Schmoozing 101

My friend Sage Vivant sent me a link to Guy Kawasaki's blog post on the art of the schmooze. Kawasaki is a local business luminary and now that I'm sort of interested in business, at least in terms of book promotion, I'm finding his advice helpful and not as foreign as I would have a year ago!

I like his emphasis on the follow-through email after you meet someone and his idea that helping others is part of schmoozing rather than just looking to what you can get for yourself. I really enjoy being able to help people within the limits of my low-wattage beam. Heaven knows we could all use some more kindness in the world and truly connecting with readers and other writers is a genuine pleasure for me. The numbers and dollars are frankly distasteful.

My husband took a seminar with Kawasaki a few years ago and the piece of advice he remembers is that you should always be nice to the administrative assistants. It's surprising how many people aren't. Then again, in our myopic world, maybe not so surprising.

Here's to schmoozing! Especially in hotels :-).