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're 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!

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 required 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 losing
money every day!

About the Author
Rok Hrastnik, Internet Musketeers, Inc. (IMI) Search Engine Placement
and Sales Copy Analysis and Creation are two popular services offered
at http://IMIOBC.com. Our newest service, the creation and promotion
of Ghost Articles to promote your business, is gearing up to be our
most popular and useful service yet. Articles are created by our team
of professional ghost writers @ http://GhostArticles.com.