Village Tip: Get People to Pass You Around

No doubt you have heard of viral marketing. Just like a common cold, it involves having people pass an idea or product from one person to the next.

Unlike a cold, a marketing virus is a wonderful thing to catch!

These Village Tips are a simple kind of viral marketing. I share them here on the Electronic Village, but they almost always get picked up by other bloggers who send them to their readers who send them to their list. You may be reading this tip years after I wrote it. Amazing, isn't it?

I share the article once, then enjoy the benefits as one person passes it to another. Who knows how many people see these tips ... even people who have never heard of the Electronic Village!

Look for ways you can give your product, service, or idea a marketing virus.

• Give people a free service they can use. Your web address and phone number are included in every product they send to others.


• Start a joke that pertains to the news or common experiences in life. If it's in an email, it can include your name. Jokes get passed around at an unbelievable rate. Some humor experts believe there may be as few as 7 people who come up with most of the jokes we hear. They start them on their viral tour, eventually reaching millions.


• Create a series of e-books, pamphlets, or YouTube commercials. A series makes people want to tell others so they can get in on the progression.


• Perhaps the most effective method of viral marketing is simply being kind and helping people. Help folks for free when you can and give paying customers more than they asked for. You may be surprised at how fast customers tell their friends ... and in these days of email, that can be a LOT of people.

I will continue to share these Village Tips on a semi-regular basis!