Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the ebook What You Should Know About the Launch of an Online Information Product, which is based on her National Internet Business Examiner column at http://www.InternetBizBlogger.com . Her company has just launched the monthly program http://www.WeTeachWebMarketing.com to help people promote their brand, book or business online. Phyllis is also the author of the novel Mrs. Lieutenant (see http://www.MrsLieutenant.com), the co-author of the Jewish holiday book Seasons for Celebration, and the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show http://www.YourMilitaryLife.com . Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller .
Q: Welcome to Beyond the Books, Phyllis. Can we start out by asking you how you became interested in Internet marketing?
A: I fell into Internet marketing when the novel I was in the process of self-publishing, Mrs. Lieutenant, was named a semi-finalist in the 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Amazon gave each of us semi-finalists a page on Amazon, and someone had something I didn’t -– a blog (I didn’t even know what a blog was at that moment in January of 2008). But I said to myself, said I, I have to have this too. And I was off and running to learn everything I could about Internet marketing.
Q: Can you share some of your favorite Internet marketing strategies?
A: Not necessarily my favorite but the most important is having your own website that has been developed for marketing purposes and for which you yourself can make changes in a few minutes. I became so frustrated having to wait for a web designer to make the smallest of changes that my business partner Yael K. Miller learned how to make WordPress websites that people can manage themselves, and now we build such websites for other book authors (see http://www.millermosaicllc.com/call-to-action-websites/ )
Probably my personal favorite Internet marketing tool is using Twitter strategically. I’ve found that, with a marketing plan in mind, Twitter can be extremely effective in sharing information, learning new info, and developing collaborative relationships.
Q: Name one thing that would be considered “ineffective” Internet marketing.
A: I’ve found that paying, for example, $25 a year to have my novel listed on a book website has not been effective. There’s no relationship there to help my book stand out from all the other books listed on the same site.
Q: Can you tell us what your new ebook, Anatomy of an Information Product Launch: What You Should Know About the Launch of an Online Information Product, is all about?
A: It’s based on blog posts I did for my National Internet Business Examiner column taking my readers step-by-step through my trials and tribulations launching an online information product. I put the posts together into an ebook to provide a blueprint for others so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel. And the ebook is good for people to learn Internet marketing in general even if they aren’t interested in launching their own online information product.
Q: There are a lot of Internet marketing books and manuals on the Internet. What makes yours different?
A: This is a good question and here’s the answer: One of my strengths has always been to make things clear –- to keep revising my writing until I’m sure that people can follow what I’m saying. I read Internet marketing books and special reports all the time that inadvertently skip over important info because the writers know the info so well that they don’t realize that newcomers won’t be able to follow. (I think my ability comes from being the feature editor of the Michigan State News at the age of 20 and having to work with my reporters to make their writing crystal clear.)
Q: Can you tell us more about your company, Miller Mosaic, and why you started it?
A: I started Miller Mosaic, LLC after I offered my daughter Yael K. Miller a partnership to work with me on finding solutions to my online marketing obstacles (such as websites I couldn’t manage myself). As Yael and I learned more and more (and saw how complicated things could be), we decided to share our hard-learned info with others. Thus we have been developing services from Miller Mosaic (http://www.millermosaicllc.com)that we wish we’d had when we started out.
Q: With the explosion of the microblogging medium to promote your books, do you see blogging on its way out?
A: No, I do not see blogging on its way out, especially not on its way out for writers. (Writers write.) While I love Twitter, this microblogging platform is not long enough for conveying valuable info around a specific topic. In fact, some of the tweets I find most useful are the ones with links to a specific blog post.
Q: On your blog at Examiner.com, you mention video marketing. What’s that all about?
A: People love to watch SHORT videos. The ability to upload videos to YouTube and other free video-sharing sites provides a great opportunity for book authors to make short videos to connect more personally with their potential readers. While I have a terrific Mrs. Lieutenant book trailer done by PumpUpYourBookPromotion.com at http://www.mrslieutenant.com/history-through-the-arts, I also have a two-minute video that Yael did of me talking about why Mrs. Lieutenant is excellent for book clubs to discuss — see http://www.mrslieutenant.com/book-discussion-questions
Q: What does the future hold for you, Phyllis?
A: Two weeks ago a movie producer found MRS. LIEUTENANT on the web, so I’ve been in discussions on a possible movie project, and I’m hoping to develop the graphic novel series LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS – see www.MollieSanders.com – plus connect with middle school and high school social studies and history teachers for using MRS. LIEUTENANT as part of my proposed program History Through the Arts.
I also keep promising myself to return to working on the novel’s sequel – MRS. LIEUTENANT IN EUROPE – which will focus on being part of an occupying force in Germany only 25 years after the end of World War II.
And every single day I strive to learn new effective Internet marketing techniques. I keep buying more and more plastic file boxes to store all my accumulating information.
Q: Thank you so much for this interview and much success to you!
A: And thank you for the opportunity to visit this blog -– I’ve really enjoyed the interview.
