Buzz Word

Offline, it's called word-of-mouth advertising. Online, it's known as viral marketing. Semantics aside, one fact is perfectly clear: make your customers happy and they'll do the advertising for you.

Let's illustrate this principle by citing a real life example. Joey Vasquez is a loyal subscriber of a certain telecommunications company based in New York. He has been a solid supporter of the said service for seven years now. When asked why he's sticking with that particular company, Joey's reply was quite simple and pretty straightforward.

No, he did not mention the quality of the service, and neither did he count the applicable rates as a factor.

"It's because they offer me a yearly rebate," he casually said, "I get $20 back every January."

In the past six years, Joey has convinced around thirty of his relatives and friends to switch to his network service provider of choice.

The $20 rebate is the telecommunication company's way of rewarding faithful clients. Their fees are by no means the lowest in the eastern coast, but they have built for themselves a solid base of patrons, and the number of people who abandon their services is close to non-existent.

What does this tell us? For starters, it is a testament to how powerful a tool word-of-mouth advertising is. Secondly, this example teaches us how to jumpstart a successful marketing plan that would make our customers spread the business message on our behalf.

This kind of marketing, though not necessarily novel, is undoubtedly efficient, not to mention cost effective. Imagine a battalion of advertisers doing the advertising for you. Distribute your business message to five individuals, and those five individuals would spread it to five other people in their respective networks, and you would have exposed your product or service to thirty people, just like that. But the beauty of this system is that it doesn't stop there. The spread of your business message would only grow exponentially, and at a very rapid pace at that.

The battery of this campaign is an incentive to encourage people to spread the word to persons they know. In marketing parlance, this is called a value proposition.

In our example above, the telecommunications company provided Joey with a $20 rebate for a year's subscription. This is the value proposition. It proved to be very enticing for Joey that he spread the word to the people in his network. The end result is a customer with seven years of loyalty (and counting), and thirty new subscribers.

Value propositions can take many forms. Take a look at the following examples:

1. A value proposition can be a free product or service that you could offer to warm people up before you present them with the goods you have for sale.

2. It can also be in the form of a trial version of your product. This would be the best way to make your prospective customers happy, and at the same time, invite them to purchase the full version of what you have to offer.

3. A value proposition can also be a monetary reward, as was the case with Joey and his network provider. Money is a very seductive prize, and you'll have people talking about your business in no time!

The goal is to hook the potential consumer to your value proposition, and make him happy in the process. In most cases, this is enough to propel your word-of-mouth campaign into motion. You'll be able to get people talking and they will do the marketing for you.

Prospective customers should not be your only target. Building goodwill with your existing clientele would also transform them into your advertising vehicles. Remember, gaining a customer is good, gaining a customer for life is better, but gaining a customer for life and having him invite more people to try your business is a marketer's dream come true!

Ronny Berglund is a marketing professional, which owns and operate http://www.traffic-plus.com that can help you to instantly get website visitors, do popup advertising or any type of instant website traffic increase. He also owns and operates http://www.marketingpatch.com where you find strategic marketing tips. And you can learn the marketing tips and tricks that pro's use! MarketingPatch.com also have a great forum where you can talk about everything marketing related, he even let you post your in a Buy / Sell forum.

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Google News Updated : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:51:03 GMT Theatrical Review of Body of Lies - DVDTOWN.com Theatrical Review of Body of Lies DVDTOWN.com - 5 hours ago By Jason P. Vargo "Body of Lies" is a certain type of movie designed for a certain type of moviegoer. I think the tagline describes the movie perfectly, actually. Body of Lies E! Online 'Body of Lies': Desert Norm, By Kurt Loder MTV.com Boston Herald - Los Angeles Times - Radar Online - Entertainment Weekly all 1,041 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:19:39 GMT McCain supporters face uphill climb in blue Jersey - Newsday Sunday Times.lk McCain supporters face uphill climb in blue Jersey Newsday - 15 hours ago By WAYNE PARRY | AP Writer WOODBRIDGE, NJ - Walter Zjawin is trying to help John McCain do what no Republican has done in 20 years: win a presidential general election in New Jersey. Maine now on McCain radar Central Maine Morning Sentinel McCain inches closer in Saturday's Gallup Kansas City Star Boston Globe - CBS News - Washington Post - Ethiopian Review all 220 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:04:37 GMT On the trail to the White House - Fort Worth Star Telegram The Age On the trail to the White House Fort Worth Star Telegram - 33 minutes ago Sen. Barack Obama, Democratic presidential nominee, at a rally in Philadelphia on Saturday. AP/ALEX BRANDON Today’s headlines Report stings Palin over troopergate flap; Raw anger showing up in McCain crowds, candidate taking steps to minimize it; ... McCain Asks Supporters to Show Obama Respect Wall Street Journal Obama Thanks McCain for Urging Supporters to be Respectful Voice of America Washington Post - Chicago Tribune - ABC News - Bloomberg all 733 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:17:46 GMT Five killed in New York fire; 300 acres burn in Napa Valley - Austin American-Statesman CBS News Five killed in New York fire; 300 acres burn in Napa Valley Austin American-Statesman - 1 hour ago NEW YORK - A family of five, including three children, died in a blaze that filled an apartment with thick smoke and kept the victims from escaping through the front door, fire officials said. Napa County wildfire forces evacuations of over 100 homes Los Angeles Times Fire Threatens Napa Valley Homes and Wineries New York Times KEYC - CBS 5 - San Francisco Chronicle - WSBtv.com all 422 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:27:05 GMT Singer Lisa Marie Presley gives birth to twins - The Associated Press The Associated Press Singer Lisa Marie Presley gives birth to twins The Associated Press - 3 hours ago LOS ANGELES (AP) - Lisa Marie Presley is a mom again. A publicist says the 40-year-old singer gave birth Tuesday to twin girls, whose names were not released. Lisa Marie Presley delivers twins: report Reuters Today's News: Our Take - Lisa Marie Presley Gives Birth to Twin Girls Seattle Post Intelligencer E! Online - People Magazine - Monsters and Critics.com - Hollywood.com all 569 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:11:28 GMT Bush, allies seek to calm jittery investors - BusinessWeek Bush, allies seek to calm jittery investors BusinessWeek - 4 hours ago By JENNIFER LOVEN and MARTIN CRUTSINGER President Bush and financial leaders from nations rich and poor pledged Saturday to intensify their efforts to unblock a frozen financial system before it does more damage to an increasingly shaky global economy. Bush Says US Must Take Lead in Solving Crisis (Update3) Bloomberg Bush, allies seek to calm jittery investors The Associated Press New York Times - Austin American-Statesman - AFP - KSFY all 1,542 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:30:21 GMT Van driver's work in Mass. aided Nobel winners - Boston Globe Voice of America Van driver's work in Mass. aided Nobel winners Boston Globe - 1 hour ago HUNTSVILLE, Ala.—When two American scientists won a Nobel Prize this week in chemistry, the driver of a car dealership's courtesy van had reason to take special interest. Video: Nobel Chemistry Prize Goes for Jellyfish Protein AssociatedPress Comment by Jeremy M. Berg, Ph.D., Director National Institute of General Medical Sciences The Daily Yomiuri - The Associated Press - Los Angeles Times - WTEN all 1,250 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:14:18 GMT Make Money Online Add RSS Feeds To My Web Pages

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