Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Blog: Phyllis Zimbler Miller Author, page 62

The Limitations of Facebook (Business) Pages

I've been having an email exchange with a businessperson about the Miller Mosaic Facebook (Business) Page. (This type of page was formerly called a Fan Page; now it is just a Page, although some people still call it a Fan Page.)

I emailed him to get his reaction to our new Facebook Page photo – you can see it in the top left-hand corner at www.facebook.com/powermarketing and do "like" our Facebook Page – and he replied with some questions about this type of page.

His biggest concern was the news feed in the middle of the page on the Wall tab. He wanted to know why we didn't add specific types of content to this part of the page. I explained that the type of content he suggested had to be added to a separate tab.

I also explained that this news feed is central to Facebook, which, as Yael pointed out, was started as a way for college students to connect with their friends and see the updates of what their friends were doing.

Yes, having a Facebook (Business) Page has limitations because of Facebook's formatting. But to ignore 500 million (and growing) Facebook users worldwide is somewhat short-sighted.

That's why at Miller Mosaic Power Marketing we always tell clients that an integrated social media strategy is needed. The basic ideal, in our opinion, is your own website plus effectively participating on Twitter, a Facebook (Business) Page and a LinkedIn account.

Each one of these spokes of an integrated social media hub has its own strengths – and, yes, its own weaknesses. Implemented with a well-executed strategy these different spokes can form a very strong hub.



For a FREE report on how Twitter, Facebook and your website can work together, visit www.MillerMosaicPowerof3.com

And if you would like help developing and implementing an integrated social media strategy, see our Quick Start Social Media Track at www.millermosaicllc.com/social-media-track

© 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 social media blog posts at www.millermosaicllc.com/get-miller-mo...

Board Member Connect Exemplifies the Power of Social Media to Do Good

David Lewis sent me a message through LinkedIn asking if I would consider filling out a profile for his new project Board Member Connect.

I checked out the site and then immediately filled out a brief profile because I thought this idea such a good one.

The basic premise is that people who would like to help out a nonprofit organization by serving on the org's board can fill out a profile at Lewis' site. The profile includes your skills as well as the type of nonprofits for which you would be most interested in serving on a board.

Then the nonprofits who sign up at the site get access to the prospective board member profiles.

At the moment there are only board prospects in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Michigan. But the project has plans to expand to other locations.

Check out this new project now at http://boardmemberconnect.com/ and you can follow David Lewis on Twitter at @BoardConnect

© 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. See their Quick Start Social Media Track.

Good Idea to Read Facebook's Terms to Avoid Being in Violation

If you've been participating on Facebook actively for a length of time, you probably have heard horror stories of Facebook "disappearing" someone's profile page for an apparent violation of which the profile page owner was totally unaware.

This is why it is a good idea to read those Facebook terms every so often to remind yourself of what is and what is not allowed on Facebook.

In the Registration and Account Security section are some very explicit rules about your personal profile, which is required to be under your actual name.

If someone sends you a link to a page with a company name and you see "Add as Friend" at the top of the page, you will instantly know that this person is using a personal profile page in violation of Facebook's terms.

At this writing (Facebook does make frequent changes), you "add as friend" on a personal profile, you "join" on a group page, you "like" on a [business] page.

Bonus tip: Make sure to add at least one other administrator besides yourself to a Facebook [business] page. This way, if you unexpectedly get dumped from Facebook, you'll have someone else to administer the page.

This tip also goes for group pages. And if you are the only administrator but there are other officers of the page, these other officers will still not be able to administer the page if you get unexpectedly banned.

In conclusion, Facebook is a social media site that offers a world of opportunities for personal and business connections. But it is a world owned by Facebook, and you must abide by Facebook's rules.

BREAKING NEWS: Just after I finished writing this post I glanced down at the front-page of my copy of today's Wall Street Journal. The top story headline is "Facebook in Privacy Breach: Top-Ranked Applications Transmit Personal IDs, a Journal Investigation Finds." Read the Journal article now.

© 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. See their Quick Start Social Media Track.

Display Your Social Media Icons on Your Website

You have a website for your business and you are active on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Are you displaying on your website the icons of the social media sites on which you participate?

You should be.

First, if people go to your website, this is an easy way to encourage them to connect with you on social media. After all, you can make the icons clickable through to your presence on those social media sites.

Second, if you are on social media sites and link from your profiles on those sites to your website, you should be confirming on your website that you are indeed on these social media sites.

Third, in today's social media business environment, NOT having a presence on social media indicates a lack of connection. If you are active on social media, you do not want to mistakenly send the signal on your website that you are NOT active simply because you have not displayed the social media icons.

People frequently tell me that they participate on social media. Yet I'll go to their website and find no sign of this.

To paraphrase words from a song in the musical "The Producers," if you've got it show your stuff.

After all, the purpose of social media is to connect with others. Why not take every appropriate opportunity to make it easy for people to connect with you?

Bonus tip: And display those icons where they can be easily seen – not at the bottom of your website.

© 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. See their Quick Start Social Media Track.

One More Warning How Everything You Do on the Web Can Be Found

I've written about this topic numerous times – you must assume that everything you do on the web – private groups you join, DMs (private messages) you send on Twitter, anything – can actually be found by someone somewhere.

And once again we have a major news article to remind us of this.

The October 12th front-page Wall Street Journal article "'Scrapers' Dig Deep for Data on Web" by Julia Angwin and Steve Stecklow explains this growing phenomenon:

The market for personal data about Internet users is booming, and in the vanguard is the practice of "scraping." Firms offer to harvest online conversations and collect personal details from social-networking sites, résumé sites and online forums where people might discuss their lives …


The Wall Street Journal's examination of scraping—a trade that involves personal information as well as many other types of data—is part of the newspaper's investigation into the business of tracking people's activities online and selling details about their behavior and personal interests.

Perhaps more unsettling for some people is this blog post whose link I found in the Twitter stream alongside the Journal scrapers article:

"'Deleted' Facebook photos still not deleted" by Jacqui Cheng at arstechnica.com



Read the Journal article and the artechnica.com article now – and then seriously reconsider what you are sharing online. You do NOT want any online mud sticking to your professional reputation.

© 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. See their Quick Start Social Media Track.

Advice for Book Authors on Twitter Profile Photos

I have recently noticed several book authors new to Twitter who have been using their book covers as their Twitter profile photo.

Here is why I think this is not the optimum strategy for a book author:

First, people connect to people. It's hard to have a relationship with a book cover.

Second, when the next book comes out and the Twitter profile photo is changed, there is no consistency for your followers.

Third, many book covers (and many company logos) lose their clear recognition factor in that small photo size.

In my opinion, the best strategy is to use a good headshot (no sunglasses or caps blocking your eyes and preferably with a smile) as your Twitter profile photo.

Then upload the photo of your book cover as the image in your Twitter account background. (For an example of this technique with an ebook image in the background, see my Twitter profile at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller )

You can even tile the photo (have the image repeat itself) if you want. Or, if you have several books, you can create (or have someone create for you) a montage of your book covers to use as the background image on your Twitter account.

This strategy gives you the best of both worlds:

You make it easier for people to form a connection with you by including your photo and you also share your book cover(s).

© 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. See their Quick Start Social Media Track.

Website Caution: Be Careful Whose Site You Emulate

I met someone about to launch a business in a field already crowded with major players. True, this person is aiming at a very specific niche of this market, which could help him succeed.

But what worried me when speaking with him is this:

He told me that he is having the website for his new business built to emulate one of the most successful sites in this field. He said: "They are successful so they must know what they are doing."

But here are the potential pitfalls of this thinking:

Some of these major players started early on before competition multiplied. Some of them have spent a lot of money on advertising. Some of them have founders who have written popular books or are otherwise very prominent.

What works for the websites of these companies may NOT work for a new company whose founder isn't well known online or offline and who is a late arrival to the party.

I often write about finding your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) – what makes your business different from similar businesses. Once you know your USP you should build your website and your social media activities around your own strengths and not the strengths of your competitors.

In other words, copying the website of a company that has been around for a long time may not be the best marketing strategy. It may be better to consider how the new aspects you are offering can be prominently featured in the website of your startup company.

If you need help in identifying your USP and/or planning how your website can reflect that USP, see the first two stages of our Quick Start Social Media Track.

After all, it is important to start off on the right foot!

© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of Miller Mosaic Social Media Marketing.

How Does Participating on Social Media Translate Into Business?

Let's ask this question another way:

How does attending in-person networking events translate into business?

You go to networking events, you introduce yourself, you might make a coffee date with someone, get to somewhat know the person, and, if you continue the connection, the person may become a client (or customer) or a referral source.

The same thing happens if you use social media effectively only it happens online. (Although, of course, sometimes you do speak on the phone or meet in person with people you've first met online.)

The name of the game, whether online or offline, is personal connection. And you can usually connect online with more people than you can physically connect with.

For example, when you share a valuable blog post with your followers on Twitter, you have the opportunity to reach many more people at one time than you normally could do by sending an email to a few of your business contacts.

Sure, not everyone following you on Twitter will read the post or necessarily even see the tweet, but the business contacts who receive your email won't necessarily read the post or even open your email.

What makes social media such a terrific opportunity to forge relationships with people is that, if you participate on social media effectively, you are NOT shoving your business down their throats. Instead you are sharing content that may interest them.

Not everyone in your target market will become your client or customer. But by participating effectively on social media, you can extend your business networking outreach exponentially.

And it stands to reason that, the more people you authentically connect with, the larger pool you have from which to attract prospective clients or customers – and that can translate into 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. See their Quick Start Social Media Track.

At Freado Book-Winning Site Book Lovers Play CoverMatcher to Win Free Books

I'm a big fan of the book promotion site BookBuzzr.com and what it offers to authors and readers. Here's a guest post about BookBuzzr's sister site from Freado's Chief Book Marketing Technologist and CEO Vikram Narayan:



The story behind Freado.com

We had started BookBuzzr almost accidentally in the early part of 2009. Hundreds of authors had begun signing up for the book promotion technology. (See link below for more info.)

At one point Phyllis Zimbler Miller, who was looking to promote her book Mrs. Lieutenant via a book giveaway, got in touch with us. We worked with Phyllis on running a book promotion contest.

During the phase when we were planning the book giveaway, we realized that authors had a pain when it came to promoting books via book giveaways. Even if books were given away free, there could be no takers for those books. Further, authors needed to drive genuine readers to actually vie for the book.

After many months of brainstorming and research, we came up with the idea of the CoverMatcher game and Freado.com



What are Freado and CoverMatcher?

Freado is the world's biggest book-winning site where genuine book lovers can win free books and other related prizes (such as a Kindle). The books are mostly given away by participating authors.

Book lovers need to play a simple game called CoverMatcher to win points and exchange these points for the book prizes.

CoverMatcher is a variation of the popular game called Memory Match or Concentration. In these games you have a set of card pairs that are turned upside down. You turn the cards up one by one. If two consecutive cards are the same, there is a match.

The only difference in CoverMatcher is that the cards contain the images of book covers. So book lovers playing the game literally memorize the book covers of participating authors. The game is highly addictive with some players playing thousands of times a month.

Read more about BookBuzzr and play Freado's CoverMatcher now.

What I Thought About at a Networking Luncheon

At the beginning of the networking luncheon we went around the table and we each had 30 seconds to say what our business is.

The main theme of such a networking event is, of course, attracting prospective clients or customers to your business.

As each person spoke, I kept thinking how social media could help each of these people connect with their prospective target markets.

After the luncheon I talked with a professional services person who said she really needed to find a way to let people know about her services but without spending money on advertising.

In capsule summary I explained to her how, even without a website, she could use social media to demonstrate her professionalism.

I told her that it simply requires figuring out her brand – what is her Unique Selling Proposition that makes her stand out from others offering similar services – and then strategizing which components of social media could best serve her goals.

As I've said many times before, one size does NOT fit all in social media. Each person's own personality, business, time parameters, and goals have to be taken into consideration before creating and implementing a strategy.

And this is where a social media consulting company such as Miller Mosaic can help. We create that individual strategy and then coach how to implement the strategy.



If you're reading this blog post, there's a pretty good chance you're already active on social media. But if you know of someone who isn't active on social media but really wants to connect with prospective target markets without spending money on advertising, email this post to that person. You'll be doing the person a favor.



Bottom line: Social media can create a level playing field for everyone – if you use it strategically.

© 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. See their Quick Start Social Media Track.