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Viral marketing is one of those methods that precedes the birth of the internet. To add to the excitement, all the social sites and networks plus sites like YouTube have radically changed the face of what viral means. People all over the world are revealing so much about themselves in unprecedented ways. This just goes on to show that viral marketing is in full throttle, and the regular word of mouth has taken a whole new meaning with the birth of the World Wide Web.

You will need to think about the market in which you are trying to force a viral campaign. All you can do is create it and let it go, and if it goes viral then you will not be the first to know, usually.

This is why you should focus on being patient when it comes to achieving results from your campaign. It is true that you really never know what will set people off in a viral way. These viral events are not all that frequent, and when they happen they just suddenly come out of nowhere. The key here lies in laying down a perfect foundation that makes it easy for you to grow your viral marketing campaign and take it to the next level. Most people who try to make something viral usually do not succeed. If something you do becomes viral, then all you really can do is watch it and respond to people if they talk to you. The success of the idea proves that it’s worthy, which is why you should spend more time on improving it even after launching it. The best viral campaigns are very direct and not complicated. The easier you make everything, then you will greatly increase your chances of something going viral. Whatever you do, it has to be a total no-brainer for people to talk about it or spread it. There are lots of examples of this principle in action on the net, and you have seen many of them. The key to all this is make people aware of it as it is being spread, and that is often just some kind of message or ad. That little ad is powerful, and it actually causes people to become drawn into the viral mechanism. The easier you make it, the more powerful it becomes.

You can create a buzz about your business that approaches viral, and the key to doing so is when you go out of your way to care about your customers. Remember if you want to drive a point home with your customers, then always avoid talking about it and then keep showing them with your actions. When you always do that, then people remember and they will tell others about it. When you sincerely help people, then they do remember that and will tell others. When you make the effort to help people, then you will see that they remember that and talk about it.

Viral marketing has huge potential for any business that decides to use it in a creative way. Creating an impact in your target market with the right viral marketing campaign requires you to have a good understanding of it, and at the same time you should know your own product inside out.

Do Small Businesses need websites to survive in this technology driven society? If they do, should the sites be professionally designed and optimized regularly? Or, will the old-fashioned tried and true methods of word of mouth, print media, phone books and directories offer them more business than they can handle? There are certainly variables which should be considered regarding the type of business, the location and whether or not the services or products offered are unique. Generally speaking however, is it necessary for a small business to build and maintain a website?

There are numerous directories all of which will offer different avenues of listing your business across the web, such as Superpages and Yellowbook. While these listings will probably make the phone ring, there are fees associated with each of them. The truth is, Any small business can spend a little time (and NO Cash) to have their business listed Online. They can sign up for a listing on Google Maps with no costs associated and will then appear when someone searches for the Category and location which they have indicated in their business profile. Even if they do not have a website at all, they will have a business listing with a phone number and location on Google Maps which, to be honest, is exactly how I tend to find most local businesses.

Now, back to the need for a website. A basic, static site with a few industry specific images, a list of services or menu with some sort of fee structure and maybe a few other blurbs about the business is inexpensive and they will benefit from that Online Presence. The business listing on the Maps Page will also support a link to the website.

Of course, a professionally designed website with someone watching it and updating the content based on keyword searches and the latest SEO techniques including Social Media Marketing and aggressive email marketing campaigns, certainly will provide quality leads for any business. While it will certainly not hurt, I just do not think that it is necessary for every small business.

With viral marketing the principal objective is to increase awareness of a product, service or concept using word-of-mouth behaviours. To put it into context, where spam is based on massive distribution of unsolicited emails, viral emails use popular social networking aspects to achieve their goal of reaching the masses.

The development of a viral email is pretty straightforward. An individual will receive a message that can be of any nature really (something with a humorous tone is almost always effective, but try not to insult), which they then pass on to their friends using the “forward to a friend” or “share on a social network” button, strategically placed in the email campaign. Secondary recipients can clearly see and trust where the email comes from and therefore the chance of it getting opened is greatly increased. They in turn then do the same thing, and so forth. The concept is similar to that of an email chain letter, except of course there is no explicit requirement to forward it. A viral email is spread because the content that’s in it is relevant and (this is important), there is true value in passing it on.

A viral email is very similar to a real virus, and is in fact where the name comes from, duh. Think about it like this: a virus starts out as a single entity, with the potential to increase exponentially to the point that it dominates. It uses a host and their resources to grow, replicate and double with each interaction. Clever little organisms really, the hard work is done for them, they just have to find the right host to start out with – much like choosing the right recipients for your first viral email campaign.

Recently there have been great examples of hugely successful viral email marketing campaigns. One that you might be familiar with is that of Threshers – the UK off-licence retail chain. They emailed vouchers to staff and suppliers, which were then redistributed by them. This proved so successful that many branches ran out stock when people went to cash in on the deal. On top of this, the story made headlines all over Europe and the Internet was filled with news of this ‘viral campaign.’ According to Threshers however, it was not an intended viral email campaign although due to its phenomenal success, they initiated a similar campaign the following year, with similar levels of success.

Hotmail.com is another superb example of a viral email campaign that resulted in the number of people registering for a free Hotmail account climb rapidly into the millions, literally within a few days. The strategy was unbelievably simple; each email that was sent out from an existing Hotmail account had a tag at the end of it which read: “Get your private, free email at hotmail.com. “

To give you more of an idea of the potential success of a viral email, I rustled up these stats, courtesy of EmailStatCenter:

• 20% of Facebook, MySpace and/or Twitter users have posted or shared something from permission email to their social account(s) via a “share” option.
• 32% of marketers say they’d share promotional email offers with members inside a social network and open emails from others.

Based on these examples and healthy stats, you might very well be thinking at this stage that it’s something you’d be interested in trying out. And so you should. I’ve summed up a few best practices for you to follow to help ensure your viral email campaign gets sent off without a hitch (and potentially make the news).

1. Make it Unique

Think about what makes you respond to an email and take action. It’s probably because it contains something unique, something that makes you laugh, and something that shocks you, something that excites you or maybe even something that makes you rethink your perspective on an important issue. You want your campaign to have a similar effect, so think very carefully about your content and the information you are about to potentially have sent to thousands of people. Think outside of the box and don’t be too quick to fall back on ideas that ‘normally work’. Your new angle could take you to new heights of success.

2. Offer a Reward of Substantial Value

Make sure what you are offering has substantial value – this can be in the form of giving something away for free (products, services, white papers or reports for example) or offering a tempting discount or coupon (with an expiry date.) Of course, if your offer is of material value make sure that you have enough stock, or the capacity to deliver on your promise, in a timely manner. There is little worse than offering a reward and not being able to make good on it. You’ll immediately loose the trust of your customers and any further campaigns you send out will inevitably get ignored. On the other hand, deliver as promised and word of your company will spread like wild fire.

3. Send to a Select Target Audience

You don’t want to appear as a spammer, which is why your initial email should be sent to a select audience. It’s also why you’re going to tell your recipients not to just forward the message any old way to any old person. If they’re going to pass it on, it’s important that they use the special ‘forward to a friend’ or ’share’ button in the body of your email. This will allow you to track it easily and get the stats you need, as opposed to if they just forwarded the email regularly, in which case you won’t be able to track it from that point on. A viral email might start off small, like a real virus, but it grows and spreads extremely fast. Remember that offering incentives for forwarding may increase the amount of forwarding but it might also increase the chances that recipients will spam their entire mailing list, which could very certainly have negative effects on your company’s brand. Therefore it’s vital that you make it clear to your readers that they too should be highly selective over who they choose to share the email with.

4. Check and Optimize Your Message Format

Have you checked the format for your message? Do you have an HTML and plain text message and have you optimized your message for recipients that open and share emails on mobile devices? According to an article on Econsultany.com, 20% of email sent by retailers is opened on a mobile device. Use this to your advantage and plan strategically.

5. Bold Branding and Logo Placement

How clear is your branding, logo, website and contact details, are they immediately visible? Without this, it doesn’t matter how huge your campaign gets, if it can’t be attributed to you then what’s the point?

6. As Always – Don’t Forget a Call to Action

As always, make sure you’re telling your recipients exactly what they need to do and how. Including a strong call to action in your email might be advice that’s drummed in your ears all the time, but it’s for good reason. If you don’t tell someone what they need to do, they won’t do it. Simple. In the case of a viral email, your call to action might be along the lines of “share on your social networks” or “forward this to a friend now”. Make sure this feature is also immediately visible.

7. Your Follow-Up Campaign

Based on the stats and feedback you get regarding your first campaign, you could consider sending up a follow up, targeting those that responded positively to your efforts the first time. This could be in the form of a survey of the campaign results; people are often interested to see how their actions affect the overall results of a project. If you previously sent a video you could consider sending the unedited version, especially if it has humorous footage. This will also help you appear as more ‘human’ to your customers. Another idea would be to let them know if you have any further promotions or specials running or remind them where they can redeem their vouchers or coupons if you included one in your first campaign as reward for forwarding your message.

Although concocting a viral email campaign might be considered ‘fun’, if only to see how far it goes, it’s vital that you still follow best practices to help ensure that it adheres to anti-spam laws and reaches the inbox of your target audience. The purpose of your campaign remains the same as that of a traditional email campaign in that it is there to inform your subscribers, make an offer, share important (or humorous) news, create awareness for your brand and ultimately develop lasting relationships with your customers.

We’ve all heard the horror stories, and most of them are just that: stories. Urban legends spread by word-of-mouth and fueled by the iconic, Hollywood-ized fear of waking up in a bathtub full of ice, feeling a few organs lighter.

On the other hand, when buying and selling through classified ads, you do want to be smart and safe. And although more often than not your main concern will be protecting your money, it doesn’t hurt to keep yourself safe as well.

Using online classified resources is a great way to find fantastic deals for amazing items; however, you need to practice safety. We wanted to get a word out on simple, realistic things YOU can do to protect yourself.

Tips For Buyers

When you find something online that piques your interest, the first thing you want to do is stop, take a breath and think. Emotions have a sneaky way about getting the better of us, to take control and blind us of our reason. For the reason (or lack there of!) you want to begin any classified transaction with a calm head and you want to remain calm to the end. A common saying we like to toss around here in the classified biz is: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Say it with us. Yeah! Say it again. Now only the women! Now the men! I didn’t hear all of you men – but it’s OK, let’s move on.

Most cases of online fraud involve rare or exotic or even ordinary items that are listed well under the normal price. This is your first warning. If any item is priced way below what seems to make sense, though an enticing deal, you should proceed with caution. This doesn’t mean you should just ignore all the great deals, sloughing them off like a wet blanket – because many times the deal is real. We are simply suggesting (passionately) that you do not let the “deal” could your judgment. Trust your gut.

We are experts in the field. We do this for a living and we take it seriously. And from our experience, we know for a fact that a great majority of classified buyers and sellers are your average everyday people, just trying to make a buck or find a good deal. But we aren’t naive enough to not acknowledge that there is a small minority of jerks who are out to ruin your day. Following our tips will increase personal safety.

1) You always want to communicate over the phone. Using e-mail is good for initial contact and getting your “feet we”, but using strictly e-mails is ill-advised. It puts the seller, especially if he is one of the aforesaid jerks, at the advantage. If the seller refuses to talk over the phone or gives you any excuse as to why they cannot speak over the phone, we say, “walk away and plan to classified another day.”

2) OK, so you’ve talked on the phone and you got some good vibes? Now it’s time to set up a meeting. We can’t stress this enough: Bring a friend! There is no reason to go alone. A neutral, public meeting location, such as coffee joints, cafs, or shopping malls are all great and safe ideas. Also, remember to tell a family member or friend (or two) where you are going, when, why, and with whom. You can’t be too safe. You just can’t.

3) You don’t anyone any favors. You have not signed any contracts (you better not have) and there is no legal binding agreement involved with classifieds. You have the right to walk away all the way up to point of purchase. Buyers and seller understand this point. If you do not like what you see, respectfully explain that you were looking for something different and decline the transaction. If you decide to buy, pay using cash or a cashier’s check, and never wire money.

Tips for Sellers

When selling, you basically want to follow the same tips as when buying. Speak with the buyer on the phone; meet in a neutral and public meeting location with a friend and after informing some others of the whole deal; etc etc etc. If we are talking statistically, which we are, your transaction will go down smoothly and you will sell your car or dog or bed set with no problems and the buyer will a wonderful person just like yourself. However, nothing is 100% so you still want to be safe!

As the seller, the main safety guideline from buying is to protect yourself from getting ripped-off. Cash is the best and safest means of payment to accept. Though for more expensive items, a cashier’s check is not out of the question. However, these can be easy to fake, so we recommend that you both go to a bank to verify the check before accepting it and handing over the item for sale.

Whether you are buying or selling, there is no reason to compromise your safety for a good deal. As long as you are prepared and use good judgment, you will be able to buy and sell using classified sites without any problems, safe and sound.

Stay Safe Classifiers!

Having a business can be a difficult task. If you now have a brick and mortar operation and are looking to expand to an online presence instead or as well; there are a number of things you must know-not just about the venue through which you plan to sell; but also, about who is your market. Is it different for in person as opposed to online venues? It could very well be. The difference exists in how a customer who finds you through MLM or word of mouth marketing and the customer that finds you online. Since the market online is potentially so much larger due to the fact that people can reach you globally just by seeing your site, you need to specify your market into what is called a Niche.

A niche is a sector of the market that your product or service specifically addresses, and a market that is looking for your specific product or service. So, for example, your business may sell golf products-so your niche would be golfers. Of course, not every business will be able to identify their niche so easily; but in the case of even larger and more general products/services that could be wanted by many different clients and businesses-it is always wise to have a central niche to be able to focus on marketing to.

How to Select a Niche

When it comes to creating the right niche for your online business, you need to follow a certain protocol, if you are to have success by not just marketing to many people; but marketing to the people who will offer you return on your investment i.e. the qualified buyer or site visitor. Here are some tips on effectively choosing a niche for your business:

• Consider Your Products/Services: The first step is to consider what you sell and who buys your product, as well as who might be looking for your product but can’t find it online. Do some serious brainstorming. Run searches online for your services and see to what kinds of sites these searches bring you. This will help you gain a better idea of just who is seeking to buy your product.

• Choose the Right Size Market: Once you have a concept for who will buy your product, you need to make sure this market is not too general or too specific. If you have chosen women as your niche market, this is way too general. If you choose women who love sports and want advertising, chances are you will be marketing to a small group of people. You have to choose a market that won’t be too big so that you won’t be able to compete, but also one that is not so specific that it excludes many potential buyers.

• Research the Niche: Make sure prior to deciding on a specific niche that you know that it is a highly profitable market-otherwise, you will be wasting time marketing for little return. Instead, consult keyword search tools in your niche, and conduct searches on your products to see how many searches are being plugged into google or yahoo for a specific niche term.

I have spent many many hours doing Niche research and have found a few very good ones, a rule of thumb to follow is: Find Something You Love To Do because you will be spending a tremendous amount of time setting it up to make money for you.

One of the best things you can do when you’re about to launch a new product is create a buzz. Put simply, a “buzz” is just promoting something by word of mouth. Basically, you want to get people to talk about your product. The good news for you is that the Internet makes creating a buzz about your product extremely easy.

The first thing you need to do to generate a buzz in your niche market is to get your name out there (both online and offline). Whenever people talk about your topic, you want your name to jump into their minds.

Getting your name out there is as easy as adding a signature file to all your emails, writing and submitting articles, blogging, etc. Your goal is to increase your name recognition.

My best advice is to start generating a buzz at least one month before you plan to launch your product. You need time to let it take on a mind of its own if you are going to be successful.

Of course, you’ll need a good hook to grab people’s attention and get your buzz generating plan rolling. Make your name visible wherever people in your niche market go for information.

And, be sure to utilize social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Friendster. Make sure all of your content is creative and fun and people are sure to start talking about you!

Creating a buzz about your newest products is a great way to ensure a successful product launch.