facebook fan page to Twitter app is one of my faves - especially if you can phrase the update with a "cliffhanger" effect in the middle so peeps can't help but click through from Twitter! :) A few others I would add: for sure have a link to your fan page URL in your email signature file, ezine, blog, website, Twitter background and business cards. Also, securing a username definitely helps with cross-platform branding and memorability... http://facebook.com/username - just takes 25 fans to secure. :) I know you have one + also your own domain! OH! And another innovative fave - peeps can join your fan page by SMS!! Just text "fan yourusername" to 32665 (FBOOK). This works for anyone who has their cell registered with Facebook - which is a LOT as so many folks use Facebook on their mobile devices! :)" - Mari Smith

"woohooooo – I heart SocialToo forevah!! hehe Mari Smith´s last blog ..Thinking Of Running A Contest on Facebook? Think Again!" - Mari Smith

"woohooooo – I heart SocialToo forevah!! hehe Mari Smith´s last blog ..Thinking Of Running A Contest on Facebook? Think Again!" - Mari Smith

"Many thanks for your kind reply! Ya, very good point about what we call in the coaching business “referent power.” That is, because of how powerful Mashable are, there is an inherent definitive seal of approval, as you say. I’ve come across (and been included in) a few “top dogs” type lists – for want of a better name. LOL. And the manner in which some of these leaderboards get created just makes me very uncomfortable wearing it as any kind of badge of honor. …it’ll be interesting to see what happens next in phase two of the OPA’s. Mari Smith´s last blog ..Thinking Of Running A Contest on Facebook? Think Again!" - Mari Smith

"Many thanks for your kind reply! Ya, very good point about what we call in the coaching business “referent power.” That is, because of how powerful Mashable are, there is an inherent definitive seal of approval, as you say. I’ve come across (and been included in) a few “top dogs” type lists – for want of a better name. LOL. And the manner in which some of these leaderboards get created... more... - Mari Smith

"Hey Shéa – oh fellow Brit. Very interesting post indeedy. Many of the nominations are causing a few raised eyebrows for sure – just like last year’s Shorty Awards on Twitter. (Though I ended up being the top nominee for that, I stopped participating completely for the voting round when it transpired some peeps were buying votes using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. To want an award that badly is beyond me). As you point out, promotions like this can be a big free-for-all, and it seems lotsa folks are taking advantage of the way Mashable set up the voting – the ability to submit one per category per day and submit anyone. So, yes, there does seem to be some questionability as to the real validity of these nominations. For more effective validity – given everything’s all out in the open anyway – all we need to do is look at people’s results, including their Twitter/Facebook/SM activity in general and what they’re up to in the SM world, how they’re really making a difference. Chris Brogan is..." - Mari Smith

"Hey Shéa – oh fellow Brit. Very interesting post indeedy. Many of the nominations are causing a few raised eyebrows for sure – just like last year’s Shorty Awards on Twitter. (Though I ended up being the top nominee for that, I stopped participating completely for the voting round when it transpired some peeps were buying votes using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. To want an award that... more... - Mari Smith

"w00t!!! Garrreeeee - yeppers, engagement is the name of the game. And you are the epitome of CARING with a PASSION. I love what Frank Eliason says (@comcastcares) - the #1 thing peeps have in common who are waaaaay successful in social media and in applying/integrating social media is PASSION. That is, not just passionate about their company, product, service... but, more importantly, PASSIONATE about CUSTOMERS." - Mari Smith

"Fantastic, Terry!! Thanks for your kind words. Good luck with the Nov 20 event - I'll attend in spirit, k?! :) hehe" - Mari Smith

"Hi Owen - I just stumbled across you via @KimSherrell. You sound like a way fun guy. SO sorry to hear of your sad loss today of your poppa though. My goodness, read your tweetstream and just cried. Thank you for being so authentic (which @KeithFerrazzi says is just a "gussied up word for 'raw'"). You are amazing. Sending you much love and blessings during this uber difficult time. Mari ♡" - Mari Smith