A virus spreads and infects people through human interaction. This is exactly what viral marketing, a popular and powerful type of web promotion, does: It is an online technique that encourages people to spread to others the message about your e-business, mostly by word-of-mouth. The technique creates either a potentially large base of prospects from your existing lists, or a new database of prospects for you.

VIRAL TOOLS! The basic tools of viral marketing are those free marketing reports and ebooks you distribute online to promote your business. One of the most powerful words in marketing is the word FREE. Hence, one way you can put viral marketing into action is to make good use of tools that don't take much time to create and can be given away for free.

Other viral marketing tools are your email signatures, the free bonus on purchasing an item, and the free products that are spread around with your information attached. These are not the only tools available for you, but they will give you an idea on how to get started with your own viral marketing tool.

GET STARTED! Start a successful viral marketing campaign by making your own free give-aways.

Write an ebook or a free report on a topic you are very familiar with. If you can't really write, get someone to write for you. Trust me, it will pay off in the end. If you are good at programming, why don't you write a small and simple but useful program to spread around?

Here's where your viral strategy lies: attach your company logo product description, online link, and contact information on your free ebooks or free programs. Hopefully, producing these tools will not cost you anything, or little at all.

Request people to leave their e-mail address and allow you a one-time mailing if they want your free program. Contact them with your real product information later. They will already know you by your free product and will trust you, so it will make selling much easier. Ask them to tell others about your exciting free give-away if they find it useful.

USE OTHER PEOPLE'S PRODUCTS! However, if you can't make your own free ebooks or program, you can use free products from third parties related to your business or product. You can make a list of them and offer it. Make sure, though, that you have a great list. An extensive list of free advertising tools such as ad submitters, FFA sites and classified ad sites might do the trick.

Remember that anything you offer for free must be useful to your potential customers. It must serve a purpose for them and that they can get something out of your free product.

Create and distribute a useless free product and watch your good reputation go down the drain! Create and distribute a useful free product and watch responses soar in!

People tell other people what they like. If they like your free viral marketing tool and they tell other people about it, they also tell them about you and your e-business.

THE BONUS! Another way you can use viral marketing to your advantage is by offering a special free bonus on purchase of your product. This is a technique used mostly by affiliates of other people's programs. You offer more than what the company you are promoting offers, making more people buy from you. If you're reselling a program where people are requiered to place ads, offer them a free training report on how to place ads effectively and a list of advertising sites. People will soon get to know you as the person to buy a specific product from since you are offering more than the rest who are promoting the same thing.

The possibilities are countless, but the bottom line is: if you aren't doing viral marketing to help you promote, you are loosing money every day!

© 2000 Rok Hrastnik

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