tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71485835047573307932024-03-13T08:18:46.561-07:00Internet marketinglearn free internet marketing strategiestop.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-2641293312478668782010-06-04T07:01:00.000-07:002010-06-04T07:02:14.128-07:00Get Your Viral E-Mail ForwardedGetting recipients of your viral advertising e-mail to forward it to their friends and coworkers isn’t as hard as it sounds. The whole trick is to make them WANT to share it and thereby share your advertisement. Neat! Cool! Free! <br /><br />Because entertainment has value, interactive content like a quiz or test can inspire forwarding, especially if it’s fun. Personality tests, fitness quizzes, or compatibility questionnaires are all things that I have received and sent at one time or another. <br /><br />A really cool, multimedia experience is always going to achieve some pass-along action. Rich media email is getting a lot of press of late. Someone is always touting the benefits. It does take more time and a little money but the messages have great appeal. Rich media has the advantage of being new and therefore has the novelty and tech factor. That alone is often enough for the message to be seen as valuable and worth forwarding. <br /><br />There are vendors like RidicalMail and AdTools that have “Forward to a Friend” capabilities built right into their technology. Right now this works but eventually marketers will still rely on the value of the proposition in their message to be enough to distinguish it from the rest.<br /><br />So should you try to capitalize on viral marketing? Absolutely! You would be a fool not to include things in your e-mail advertising campaign that would inspire forwarding. You should certainly try to reap the benefits of reaching more than your target audience.<br /><br />You need to stretch those advertising dollars so hard you make George cry. You do, however, need to understand that viral marketing is a tactic that works toward achieving your campaign objective.<br /><br />Oh…one more thing. No matter how brilliant you craft the offer and no matter how great the message, if the customer visits your site and has an experience less than what was promised, it will come back to bite you.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-25902592077295546272010-06-04T06:59:00.000-07:002010-06-04T07:00:21.198-07:00How to Make Viral E-Mail LegalConcerns over sending unsolicited email is at the heart of the legality issue of using viral advertising. By using viral marketing tactics carefully, however, marketers can avoid the negative reactions and gain an excellent return on investment (ROI) t as they increase the reach of their marketing message to a targeted group far beyond their original audience. <br /><br />Here are a few insights on how to execute a viral marketing campaign most effectively.<br /><br />• Offer an incentive. Viral marketing works best when a valuable and tangible incentive is offered that will encourage people to forward an e-mail message to their friends. Marketers should, however, cap the incentive to a specific quantity to avoid spam-like distribution of the message. <br /><br />• Do not consider the referral an opt-in. When a customer refers a friend, the referral shouldn’t be considered an opt-in. A name and e-mail address given by a person’s friend does not constitute an opt-in by the individual, so the data should be deleted immediately after the referral email is sent. The referral email should provide the recipient with the option to opt out if he or she does not want to receive future mailings. <br /><br />• Personalize the referral e-mail. Response rates increase dramatically when users can see that a message is coming from a friend, so it is always best to personalize the e-mail message to show that it is coming from a recognizable source. The subject line is the key component in a viral marketing e-mail because it can immediately identify the e-mail as friendly. A good subject line might read, “FYI: Jane Doe thought you’d like 20% off at ABC.com.” <br /><br />• Continually promote friendly referrals. Marketers who would like to have their messages forwarded frequently should place a viral marketing offer in every relevant outgoing e-mail message.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-41756010755724562272010-06-04T06:58:00.000-07:002010-06-04T06:59:20.234-07:00Using E-Mail as a Viral Marketing StrategyUsing E-Mail as a Viral Marketing Strategy<br /><br />Viral Marketing using e-mail is not an objective. It is part of a campaign strategy that is used to achieve objectives. In order to achieve greater branding success exposure, you craft your e-mail message or offer in a way that it encourages pass-along. <br /><br />Viral marketing is all about producing a message with a quality offer or incentive for pass-along.<br /><br />Just suggesting that email recipients forward your message to their friends is not viral marketing. Just a message at the bottom of your email that says, “Feel free to forward this message to a friend” is certainly not viral marketing at its best. <br /><br />You must offer something worthy of being shared… a valuable discount, vital and timely information, a bit of humor, or a quiz or personality test. Offer an incentive for sharing like additional entries into a sweepstakes or an added discount. Viral Marketing happens naturally. It is very often quite successful. <br /><br />Let’s say that you receive two e-commerce offers in your in-box. Both of them are for an electronic product that you are interested in buying yourself or know that a friend is shopping around for. One offers a discount…a good one of maybe 25%, and the other offers free shipping. Shipping costs are high today but free shipping is pretty much expected. A 25% discount is certainly attractive. Of the two offers, which offer are you more likely to forward to a friend? <br /><br />Relevant information, research, or studies are all examples of content that may be viewed at possible Pass-along material. Interactive content like a quiz or test com inspire a recipient to forward an e-mail… especially if it is fun. I have forwarded personality tests, fitness quizzes and compatibility questionnaires myself…haven’t you? Entertainment has value.<br /><br />The bottom line is that the message must be perceived as having value in order to get recipients to forward your message.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-78410795318952846712010-06-04T06:57:00.000-07:002010-06-04T06:58:31.136-07:00Viral advertising using emailViral advertising using email was the earliest form of this phenomenon. Everyone wants his or her marketing message to be viral, or have a viral aspect and capitalize on viral marketing. Why not? It’s free and effective. The problem is that most people don’t understand what it is that makes their marketing email message worth of being passed along. <br /><br />The concept of making an advertisement on email become viral is actually pretty simple. You put something in there that people will want to share with their family and friends, something they will want to spread around. Something interesting or funny that will get your message forwarded and forwarded again. The forwarding is what makes it viral. If it gets deleted or just ignored it isn’t going to be viral. <br /><br />What won’t work:<br /><br />1. Simply suggesting that your email be forwarded is ineffective. A note at the bottom that says “Feel free to forward this message to a friend” isn’t going to make it happen.<br /><br />2. An email that offers nothing more than information about the product or service you are trying to sell won’t work either. Competition is stiff on all fronts. <br /><br />What will work:<br /><br />1. The message must be perceived as having value. Relevant or timely information, research or studies are examples of content that may be viewed as potential pass-along material. Interactive content like quizzes or personality tests are things that do get passed along because they are entertaining.<br /><br />2. Multimedia experiences get passed along. Rich media email is getting a lot of press of late. People, myself included, are always touting the benefits. Yes, it is does take a bit more time and money investment but the messages have a great appeal and they do get shared with others….which is the objective of viral advertising.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-64759840355070496822010-06-04T06:55:00.000-07:002010-06-04T06:57:00.388-07:00Use Your eBook to Build Your ListUsing your eBooks, e-reports and e-courses is a great way to build your list. You can use all these things as an “incentive” for joining your affiliate program as a “thank you” for visiting your web site or as a “bonus” when someone purchases a product or service from you. <br /><br />A lot of e-Businesses use them but some are make two big mistakes when they do. <br /><br />Mistake number 1: They upload these things to their web site and publish the download link without capturing a name or an email address. They are missing the point of using these things. The point is to build a list. You don’t market to ghosts.<br /><br />Instead of uploading your items to your server and just publishing the download link, be a little smarter. Set yourself up a mini-site where you can direct people to and for the price of their email addresses and names they can have the link sent to them.<br /><br />Now you not only have a person to market to, you also know they are interested in your product or service. Presto! Your list just grew.<br /><br />Mistake number 2: They just don’t take the time to customize eBooks, etc with their own links inserted into them. The thing is….if you are giving away an eBook with someone else’s links in it then all your marketing is paying off all right….for the person whose links are in the eBook. Why would you do that? You are working for them instead of helping yourself. <br /><br />So do you want to be “they” or do you want to use eBooks a little smarter? Take the trouble and go to the expense of getting a customization license. It’s worth it. If others don’t…then they will be marketing for you. Search the Internet for “customization license”. <br />Leverage on Email Marketingtop.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-56741042997666325822010-06-04T06:54:00.001-07:002010-06-04T06:55:12.203-07:00What to do with your eBookOnce you have your eBook written and checked and re-checked and checked again for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and that the links all work, you are ready to put it to work for you. Be absolutely certain that the links to your pages and especially to your sales page all are working links. <br /><br />The object is to get your eBook to as many different places as possible. Some of your readers will help you to get it to different places and each place it goes it becomes a new salesman for you. Post your eBook to as many of the eBook directories as you can. Many will let you post it for free or will let you post a link on their site to your eBook. To find these sites go to Google and type in “ebook directories”. This is now your personal viral marketing system. Once it gets going, you can’t stop it…..not that you want to stop it. <br /><br />It is certainly not a requirement but it is a good idea if you can create a cover for your eBook. Some sites offer free eBook cover templates. You just choose a pattern and then add the text. You can buy cover templates. There are even sites that will create a cover just for you and do it for free. Statistics prove that an eBook will be downloaded more when a nice cover is displayed. Search the internet for these sites.<br /><br />The traditional book is here to stay. Advertising on paper is here to stay, as well. The marketing eBook as a viral salesman is here to stay, too. Don’t discount the value or underestimate its worth to you and your online marketing. It can be one of your best marketing tools and it is free.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-89938733671196579472010-06-04T06:52:00.000-07:002010-06-04T06:53:12.147-07:00eBook FormatseBook Formats<br /><br />At first most of the marketing eBooks came in EXE format. The eBook is delivered to the reader in one EXE file which can be opened from windows like a program but lately more and more eBooks are being published in PDF format. The PDF format required that a reader have an Adobe reader. Adobe readers can be downloaded free.<br /><br />There are advantages to both the EXE format and the PDF format. <br /><br />The advantages of the EXE format are that you can take HTML code and compile it into an EXE format eBook. It can be used Off-line. You can put just about any feature into an eBook in EXE format that you can put into a web site including sound, animated graphics, hyperlinks to other parts of the eBook and hyperlinks to web pages. You have a lot of flexibility using the EXE format.<br /><br />The advantage of the PDF format is that you can very easily and quickly convert a text document to the PDF format. The document need not be created in HTML first. You can have images and hyperlinks to web pages in a PDF eBook. One of the biggest advantages is that the PDF format can be read by both windows and MAC users. <br /><br />One disadvantage of the EXE format is that MAC users cannot read them and that if you want to make your eBook using Microsoft Word, you must take the time to add the HTML code to the document. It isn’t all that hard to do but it can be time consuming. You do get faster, however, with a little practice. <br /><br />The disadvantage of the PDF format is that you can’t put a lot of the fancy stuff in that you can when you use the EXE format. PDF format books read more like a traditional book.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-84974596861712995762010-06-04T06:51:00.000-07:002010-06-04T06:52:13.973-07:00created ebookeBooks as Your Viral Salesmen<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />How can eBooks be used as a tool for viral marketing? Let’s say that you sell products used in baking. If on your website you offer a free download of an eBook with recipes that call for ingredients you sell, it is possible…even probable that you will sell more of the products that you manufacture. That is the basic concept but there are many ways that eBooks can help get free viral marketing for you.<br /><br />If the free eBook you give away on your site is good, informative, funny, or contains timely information, the public will pass that information along to their friends and family and thereby, generate a lot more traffic on your site. Just the fact that they found something interesting or useful on your site will make them return again and again.<br /><br />Each time they return is another opportunity for them to become a customer. <br /><br />The cost of an eBook is just about zero, which makes it a pretty attractive tool for marketers large and small. The only cost is in time and creativity and the benefits are endless. <br /><br />Of course, eBooks do not have to be free. They can also be sold. The trick to selling your eBooks is to be certain that they are worth the price you charge for them. <br /><br />So what is the consumer’s advantage of an eBook?<br />• eBooks are ideal for those who want information in the quickest possible time.<br />• eBooks can include video, sound, games, children's activities and many other interactive multi-media elements. <br />• eBooks have search engine and electronic navigation technology. No more flipping back and forth through pages to find that elusive paragraph. <br />• How to... eBooks can included video clips or many different color images to show you exactly how to piece together that Antique Grandfather Clock Kit, without having any bits left over.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-66496999214716973632010-06-04T06:49:00.001-07:002010-06-04T06:49:56.138-07:00The Blair Witch ProjectThe Blair Witch Project<br /><br />Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Mynick, two unknown filmmakers, with a budget of less than $100,000.00, wrote and directed a mock documentary about three student filmmakers who disappear while searching for evidence of a legendary witch in the Appalachian foothills of western Maryland. Artisan Entertainment, a film distributor, purchased the right to the movie for $1 million in an all-night bidding session at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. The Artisan team wanted to maximize the film’s success but limit the marketing expense to $1.5 million. The film was called The Blair Witch Project.<br /><br />The marketing strategy for the movie is a classic example of viral marketing and a prime candidate for buzz generation. Some of the horror in the film evokes a strong, emotional response on many levels.<br /><br />Because of it’s shaky handheld, low-budget production values, the film generates visual curiosity, which viewers who are used to more polished Hollywood production values, generates it’s own emotional response…. one of displeasure and sometimes vertigo. The key thing here is to realize that you make whatever you have a positive. <br /><br />Artisan’s creative team posted the following pieces of “evidence” on the original blairwitch.com web site, embellishing the myth of the Blair Witch and the vanished students:<br /><br />• Invented journal entries written by one of the three characters<br />• Fictional but seemingly authentic police reports<br />• A fictional legend of the Blair Witch dating back to the 18th century. <br /><br />Artisan updated the web site weekly, each time revealing more information and features in order to build suspense and encourage repeat visits. The web site was averaging 2 million hits a day.<br /><br />Of course, Artisan didn’t stop there….they continued to bait and intrigue audience’s right up to and past the release of the film. Wow! That is what I call Viral Advertising at its very best!top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-39428627557023820642010-06-04T06:47:00.000-07:002010-06-04T06:48:31.085-07:00ICQ – Free Chat Tool Turned Millions<span style="font-weight:bold;">ICQ – Free Chat Tool Turned Millions</span><br /><br />In 1996, four Israeli men, two of whom didn’t even finish high school, Yair Goldfinger, Arik Vardi, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir, is when ICQ (I Seek YOU) came into being. After their army service the four men thought about a holiday trip to India but decided to take jobs at a local computer store instead.<br /><br />At night they worked on their dream project….a program for instant easy Internet communication. They called their company Mirabilis.<br /><br />Internet service was very expensive in Israel, so the men moved to California and later to New York. It took less than 18 months for more than 10 million computer users to download and install ICQ. ICQ was free. It wasn’t advertised by a big time marketing campaign.<br /><br />Those 10 million people had heard about ICQ by “word-of-mouse” advertising. What we call Viral marketing or Buzz marketing. Mirabilis said a firm ‘NO” to Microsoft, but accepted a 300 million dollar buy out from AOL. ICQ then quickly exploded to 100-million downloads and a million new subscribers each week. <br /><br />The interesting thing about ICQ is their marketing…or rather the lack thereof. Journalist, Ami Ginsburg came to interview the Israeli founders, all the “marketing” they could show was a brochure they had once produced but that was hardly ever used.<br /><br />They just didn’t do any marketing… at least nothing that resembled any marketing techniques up until that time. All of their efforts were directed at motivating the users to spread the word.<br /><br />They made it easy to spread the word by using the standard e-mail that will invite your friends to join, but the software can also be instructed to scan your address book and send all your friends invitation letters. Their idea was to build a tool that includes an inherent mechanism for spreading the work and then just letting it grow.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-6624036344795792882010-06-04T06:39:00.000-07:002010-06-04T06:40:48.894-07:00Viral Marketing – Success StoriesSuccess Story #1:<br />Hotmail – From 0 to 30,000,000 in 30 months<br /><br />MSN Hotmail’s viral marketing success story is practically in the realm of folk lore… actually I guess it is in the realm of Internet folk lore.<br /><br />Back in 1995, when Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith approached the venture capital firm of Draper Fisher & Jervetson with their idea for a free email service, the firm liked the idea but wondered how they would attract members and build a company around it. Today there are more than 30 million active members.<br /><br />The Hotmail user base grew faster than any media company in history faster than CNN, faster than AOL, even faster than Seinfeld’s audience. Hotmail tripled its size in one year. The current sign-up rate for new memberships often exceeds a million per week.<br /><br />Tom Draper is the one who actually suggested that they should append an advertising message to every outbound email: “P.S. Get your free email at Hotmail” and called it viral marketing. It was a very bold move at the time. Would users balk at having this automatic addition to the content of their private messages? Hotmail tempered the idea by clearly marking the promotional plug and removing the “P.S.”.<br /><br />Still, every outbound message conveyed an advertisement and a subtle implied endorsement by the sender. The recipient knew that the sender was a Hotmail user and that this new free email thing seemed to work for them. Each new user became a salesman and the message spread like…well….an extremely contagious virus.<br /><br />Of course, if Hotmail had been only mediocre and not provided a terrific free email service, no amount of advertising, paid or free, would have turned it into the wildly successful thing it is today. Hotmail’s recipe for success is pretty simple. It delivers the qualities consumers really want in an e-mail service: speed, reliability, ease of use and a rich set of featurestop.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-81030049670178125822010-06-04T06:37:00.000-07:002010-06-04T06:38:28.241-07:008 Ways to Create Buzz8 Ways to Create Buzz<br /><br />Buzz marketing is the vehicle that will take your new business to dizzying heights. Here are a few suggestions to help you make that happen.<br /><br />1. Pursue what’s happening now. James Dean made rebels out of all of us and Madonna caused nice girls to wear a bustier. So…how did that happen? It happened the same way that Rosie’s Tickle-Me Elmo happened. They started a commotion. A commotion can send the world on a buying spree. You need to get the right person to “sneeze” to spread your viral message. For instance, sell the president of the Realtors Association on your house-painting service or gets the urban kids to make your streetwise electronics cool. Just get your message to the influential people who can start the buzz.<br /><br />2. Give them something to talk about. It makes people feel smart to know something that others don’t know. “I know where you can get a terrific deal on software” or “My carpet guy can get those stains out”. They know the answer. Give your first customers a great product and you become their brag. In order to get them talking, you must fill a need. Remember the first time you saw a Walkman? What IS that and where can I get one? Now you’ve got them talking.<br /><br />3. Package your product or service tightly. Your buzz or viral blurb needs to be short, sweet and make the point. “They sell beautiful shoes” or “You’re kids will love this” are the kind of things that don’t get lost on the tip of a tongue. Make it easy to remember. Describe what you do right now until you say it virally right. If you can’t do it, your customers can’t either.<br /><br />4. It’s like a cold in kindergarten. The best way to spread your message is to “sneeze” it in the right direction. It needs to be aimed at your target customers and in the places where they can be found. Once you get your “sneeze” aimed in the right direction and at your general pool of potential customers, the next thing to do is identify the “Typhoid Mary’s” in the group.<br /><br /><br />5. “To register your own (whatever), click here”. You have just received one…now buy one yourself. From Bouquets to “gifts for the fisherman”, “share-me” products give you the opportunity to spread your message inside what you sell. The product becomes the pitchman. Brilliant! You can find marketing services on the Internet that can create a customized e-newsletter package that will spread your business message to target users all through the Internet grapevine. Your customers will continue to love your product because they will tell and sell others.<br /><br />6. Pay it forward. You can generate more sales pretty easily. “Thanks so much for your business. Share this coupon with a friend and she will receive a complete facial at 20% off. To receive your free gift, please sign below.” That’s business author Jan Norman’s magic. She just helped you land a customer you’ve never met, and rewarded another one to boot. Just little things like “remember to tell your friends” at the bottom of an invoice are simple, easy and free ways to boost sales and start a buzz. On your web site offer something free for new names on your mailing list and your customers will join your sales force.<br /><br />7. Because she’ll tell two friends and they will tell two friends, and so on and on….Forget the fancy marketing theories. Buzz marketing works because it is heard from a friend who liked it and not from some paid pitchman who will sell anything for a buck. If your customers are happy with your product or service, then devise a way for them to share that joy with their friends. Help your customers to tell each other and your product will sell itself.<br /><br />8. Overcome their resistance. Problem solving guru, Jordan Ayan, points to persistence as the key ingredient to championing your business idea. Like that winter flu that some people don’t get until May, some customers will need many exposures before they “catch” it.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-20191561801248205542010-06-04T06:33:00.000-07:002010-06-04T06:36:48.408-07:00The Concept of BuzzThe Concept of Buzz<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Everybody knows certain urban legends. They have never been marketed….nobody ever spent the first dime to let the world know that there are alligators living in the New York City sewer system….big ones….albino ones. So how is it that we all know stories like that? Better question….what if it were my product or service that enjoyed such common knowledge?<br /><br />The grapevine, rumors, the whispers in your ear are what buzz is all about. Those little bits of information that people share over a cup of coffee….the outrageous occurrence that someone just saw and can’t wait to describe or the incredibly cool product that a friend of a friend just bought are the heart and soul of buzz…and buzz marketing or viral marketing, depending on what you want to call it.<br /><br />Gigantic billboards rate barely a glance but we all still read the scribbling on a bathroom wall…ah ha! Buzz! In today’s cyber –joined reality, every “have you heard” can get clicked on a zillion times by others faster than you can download the latest compromising picture of Madonna.<br /><br />We all know what a computer virus is. It spreads from one computer to another in the blink of an eye. The next thing you know it is everywhere. Now “Buzz” is the virus of marketing… it spreads to other customers and causes an epidemic of sales of your product or service.<br /><br />It could be that “e-mail this to a friend” button that is just calling to you to click it, or a pair of real (and very satisfied) lips whispering persuasive endorsements into receptive ears, buzz marketing can transmit your business message at warp speed and do it at no cost to you. How cool is that?<br /><br />By starting a buzz you can turn your new business into the next urban legend….that latest piece of juicy gossip that people can’t live without.<br /><br /><br />Message boards, blogs, email listservs and product review sites are the conversations that consumers have with one another and represent the largest collection of word-or-mouth or buzz advertising that has ever existed. It is the old party line phone system taken to the umpteenth power. People talk to each other. They willingly share their opinions on most any subject you can name but especially about products and services that they avail themselves of on the internet and in their brick and mortar worlds.<br /><br />Consumers listen carefully to what others say about a product they are researching and intend to actually purchase. Users read the recommendations that other users post.<br /><br />They really like it when other users post pictures or videos….these seem to have the most direct influence. Producers of products and services are slowly beginning to realize that what Consumer reports say about their products and services is not nearly as important as what consumers say to one another about them. Hence we have the ballooning of viral marketing…..word-of-mouth…or buzz.<br /><br />Buzz has always been an important element of marketing/selling/branding. So how does what is happening now differ from what went on before and why should marketers embrace it?<br /><br />The answer is that the impact of work-of-mouth or buzz advertising has increased dramatically. Ten years ago, a diabetic patient would have struggled to find other diabetic patients to communicate with. The internet solves that problem by allowing people with similar interests to find and interact with one another.<br /><br />It is not a coincidence that all of the reports coming out that are showing that word-of-mouth or buzz is becoming more and more important to consumers. It is because the internet has made the whole idea work better and faster than ever before….and it only gets better as the internet expands.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-8440675811504030902010-06-04T06:26:00.000-07:002010-06-04T06:32:47.008-07:00Defining Viral MarketingViral marketing is unique and quite extraordinary. We share with friends and family the bargains or freebies we were able to get. If we can copy the freebie we will do it and give it to people that we know. Everybody knows somebody and just like rumors, these freebies can spread fast.<br /><br />You can advertise your newsletter, your web site, products you’re selling, anything and you will make a profit if somebody clicks through the advertising on the freebie. I will spare you the details of why the same ad advertised through viral marketing is so much more effective than regular advertising.<br /><br />It is a great feeling when you receive something for free. <br /><blockquote></blockquote><br />As you can see, viral marketing is giving out free stuff and in turn, this free stuff will be passed around to other people. What better advertising could be accomplished in such a simple manner?<br /><br />The process is actually very simple. All you have to do is find resources where you can download free stuff, then turn around and give it away to your visitors. There are numerous resources where you can download the freebies. For example, you may get started off by offering your visitors free e-books and free software.<br /><br />The software might cost a substantial amount of money to develop, but in the long run it’s a one time fee for a decent stream of visitors. This is only one idea of many. You will find that the options are endless. Find something your visitors want and watch them roll on in!<br /><br />Free web hosting is another form of viral marketing. You can provide this for free on your server to small businesses or beginning internet marketers. In return, you place a banner ad at the top of each site advertising your products and web site.<br /><br />This will increase the number of visitors to your web-site and is an effective means of advertising with little expense.<br /><br />In summary, Viral Marketing by definition is any form of advertising and/or marketing techniques that "spread" like a virus without you having to do anything.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148583504757330793.post-31293825756419950362010-06-04T06:25:00.001-07:002010-06-04T06:26:06.858-07:00What is Viral Marketing?Viral marketing is like a sneezing into a crowded room without covering your mouth. The idea is to get people to pass it on. Viral marketing can be done in many ways…..email was the first way that viral marketing was used but since the beginning other ways have developed that encourage people to pass along to their friends and relatives information about products, services and internet sites… even jokes and video clips. <br /><br />Viral marketing can be a very good thing for internet businesses, especially small ones that are just starting up. It can, also, sound the death knoll for those same businesses. You cannot force a product to “go viral”. If it is good enough…or bad enough, that just happens. You can, of course, use viral marketing but you can’t force the viral thing to happen. People love to share good things with their friends and families…but they will be just as quick to share an unpleasant experience or the name of the company they think ripped them off…..maybe even quicker. <br /><br />Should you try to capitalize on viral marketing? You certainly should! You would be the worst kind of fool not to use everything at hand to market your product or idea. Without one doubt, you should reap the benefits of reaching more than just your target audience and stretching those advertising dollars as far as they will go. It is important, though, for you to realize that viral marketing is a strategy….just one tactic. One, however, that does work toward achieving your campaign objectives.<br /><br />Oh….and just one more word of caution. You can craft a brilliant offer and a great message, and follow all the rules of Viral Marketing 101, but if a consumer visits your site and has a bad experience or even a not-as-good experience as expected, you will defiantly achieve viral marketing….the kind you don’t want.top.new.bussineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07276093109842541545noreply@blogger.com0