I have just created a new “7 Part Viral Marketing Bootcamp” that I am delivering by email to subscribers of my list. I have decided to post the first lesson here today and invite readers of my blog to sign up for the complete series. This is a high value series as viral marketing should be an essential component to your business business plan in 2010 and beyond.
Simply read and enjoy this first lesson and if you feel that it benefits you, click the link and the bottom of this post to receive the complete series of releases beginning on April 1, 2010 – you will received one lesson each day for 7 days.
** Note – your e-course will start with lesson one, but please be aware that it will contain a special link to download resources recommended to take action on each lesson. The lesson one resource is not included in this blog post.
In Lesson One let’s take a look at a few viral marketing methods:
The pure essence of a viable viral campaign is a willingness of those who receive your content to promote, forward, repost or bookmark your content without being provoked through an ethical bribe or other reward. However, your goal is to build your campaign in such a way that instructs the reader how to help their friends and associates by sharing the content provided. It doesn’t hurt to make it clear that your intent is to give the information way to as many people as possible.
In this lesson we are going to go over the different types of viral marketing tools (methods), so that you can become familiar with them.
Blogging: You must have a blog – period! Your blog should serve as the hub for all of your online activities including your viral marketing campaigns. You blog will serve as the launching pad for every viral marketing method taught in this course to a greater or lessor degree and is essential to your success online.
Blogs can be used to establish authority, gather subscribers, link to other online properties, attract a tribe of loyal followers and distribute all of your content including audio and video distribution.
Email: Sending targeted email messages to your list of subscribers or a purchased double opt in list is a very effective method for spreading your message to a targeted audience. The most effective method for delivering your email is through the use of an auto-responder on a regular basis. Be sure to always provide the recipient with an easy one click link to unsubscribe and only send email to those who have requested to receive the type of messages you are sending.
I recommend cultivating your subscriber list as well as your purchased list. Do not attempt to sell anything in the first couple of messages, give an item of value to them free of charge. You can offer an e-book, audio recording or access to a content rich video – strive to add value and build trust!
Newsletters: A digital newsletter is a natural extension to your initial email and blog posting efforts. Most professional auto-responder services offer newsletter templates that can be easily customized and distributed to your growing subscriber list with relative ease. The key to any good newsletter is the relevance of the content to your targeted niche. Your newsletter should be free, timely, informative and not over promotional. You should offer important updates, recommend resources, educate your readers and offer extreme value.
Mass Article Distribution: Write articles about your niche topic using keywords to target your readers, which increases the chances of having your content go viral . Be sure to develop a targeted resource or signature box including your website URL and contact information to be posted with your article. Grant your readers with permission to re-publish and share your articles with others as long as your resource box remains with the article.
Niche Forums: Forums or chat rooms offer a very powerful platform for spreading your brand virally and developing a loyal community that will elevate your business to a entirely new level. At a minimum you should join and participate in one or two popular forums in your niche and become known as someone who adds value to the community. Be mindful of the rules that govern each forum and promote your business and resources within the established guidelines and do not post spam as this will destroy your reputation in the community.
In addition to participating in established forums, also consider adding a forum or chat room to your blog. In the beginning it may require a significant time investment on your part, but once a few active members emerge, you can reward them by making them a moderator and begin to share the work required to keep your forum going strong.
PLR E-Books: Private Label Rights or PLR can be used to create a valuable library of e-books to give away to your list. I would not recommend simply downloading a PLR product and giving it away without extensive editing and a method of capturing a maximum number of subscriber names and email addresses.
Be sure to select a title from a reputable resource that has braod appeal in your niche. You must read every word of the e-book to ensure that the content is consistent with your philosophy and intent. Be sure to edit the e-book as needed to include exclusions and additions so that the content represents you and your brand. In addition, you should add an about you page, a recommended resources page, and links leading back to your blog and other resources.
Control the delivery of your e-book by utilizing a squeeze page as your method of distribution of the e-book. This will enable you to capture the names and e-mail addresses of those interested in claiming their free copy of your e-book.
I recommend Sure Fire Wealth PLR (click the link for a free Silver Membership) as a excellent resource for quality PLR software that is easy to use.
PLR Software: There are many excellent sources for PLR software packages that you can test and then re-brand as your own. This is a great way to provide a resource with high perceived value with minimal cost and maximum return on your investment. Provide your software for free and encourage your subscribers to share the URL to your squeeze page allowing them to claim there own copy.
I recommend IM Buzz Software as a excellent resource for quality PLR software that is easy to use.
Website and Blog Templates: Design your own website or blog templates, include your own marketing information on them and give them away as free downloads or as an electronic package. Grant permission for recipients to pass them along as long as your viral banding information remains in tact.
This method allows others to utilize your content in on their website and blogs in addition to e-zines, newsletters and other distribution points which will result in the viral effect in spreading your content across the Internet. This process can also be accelerated by utilizing a mass-submission tool to distribute your articles to numerous article directories through automation.
Niche Video Distribution: Video is hot! You Tube is now the number two search engine on the Internet and there are millions of users who watch, bookmark and share videos everyday. Regardless if you are posting videos to You Tube, sharing videos with a service like Video Forward, or posting video to your blog, video should be a central compnent to all of your viral campaigns.
Social Media Applications: One of the best methods to leverage the emergence of social media with your viral campaign is developing and promoting a flash game or other application with broad appeal. The idea of creating a game application may seem overwhelming, a game came be created on a modest budget and can be a very effective list building tool as long as the idea is createive enough to attract a following.
This is a very advanced method and will require a financial investment for development and promotion to build momentum for your game. Once you develop a small following on one of the major social sites, you can quickly add thousands to your list. Consider a few recent examples including Mafia Wars, Farmville and others on facebook.
As we close this first lesson I want to touch on one of the main things that make starting a viral marketing campaign such a good idea. It is the simple fact that it costs a lot less to implement than traditional advertising and can be much more effective in a shorter period of time.
You will also want to keep in mind that viral marketing is just one basic components of your overall marketing plan. It should be linked with other strategies such as setting up squeeze pages to collect subscribers.
Once you incorporate viral marketing into your business plan, you will increase awareness about your business, generate fresh traffic to your websites, build a responsive and solid subscriber list and generate sales.
To subscribe to the complete course send an email with the words “Viral Bootcamp Free Memeber” in the subject line to:
viralbookcamp@aweber.com
Each day for the next 7 days you will receive a lesson that will help you learn the how you can use viral marketing to increase awareness and profits for your business.
Explore the links provided here and discover for yourself how easy it is to leverage viral marketing in your business. Once you have begun to use viral marketing come back to this post and offer your feedback by commenting here. If you found this post helpful, please be sure to bookmark it so that others can benefit as well.
I wish for you every blessing on your success journey!
P.S. Here is the e-mail address again to gain access to the complete e-course: viralbookcamp@aweber.com
(c) Copyright 2008-2010 James A. Holmes. All Rights Reserved.
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James Holmes, Global Team Builder, Coach and Trainer, combining online and offline techniques to help you grow your business. To request a free 30 minute consultation contact James by phone at 303-523-9503 or email at james@AskJamesHolmes.com
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Note: If you’d like to reprint this article on your blog or in your newsletter you have permission to do so as long as the copyright information and the resource box above remains with the article.
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