Multiply Your Marketing Like a Virus

Great post, Michael,

I was just telling my wife today, you can turn yourself inside out trying to convince someone you're the right copywriter for them. You show them your samples, detail your experience, flaunt the names of all of the brand name accounts you've worked on... It doesn't matter. If they don't know you, there's always that reluctance, that lingering doubt, that hesitancy to make the final decision...

But if someone they know refers you...bingo! It's an entirely different thing. The doors open up, they want to do business, they don't even ask to see your work. You've been recommended by someone they trust and that's all that counts.

Word of mouth rules. Make it viral and you can compound its effect exponentially.

But it can also work the other way. That's why you always have to give it your best. Or risk being bad-mouthed.

Thanks for the insights.

Creating systems for the way you cash in on viral marketing and public exposure is important too.

Let me give you an example.

I appear on 40 commercial radio stations across Australia.

Most people think that if you get that kind of massive exposure you must be rich but it's just NOT that simple.

If I go on the air and try to send people to a website to buy my products the response will be astonishingly pathetic.

I've done it a few times and it suppresses response by around 1,000%.

If I promote a phone number on the air I know I'll get so many calls in the first 3-10 minutes it will take 4-10 hours for me and my staff to call back those people and take their orders.

Many online viral promotions are wasteful in a similar way because...

1. Usually they don't cost hard cash

2. No in depth analysis or testing has been done on how to get the maximum response from highly qualified prospects.

The secret is in creating a sophisticated system to follow up your viral marketing campaign and designing your viral products so your best prospects have no choice but to seek you out for more information.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Hi Michel

Wow. This article rang a very BIG bell with me, since I had the unnerving experience of riding a monster 'Viral Wave' a while back.

Here's what happened: I publish 'real-world' books as well as digital ones, and in one of my real-world books I hid a 'Viral bomb' that I thought might help sales move along.

Well, it worked like crazy, and went far beyond my expectations. I was hoping to sell maybe 50,000 copies, but ended up selling 350,000, all generated by the sort of networking and mad viral buzz to which you refer .

The book was called "The Merlin Mystery" and took me nearly two painful years to complete because it was rich in illustration. Plus... I buried a secret deep in the book and whoever discovered it could win a glittering prize - the 'Wand of Merlin' that a goldsmith friend made for me from gold, silver, crystal, lapis lazuli and jewels.

Not only that, but I set up a really glitzy flash website and online forum for it.

Then I launched my book with the usual book trade fanfare. BUT here is the VIRAL part: I had also worked in a secret viral angle that no-one had ever used before, and it was that which caused the viral explosion.

Within a week of publication, folks began to band together on the net to figure out the solution. They increasingly jammed my forum with hundreds of postings, and then created websites and forums of their own. Eventually there were more than 15 fan sites operating.

Then it got out of hand. They all started to talk to each other and pass the word along to friends until it went completely viral. So I did not have to promote the book any more, the fans did it for me.

Frighteningly, a number of teams appeared out of nowhere to jointly solve the puzzle and this scared the crap out of me because I thought they might solve it too quickly.

It was massive word of mouth in action - good old fashioned networking, and social proof on steroids. So recently I wrote a book about the campaign, and outlined the secret viral angle I used. It pretty much falls into line with what you have said in your article.

This book is also free at my 'author's website' below. I thought you would not mind me mentioning it Michel, since folks might be interested to see how it was done and maybe even copy the technique if they want to.

I hope this was a useful / interesting addendum to your article. It sure proves the point.

My best wishes as always

Jonathan







Then it started to catch fire

Word of mouth definately is the key to success. But, I have also found from my personal experience that operating from a conviction, a personal knowingness and integrity, is equally important to achieve any degree of success in anything you do or sell. Truth, in what you have to say, in how you present or represent yourself, and the products of your existence/creations speak volumes. Lies can sell, deception usually does, but the truth is everlasting and pierces like the swiftest arrow, right through your heart. We instinctively know the truth and instinctively respond to it. Truth sells, and spreads exponentially to others who are ready and able to accept the truth, for it's own sake, and not because there exists fame, fortune or glory behind it. People trust honest people, they eagerly desire to help honest people. Honesty and integrity are forces that know no bounds. Truth needs no marketing, it sells itself.

Thanks for always great copy,

andrew zubriczky