Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Blog: Phyllis Zimbler Miller Author, page 50

How Important Is Your Social Media Profile Photo?

If you ask me this question, I'll reply that your photo is very important – and that many people are missing the boat in this area.

I check out people's social media profiles all the time. And I am always amazed at the absence of any photo or the presence of a photo that is basically useless.

For example, I'm the owner of the "Book Marketing" group on LinkedIn. Although I switched this to an open group, LinkedIn sends me requests to join when people have zero or only a couple of connections.

I looked at one such author's photo and had to squint to figure out what the photo was of. I finally realized it's a tiny black and white photo of a woman's head lying on something.

Yes, the author is also a photographer. But if she wants people to respond positively to her photo, she would be better served to choose a photo in which her face is front and center.

And no photo at all is worse. As social media is about creating relationships, it's hard to create a relationship with a blank space where the photo should be.

If you are using social media to create relationships for your business or your career, do consider what photo is best for your profile rather than just uploading any old thing (or nothing at all). If you're going to spend time creating relationships, first spend time on your photo.



You know the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words." Make sure your thousands words are effective.

© 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder with Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaic on Twitter) of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.

Phyllis and Yael work with companies to help them use social media effectively to connect and engage with their current and prospective customers.

For free reports on social media, see www.millermosaicllc.com/miller-mosaic...

Miller Mosaic Social Media Marketing

Promote Your Page Too

Social Media as a Change Agent for Businesses

I am always looking for ways to help heads of both large and small businesses to understand how important using social media is for the future of their businesses.

In thinking about this subject, the term "change agent" popped into my head. This is a term used a great deal in business books although the definition can be a little vague.

Here is my own definition of social media as change agent:

Effectively using social media such as Twitter, a Facebook Page, LinkedIn, a YouTube channel and blogging:

Provides business with the opportunity to change their relationship with their customers and prospective customers from that of advertising their products and services to that of sharing information that makes customers connect with these businesses.



Let's take an imaginary example:

Suppose you have a vitamin business and for years you have been advertising in local newspapers or national magazines or any of the other advertising methods that cost money.

You are sending out your message about your vitamins and you may know how many "impressions" your ads get. But do you have any ability to engage with your current and prospective customers?

Now imagine on your company's Facebook Page (NOT a personal Facebook profile) you feature a "customers share" contest. You invite customers to upload to YouTube a 1-2 minute video about one of your vitamin products.

Then each week you use random.org to choose a winner. (Yes, you can anticipate that the better the prize the better the response.)

Now for the cost of the prize each week you're creating an information campaign on YouTube and an information campaign on Facebook. Plus people can "like" the videos on YouTube and on Facebook, pushing the video links into their Facebook news feeds where their Facebook friends can be exposed to the videos.

In addition, people can comment on the videos, providing an opportunity for you to engage with these people. And, again, this comment engagement goes into the participants' Facebook news feeds.

Of course, your company website prominently features this Facebook Page contest. Your site home page could even feature the winner each week along with the person's winning video.

Now you have used social media as a change agent to change your outreach efforts from advertising to engagement. Which method do you think builds more trust and loyalty with current and prospective customers?

© 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder with Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaic on Twitter) of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.

Phyllis and Yael work with companies to help them use social media effectively to connect and engage with their current and prospective customers.

For free reports on social media, see www.millermosaicllc.com/miller-mosaic...

Explaining Social Media for Business on One Foot

The relatively new social media site Quora.com focuses on asking and answering questions in different topic areas.



I've been answering questions in the social media area, and a recurring question (couched differently by different people) is how to get across social media for business in a few minutes or with one site or with one brief explanation.

Although dependent on the specific question, my answers have centered on the concept that social media cannot be explained in a few minutes (the equivalent of explaining while standing on one foot).

The power of harnessing social media for business has to be experienced over a learning curve until people who are committed to grasping the power reach their individual aha! moment.

For some people this aha! moment comes on LinkedIn; for others with Facebook Pages (formerly called fan pages and incorrectly called fan pages by an article in the May 19th Wall Street Journal).

Then there is the challenge of Twitter, which is trickier than it appears at first and more powerful than it appears at first.

One social media question on Quora asked which site a business should start with. The first person who answered the question said Twitter.

Although Twitter is currently my favorite social media site, I disagreed and recommended LinkedIn. This professional social media site provides the opportunity for a business person to showcase his or her credentials in an interactive resume format. Then once the person's profile is established, a company profile can be added as well as company products and services.

One person contacted me directly through social media to say she is reluctant to create a Facebook Page for her business. Given the huge numbers of people worldwide on Facebook, I cannot imagine what her reluctance is.

The same Wall Street Journal article that mislabeled Facebook Pages featured how retailers are creating stores on Facebook itself.

This prompted my business partner and I to use the static html app to create a "store" tab for our social media videos on our newest Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/millermosaicsocialmedia (see "3-part how-to social media video series" on left-hand side of the Page under the logo photo).

If your business is not yet taking advantage of the opportunities on social media, what is holding you back? Trust me, your competitors are on social media.

And if you want step-by-step help with setting up an effective Twitter profile, see the Miller Mosaic FREE report at www.MillerMosaicPowerof3.com with step-by-step explanations.

© 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.

Get the free information "8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes" and "Social Media Marketing Does Not Magically Work; You Have to Work It" at www.facebook.com/millermosaicsocialmedia

Websites and Blogs: Jumping From the Frying Pan Into the Fire

I spoke to a business owner whose hosted website was on Blogger. She was very pleased that she was starting a new website on WordPress.

I asked her what the the URL of her new site was. She told me — and it included wordpress.com

"You're getting another hosted site," I explained to her. "That's WordPress.com. You're not getting the self-hosted WordPress site that is built on WordPress.org."



"There are two WordPress?" she asked. "Yes," I said, "and it is very confusing."

Recently Yael and I were contacted by someone who had decided to build her husband's self-hosted WordPress site herself using one of the StudioPress themes. Now we recommend these themes, but they are not easy to setup. The woman emailed us that the tutorial videos were not for beginners. And she's right.

For people who do want to install WordPress.org themselves, Yael provided instructions in her guest post for BookBuzzr.com titled "If You Have a Book You Need a Website (You Can Update Yourself)":

If you want to install WordPress yourself, here are the written instructions from WordPress.

Even though old and the video quality isn't the greatest, these videos (should) still be correct:

Create A WordPress Blog From Scratch – Part 1 to 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

The only difference is that now you can pick the admin username. For security reasons, don't use "admin."

In conclusion, be careful you don't fall into the hosted trap by not knowing the difference between a WordPress.com hosted site and a WordPress.org (usually written just as WordPress) self-hosted site.

And if you're a book author, read Yael's entire guest post now.

© 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are the co-founders of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC. They also build self-hosted WordPress websites for clients.

Making Excuses for Not Effectively Using Social Media

I'm reading Marshall Goldsmith's book "What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful." And I've just gotten to the list of 20 "flaws performed by one person against others."



Number 12 is "Making excuses." And I was reminded of this during a Direct Message exchange on Twitter between someone who had just followed me. We'll call him Leonard.

His Twitter bio includes social media. I checked out his Internet marketing company website, where I was surprised to see the prominent prompt "Friend on Facebook." I clicked on the link and it went to a Facebook Page, which people "like," and not to a Facebook profile, which people "friend."

Thinking to save Leonard from embarrassment, I sent a Direct Message (note I did NOT publicly tweet) recommending he change this prompt.

This is his Direct Message response: "That's intentional. Technically you're right, but peeps 'friend' each other on FB all the time, more than "like"?"

When I gently suggested that this might undercut people's belief that he knows about Facebook, he DMed back:

"Created that before Pages were big deal. What's a 'like' without friendliness? Too common!" And he included a link to a blog post about engaging on social media.

All I could think of was Goldsmith's book and "making excuses."

When I was first starting on social media, I was thrilled when someone told me about an error I had made, and I would immediately correct it. Obviously Leonard thinks he's right, but I think his response was simply a case of making excuses.

© 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.

Get Miller Mosaic free reports on effective social media.

I Will Not Write a Fluff Piece for ABC

Without going into the reasons for now, it's fair to say that large entertainment companies have been late to the social media marketing table.

Now these companies are beginning to expand their social media presence, and, as I predicted in my blog post Social Media Could Aid Ashton Kutcher's Success on TWO AND A HALF MEN, social media's impact on the success of a TV show may start to become very evident.

Initially I was pleased, as a Technorati blogger, to receive the email today offering the opportunity to blog about two fall 2011 ABC shows – the remake of the TV show "Charlie's Angeles" and the new show "Once Upon a Time" — with accompanying preview videos.

I clicked on the video for "Once Upon a Time" and watched a 2:07 minute trailer. The email from Technorati also provided a synopsis plus a cast and credits list.

And I'm supposed to write a blog post based on this info? Heck no!

If ABC had provided the entire pilot, that would be different. But to write what amounts to a press release about a new show?

To further check out ABC's social media efforts for "Once Upon a Time," I clicked on the Facebook Page link and the Twitter profile link included in the email. The Twitter profile at this writing (several hours after the Technorati email) has two tweets, 0 following and 33 followers.



Twitter tip for ABC: If you want people to be interested in your Twitter profile, it's a good idea to first follow people who might be interested in what you have to offer.

And then I discovered the "Once Upon a Time" video is not a special video for bloggers – it is the same as the one available on ABC's page for the show.

(The info for "Charlie's Angels" is just the same.)

Bottom line? ABC has a long way to go to effectively use social media if this email is any example. And until ABC truly shares on social media, I'm not writing any fluff blog posts to promote their new shows.

© 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.

Get Miller Mosaic free reports on effective social media.

Social Media Could Aid Ashton Kutcher's Success on TWO AND A HALF MEN

Ashton Kutcher joining the TV show "Two and a Half Men" is being discussed all over the Internet. Will his joining the cast save the show?

But I think something important is missing from the articles I've read: How much Kutcher's active participation on Twitter could help his acceptance on the show.

The May 14-15 Wall Street Journal had an article by Sam Schechner titled "CBS Takes Gamble on Kutcher." The article described the success, or lack of success, of other substitutions of main characters on popular TV shows.

Here's the important point that the article left out:

None of the other TV shows cited took place in the era of social media. But Kutcher has a huge following on Twitter – 6,728,979 at the moment I write this – and his participation preceded Charlie Sheen's jump on Twitter to further Sheen's media circus rant.

Even the Daily Variety in its May 13 article by Andrew Wallenstein titled "Half Is Whole Again" didn't truly appreciate this huge Twitter following. The last two paragraphs of the story read:

"The actor also has a busy side career as an investor in digital-media properties. And he has established himself as a Internet star of sorts, with more than 6 million followers on Twitter.

"With TV nets increasingly involved in harnessing the forces of social media for marketing to younger audiences, that massive following is an added bonus for CBS."

Yes, this is an added bonus for CBS and one that should definitely be figured into predictions of how well the show will do with Ashton Kutcher.

But what's also important to realize is that social media marketing is NOT just to younger audiences. In fact, in the case of Twitter, one might make the case that the audience is actually older.

I base this on a social media marketing talk that my business partner and I gave to a UCLA freshman class this week. Of the 20 students, only one young woman was on Twitter (and she was the only one on LinkedIn) while all 20 students had Facebook profiles.

Regardless of who makes up the over six-and-a-half million followers Kutcher has on Twitter, his active participation on the social media site could have a significant impact on the chances of the show doing well when he joins it.

Social media has changed the world in so many ways, and making an easier transition for a new lead into an ongoing TV show may just be one of these ways.

If you want to know what Kutcher tweets, you can see his tweets at http://twitter.com/aplusk (the white checkmark means that this is a verified account).

And if you want recommendations on an effective Twitter profile, get the Miller Mosaic free report at www.MillerMosaicPowerof3.com or get this free report as one of several free reports at www.millermosaicllc.com/miller-mosaic-free-reports



© 2011 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.

Get the free information "8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes" and "Social Media Marketing Does Not Magically Work; You Have to Work It" at www.facebook.com/millermosaicsocialmedia

What's in a Username?

When Yael and I spoke to a freshman UCLA class on using social media for their research projects on Sub-Saharan Africa, I realized why so many people make mistakes with their usernames for Twitter, Facebook profiles and LinkedIn profiles.

Of the 20 students, only one young woman was on LinkedIn. And she was the only one already on Twitter. Of course all class members were on Facebook.

Shakespeare may have said a rose by any other name is still a rose. But if you are using social media to connect with people who might be interested in your brand, book, cause or business, you need to make sure you are using your username correctly.

Here is the username playbook so that you don't get in trouble with Facebook or LinkedIn:



Facebook: When you join Facebook, you first must set up a personal account. Under Facebook's terms of services your profile (where people "friend" you) must be in your own name and not your company's name – or Facebook can dump your account without any warning (unless you're a special exception).

Once you have a personal account, you can create a Facebook Page (formerly called a fan page) under whichever name or title you want and people can "like" your Page.

LinkedIn: When you join LinkedIn, you first must set up a personal profile with your own name – not your company's name. (That's why your profile is under the search tab PEOPLE.)

Then you can create a company page (under the search tab COMPANIES) if you have an email address that is NOT hotmail, etc. but is what I call a professional email.

Twitter: Here's the difference between Twitter and the above two social media sites when it comes to usernames:



When you join Twitter, it is perfectly acceptable to create a Twitter username that has nothing to do with your own name. Twitter usernames can be brand, book, cause or business names.

But – and this is important – I highly recommend you put your real name in the NAME field of your Twitter profile settings. This way, when people check out your Twitter profile to decide whether to follow you, they can know the person behind the account.

And this goal of establishing a personal connection is why, for many brands, it is better to use a headshot than a logo for your Twitter profile.

Regardless of what Twitter username you choose (and the username can be changed), people are still more likely to connect with the photo of a real person rather than a logo.

If you want more recommendations on an effective Twitter profile, get the Miller Mosaic free Twitter profile report or get this free report as one of several free Miller Mosaic reports.



© 2011 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.

Get the free information "8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes" and "Social Media Marketing Does Not Magically Work; You Have to Work It" at www.facebook.com/millermosaicsocialmedia

Keeping Track of Who You Are Online: A Tale of Amazon and Social Media Sites

Some days it is especially hard to keep track of who you are online. And this is certainly true when sites you think you are already on turn out to present a different story.

Here is what started me thinking about this:

The May 2011 Kindle Direct Publishing Newsletter had this note in the left-hand sidebar:

To create Author Pages, set up a profile for each site where your books are available:

Amazon.com

Amaon.co.uk

Amazon.de

Amazon.fr

Amazon.co.jp

This started me out on a maddening quest:

First, by searching on my name on each site, I found that my books were available on all five sites (U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Japan). So far so good.

But, second, I found that the reviews my books had received on the U.S. Amazon site were NOT on any other sites with the exception of a review in English on the Amazon Japan site from an American currently living in Japan.

Next, I tried to create an Author Page for each country Amazon site.

My password worked with all but the Japanese site. Presumably I needed to know the Japanese characters for the letters and numbers in my password.

Plus I was able to add my Amazon author bio to the U.K. site. But when I tried to add the bio to the German and French Author Pages I created, I got an error message.

Talk about dealing with a split personality!

Then I read a post by Denise Wakeman about sites that help you consolidate all your social media info and links. Feeling overwhelmed by the multiple Amazon identities, I quickly checked out her recommendations:

Flavors.me

About.me

Itsmyurls.com

Socialbios.com

She said that Socialbios.com makes it "super easy to embed your bio on your Facebook page with an app as well as on your blog." And she added that this service takes "your bio a step further by giving visitors the option to find out mutual connections on the popular social networking sites."

But the thought of adding content to four more new sites after my Amazon wrestling match with four foreign sites was just too much for now.

Instead I decided to write about these four social media consolidation sites and ask Miller Mosaic blog readers to post any comments here that you may have after trying these sites for yourself.

Meanwhile, you may want to read Denise Wakeman's entire post about how many social profiles you need.

© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.

Get the free information "8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes" and "Social Media Marketing Does Not Magically Work; You Have to Work It" at www.facebook.com/millermosaicsocialmedia



And see Phyllis' Author Page on the U.S. Amazon site.

The Eighth Excuse for Not Using the Power of Social Media

This eighth and final excuse of the eight excuses I wrote about for a FastGush.com guest post can keep you missing out on the power of social media forever:

8. I don't know enough about social media marketing to start



Then start reading blog posts and books and anything you can in order to learn. But don't wait until you've learned everything or you'll never start. (Plus no one can learn everything; social media changes too quickly.)

As Yael and I say on the home page of our Miller Mosaic website:

If your business is not yet utilizing social media marketing (or utilizing it effectively), then you need to start doing so right now. In his book THE THANK YOU ECONOMY, Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee on Twitter) says:

"[Y]ou're not going out of business tomorrow if you're not on Facebook and Twitter and blogging and creating content and building community. But the risk that your business will die before its time grows bigger every day that you don't use social media."

The obvious point is that, the longer you wait, the more catch-up you'll have to do.

Right now is the absolutely best time to start if you haven't started (or have only half-heartedly started). The sooner you start the sooner you can achieve the aha! moment when you realize how powerful social media can be for reaching your prospective clients and customers.

Of course, effective social media marketing is helped a great deal by having an effective website to use as your company's home base for your online marketing activities.

Get these Miller Mosaic free reports now to help with these efforts:

• 5 Tips for Overcoming the Fear of Social Media

• Twitter, Facebook and Your Website: A Beginning Blueprint for Harnessing the Power of 3 for Your Business

• 5 Tips for Staying Top of Mind With Your Prospective Target Markets

• How to Monetize Your Site/Blog Without Ads

• 7 Reasons You Must Use Social Media to Promote Your Brand

• Miller Mosaic's Top 3 Internet Marketing Tips

• 7 Tips for Creating a Call-to-Action Website

In conclusion, what are you waiting for? You work hard at your business. Shouldn't you be willing to put in the effort now to help ensure your business will not become a dinosaur?

(You can read all 8 excuses now on FastGush.com.)

Plus read the blog post about the first excuse: "I don't have time to do social media"

The post about the second excuse: "I have nothing to say on social media"

The post about the third excuse: "People in my target market aren't on social media"

The post about the fourth excuse: "I'm not a techie"

The post about the fifth excuse: "I'm not a good speller"

The post about the sixth excuse: "I don't have a professional headshot to use on social media profiles"

The post about the seventh excuse: " I don't know enough about social media marketing to start"

© 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC.



Get the free information "8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes" and "Social Media Marketing Does Not Magically Work; You Have to Work It" at www.facebook.com/millermosaicsocialmedia