First, huge props to my awesome coauthor, Chris Treadaway—it’s a delight to
team with you, and I look forward to a long and lasting friendship! I’m also grateful
to the exceptional team at Sybex (big virtual hug to Willem Knibbe!).
A special mention to my wonderful mentors, teachers, and friends, all of
whom have directly or indirectly helped shape my successful career in the social
media industry over the past several years: John Assaraf, Jim Bunch, Jack Canfield,
Ali Brown, Lorrie Morgan Ferrero, Alexis Martin Neely, Ann Handley, Joel Comm,
Ken McArthur, Yanik Silver, James Malinchak, Fabienne and Derek Fredrickson,
Adam Urbanski, Lisa Sasevich, Carrie Wilkerson, Kevin Nations, Larry Benet,
Nick Nanton, Scott Martineau, Chris Knight, Gary Goldstein, Ellie and Charlie
Drake, Kim Castle, David Tyreman, Scott Hallman, Gary Gil, Greg Habstritt,
Peggy McColl, Stephanie Frank, Stefanie Hartman, T. Harv Eker, Bill Glazer, Dan
Kennedy, David Finkel, Rick Calvert, Dave Cynkin, Dan O’Day, Paul Lemberg, and
Declan Dunn. Thank you for your support, your friendship, and the opportunity to
speak on your stages and contribute to your peeps!
I am also indebted to my business partner, Mark Eldridge, and our team at the
International Social Media Association—Lyn-Dee Eldridge, Elsom Eldridge, Tripp
Eldridge, Sica Martin, and all our founding members and grads of Mentor With Mari.
A huge acknowledgment to my friend and social media partner, Michael
Stelzner—it’s a true joy to collaborate with you. Thank you for the opportunity to
contribute my best Facebook posts to your subscribers!
I’d also like to thank these social media professionals whom I admire
greatly for leading with heart, soul, and integrity: Chris Brogan, Guy Kawasaki,
Gary Vaynerchuk, Jeremiah Owyang, Charlene Li, Brian Solis, Lee Odden, Pete
Cashmore, David Armano, Erik Qualman, Liz Strauss, Jason Falls, Jay Baer, Dave
Kerpen, Louis Gray, Loic LeMeur, Jesse Stay, Nick O’Neil, Laura Fitton, Sarah
Evans, and Beth Kanter.
My deepest gratitude goes to my spiritual mentor, Esperanza Universal, who
opened a door for me and changed my life forever in the spring of 2009. To my
dear girlfriends for always believing in and encouraging me: Ashley Mahaffey,
Dorcy Russell, Baeth Davis, DC Cordova, Laura Rubinstein, Amy Porterfield,
Angie Swartz, and Deborah Cole Micek, aka @CoachDeb (you encouraged me to
write a Facebook how-to book for years!)—I heart you all!
Finally, my dear Facebook and Twitter community—I am blessed to be con-
nected to you.
And, if I missed anyone, it was unintentional—send me a tweet or write on my
Facebook Wall, and I’ll happily acknowledge you!
—MariAbout the Authors
Chris Treadaway is the founder and CEO of Notice
Technologies, a provider of local, real-time advertising platforms
for newspapers, television, and technology companies. He is also
managing director of Ultrastart, a social media consulting firm
that has consulted for major companies such as Microsoft, Land
Rover, Wiley Publishing, and the City of Austin, Texas. Prior to
his work at Notice Technologies, Chris spent almost four years at
Microsoft Corporation where he was the group product manager
for web strategy in the Developer division and the business lead
on the first launch of Silverlight. Chris has worked in the Internet
marketing field for more than 15 years and in three start-ups—
Cruising Speed, Infraworks, and Stratfor.com, where he built
the company’s first portal, which was profiled in Time Magazine and other international publi-
cations. He has an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA from Louisiana State
University. He blogs regularly about entrepreneurship and social media issues at http://treadaway
.typepad.com and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ctreada.Mari Smith is the president of the International Social Media
Association, an organization dedicated to providing cutting-edge
social media resources, training programs, certification classes,
and a collaborative community. FastCompany.com dubbed Mari
“the Pied Piper of Facebook,” and ClickZ named Mari one of
the 20 Social Media All-Stars. Mari is an in-demand interna-
tional social media keynote speaker and trainer, and she runs
her own vibrant social media consultancy specializing in help-
ing business owners, authors, and celebrity clients increase their
profits with Facebook and Twitter integration. She has a popular
Facebook fan page at http://facebook.com/marismith, blogs at
http://marismith.com, and is very active on Twitter at http://
twitter.com/marismith.569641ffirs.indd 10 3/23/10 1:41:59 AM