Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Blog: Phyllis Zimbler Miller Author, page 60

Embracing Change in Internet Marketing

The one thing that can be said with certainty about Internet marketing is that it will always be changing.

Sites will become popular or lose their popularity, new opportunities will present themselves and work or not work, and innovation after innovation will be announced.

What does this mean for your own company online marketing?



First, let's agree that Internet marketing is a hub with many different spokes – including social media marketing, email marketing, article marketing, blogging, pay-per-click campaigns, etc.

Second, we can also agree that you do not have to participate in every different spoke activity. You have constraints of time, budget, interest, relevancy to what you have on offer.

Third, I'd like to venture that we can agree that there is always room for improvement on what we're doing, regardless of what online activities we're engaged in.

My social media marketing partner Yael K. Miller and I are always looking for ideas on how to revise what we're doing. Instead of feeling threatened, we embrace the opportunity to tweak elements on our website, our service offerings, or anything else of ours.

I started out in my adult life as a journalist, and getting feedback on how to improve a news story became second nature. Instead of taking the critique (not criticism) personally, I learned to be open to the possibilities of revising.

As December is upon us and people look towards the coming year of 2011, this is a good time to resolve to embrace change in order to better utilize Internet marketing to get in front of – and create relationships with – our target markets.

P.S. Thanks to encouragement from copywriter Cathy Goodwin (@CathyGoodwin on Twitter), Yael and I have revised the home page of our company website. Check this out now at www.MillerMosaicPowerMarketing.com



© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her social media marketing partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media to attract more business.

Sign up now to get email notifications of new posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...

The Mysterious Follow Limits of Twitter

I've done it again – I'm currently not being allowed to follow more people on Twitter even though I follow people individually and use NO automatic software to follow people.

When I try to follow someone I get this message:

Could not follow user: You are unable to follow more people at this time. Learn more here.

The "here" goes to this page: https://support.twitter.com/articles/66885-i-can-t-follow-people-follow-limits



And the most interesting paragraph of the info is the following (my boldface):

Every account can follow 2,000 users total. Once you've followed 2,000 users, there are limits to the number of additional users you can follow. This number is different for each account and is based on your ratio of followers to following; this ratio is not published. Follow limits cannot be lifted by Twitter and everyone is subject to follow limits, even high profile and API accounts.

And while these Twitter statistics can change at a moment's notice, here is my current lineup:

• 6,428 Tweets

• 5,381 Following

• 4,890 Followers

• 208 Listed

I have some options to re-balance my Twitter account. One is to use a software application such as http://www.manageflitter.com – billed as "fast & easy unfollowing for Twitter"

When ManageFlitter connects with my Twitter account, I have various choices to make it easier for me to decide who to unfollow so that I can again start following people.

Whew! Good thing there are escape hatches such as ManageFlitter. What if I had to figure this all out for myself?

Now I just have to spend the time using this application.

Or I can simply wait for the secret Twitter ratio of my account to get back into balance.

I love Twitter. But sometimes the universe of Twitter can seem as alien as anything that Star Trek Voyager ever came across.

© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her social media marketing partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media to attract more business.

Sign up now to get email notifications of new posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...

What Is the Purpose of Twitter?

For my Twitter account (@ZimblerMiller) I do NOT use software that automatically follows back anyone who follows me.

Instead, I look at each person's Twitter account – the photo (or lack therefore), the bio, the recent tweets, and often I click on the hot link – before deciding whether to follow back.

And what I very often see is someone who does not understand the power (or purpose) of Twitter.

Speaking to a prospective client who is already on Twitter, I tried to politely explain that the company was not using Twitter for the site's most important purpose.

Somewhat annoyed at what I said, the prospective client retorted: "What is the purpose of Twitter?"

"To establish relationships – and you're selling on Twitter," I said.

Let me say this here as clearly as possible: Twitter is NOT about tweeting every single product in your catalog, one tweet at a time. Nor is Twitter about every tweet announcing what you are selling.

Because it is so easy to start using Twitter and it is so easy to follow people who only tweet sales messages, it is understandable that people new to Twitter often do not know how to effectively participate on this social media site (or actually on any social media site).

There is a very simple participation role on social media: You participate on social media to share information in your field (or fields) of interest – either free information from you or others – in order to connect with people interested in the info you share.

After interacting with these prospective clients or customers, you can occasionally tweet information on your products or services. But your first goal should be to develop personable relationships with people in a way that wasn't easily possible until social media sites came along.

As I've been predicting for the last few weeks, if your company is not effectively active on major social media sites by the start of 2013, your company may be so far behind its competition that your company may never catch up.

But before you jump into participating on Twitter and other social media sites, do spend some time learning about the best use of each site for connecting with your target markets.

© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her business partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media to attract more business.

Sign up now to get email notifications of new posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...

Another New Feature of Twitter With Which to Experiment

Thanks to MG Siegler's TechCrunch post "Twitter Testing A New People Tab: All Your Social Graph Steroids In One Place," I've been trying out the three options available at https://twitter.com/#!/who_to_follow

View Suggestions -- https://twitter.com/#!/who_to_follow/suggestions -- "Twitter accounts suggested for you based on who you follow and more."

Browse Interests -- https://twitter.com/#!/who_to_follow/interests -- "Select the topics you are interested in. Find a few people you want to hear from, then follow them."

Find Friends -- https://twitter.com/#!/who_to_follow/import -- "Search the services you use to discover which of your friends are already using Twitter. Follow any of the friends you find to add their Tweets to your timeline."



Here's the message I got for View Suggestions, which is somewhat strange:

"Sorry, we've temporarily run out of recommendations for you. We're out there looking for more right now. Please check back soon!"

On the other hand, I really like the Browse Interests section.

Here are the categories for interests – and each category has a different number of entries:

• Art & Design

• Books

• Business

• Charity

• Deals & Discounts

• Entertainment

• Family

• Fashion

• Food & Drink

• Funny

• Health

• Music

• News

• Politics

• Science

• Sports

• Staff Picks

• Technology

• Travel

• Twitter

And the Find Friends gives four options:



Gmail

LinkedIn

Yahoo

Hotmail & Messenger

Play around with this new feature if you're on Twitter. (And if you aren't on Twitter, why aren't you?)

But if you find Twitter addictive, set an alarm clock for how much time you'll spend trying out this new feature before returning to higher priority activities.

Yes, Twitter can be very effective in helping further your business. You just want to be careful not to let excessive time spent on Twitter hinder your business.

© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her business partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media to attract more business.

Sign up now to get email notifications of new posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...

The Wrong Kind of Sales: A Tale of Two Bathroom Remodeling Companies

My bathroom needs a new shower stall to replace the badly leaking one. The old one needs to be removed and a new one installed.

I found two ads in a local direct mail advertising supplement (yes, people still read these) and called the first company.

After the salesman took my information, he asked if there was a Mr. Miller. Then the salesman proceeded to tell me that my husband had to be present when the person came out for the free estimate.

I haven't been so offended since the 1970s.

The salesman refused to answer my question about a range for the project. I told the salesman that I wasn't interested in his services if he couldn't give me what I wanted – a simple answer for now.

The next company I called had an answering machine, which I took as a good sign. Probably a mom-and-pop company, which I like.

I got a call back within a few minutes and I explained what I needed. The owner asked some questions, repeated what he understood I needed, and gave me an estimate of what such a project would probably involve. He also told me he would bring the tiles to me to choose so I would not have to go shopping.

And then he asked me if I would like a reference for his work. I replied that I already liked him and I would call the reference if I decided to go forward but that I did not need to call the reference now.

What are the lessons for online marketing that we can learn from this experience?

• First, do not insult the customer's decision-making ability.

• Second, build trust by showing you understand what the prospective customer wants.

• Third, give a straight answer to a question.

What do you think about this experience?

© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her business partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media to attract more business.

Sign up now to get email notifications of new posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...

Why Every Professional Should Have an Effective LinkedIn Profile

I will be the first to admit that, when three years ago I received an invitation to LinkedIn.com, I joined without a clue as to what I was joining or doing.

Three years later I know that any professional who does not take the opportunity of a free and well-written LinkedIn profile is "cutting off his/her nose to spite his/her face."

And this is true whether the professional plans to ever actually make connections on LinkedIn.

Why is this LinkedIn profile so important?

Let's say you are a lawyer. You have written many legal articles for print publications (some with online sites) and you have served on various bar association committees.

If a prospective client were to "google" you, some of these legal articles and some references to you on bar association committees would appear in the search results.

Yes, if your firm has a website your firm profile will be there. But most of these firm profiles are one very long paragraph with rather stilted language.

None of the above provides a well-rounded look at who you are as a legal professional.

What you need is a well-formatted LinkedIn profile that people are used to reading for others and would be able to easily read about you.

By setting up an effective LinkedIn profile, you can offer a range of professional information that will enable prospective clients to quickly learn about you – and hopefully do business with you.

And the good thing about a LinkedIn profile is that you can always add to it and revise it whenever you want. (In fact, if your law firm changes its name – due to a loss or gain of a partner, for example – be sure to change the firm name throughout your LinkedIn profile.)

Be sure to include a good headshot of yourself and choose the option of your whole name appearing on your profile – this is a professional site after all.

Introducing our new "LinkedIn Professional Setup:



If you need help with creating or expanding an effective LinkedIn profile and activity on LinkedIn, consider our brand-new two-hour Linkedin package.



Using gotowebinar.com Phyllis or Yael will actually work on your LinkedIn account while you watch online and discuss what is being setup.

And even if you are not a book author, you might get ideas for expanding your online presence by reading this new guest post at The Cuckleburr Times: "10 Ways for a Book Author to Share Free Content on the Internet"



© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her business partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media to attract more business.

If you found this post informative, sign up now to get email notifications of new posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...

O2O — Online-to-Offline: A Sales Model With Tremendous Opportunities

Yael as a Penn alum and I as a Wharton alum attended an LA event sponsored by the Wharton MBA Program for Executives in San Francisco.

At the event, Wharton professor David Bell presented research on the opportunities of supplying offline products through selling exclusively online.

He talked about diapers.com, which was just bought by Amazon, as an example of this sales model of supplying products for Preferential Minorities.

A Preferential Minority is someone who likes a specific product that cannot be bought in his/her neighborhood or region because enough other people do not want this product to make it worthwhile for area stores to use some of their finite shelf space on which to sell the product.

Therefore, online stores spring up to satisfy the desires of Preferential Minorities found among an entire country like the U.S., for example.

Professor Bell is talking about what is referred to in the world of online marketing as niche markets for products and services.

There may not be a lot of demand for Product X in one city. But aggregating all the demand for Product X across a country may result in a large enough buying market to motivate an online company to supply that demand.

Diapers.com is an example of an online company that did just this for Preferential Minorities of specific diaper brands and other related baby paraphernalia.

How does this O2O model relate to you? It may not. On the other hand you just may have the urge to satisfy a Preferential Minority. You can sell online to satisfy specific offline desires.

And if you are interested in learning about the Wharton MBA Executive Program in San Francisco, check out www.wharton.upenn.edu/mbaexecutive



© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her business partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media to attract more business.

If you are a Preferential Minority fan of this blog, sign up now to get email notifications of social media blog posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...

Companies Should Start Planning Now for Social Media Marketing Campaigns in 2011

Having worked in international marketing for Max Factor many years ago, I am well aware that companies often run through their marketing budgets before year end. This means these companies must wait until the new budget year (often the calendar year) to undertake new marketing initiatives.

But why wait until Monday, January 3, 2011, to start planning to use social media effectively to get in front of your target markets?

Why not do the planning now so that you are ready to hit the ground running when the marketing budget spigot is turned back on?

It is as silly as an ostrich sticking its head in the sand to go on insisting that your company does NOT need to use social media. If you want to still be in business in the year 2013 you will start using social media before then. And the sooner the better.

And here is the important thing when it comes to using social media effectively:

It is okay to say "I don't know how to do this." We don't all have to magically know everything. But we do have to have an open mind to learning and implementing new marketing opportunities.

In preparation for effectively using social media marketing, here are previous blog posts that can help you learn more now:

"Social Media Gives You the Huge Advantage of Personalizing Your Brand"

"How Social Media Can Help Your Company or Organization Make Money"



"How Does Participating on Social Media Translate Into Business?"

And if you found this blog post informative, sign up to get new posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...

© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her business partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media to attract more business.

Take Advantage of New LinkedIn Company Feature

In addition to the well-known LinkedIn profile, you can have a separate company entry on LinkedIn. And LinkedIn has just rolled out a new feature to make the company function more robust.



Here is what to do to take advantage of this new feature:

Sign into your LinkedIn account, change the default search section "People" to "Companies" and search on the name of your company.

If you already have a company page, your company name will appear and you can click on your company name and you will next see the "Overview" tab screen.

(If you do not already have a company page, you will get "0 results found" and you can click "Add a Company" and add your company.)

Click on the "Services" tab and then click on "Add a product or service."

Once you have added a product or service you can start requesting recommendations for this product or service as you previously requested recommendations for your LinkedIn profile.

I particularly like the ability to bring in a video link on a product or service page. (See right-hand side of that page.)

And there is a share feature: You can choose to send an update about this page to groups and/or individuals on LinkedIn. Plus you can automatically send the update through to Twitter (if you already have the Twitter connection on your LinkedIn profile).

Check out our Miller Mosaic Power Marketing service page now and then add your own products and services to your LinkedIn company page.

P.S. As of this writing there is still at least one glitch -- I keep checking the service box and LinkedIn keeps labeling the page a product rather than a service.

© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her business partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media to attract more business.


For more useful social media marketing info, sign up now to get email notifications of social media blog posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...

Book Authors: Are You Benefitting From the Tags of Your Book on Amazon?

I have just learned how important the action of people agreeing with the tags of a book is for promoting a book on Amazon -- thanks to Aggie Villanueva of www.promotionalacarte.com/

Aggie has written an incredibly helpful report explaining about this importance and how to actually do this, as Amazon itself does not make this easy to do.

And Aggie's report is filled with such vital information as that the tags for the Kindle edition of a book have to be agreed with separately.

I don't know why Amazon makes everything so complicated. But I do know that, if you are a book author, for the report price of $2.47 you should immediately snatch up this report. (This is NOT an affiliate link but it is an endorsement link.)

FYI – If you'd like to read more book marketing advice, see my most recent book marketing guest blog posts:

"Why Promote Your Book?"



"Do Your Offline and Online Book Promotional Activities Support Each Other?"

© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her business partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) are committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media to attract more business.

For more useful social media marketing info, sign up now to get email notifications of social media blog posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...