One of the *best* parts of my job is meeting (virtually) wonderfully wild web people who make a meaningful contribution to the World Wide Web.  Through the Wild Web Woman Linked Group (a stellar networking group for professional web woman of all industries and job types), I connected with Sharon Mostyn, Social Media Maven, Blogger, Mom and Mega Wild Web Woman.

When I speak and teach, I often get asked “what should I blog about?” or “who are examples of bloggers that do it right?”  and I find myself referring women like Sharon as perfect examples.  I refer reader to her Motherhood, Marketing and Medical Mayhem blog.  The theme is clear, her subtheme (Collaborate, Create, Communicate. It’s an alliteration thing) is fun and funny AND her content is spot-on.  I found myself on her blog for a looooong time (healthy addiction!) and was so excited when Sharon agreed to be interviewed for our blog so we could all gain some “webdom” from her.

Enjoy learning more about WMT’s recent Positive Role Model and Wild Web Woman!!!

Meet Web Marketing Positive Role Model and Wild Web Woman – Sharon Mostyn, Blogger, Social Marketing Maven and Mom

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
Analytical, responsible, perfectionist.

What online social media platform are you most addicted to?
Although Facebook is a close second, I’m definitely most addicted to Twitter! It’s an amazing resource for gathering information – whether it’s finding out about the latest current events, sharing links from my Twitter friends, participating in conversations during Twitter chats, or crowdsourcing an idea, I can always find something of interest on Twitter.

Please share a professional phobia or obsession….confession session!
I’m a numbers junkie. Even after more than 20 years in direct response marketing, I could still be content to spend all day calculating key performance indicators (KPIs) like return on investment, conversion rates, cost per action, etc. I’ll take as much time as necessary to make the numbers match and figure out what can be done to improve them. Nothing makes me happier than when they are all trending in the right direction!

What is your favorite word or phrase?  Why?
“Nicely done.” It was something that my son’s first lacrosse coach would tell the boys when they outperformed his (always high) expectations. It explains so many situations…and the more I get to use it, the better I like it!

What do you believe successful “wild web woman” traits are?
A)    Thought leader – a wild web woman leads the way with innovative ideas
B)    A good listener – a wild web woman listens to internal and external customers to determine what she needs to know
C)    Willing to try new things – testing is a fundamental part of the web and wild web women are not afraid to test new ideas
D)    Brave – when the testing doesn’t go as planned, a wild web woman doesn’t waste time being upset, she resolutely scrutinizes the results until she has a plan to turn a potential failure into success

How do you indulge yourself (every once in a while!) to stay healthy and balanced?
The tagline of my blog is Motherhood, Marketing, and Medical Mayhem and once you get to know me you’ll realize that keeping everyone healthy is often asking a bit much! With that said, spending time with family and friends helps to keep me balanced. My daughter forces me to indulge myself with the occasional trip to NYC, or to the spa, shopping, or even just a quick outing for ice cream/dessert! It’s our one-on-one time together with no deadlines, no pressure, and more often than not, no boys (meaning my husband and son)!

What are the top three most vital marketing ingredients that have helped you become the professional you are today?
1)    A good work ethic
2)    Analytical mindset
3)    A good system for continuous improvement – benchmark, test, analyze, optimize, repeat
8.    Where do you find inspiration to continue growing your business?

When you are faced with a setback or an enormous business challenge, what do you do to keep moving forward?
Just keep swimming { http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266543/quotes } – after a setback you’ve got to assess where you are, then determine how to make your situation better, and do what has to be done to get it resolved and improved.

Who is your personal role model? What about this person do you truly admire and aspire to?
I have so many amazing professional role models, it’s impossible to choose just one! On a personal level, my role model would be my husband. He is one of the hardest-working people I know (both at home and at work), he never lets anything get him down, and he complements all of that by being a good friend and an amazing husband and father.

What has been your biggest achievement recently that you are proud of?
(See attained goals below…)

What are your goals for this upcoming year?
I’ve already attained so many goals this year and it’s only half over – gathering more engaged Twitter followers than I could ever imagine { http://twitter.com/sharonmostyn }, becoming the Marketing moderator/editor for the #SMchat Twitter chat { http://wthashtag.com/Smchat }, speaking at a MarketingProfs event with the most amazing people { http://www.marketingprofs.com/events/11/speakers }, guest posting on a blog
{ http://www.marketlikeachick.com/passion-in-marketing/ }, being part of an online life experience project { http://the3six5.posterous.com/may-3-2010-sharon-mostyn } – I’m working on some new projects that will take up a good deal of time, so my goal for the rest of the year is to make sure I don’t forget the important things by focusing on the big things.

What is your ideal work outfit?  (The Team at Web Marketing Therapy works in our PJs whenever we can, what about you?)
My ideal work outfit is a t-shirt, jeans or shorts, and sneakers. My long-time boss told me once, “I didn’t hire you for how you look or what hours you work, I hired you to get the job done correctly, before the deadline, and under budget.” I worked for him for more than 20 years and he never once complained.

What is the ONE web marketing best practice that you would share with other Web Marketing Therapy readers?
Listen first. Listening is a skill that’s important both online and offline. It’s vitally important to listen to what people are saying to you and about you. Not only can you actively listen (and then interact) via social media channels, you can passively listen too, via Google Alerts or other monitoring platforms. In the same way you “listen” to body language cues, you can “listen” to what your web analytics are telling you by reviewing them daily and making changes in your site’s user experience.

Sharon – thank you for being such an inspiring wild web woman.  Readers – to learn more about Sharon, start by visiting her social media nucleus (her blog!) on http://sharonmostyn.com/.

To connect, collaborate and communicate with like minded professional web women (whether you’re a marketer, entrepreneur, webmaster, designer, business owner, student, non-profit or just love the web) you can network with Wild Web Women for virtual support, jobs, advice, Q/A, inspiration, education and more by joining the Wild Web Woman Linked Group.

Web Marketing Therapy Related Links:

• Featured Wild Web Woman Wednesday Interview with TV and Web Series Writer, “The SlackMistress” (Part Two)
• Featured Wild Web Woman Wednesday Interview with Shelly Kramer (Part Two)
• Featured Wild Web Woman Wednesday Interview with Small Business Expert Amy Swift (Part Two)
• Featured Wild Web Woman Interview with Social Media Guru Gail Helmer