Paradise Advertisement

Eight years ago, using the internet to promote a film was quite revolutionary. Since then online word of mouth has not only become standard operating procedure but also has been taken to the next level thanks to the emergence of new technologies and information appearing almost daily. However there are still some old school tips you should consider using to make your viral marketing work.

1. Give It Away

This is a centuries old technique. A new business creates a buzz by giving away free samples of their product or service. On the internet, nobody exploited this method better than Hotmail. By giving away free email accounts while using various word of mouth networks, Hotmail grew to over 12 million subscribers in less than 2 years. A short time later, Microsoft came knocking and bought Hotmail for an estimated 400 million dollars.

Now no one is saying that a big conglomerate will show up at your door ready to hand you a blank check but the power of the giveaway cannot be overstated. If people feel you are giving them a quality product or information, they will be more likely to spread the word about your business.

2. Make It Small

In the latter part of the 19th century, Montgomery’s Ward was the king of the mail order catalogs. The arrival of this massive volume of tools and products was a major event in many American households. So how did Sears and Roebuck, a late entry into the mail order game, eventually rival and then surpass Montgomery’s Ward? Among the many brilliant ideas implemented by Richard Sears was the smaller catalog. Volume wise it remained just as thick as Montgomery’s Ward but as Sears explained when you place the two catalogs on your coffee table, you will almost always stack the smaller on top of the larger. In other words his directory would be the first one you reached for. The Sears catalog also proved to be much more portable.

Most of the innovations since that time have been about making something smaller and faster. The computer as an example went from warehouse size to personal pc to laptop to handheld. You can do the same for instance using small reports of five to ten pages packed with information instead of mega volume ebooks. People don’t have the time (or patience) to sift through a huge ebook. Instead break into smaller easily digestible chunks, that people can get thru quickly, then share with others.

3. The Promise Read the rest of this entry »

     While there are a number of free classified ad websites out today the most notable are Craigslist, Backpage, and an up and comer called Kajiji. You can find more less-known websites by conducting an online search via Google or Yahoo. All of these websites will have places that you will be able to put in free classified ads in order to promote your business, but in all cases you have to go about it a certain way. Here are some of the things you need to know when posting free classified ads about your business:

     Do it manually: Don’t create a blanket ad and then post it all over the place as doing so will have you labeled as a spammer and not only have your ad removed, but possibly have you banned for life from the site. Submitting an ad manually and making each one unique will show the sites that you are not a spammer and are adhering to their rules.

     Make it relevant: When posting your classified ad be sure you are doing so in an appropriate spot on the website. Again if you randomly post your ads all over the place you are in fact spamming and nobody likes a spammer.
Identify your customer needs: Instead of just throwing up some arbitrary blurb about your business take some time to go through the website and see what members of the community are talking about. This will help you find your niche within the site and you will then be able to target a certain group of people in within the website community. Read the rest of this entry »