Starting Friday, August 24th (I almost wrote 'May' ... what's up with that?), my good blogger friend, Mary Schmidt, will be contributing to this blog on an occasional basis. Mary is one of the smartest women bloggers I know - she writes at Mary's Blog and always gets me thinking out of the house, or box, or backyard, or whatever term you like; the point is, Mary doesn't echo the rest of the world - she shares her thoughts and insights on the world of business in a new millennium - with a lot of relevant advice that will help you in your quest to get in front of the most wealthy group of people on the Internet: women. Like me. And her.

So, in the best marketing to women online focus, I give you a bio on Mary Schmidt:

Mary grew up learning small business from the inside since both her parents were entrepreneurs. One of her first jobs, while in high school, was in a “Mom and Pop” Mexican food café. Then, after working her way through college, she learned her own hard lessons, in big companies and as  an entrepreneur herself. That’s why Mary loves working with start-ups and small business owners – she knows from real-world experience just how hard, fun, maddening, and exhilarating it is to have your own business.

Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Mary held staff and management positions in business strategy, product management and marketing for several global corporations, including Verizon, NEC, Nortel, and Unisys. Her last “real job” was Director of Strategic Alliances for a technology services start-up. As a marketing troubleshooter, her clients have ranged from a two-man software start-up and Habitat for Humanity to major corporations such as Mitel/Gandalf and Hewlett Packard. Big or little - no-tech, low-tech, high-tech - they share many of the challenges. She also works with nonprofit clients to leave the world a little better than she found it.

According to what she's told me, Mary does her best to live according to a favorite Oscar Wilde quote, “Life is too important to be taken seriously.” Stay tuned for her first blog post this coming Friday.