|
|
| www.1001TopWords.com |
|
|
Viral Marketing with a Powerful Twist
What would you do with 500, 1000 or more additional visitors each day? Imagine how your web business will grow with an extra 2000, 5000 or MORE leads each month . . . Okay, I'll stop teasing you. . . But what IF those extra leads and visitors cost you NOTHING? Let me tell you a story a friend of mine named Paul Galloway shared with me... The Brilliant Webmaster Once upon a time, not too long ago in a nearby web land, there was a business owner looking for a way to increase visitors to his website AND a way to increase his subscribers. (Sound familiar?) He and his webmaster came up with a simple but brilliant idea. They had some software developed to help them implement this viral idea, and then they launched the new campaign. In just a couple of months, his website had received tons of visitors (including lots of REPEAT visitors) and almost 49,739 subscribers from this promotion. In fact, by setting it up properly, your per-subscriber cost could be ZERO. Zero cost? What a beautiful end to this story. What was this powerful secret? Surprisingly, this wasn't a "new" concept like all the gurus brag about with their brand new, super secret, monumental discoveries. No. Interesting enough, you've almost certainly seen the "component parts" of this system in other places. What made this idea so brilliant was to combine two existing traffic devices and add a "twist" -- and this powerful twist is where the super viral effect is born. Okay, it's almost redundant to say this but everyone knows that they should try to build a list of customers to be truly successful. But try this... The two "components" are a "tell a friend" program and an online contest. What? Is that all? Well try this on for size. Oh, I'll get to the "twist" in a second... Viral Marketing with a "Twist" Let the contestant know that every person they refer to your contest, they will get an additional entry as well. This is part of the powerful twist. Second part of the twist: After they submit the form, give them a URL where they can check to see the "front runners" in the contest. These last two items are what makes this so powerful. You give your contestants an extra incentive to refer more and more of their friends and a way to track their standing in the contest. Do you see how this taps into your visitor's triggers of greed and competitive nature? Here's an example of a real contest:
If you take the time to set this up properly, you too may cause an avalanche of quality traffic and subscribers to your site. I can't say enough about the importance of putting this unused, yet lucrative marketing technique into action. This IS viral marketing with a powerful twist at its best. To get additional information on how you can create your own traffic tidal wave using this simple but brilliant super viral feeding contest. Send an e-mail to: viraltwist@kioskcities.com Do this before your competition jumps all over it. About The Author Floyd Tapia is an author, business consultant and Internet marketer. His critically acclaimed newsletter: The Tapia Report offers clear cut answers and provides the latest information on the Internet's newest and sometimes controversial marketing techiques. http://ultimatetrafficjam.com/tapia_report.html
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Writing Business Newsletters: Avoid the ?Me, Me, Me? Mistake Effective customer newsletters find the right mix of promotional and 'real' content to maximize readership. The Anatomy of Hype On a copywriting board I frequent, someone expressedbafflement that several respected marketers criticized thetone of a sales page he wrote. "Why did they apologize to their subscribers while linking to my pitch? This approachsells," he said. 13 Lessons in Marketing, Super Bowl Style Each year, the Super Bowl provides marketers opportunity to study and learn from the games' advertisers, players, and coordinators. Super Bowl XXXVI (February, 2002) was no exception. Foremost, of course, was The Game's appropriately patriotic theme. America's mettle and proud heritage were showcased to the world through this year's red, white, and blue logo; music selection by the performers; and depictions of historic U.S. icons. The Game further supported U.S. patriotism through the presence of the armed services, police department, and fire department at the game as well as interviews with troops in Afghanistan. Finally, as if by design, the unlikely Patriots won the championship. Getting Personal ? Innovative Marketing for Small Business Owners The small business marketing strategy you can't afford to missEveryone loves a story. Even if you don't particularly like reading them chances are you love watching them, either on TV or at the movies. Imagine if your marketing literature was like a great story: people would read it from beginning to end for one thing (as opposed to just throwing it straight into the bin), and they'd be more likely to tell their friends about it, too. Your small business marketing could be famous! Well, maybe? Marketing Mimics Life Clichés. We've all heard them...and hear some of them so often that we categorize them as tired, stale old sayings. But, the fact is, particularly in both life and in small business marketing, that there is a validated truth in these commonly applicable and very popular clichés. Three Alternative Methods On Getting Quality Testimonials with Bonus Here are three alternatives to increase your testimonial numbers or their quality. Create an online diary or blog, use an auto responder method, set up a form on your web site or set up a survey. Using Business Cards as Invitations Business card size works well for invitations to special events. Marketing Strategies to Put Yourself Out of Business Want to learn how to lose a billion dollars? How to Save Thousands on Your Marketing Marketing can be expensive. It doesn't have to be, but sometimes you will spend more than you should. Usually you'll realise this after you've done it. But here are two tips that can save you thousands of dollars. How to Size an Emerging Market In developing their business plans, companies of all sizes face the challenge of determining the size of their markets. To begin, companies must present the size of their "relevant market" in their plans. The relevant market equals the company's sales if it were to capture 100% of its specific niche of the market. Conversely, stating that you were competing in the $1 trillion U.S. healthcare market, for example, is a telltale sign of a poorly reasoned business plan, as there is no company that could reap $1 trillion in healthcare sales. Defining and communicating a credible relevant market size is far more powerful than presenting generic industry figures. Direct Mail Response Rates Soar With Dimensional Mailers in Business-to-Business Lead Generation The toughest job you face as a B2B direct marketer is reaching your prospect with your message. Reaching C-level executives is particularly difficult because they employ mailroom staff and executive secretaries who screen their mail, or your mail, depending on how you look at it. So unless your direct mail lead generation letter or postcard or self-mailer stands out from the rest, it won't reach the desk of your potential client. Becoming The Obvious Choice In A Sea Of Competition Differentiation, niche marketing, and positioning. These and other related business buzzwords have no doubt crossed every business owner and marketing director's ears in recent years. 25 Ways To Make Your Next Direct Mail Campaign Work This list contains 25 powerful strategies to improve your direct mail results. It would be wise to use this as a checklist to ensure you've included as many as possible in your advertising. Any one of these strategies could measurably boost your response. How many of these are you using? URL Everywhere? Offline Marketing For Online Success Your URL (www) should be everywhere and more. Target Your Market Your market is not everybody, as so many small businesses assume. It is the people/organizations who need, want, have the money--and the willingness--to pay for what you are offering. Identifying them can be complicated and expensive, or it can be relatively painless and cheap. Custom Lanyards - The Perfect Solution for Promotion, Branding, and Marketing Lanyards are fast becoming the new "must have" promotional item. Promotional Products As a promotions director for a lot of super markets, one of my key responsibilities was finding promotional products for the events we make. I worked with distributors to order, design and customize these items to promote the super markets image to the general public. Secrets of Trade Show Success The ropers at Annie Oakley's Real Western Dudette Ranch were all riding high in the saddle. It was just before their first ecotourism and adventure travel trade show in Chicago, and they just knew they would rope in big sales. Your Ideal Client A lot of small businesses make the mistake of thinking that their product or service is good for just about anyone. The logic is "why should I limit my market to a smaller segment of the whole and sacrifice a sale." The problem with that logic is that for most products and services you simply cannot expect consumers of vastly different segments to view you as valuable. Teens have a different lifestyle than single moms. Single moms have different needs than country club executives. Country Club executives have different likes and dislikes than bikers. Avoid the Duds: 10 Strategies for Selecting The Perfect Speaker Today, more than ever, the success of meetings relies heavily on the strength of program content and presentation. Nothing can spoil a meeting more than hiring the wrong speaker. That's because speakers do more than just convey the overall meeting message. You look to them to provide insights, awareness, and cutting-edge information in an energetic, motivational, entertaining, and professional manner. What more could you ask for? Well, the right speaker can emphasize an important message, offer inspiration, help people cope with new assignments, and lead the way towards change. Selecting the right speaker for your event is one of the most important, yet daunting elements for creating a successful meeting. Your speaker can often make or break the event. If he bombs, your reputation not only takes a severe nose-dive, but you also have the pleasure of dealing with the barrage of complaints from a disappointed audience. Yet, if he does well, you can walk away with many of the accolades, compliments, and of course, the rave reviews. By now, you probably realize that this massive responsibility is not to be taken lightly. Raise Your ExpectationsThe skill to selecting a great speaker is determining what combination of education, motivation, and entertainment best fits your function. Then set out to find a perfect match. But keep your expectations high, since nothing can spoil a meeting faster than booking the wrong speaker. The following 10 guidelines should help you keep your focus and also keep you away from the "duds."1. Know the program objectives. Before you can start looking for the right speaker, you must know the program objectives. Begin with the end in mind. What are you looking to achieve? Is this an annual meeting, a training program, an incentive get-together, an awards celebration, or another type of event? This will probably be a committee or management decision, rather than one you will have to make. But you may have to make an intangible concept tangible. 2. Understand the audience's needs. Along with the program objectives, consider the needs of your audience. Does your group need industry-specific or technical information? Will a mix of motivation and entertainment serve your group's purpose? Today's audiences are generally younger, more educated, more diverse, and more sophisticated than in the past. They want content. They want to learn, but they also want it to be fun, so consider the audience needs and exactly what they expect. Consider surveying your audience. Ask them what they want or what skills would most help them in their jobs. For example, sales people may ask for advanced selling skills, but managers may request teambuilding programs. 3. Check for reputation. With countless speakers out there vying for your business, how can you possibly determine which one best meets your needs? Many speakers produce highly professional or glitzy marketing materials to help sell their services. You must look deeper than simply scanning a few brochures and ask pointed questions to find the right fit, such as What experience does this speaker have? How familiar is this speaker with this industry? and, Who else has used this person? 4. "Test drive" your prospects. If you don't have the opportunity to preview a speaker in person, then the next best thing is to request a video or audio recording of a previous presentation. A session that was recorded before a live audience gives you a better sense of a person's real ability.Watch or listen carefully to how the speaker builds rapport and interacts with the audience. Ask yourself if this person would be right for your group. Is the combination of education, motivation, and entertainment appropriate for your needs? Does the speaker have a message that is appropriate, timely, and relevant to the theme or purpose of your event? Does it conform to your company's philosophy and policy? Do you feel the speaker is genuine and has the expertise to deliver a solid presentation? 5. Don't be star-struck. If you are considering celebrity speakers, make sure they can speak! TV personalities do a great job on the air, but sometimes have little public speaking expertise, and you should be aware that the skills needed for being on TV and for speaking live are very different. However, many well-known personalities make excellent speakers and can add enormous value and clout to your event. Politicians and sports, media, or entertainment celebrities often share life experiences, offer advice, or have an inspirational message to impart. 6. Be wary of grandiose claims. Speakers who claim to be all things to all people are probably desperate for work. Avoid them. True professional speakers, on the other hand, usually have certain areas or topics of expertise. They would much rather refer potential business to a true expert than jeopardize their reputation by trying to do a program outside of their knowledge zone. Also, beware of the charismatic and fluffy speaker as your audience wants good, solid take-away value. 7. Provide and ask for good information. Reputable speakers want to find out as much as possible about the meeting objectives, the audience, industry challenges, and so on in order to tailor their presentation to the group. Share information on your organization and audience to help the speaker design a program to fit your specific needs. provide them with newsletters, catalogs, or any other publications that highlight industry trends, key people, industry jargon or buzz words, and insider news and views.Also include as much information as possible about the size and demographics of the audience such as age, gender, and positions. 8. Ask for an outline. Ask prospective speakers for an outline of the presentation to make sure they will be covering the material as you discussed. This will clearly lay out what's expected as verbal communication is subject to being misunderstood or misinterpreted. Seeing exactly what speakers plan to cover in the sessions should help to ensure that the material is tailored to your specific needs. 9. Maximize opportunities. Look for ways to maximize opportunities with your speakers. Discuss different ways they can add extra value and be a significant resource to help improve your meeting's success. Brainstorm ways that you feel they can assist you in planning, preparing, promoting, and presenting. Some suggestions include serving as an emcee, conducting special sessions or roundtable discussions about current issues for select groups such as company executives or the board of directors, and participating in a spouse program. 10. Trust your instincts. Through your communication with the speaker, you will quickly form an opinion or have a feeling about this person. First reactions count here. "I like this person" or "I don't like this person," or "I feel comfortable or uncomfortable working with this person," are strong indicators. These responses usually comes from your gut - a very trustworthy organ. Have confidence in your instincts and trust that so-called sixth sense. If you experience any kind of negative feeling, think about looking for someone else or get another opinion from a colleague. You want to make sure that you can work with this person and that both of you are on the same wavelength.The true objective of hiring a professional speaker hinges on establishing a partnership where a mutually beneficial relationship grows and flourishes. When this happens, you know you've chosen well. The Perfect MatchOverwhelmed with the plethora of speakers to choose from? You may want to turn to a speaker's bureau for advice and guidance. A good bureau should act as a consultant and partner to help your event succeed. Even though many hundreds of bureaus are out there, the numbers pale in comparison to the thousands of speakers. A bureau's sole purpose is simply to make your job easier and provide you with solutions. They want to find the best possible match for your event within your price range. So, where do go looking for one of these bureaus? Here are a few places to start your search: the phone book, chambers of commerce, convention and visitors bureaus, the Internet, industry colleagues, and friends. A Final Note:Look for CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) or CPAE (Council of Peers Award for Excellence) designations. Both these are conferred by the National Speakers Association and are considered the speaking profession's international measure of professional platform skill (http://www.nsaspeaker.org). Armed with these guidelines and resources, your search for the perfect speaker will be more fruitful. And with a little effort and some time, you will connect with a speaker who will fulfill your goals- one that will be both inform and enlighten. Your audience will thank you.
|
| © Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |
