So, how do you develop the type of marketing that will take your new business to boundless heights? Here are a few suggestions to help you make that happen.
1. Go after what’s happening now. Back in the fifties, James Dean made rebels out of all of the guys. And remember when Madonna effected ‘good’ girls to wear a bustiere. So…how do you think that happened? Actually, it occured the same way that the Cabbage Patch Kids & all of those other fads happened. They started a commotion. And I’m sure you rememeber just how that uproar can send the world on a buying spree. You need to get the right person to “sneeze” to spread your viral message. For instance, sell the president of the Realtors Association on your house-painting service. Just get your message to the influential people who can start the ‘buzz’.
2. Give them something to talk about. It makes people feel intelligent to know something that others may not be familiar with. “I know where you can get a terrific deal on software” or “My carpet guy can get those stains out”. If you can give your very first customers a great product and you become their boast. However, in order to get them talking, you must fill a need they have. Remember the first time you saw an MP3 player? What IS that and where can I get one? See…now you’ve got them talking.
3. It’s like the common cold in kindergarten. The best way to spread your message is to “sneeze” it in the right direction. It needs to be aimed at your target customers and in the places where they can be found. Once you get your “sneeze” aimed in the right direction and at your general pool of potential customers, then the next thing to do is identify the “Typhoid Mary’s” in the group.
4. Pay it forward. You can generate more sales pretty easily. “Thanks so much for your business. Please share this coupon with a friend and she will receive 20% off, or use it for your next purchase.” You know how it goes… she’ll tell two friends and they’ll tell two friends, and so on and on. Buzz marketing works because it is heard from a friend who liked it and not from some paid pitchman who will sell anything for a buck. If your customers are happy with your product or service, then devise a way for them to share that joy with their friends. Help your customers to tell each other and your product will sell itself.
5. Overcome their resistance. Persistence is the key ingredient to promoting your business idea, or product. Just like that winter flu that some people don’t get until May, there will be some customers that will need many exposures before they “catch” it.
Viral Marketing by definition is any advertising and/or marketing technique that, once started, spreads like a “virus” without you having to do any further work.
The concept of viral marketing is an old idea made new again by the Internet.
Word of mouth advertising has been recognized as a worthwhile marketing tool for thousands of years. Some fish seller in Old London undoubtedly said to his customers, “tell your neighbors I have exceptional cod today.“
Are you old enough to remember the washing powder manufacturer who put dishtowels or drinking glasses in the boxes of detergent or was that before your time? They advertised it on radio a few times but mostly depended on people to pass the word around… and spread they did. That was a horse and buggy version of what we call viral marketing today.
Word of mouth advertising is simply direct contact between people about some product, service, brand, or event. Most of the time one of the people in the conversation has had some experience with what is being discussed.
Many times, but not always, the person who is doing the talking will have some relationship with the product, service, brand or event being discussed.
Word of mouth… viral marketing… is a two way street. I remember once my mother had a bad experience with a non-stick pan that she had just bought. The first thing she did was spread the work among her friends (who then spread the word among their friends) that the pan wasn’t good. That is also viral marketing… the bad kind.
In today’s internet connected world, I would feel very sorry for the manufacturer of that pan that ruined a birthday cake.
There are a lot of people in the big, wide world and a lot of them will have a lot of things to say about your product. Some marketers are taking word of mouth advertising to the next level by trying to influence what is being said about their product.
That might not necessarily be a bad thing but it could be a bit risky if the product is not up to par in the first place.
I guess that I’ve always had a bit of a child like quality to me. I was somewhat of a game player in a lot of ways all of my life. So, why should I stop now? Perhaps, my age should be deterring me at this point in my life. But, why can’t you have a bit of fun? (if that’s what you can REALLY call it) Let me explain…
You see, I’ve used Firefox for the last 2 1/2 years. Why? For one, did you ever hear that old saying: “you can’t teach a old dog new tricks”…WELL! Also, I find it more secure than Internet Explorer.(haven’t tried 8.0, though) And, I like that I can have Firefox save the tabs of the sites that I was on for the next time that I start my computer. I LOVE some of the add-ons, especially the one called Alexa Sparky. THIS was the whole point of my post!
So anyway, I have Alexa Sparky installed on my computer. It shows up at the bottom of the screen. I know for sure that it ranks sites from #1(Google) to AROUND 25 million. I actually saw one above 25 million, but I don’t know just where it tops off. When a new website is launched, it shows up as ‘no rank’. As the site gains popularity, that number will gradually drop. (that’s what you want, in this case) You can right click on the number at the bottom of the browser & check traffic details, or just see an overview of the website. Alexa really doesn’t consider it ‘ranked’ unless it is 100,000 or lower. (But, I can see it change & that spurs me on)
I have NEVER seen any website that I was ever involved with move so quickly. I know that it’s because of having all of our websites (students of Alex Jeffreys) linked together AND linked to Alex! It’s under a million & a half right now…in less than 3 weeks. Sometimes, I’ll check my site in the morning & when I look again in the evening it will have changed.
If you would like to keep tabs on your site & don’t have Firefox, you’ll need to search Google for the ‘Alexa ranking tool’ for whatever browser you are using.
HAVE FUN!!!! Then, check out all of the other cool things that you can find out on Alexa.com!
This YouTube video below will explain the new version of Firefox if you’d like to learn more about it. (You may need to hit pause & allow it to catch up)
I am a bit behind on my duties here, I’ve been trying to get it all done at once, however things weren’t exactly cooperating with me. So often, I’ve got to tell myself to STOP…take a few deep breaths & relax. Sometimes things are just out of our control, you know?
Take for instance yesterday…I turned on the desktop, but couldn’t navigate to the little icon to logon. Okay, the batteries in my wireless mouse died again. So I went downstairs and got 2 AA’s & headed back up to my office. I popped them in & voila, my mouse was again functioning…yippee! I sat down, ready to check my email for the first time, BUT…now nothing happened when I tried to type. HUH??? I’m pressing everything, thinking that I somehow locked something. NOTHING! I’ve got to tell you, I was getting quite frustrated. I picked up the keyboard(yes, that’s wireless too) & was actually swinging it around, wanting so very much to slam it into something, just to watch it break into a bunch of pieces. I don’t know why that is so satisfying sometimes. But then, that little voice inside my head talked me down…RELAX, just relax! Okay, now I am feeling much more rational, so I decide to see just what might be going on with it. NO, that couldn’t be it, could it? Could the batteries have gone bad on that, too? On the same day? I had this keyboard for 6 years & NEVER replaced the batteries, so that was looking like it was a pretty good bet! But when I went for the mouse batteries, I only had one AA left in the pack & needed 2 for the keyboard. Geez! So, I went to the store and bought batteries, came home, popped them in my keyboard, ready to start work. NOT…nothing happened. And, because I had never changed them in the keyboard, I didn’t know about a reset button. I went online to get the answer, but by now, it is 1 1/2 hours later & I’m just getting started. Oh well!
I am so glad that our lives are only ‘sprinkled’ with days like those, and the majority are smooth sailing, if you know what I mean. We take so many things for granted sometimes, don’t we? Just like I expected the computer-every part of it to work when I turned it on. Some things in life take some perseverance, you have got to keep pluggin on. You must learn to take the good days with the bad AND MOVE FORWARD. So, what do you say…would you like to move forward WITH ME? I hope so-let’s learn together! We’ll have a few tough days, but you know what, they will be few & far between. The trick is to keep a positive attitude and to not dwell on the bad stuff. Okay, here we go………… I visited a blog today started by a student of John Thornhill’s Marketing Masterclass by the name of Kathy Dobson. Her daughter had sent her a link to this video & she had it featured on her blog. Man, does this hit home for me, as well!
Kathy…my acknowledgment to you for the idea to feature this TRULY INSPIRING SONG! Also, Thanks Miley-it’s a keeper!
You know, I truly believe that this is the very first day of the rest of my life. I know that sounds pretty stupid, but as time goes on, I think you’ll figure out what I mean by that. It is my intention to not only let you know how I’m making out with Alex Jeffreys class as I progress through it & beyond, but to let you know how it is affecting my life.
I am certainly not some ‘techy’ who knows how to build websites, (truthfully, I am a middle aged woman who is REAL good at email & a few simple things) even though I’ve been trying to earn a living on the internet since the Fall of 2006. I can honestly tell you that I have been FLAILING, big time! That statement really sums up an awful lot. And that really sucks! I will explain in major detail some of the ‘highlights’ of my last 2 1/2 years some other time. That topic will need an entire category…just wait, you’ll see. Believe me when I tell you this, my failure online sure wasn’t because I wasn’t trying hard enough. I now know that a huge contributor was information overload…BIG TIME! Not to mention my lack of focus, which was strangely not very apparent to me until Alex’s 1st module. I was ALWAYS busy…unfortunately most of my time was wasted. I must have been on every marketers list & they all notified me of every launch that transpired. Every new product was the latest & greatest, and would teach you everything you needed to know…YEAH RIGHT!!! What exactly was tattooed on my forehead, anyway? All of these products had me bouncing all around the web, I never knew which end was up…it really seemed as though ‘the gurus of internet marketing’ changed all of the rules every week.
I have got to admit, I was almost to the point of caving to all of my family & friends wishes & looking for a J.O.B.. I have got to tell you, that just typing that makes me break into a sweat, my heart is racing…GEEZ! Any way…I got an email from one of the eBay gurus promoting Alex’s new ebook, Newbies Nightmare for free. Well after I watched the video, of course I downloaded the report, read it & marked my calendar to ‘check out how much he was charging for the class’ when he launched it. I really did NOT have any intention of spending more than $599, TOPS. I had to watch a pretty long video of Alex on that sales page the day of his launch…sorry Alex. By the end of that video though, I REALLY wanted to know the cost of this course…it was WHAT I was looking for…someone to GUIDE ME! That was HUGE when I heard it. I think that when Alex talked about mentors & that almost all of the people who have been successful online have had them was the point that he “had me”.
My price point changed & I am SO glad that it did. This is EXACTLY what I was searching for…actually, I suppose ‘who’ is really what I should say.
I have become so much more organized because of Alex and the very first module. A lot of people who know me would have thought that I was already organized…HA! Maybe, I should have been an actress. As much of a planner as I already was, I have NEVER planned my life in the way Alex had us do it. That was a totally freeing experience!
I picked up the keyboard(yes, that’s wireless too) & was actually swinging it around, wanting so very much to slam it into something, just to watch it break into a bunch of pieces. I don’t know why that is so satisfying sometimes. But then, that little voice inside my head talked me down…RELAX, just relax! Okay, now I am feeling much more rational, so I decide to see just what might be going on with it. NO, that couldn’t be it, could it? Could the batteries have gone bad on that, too? On the same day? I had this keyboard for 6 years & NEVER replaced the batteries, so that was looking like it was a pretty good bet! But when I went for the mouse batteries, I only had one AA left in the pack & needed 2 for the keyboard. Geez! So, I went to the store and bought batteries, came home, popped them in my keyboard, ready to start work. NOT…nothing happened. And, because I had never changed them in the keyboard, I didn’t know about a reset button. I went online to get the answer, but by now, it is 1 1/2 hours later & I’m just getting started. Oh well!
