Long before there was the internet and long before there were computers; Before there was advertising on the television and on the radio and even before print media, products were being sold. But how? All of the ways that we notice products are being sold now are using one or not all of these mediums. How were people able to sell products at a good enough pace to make a living? Yes, there was the door-to-door salesman who went from house to house peddling his product, and as effective as that may have been then, it surely won't be as effective now. Consumers are busier, more knowledgeable and less patient and not as persuadable. If that is your marketing strategy, you may find yourself behind the curve and also find yourself worn out and ready to give up before you make any real money.

    One of the most, if not most effective types of marketing is most likely the oldest. It's called referral marketing or in the 21st computer age century; viral marketing. "Word of mouth" marketing is still used by the biggest corporations and businesses today and should be used to it's fullest potential if you want to maximize your presence on the web. No matter how small your business is, viral marketing should be one of, if not your most important asset in your marketing campaign. But how do you do that besides just putting up a website and hoping people will tell each other about it? Having a viral website is a key component in surviving the increasingly competitive web landscape. Web platforms like Hotmail,  MySpace, FaceBook and Youtube used this concept to grow their popularity by 100 fold while using very little if any traditional forms or marketing. Other popular news informational sites like CNN and Yahoo use these methods to spread their articles around the web so they can increase viewership and hence increase ad revenue. And lastly E-commerce sites like Amazon and Ebay use it to increase sales on their sites. Whichever one of these you use, you should use viral marketing to increase exposure and gain market share in whichever industry you are participating in. These methods can be used in "online" and "offline" tactics that when combined can become an effective and affordable method to run a campaign.

    You can use viral marketing in a variety of ways online to help grow your business. If you have a website, your presence on the web is not enough. Search engine submission and search engine optimization should not be your only methods. You must engage your audience and stay in front of them long after they leave your site. Include such things as "Sign up for our weekly newsletter" on your website if you are an informational site or "Sign up here to receive coupons and great deals" gives you a chance to collect a viewer's name and email address and as a result you can send them great deals into their inbox. The best thing about emails is they're easily transferrable. If you sell shoes and you send your customer a great deal on a pair of shoes, they'll most likely send it to their friends and they'll send it to they're friends and so on.

     Speaking of friends, there is a great component that major websites are using that should be a standard on yours. The "Tell a friend" feature which is an add-on your web designer can implement on your site, is a great way for someone to pass on an article, blog or something you're trying to sell in a quick and viral manner. The message will be sent to the friend personalized and additional information about the product, including features, benefits, price and a link directly back to your page will be included where the item can be purchased. You will increase the chances of your product being sold because the link came from a friend of the person who sent the email and they are more likely to trust their recommendation than if you were to send them a random ad into their email inbox. Getting them onto your site will allow them to view your products, subscribe to your newsletter, and allow them to the send the object they are purchasing to their friends as well. Everything you do should be interrelated and provide links back to each other. Using these specific calls to action will increase the chances that these links will be shared.

    You can offer incentives for signing up for newsletters or coupons, etc. You can include them into a drawing to win a "Free Gift" or enter them into a sweepstakes in which they can win money, vacation etc. Be sure to use privacy policies to assure your visitors that you will never sell or trade their email addresses and make sure your emails you send them have "unsubscribe" features. This will protect you from being considered a spammer which can shut down your campaign very quickly. (Learn more about the Cam Span act of 2008 at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2008/05/R411008frn.pdf )

   Other techniques include links to a YouTube video you have advertising your product, or website. Some of these can be funny videos that people can share with others and will make people remember you long after they turn off their computer. You can give away free Ebooks on your site explaining or demonstrating your product or just providing valuable information that will brand you as an authority on a subject. For example, if you are a realtor. You can give away a free E-book on "The 7 biggest mistakes homeowners make when selling a home and how to avoid them." Provide an email or phone number so the visitor can contact you to learn more. This is great free information that people can share and will provide value to you giving you an endless stream of business down the road.

    You can also submit information like that to blog sites such as www.contentpromote.com and www.ezines.com . These are high traffic sites that when you submit information to and link back to your site, it will create a steady stream of traffic to your site on a consistent basis. Make sure your content is engaging and informational and you will see results.

For more information on Viral Marketing and more web marketing ideas contact Duane Anderson at d.anderson@189express.com