My new business cards arrived and, as I was going to a networking event, I popped a bunch in my pocket and headed out. It wasn’t until later that night when I was asked, “Do you know Zoe deLuca?” (while the person looked straight at my card I had just given them), that the value of a name really sunk in for me.

You see my new business cards have my ‘new name’ on them. When I say new name, I should probably explain…….

After 11 years together Mark and I finally got married last week. And along with the ceremony (and party) I also ‘got’ a new surname. So Zoe deLuca is morphing into Zoe Wyatt.

So what? I know lots of people get married each year and take on their Husband’s surname. But, when you have spent the last 8 years building a brand online based on your personal name (as I have) then this becomes a major “issue”.

If a person standing in front of me with my card, did not automatically make the connection that I was the same Zoe then how is my market, and potential clients, going to do this on the internet?

The reality is that I ‘could’ retain deLuca for my professional branding. In fact I still have, www.zoedeluca.com and my Twitter profile is still @zdeluca but do I really want to have to juggle two names going forward? One for personal use and one for professional? What a hassle.

What this has brought up to me is the importance of not just your ‘name’ but your ‘Branding’ in internet marketing (including social media marketing). So, what does your name or brand online say about you and your business right now?

Are ‘you’ your brand? Is your business based around your personal name and, if so, is this optimal for you? You may not be thinking about changing your name any time soon but what if you change your core product or service offerings?

My Social Media services did not even exist 5 years ago and they continue to ‘evolve’ (ie change) rapidly. Imagine if I’d branded as ‘MySpace Specialist’ three years ago, I’d need to re-brand anyway.

Even if your branding is not based on your personal name, the name you chose to brand on is vitally important in business generally, but in internet & social media marketing especially. When developing your online brand consider these aspects:

• Does your brand name accurately reflect your business?
• Does your brand instantly identify what you do/offer?
  If not, do you need to incorporate a tag line to do this?
• Can you secure the .com web address for your brand name?
• Is your brand name consistent across all social media sites?
• Is your brand already in use in social media accounts and will this cause confusion for your clients?
• Have you considered transition of your business? Will you want to sell in the future or pass to a family member?

With all of this to consider “branding” is a huge decision to make.  In fact, to answer my original question, “What’s in a name?” – obviously, in the world of internet marketing, a great deal.

My decision has been to establish three clear brands:

• Social Media ShortCut – for my Social Media Marketing Training
• MarkandZoe – for our virtual, multiple income stream business together.  With the tagline of
  “Make The World Your Office” to make it easier to understand what the business is all about, and
• Zoe Wyatt – for personal social media use and interacting with family and friends.

I’d love to hear of your branding decisions and challenges.  Are you looking to re-brand or overhaul your brand?  Leave your comments here or over on our facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/markandzoe (you’ll notice it says Zoe deLuca at the top that I can’t change )

I’m off to start the great name change……

There had been much hype over the last few days about the number of Facebook users dropping  in a few markets.

It was claimed that users in the US declined  from  155.2 million at the start of May to 149.4 million at the end of the month, and that its’ user numbers in Britain fell by more than 100,000 too.

I wonder if the entities making the claims expect everybody in those countries to sign up for Facebook?

More than half the population in the US and the UK have already done so, so one would imagine that, like any market, Facebook will find its’ level in time.  Does that mean that Facebook is going the way of My Space?

Let’s take a look at the numbers – Facebook is heading for 700 million users. More than half of the current users – somewhere over 600 million – log in every day. Average time spent on the site is between 23 and 55 minutes (^*1).   With an average of 130 friends (^*2) It’s hard to imagine that all those users are suddenly going to abandon it anytime soon. I think many would  find it harder to give up than smoking.

Despite all the criticism about privacy settings and the amount of information Facebook commands, the numbers continue to grow. The reason – Facebook is a social site and we humans like nothing more than to socialise. More and more users share their thoughts, their actions, their likes and their hates with millions of other users.

Is it any wonder that “Angel investors and venture capitalists have showered hundreds of millions of dollars on entrepreneurs with an idea for a new social networking business, but the money is parcelled among thousands of developers.

This is not the dotcom era of a decade ago when you had to invest heavily in servers and computer storage, and blow a wad on marketing to win visitors to your site. Now you pay-as-you-go, renting computers in the vast data warehouses created by the likes of Amazon, while marketing takes care of itself thanks to enthusiastic early users sharing their experience. ^*3.

Facebook – not so liked and less friends – I think not.

What do you think?   –   Mark

1. http://www.quora.com/How-much-time-does-the-average-user-spend-on-Facebook
   2. http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
   3. Stephen Foley in “The Independent” 15/6/11.

^*Footnote from Zoe

Facebook have been clamping down on dual profiles, particularly where users are setting up a profile for their personal use and then another to promote their business.

I can’t help but feel that the decline in Unique Users is a result of this action and in fact a very good thing.  Weeding out fake accounts and duplicates can only serve to strengthen the use by existing members.

If you currently have both a personal profile and a PROFILE for your business then you need to convert your business profile to a business PAGE immediately.  If Facebook locates your duplicate accounts they will delete both profiles!  And all your hard work in building these will be gone.

The difference between a profile and a page is that people request to be your ‘Friend’ on a profile while members chose to ‘Like’ your page.

Need help with fixing your Facebook structure – let us know in the comments below or pop on over to our Social Media advice Facebook Page at:

www.facebook.com/SocialMediaShortCut

And check out our live trainings to help you market your business with Social Media – the right way!

www.SocialMediaShortCut.com/events

Many of us love sharing our photos with the World when we post these on Facebook but do you really want a computer program automatically telling the World who you are based on images posted on the site?

Facebook have been rolling out a face recognition feature for some time, but today it was released outside the USA for the first time.  Called “Tag Suggestions” the software tries to match names with people in photos you upload to the site.

It is turned ON by default – so this is an opt out feature rather than an opt in one.

How does it work?

It scans the faces of people in tagged pictures and matches the data against other pictures so users can tag them automatically. On your facebook settings page the explanation of the feature appears like this:

This feature uses a comparison of photos you’re tagged in to suggest that friends tag you in new photos.

You’re always in control of your tags on Facebook:

• Only friends can tag you in photos
• We’ll notify you when a friend has tagged you
• You can remove a friend’s tag at any time
• Tag suggestions are based only on photos you’ve allowed yourself to be tagged in

For some of you, this may be another feature of the social media site that you would like to have some fun with. For others, it may be something you are aghast at.  So, if you want to put a paper bag over your face…..book, there is a way to do it and here it is:

1. Go to the “Account” tab in the top right hand corner
2. Click on “Privacy settings”
3. Click “Customise settings” (bottom centre of page)
4. Scroll down to “Things others share”
5. Click “Edit settings” next to “Suggest photos of me to friends”
6. Choose “Disable”  from the drop down
7. Click “Okay” in the bottom right hand corner.

Remember that you are in control of all the settings on your Facebook page and you should ensure that the settings are as you want them.  So while you are in your account privacy settings take time to review and decide how all of your information is shared and with whom.

Your privacy is at stake and, like putting a seat belt on when you get into a car, it’s your responsibility to protect yourself.

Share this with everyone you know on Facebook and let us know if you chose to leave this feature on or not.

Facebook is continually changing and quite often the changes can be challenging if you are a business owner trying to market on the platform. But I’m loving “New Facebook Share” features.

Did you know you can now share a post  not only onto your own profile wall, but to a GROUP or to a specific “Friends” wall?

The HUGE news is when you are using Facebook “AS a Page” your specific ‘friends’ walls are those of the Business PAGES that you’ve liked. YES – page to page sharing! Woohoo!

My video explains how and why you would want to use this feature to Market your business effectively on Facebook:

Need help understanding Social Media Marketing for your Business? – then join our trainings at:
http://www.facebook.com/SocialMediaShortCut?sk=events

Let us know what you think of the new features – leave a comment below or join u son Facebook or Twitter.

Ok it may be the best Social Media Marketing Training in Australia and New Zealand

I got carried away because, as Big Kev used to say, I’m excited!!!

In less than two weeks, I get to dust off my SuperGirl cape as we will kick off our ‘Become a Social Media Super Hero’ Australian tour, this time with stops in Auckland and Wellington as well!

We know many business owners are in overwhelm mode when it comes to social media right now, all furiously trying to keep up with never ending changes, system updates, apps, tools, releases and spending excessive amounts of time on social networks, without necessarily enjoying the rewards for their efforts.

Others are not even on Social Media networks at all – and if you’re not – you should be. No, as business owners, you HAVE to be (it’s no longer an option if you want to be competitive in the marketplace).

In the past month on Facebook alone there have been several major updates and their “Pages” are changing completely as from Friday. You can see an overview of some of these changes in this video in a previous post.

We know it’s often not realistic for you to keep up with all of these ongoing developments and articulate them into effective marketing strategies and activities.

I’m hearing more and more that you’re just plain stressed by social media!

That’s where I come in and why I have teamed up with:

• Wendy Moore, the founder of Savvy Web Women and creator of the Savvy List Building Blog who is the ultimate resource on Facebook, and
• Yvette Adams, CEO of The Creative Collective, who is a LinkedIn Legend and has thousands of contacts on Facebook and Twitter as well,

to deliver ONE POWER PACKED DAY OF SOCIAL MEDIA IMMERSION to help you
Become a “Social Media Super Hero”.

Whether you are new to social media marketing or are already well on your way, this workshop will make you reach your true ‘super hero’ potential.

Topics covered at the full day Social Media Super Hero workshops include:

• Recent major updates to all three networks and where it’s going into the future
• How to professionally position your business, and grow and manage lists on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter
• How to separate your Business and Personal accounts and why this is so important
• How to customize your Twitter background, and Facebook Page for professional branding
• How to obtain your vanity URL on Facebook and why this is so important (it’s more than just a name)
• What to write about, how to write it and when to post it for maximum results – so it actually gets read
• Online reputation management including how to handle negative feedback
• How to know when people are talking ‘about’ you, your company & your products and respond quickly
• The importance of, and how to design, an effective social media strategy, policies and schedule

and oh so much more!

Yvette Adams will be covering Linkedin, Wendy Moore will cover Facebook and I will share my insider tactics on Twitter that have allowed me to not only build a following in excess of 50,000 people but to connect with key people to create joint ventures, speaking opportunities and (most importantly as business owners) sales!

In fact, this seminar series has been a result of contacts made through Social Media and I originally ‘met’ Yvette when she sought me out for a speaking engagement after finding me on Twitter.

Yes, use Social Media the right way and your best clients and business partners will find you!

We’ll also share our top syndication and scheduling tools to allow you to get the maximum results from social media marketing in the minimum amount of time.

Most importantly all three trainers are business owners that are using Social Media Marketing to effectively grow our own businesses.  While our training has taken place all over the World, we ‘Walk Our Talk’ right here – each and everyday.

We’re not just going to overwhlem you with stats and facts but give you real, actionable steps to take away and immediately apply in your business and we will be drawing on examples from the participants in the room.

We have deliberately kept numbers small for you to get maximum results from the day – so you will need to book quickly before the events sell out!

See when the “Social Media Super Hero” team will be coming to a town near you:

21-Mar-2011 – Become a Social Media Super Hero Full Day Workshop – Sydney
22-Mar-2011 –  Become a Social Media Super Hero Full Day Workshop – Newcastle
24-Mar-2011 – Become a Social Media Super Hero Full Day Workshop – Brisbane
12-Apr-2011 – Become a Social Media Super Hero Full Day Workshop – Perth
13-Apr-2011- Become a Social Media Super Hero Full Day Workshop – Melbourne
14-Apr-2011 – Become a Social Media Super Hero Full Day Workshop – Canberra
18-Apr-2011 – Become a Social Media Super Hero Full Day Workshop – Auckland
20-Apr-2011 – Become a Social Media Super Hero Full Day Workshop – Wellington

This is the SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP OF THE YEAR with 3 of Australia’s Tops Social Media trainers giving you 3 times the value of other events.  I do not expect that we will be able to repeat this series as it’s been incredibly difficult to co-ordinate all of our schedules. This could well be your only chance to have all 3 of us training you at the one event.

I hope you can make it and would be delighted if you will help me spread the word by sharing this with your friends, business contacts and, of course, through your existing social media sites!

Only a few weeks to go for sthe first of the events, so book now to secure your place!

Stop wasting time messing around on Social Media and get the training to ‘Become a Social Media Super Hero’ – you and your business deserve this!

See you soon…….

PS Hit the ‘Like’ button or ‘Tweet’ button Super Heros in training – after all it feels good to share

Massive changes are happening to Facebook Pages.  I received this update from Facebook today:

Facebook pages are getting an updated layout and several new features to help you engage with your fans. Here’s some of what you’ll be getting:
# Notifications when fans interact with your page or posts
# A place to showcase photos along the top of your page
# A news feed for your page
# The ability to Like and post on other pages as your page

Preview your page and you’ll be given the option to upgrade early. All pages will automatically be upgraded on March 10.

Basically there is a change to the layout of Facebook Pages, to more closely mirror the recent “Profile” re-design AND there is now the choice to interact in Facebook AS a page admin not a profile owner.

I’m really liking some of the new features but also finding some a bit ‘challenging’ to navigate – so I have made a video tour of the new Facebook Page changes or ‘upgrade’ below:

Need more information?  There’s a great post over on Mashable.com “Facebook Launches Pages Redesign”

If you want the information straight from Facebook, their explanation post and updates can be found here:
“An Upgrade for Pages”

What do you think of the new changes/upgrades to Facebook Pages? Love them? Hate them? Putting off even trying the upgrade out?

Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook Page at www.Facebook.com/MarkandZoe

“Australian business executives are returning from the World Economic Forum reassured that the global economy is recovering solidly from the financial crisis but struck by how the social networking revolution will force them to hand more power to both their employees and customers.”¹

That statement, from ‘The Australian’ newspaper, alone shows just how powerful a sales medium Social Media has become.  The power shift has been significant – now the control is with the consumer rather than the marketer.  “People Power” is now the most effective form of marketing the world over.

In fact that same “People Power” can deliver far more than just great sales outcomes.  One has to look no further than the recent Floods in Australia, Cyclone Yasi and events  in Egypt, to see the unstoppable  force of Social Media.  Twitter and Facebook could not be silenced and the message was delivered even when, in the case of Egypt, the internet was shut down.

Traditional media turned to the public for updates, photos, videos and reports. “People Power” was informing, sharing, helping and alerting the World to events as they happened and, at times warning of events before they occurred.

So if the balance of power is shifting to the consumer, what does a business do to ensure that their products and services are receiving favourable reviews and comments? The answer is as simple as it is complex – talk to your customers via these wonderful new tools.

Ask their advice – what are you doing right and what are you doing wrong?  If you are doing it correctly – do more. If you are doing it all wrong – fix it.  What should you be doing more of?  Ask but ask via the mediums that your customers use to engage on a daily basis. Your customers will love you.

Happy customers are happy to refer you too.  There is no more compelling a recommendation than that of a friend – that is the fuel that drives the Social Media rocket.  And this rocket has long ago passed the moon and is heading for the sun.  More than ever, your business needs to be on board.

So how you can master the art of engaging your customers so they become your best sales people and your greatest advocates? Attend one our “Become a Social Media Super Hero” seminars.

We’re excited to announce Zoe will be travelling all over Australia and New Zealand with leading Social Media Trainers Wendy Moore and Yvette Adams, teaching you exactly how to use Social Media Marketing to explode your business  and “Become a Social Media Super Hero”

Complete details are on the Facebook Page (of course) here. Find out where and when you can learn how to propel your business into the Social Media Age – Your Customers are already there!

Mark Wyatt

^{1. The Australkian 31st January 2011}

Are you using Facebook Groups?  If so have you suddenly found your email inbox completely cluttered with notifications from your Facebook Groups?

I really like the improved Facebook Group functions but the problem is that the deafult settings email all the members of a group every time something new is posted. In a group with lots of members actively participating in discussions, the notification emails can flood your inbox very quickly.

This has turned lots of people off groups and the most common question I’m being asked about Facebook right now is “How do I stop all the emails from Facebook Groups?”

Thankfully the answer is simple and quick!

My video (below) shows you how to turn off emails completely or select which actions you want to recieve emails notifications about from your Facebook Groups.

Questions?  Ask in the comments here or over on our Facebook Page at http://www.Facebook.com/MarkandZoe

Please hit the “Tweet” and “Like” buttons at the top of this page and share this video with your friends to stop the email overload frustration for them as well

Cheers – Zoe

Get started (or re-started) in Social Media Marketing – THE RIGHT WAY!

Most of our regular readers will know that I (Zoe) am a Social Media Marketing Trainer, Manager and Speaker but, up until now, my full course has only been available online.  Well, you’ve asked (and asked) and I’m finally delivering live Social Media Marketing seminars.

To make this even more exciting (and rewarding) for you, I have partnered with Multi-Award Winning Business Owner Yvette Adams to present our “Social Media Super Hero” starter seminars.  Yvette not only owns “The Creative Collective” agency on the Sunshine Coast, but is also the Queensland finalist for the “Telstra Business Woman of the Year” awards in the “Commonwealth Bank Business Owner of the Year” category.

So…. we know we can teach you a thing or two about effectively using Social Media Marketing and efficiently using internet technology to grow your business.

“Social Media Super Hero” seminars are being held on The Sunshine Coast and Melbourne next week with more cities scheduled for early next year.  If you have a request for a specific city please let us know in the comments section below on on our Facebook page at http://www.Facebook.com/MarkandZoe

Read on for full details and booking links:

BECOME A SOCIAL MEDIA SUPER HERO

Social media is a really big deal right now. Find out WHY!!!

You know that Social Media is a really big deal right now. But we’d like to ask you one question:

“What if you could be shown in just a couple of hours EXACTLY how you can get started the RIGHT way online and positively FLOURISH from the word GO by using
1) Technology that will save you ENORMOUS amounts of time and money
2) Social Media to Build a HUGE database FAST
3) Tools that tie it all together so that you can monitor and manage it with ease, anywhere, any time??!”

Well guess what….here’s your big chance…..

Your Social Media Super Hero training includes:

The technology, tools & tricks you need to run your online business with ease, from ANYWHERE!!!

• What hardware and software you need online tools successful business owners and entrepreneurs use to start businesses, grow their businesses and run their businesses with maximum efficiency

• What EXACT tools successful business owners use to run the various areas of their business – from accounts software to HR, quoting to collaborating on documents, social media, email marketing and more and WHY
• How businesses are creating and using Applications (Apps) to their advantage
• Why you would be crazy not to explore the possibility of using these tools in your business to save enormous amounts of time and money

Online Reputation Management

- Why online reputation management is essential if you want to operate a business in an increasingly internet driven world

- How to find out the moment people are talking about you online – whether it is good, bad or indifferent

- What are ‘citations’ and why you need to encourage them

- The massive move towards ‘push marketing’

How to become a Social Media Super Hero

- What the top Social Media sites are and how to best utilize them

- How to identify appropriate usernames for your social networks
- Facebook Profile, Pages and Groups – What’s the difference? Which ones do you need and why – get this wrong and Facebook will shut down your account!
- How to interact on social networks to achieve maximum results
- How to build a huge list of targeted, valuable friends, fans, followers and subscribers QUICKLY
- How to personalise your Facebook Page for a professional business image

- What to post about and importantly, what NOT to share on Social Media

- Introduction to top tools, applications, sites and resources to get RESULTS FAST!
+ much more!

So who are your Super Hero Mentors?

Introducing you to two of Australia’s biggest **Online All Stars** but until recently just ‘quiet achievers’…

Zoe deLuca and Yvette Adams.

‘Who?’ you might say You may not have heard of them because they’ve both been busy living the ultimate lifestyle, basing themselves in sunny Queensland but running VERY successful home based businesses and earning BIG BUCKS around their commitments as mothers of broods of kids. How successful you might ask? Well read on…

Zoe de Luca

Zoe deLuca is Social Media Marketing Specialist, Speaker, Trainer, Business Mentor and Internet Entrepreneur, operating multiple businesses from her laptop while travelling the World.  With a Twitter following in excess of 33,000 to date and over 44,000 views of her training videos on YouTube and thousands of friends on Facebook & Linkedin it’s no wonder she was recently selected to attend the “10 for 10″ internet marketing training intensive in New York.

You may be surprised to learn that Zoe is a Marine Biologist by trade!! Zoe spent over 10 years working as an Environmental Consultant and Strategic Planner with Government before starting her first home based business in 2003 to allow for more flexibility to be Mum to her family of 5.

With a hunger for knowledge and a drive to grow her business while still being a full time Mum, Zoe started marketing through social media in early 2008.  She now creates social media training programs servicing clients in 7 countries around the globe.

So do you think it’s possible these two incredible women might actually be able to teach YOU a thing or two???

Come along to their power-packed 2.5 hour workshops being held in Melbourne and The Sunshine Coast this month – see dates below:

COST: Only $57 per person or $97 for 2 people

(save $20 if you bring a friend!)

Numbers ARE limited. Secure your ticket now!

SUNSHINE COAST – Tuesday 9th November, 2010

Morning Session: Function Room BCC Cinemas – Sunshine Plaza, Maroochydore
Doors open 9:00am for networking. 9:30am start – ends Midday
Details and booking here: Social Media Super Hero – Sunshine Coast AM

Evening Session: Sunshine Coast TAFE – Mooloolaba
Doors open 5:00pm for networking. 5:30pm start – ends 8:00pm
Details and booking here:  Social Media Super Hero – Sunshine Coast PM

MELBOURNE – Thursday 11th November, 2010
Victoria University – City Flinders Campus
Doors open 12:30PM for networking. 1:00pm start – ends 3.30pm
Details and Booking here:  Social Media Super Hero – Melbourne Seminar

I advocate using a Facebook Business or ‘Fan’ PAGE to promote your business, but it can be difficult to promote this with the long URL or ‘Link’ Facebook gives you when you create your Page.

I’m often asked “How can I create a custom URL for my Facebook Fan Page to use in promotions?”

I’ve outlined the steps required (below) but it’s one of those things that is super easy to do once you have seen it done before.  So, I created a video to show you how to change your Facebook page URL to a neat, short professional looking website name like ours at:
http://www.Facebook.com/MarkandZoe

The Video shows you step by step exactly what to do….

Steps to set-up custom URL for your Facebook Business or Fan Page:

1. You need to be logged into your Facebook account.
2. If you have at least 25 fans (people that like your page), you can set a custom username/URL
3. Go to  http://www.facebook.com/username/
4. Select the page or account from the pulldown menu that you want to set URL for
5. Type the custom URL name you’ve selected into the box and check availability (Chose carefully as this cannot be changed once set)
6. Save Page URL name.

Your Facebook Page URL will now be http://www.Facebook.com/YourChosenName
Feel free to share your page address here once you have done this

And give us a shout out on our Facebook page at :

http://www.Facebook.com/MarkandZoe

or at Twitter:

http://www.Twitter.com/zdeluca