Welcome to the Virtual Modern Marketing Blog brought to you by Kat Harshman, your Modern Marketing Virtual Assistant.
Viral Marketing |  | 
What Is Viral Marketing and How to Use It to Your AdvantageThe words viral marketing can sound a little disturbing, but it's an unfortunate name for an extremely profitable marketing scheme. Whether it's referring to people or computers, the word virus has never really been a good term. It's something associated with destruction and death, but that's not what viral marketing is about. If used properly, viral marketing can be a valuable asset.The basic concept of viral marketing is that you start small, but employ others to help you spread your product or ideas. Think about someone getting a virus - at first only that person gets sick, but they also spread it to three of their friends. Then each of those friends spreads it to three more people. Eventually a large percentage of the population has been infected with the same virus. Now, imagine that virus is your advertisement or product. You start by adding a few customers, then eventually, everyone has been exposed to your message. Viral marketing is just a method of not only sending someone information about your product, but also giving them the incentive to pass on your materials to others that they know. Assuming each person it reaches passes it on to more than one person, the number of people who hear about your products and services will grow exponentially and reach thousands upon thousands of people. Even if just a small percentage of the people you reach end up becoming your customers, you still have the potential to make a large profit. To have a successful viral marketing campaign you need to have a good product, a good copy, but most importantly, a good incentive to pass the copy or product on to others. So what exactly makes a good incentive program for viral marketing? While all incentives are different, most of them have one thing in common - they're free. Whether it's a free service, a free product, a free newsletter, or even a free ringtone, free brings people in. Before picking an incentive, you need to make sure it's something you can afford based on your product and potential income. There's always the chance that if you have a great incentive, your message will get passed on, but you still don't have good sales numbers. But assuming average sales, you should still be able to make a profit from your campaign, deducting the cost of the incentives. A good viral marketing campaign not only has good incentives, it also makes it very easy to pass the information from person to person. It may be a button added to your website or social networking page; it has to be something easy, fast and virtually effortless. The easier it is to pass the idea on, the better it's going to work. It works even better if it uses the resources of others instead of your own. If you're looking to expand your business exponentially like viral marketing campaigns can, be sure you can handle the amount of business you'll be getting if your campaign works. Having thousands of people use your product or come to your website isn't much of a help if your website crashes or you can't properly distribute your product. If you are going to market virally, get ready ahead of time for a rush of business. Viral marketing may sound a bit like a "get rich quick" scheme but it has proven it's effectiveness over and over. But it does require thought, planning, and sometimes a substantial investment. |
How To Market Yourself Online and Get a Job | |
8 Tips for How To Market Yourself Online and Get a JobThere are new rules to the job hunt and savvy people, those who utilize technology and networking, are the ones who are at the top of the game. Here are 8 tips to market yourself online and gat a job. 1. Create your own website or blog. Creating your own website or blog is a great way to share who you are and what you’re about to prospective employers. They’ll be able to learn a lot about you online and get a feel for your personality, professionalism, and goals. Take great care to be professional. Don’t use your website or blog as a place to vent or complain about anything. 2. Be positive, share information about your industry, and make sure it’s a professional, clean and easily navigated site. If you’re seeking a job in technology then you can get more advanced with your website. 3. Showcase your talents and strengths. Be sure to have an about page where you can publish your bio, portfolio, resume and contact information. 4. Update your website and become active online. Connect with and join job searching forums and associations related to your desired industry. Post on those forums and blogs and share your interaction on your own website or blog by linking to them, republishing your comments, or listing the forums and associations in your blog roll. Become an active member of the online community and always behave professionally. You never know who is reading your comments and you want to put the best foot forward at all times. 5. Utilize off line networking tools as well. Just because you’re not presently employed, doesn’t mean you can’t have business cards or attend industry functions. Attend seminars and webinars in your industry. Pass out your business card with your contact information on it and by all means include your website link in your contact information. 6. Participate in social networking and add value. Don’t post about what you had for dinner but rather the great article you read in your leading industry magazine and your thoughts regarding the article. 7. Provide your contact information on your website and in your forum or blog signatures. If they don’t know how to contact you and can’t find the information quickly and easily, they won’t contact you. 8. Respond immediately when someone contacts you. Consider actually setting up a unique email address for job related inquiries and website emails and create an autoresponder for that email. That way each time someone contacts you they receive an immediate and professional response that says you’re happy to have received their email and will get back to them as soon as possible. The same holds true for your phone number. If you’re going to be unavailable to answer the phone then make sure your voice mail message is short, and to the point – professional. No one wants to listen to all two and a half minutes of your favorite song or your dog barking in the background. The key to marketing yourself online is to put yourself out there and to be active in your industry’s community. Be positive, proactive and professional. It’ll pay off! |
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