Ask any successful marketer what has had the biggest impact on the growth and success of their business, and they're sure to cite the power and benefits of viral marketing. Imagine tripling your mailing list each and every time someone opts in, or having a video you created or free special report take the internet by storm and become the newest "must" in your field. That's the power of viral marketing but not many online entrepreneurs understand viral marketing or know how to take advantage of it.



The DNA Of Viral Marketing

First a simple clarification: 'viral' has nothing to do with being disease related or unethical. The term simply refers to the rate of growth. If something doubles or triples every day of its own accord. If you've ever done any gardening, then you've no doubt had experience with weeds that double daily. I know I've had many a time where I've spent an afternoon pulling weeds in the sun only to be dismayed when I return the next day to see them poking their heads through the soil again and back full strength a few days later. That's the way it is with viral marketing. If everyone who is introduced to a product simply tells two others about it twice in a day, then in a month you will have probably covered the country!

Top 3 Tips For Maximizing The Benefits Of Viral Marketing

There are many ways of maximizing the benefits of such an important marketing technique. I will share my top three:

- Find out where your target market hangs out: One of the keys to marketing is to find out where your target market hangs out online. Luckily this is done pretty easily. Just do a quick Google search for [FIELD OF INTEREST] blog or [FIELD OF INTEREST] forum and you'll probably get some really good results. A simple search will give you a large number of sites, blogs and discussion forums that are interested in the very thing you have on offer. But finding them is not enough. Once you've indentified where they hang out, you must become a regular contributor to these sites. I'll be honest: there's work to be done here. And lots of it. You will need to read and collect considerable information before you can write with authority. Only when you're accepted, will you be able to influence others with your opinion.

- Make free resources available: Moving the free line is a term I first heard coined by Eben Pagan. He's a master of packing a lot of valuable content into free resources. Don't be afraid to share some of your best tips. Once the visitor or reader gets the value of what you offer, it will be much easier to pass on your message - even if it's a sales pitch. Joel Comm says that giving away free content "get[s] your name known and you get to be seen as an expert by people who otherwise might never have heard of you." Encourage readers to distribute your resource freely.

- Tell buyers that you welcome any referrals: And if a referral results in a sale, share a percentage of the profit with them through a formal or even informal affiliate program. This way you create a strong incentive for the users of your stuff to introduce new users.

If you handle your viral marketing efforts well, you'll be able to generate a buzz in your target group that will ultimately lead to several tangible benefits:

- Hits on your sites will increase substantially.

- Discussion forums or boards will discuss your goods or services by name

- New leads will be targetted and qualified

So spend some time over the next week thinking about a free special report that you can create to test virally.