How to Use Viral Marketing for Online Profit

When Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith founded Hotmail.com they promoted it with a simple idea they called "Word of computer" advertising. Every message sent by a subscriber had a one-line promotional message attached?."Get Your Private, Free E-mail from Hotmail at www.hotmail.com". Within the first 18 months of business they claimed 12 million sign-ups to their service? more than what CNN and AOL could garner in the same time period. With a cost per acquisition of just 4 cents this was a resounding success and a brilliant use of Viral Marketing Technique.

Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence. Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, to millions."

It is an extremely effective form of word-of ? mouth online promotion strategy used for amazing success by web frontrunners like Hotmail and Bluemountain.com. For a home based or small business, viral marketing is a smart and cost effective way to promote business and generate new sales leads. It is easy and fun.

The biggest benefit of viral marketing is that it helps you maintain a cost effective level of brand awareness at all times. It can reach beyond your target audience and mine for new leads; it creates a buzz around your products and services and provides accountability when tracked.

Also see: http://hackvan.com/pub/stig/etext/viral-marketing.html

Here are some tips for you to get your viral marketing campaign on the right track:

  • Have a great idea: Unless you have a really remarkable idea, it is going to be hard to get people interested in it; much less share it with others. A boring idea doesn't get passed on. If you have a regular consumer product to sell and still want to use viral marketing, put on your creative hat and craft a promotional message that will make people want to pass it on to others.

  • Identify your core group: your core group or "hive" is a group of people who share a common interest and talk to each other about it. The core group can also be called 'agents'. These are the guys who will be responsible for sending your 'virus' ahead. If your product/idea/ service doesn't move this group, it isn't going to get any further.

  • Ease of use: have you ever received an email with a mile long URL in it, asking to be sent to "15 people for a free gift"? if your answer is 'yes' then you know what I am talking about. Make it easy for your agents to tell their friends about your company. if they have to download pages of text or heavy graphics, they are more likely to hit the "delete" button and get out of there, fast!

  • Make it persistent: When you have built a sizeable community of converts, keep them happy. It is harder to go out and get new agents than making the existing ones work for you.

  • Referrals: A good way of utilizing viral marketing for your site is through referrals. If you are offering content or service, you can put up a "Tell a Friend" button that lets customers recommend products or Web pages via email to friends. Recommend-It and BigNoseBird.com are some of the sites that offer these services for free. These services allow you to keep track of those who recommend your site and the people they recommend it to.

    Once you have started off the process all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. For more information on viral marketing take a look at:
    http://www.nmk.co.uk/article/2003/04/02/viral-marketing

    ================================== ========

    Wanna Learn the Secret of Creating Passive Income Online
    From a man who made $3,244,842.32 from the Internet in Only 27
    months? => http://www.the1andonly.biz

    Presented by:
    Perfect Home Based Business Opportunities

    In The News:

    • pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    How to Network Effectively to Secure Freelance Work

    When freelancers ask me what type of marketing is the... Read More

    Collective Courtesy

    I don't know what you are promoting, or what methods... Read More

    The Internet Marketer

    The internet marketer is really a perfect profession. This profession... Read More

    Keys To Successful and Profitable Niche Marketing

    The market world is increasingly becoming specialized. Instead of offering... Read More

    Marketing Automation For Small Businesses And Web Entrepreneurs

    Many Internet marketers wonder how they spend less time marketing... Read More

    Dumb Money And Smart Money

    One of my goals online is to give you the... Read More

    How to Put Your Bookmark on Top Every Time

    Do web surfers really bookmark websites anymore? A good friend... Read More

    The Long Sales Letter: Should You Use it In Your Advertising?

    If you're a web marketer and you've done your homework,... Read More

    How to Make Money with Your Own Internet Business

    Many people fail to realize how they can really make... Read More

    Target Practice And The Internet Entrepreneur

    Internet marketing, a lot of the time really is hit... Read More

    Highly Recommended Pre-Fab Marketing Business

    Unfortunately most 'ready-made' business sites don't seem to be very... Read More

    Dont Baffle Me - Talk to Me

    Congratulations, all you Internet marketing people you. You now command... Read More

    Avoid Marketing Stagnation Using 3 Basic Methods

    You joined an online marketing program, placed some ads, and... Read More

    Build Your Marketing Muscle

    During a saxophone lesson the other day I realized how... Read More

    Weblogs, Podcasting, and RSS Newsfeeds in the Marketing Mix

    Weblogs and Podcasting in the Marketing MixIt is rare that... Read More

    3 Quick and Easy Steps to Earn Money Online!

    Do you own a web site that is continually failing... Read More

    Article Submitting: How To Study A Publisher?s Website

    There are many websites that will host your articles on... Read More

    Road Map to Internet Marketing Success

    Today, the internet has become part of our life. We... Read More

    How to Make Money Online...Driving your Car.

    Here's an alluring income generating strategy, that's widely adopted by... Read More

    10 Search Tips for Internet Marketers

    From kids to the old, everybody searches and search engines... Read More

    What is EMarketing? A New Discipline is Evolving

    Before trying to define the term of eMarketing (or electronic... Read More

    Experience the Benefits of an Internet Business

    The Internet industry is booming and offers opportunities galore for... Read More

    URLs Everywhere

    Your URL (www) should be everywhere and more. I know... Read More

    5 Ways To Treat Your Website Like An Employee And Reap The Rewards

    People often come to me in a state of crisis... Read More

    How To Create Your Own *24/7 Little Sales Machines* In 5 Simple Steps

    Here's an astonishing fact guaranteed to excite you...Many successful internet... Read More

    Secrets Of An Internet Marketing Newbie - Or How I Fell On My Face Trying To Get RICH

    A Cautionary Tale for the Internet Marketing NewbieIn an attempt... Read More

    When is Spying on Your Competition a Complete Waste of Time?

    Your brain screams "Gimme Fast", "Gimme Easy", "Do it for... Read More

    Getting noticed on the Internet - Digital Marketing for Small Business

    The Internet has grown from a small network of academics... Read More

    Ask Questions? To Help Find The GOLD

    Here's another great idea that the gurus are using to... Read More

    Viral Marketing - Spread the Word

    While a virus, in Medicine, is the smallest infectious agent,... Read More

    Researching For Niche Markets

    When it comes to researching for niche markets, many people... Read More

    Internet Marketing Online: How To Eliminate Your Competition Without Bloodshed

    Business thrives on competition.You've to be aware of your competition... Read More

    Free Marketing = Effective Marketing

    According to Google.com there are over three billion web pages... Read More