A Free Way to Promote and Profit - Viral Marketing

Everyone is talking about viral marketing, because it's a great way to promote products and make money. But that doesn't mean that you need to spend a lot of money on paying for advertising.

Here are some valuable tips from successful businesses who have found success through viral marketing:

1) Offer a free service with every purchase - This capitalizes on human psychology, in which people will be much more likely to buy your product if they get something for free in the process. 

2) Generate news - The media loves news so much that they'll actually give you an outlet for spreading the word about your business or product at no cost (in most cases). The key is to capture the media's attention, so make sure your story is newsworthy before you send it out.

3) Make your offer "exclusive" - If your customers have a limited supply of something that others don't have, they will want it even more (because of the exclusivity factor). This also gives you the chance to raise the price if you are selling a product on your website, or charge higher prices for certain elements of your service.

4) Put yourself in an elite position - If it seems like only a select few can afford to buy from you (or only high-level members can participate), then people will be intrigued and want to figure out how to get into those exclusive groups.

5) Give a special reason to join - An idea that has worked well for many websites is to offer a free newsletter. If people get something of value from the newsletter, they will be more likely to pay for other products or services that you offer (since it seems like you know what you're talking about).

6) Offer some exclusivity - People like the feeling of exclusivity (they want to feel special and unique), so give your customers something that sets them apart from everyone else.

7) Promote your service using "word of mouth" - If you can get one satisfied customer to tell about their experience in a positive way, that will spread faster than any other type of promotion you've tried before.

8) Use humor - Most people don't care enough to remember the specifics of a joke, but they do remember the general idea (in this case, that your product or service is fun and enjoyable). Try to include some humor in any message that you send out.

9) Don't give an exact number of how many spots are "available" - This makes people want what you have even more. Give them a feel for what you have to offer, but don't give them a hard figure.

10) Use social media - You can use sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to facilitate viral marketing and share news that pertains to your business.

11) Create an event - This is one of the best ways to make people want what you have in a big way. Either run an advertisement promoting an event (for example, "Free pizza today!") or have a contest or giveaway that rewards people who simply "like" your page on Facebook. 

12) Be generous - The world loves generosity, so long as they are getting something of value in return (in most cases).

Conclusion:

There are many ways to do viral marketing, but the most powerful way is to combine several of these methods to make customers want your product or service more than they ever thought imaginable.

13) Give a discount - You may have noticed that most people will buy something at full price if they don't have an incentive, but if you discount it just a little bit (even 5%), then people will snap it up in a second. This is one reason why stores offer coupons all the time.

14) Create a contest - People love trying to win things, and if they know that there's only going to be one winner, they'll want to better their chances as much as possible (thereby buying your product or service).