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"I see you're viral... how nice!" I'm not exactly sure when "viral" became a good thing. It's definitely something new, spawned, like so many things, by our new Internet culture. The dictionary says that "viral" means "of, relating to, or caused by a virus." The dictionary also says that a "virus" is "[molecules] that are capable of growth and multiplication only in living cells, and that cause various important diseases in humans, lower animals, or plants..." That doesn't sound like such a good thing, does it? Well, when it comes to eCommerce, it is. Of course there are very harmful computer viruses. A "virus" on the Internet is still a bad thing, but "viral" is suddenly GOOOOOOOOOOOD! Because the thing that makes a virus powerful (and destructive) is its ability and propensity to spread quickly. Now, that's a great thing when it comes to trying to spread the word about a great new product or service you are offering. And that's why "viral advertising" (that which gets spread around quickly by others) is what everybody's looking for! But I've discovered something that might be worth noting. There are all kinds of "viral programs" out there. You know, the kind where YOU are attached (via links) to web pages that get quickly duplicated. It's a great idea and people are definitely making money through multiple streams of income by working viral sales programs. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, here's just a quick example of a common viral program: High Voltage You add your website to this page, at the top. Then you promote it. People add THEIR website to the list. THEY promote it... it's viral. Other people are carrying your disease... er, sorry... AD. And everyone who joins has to visit all the websites on the page, so if you've got a GREAT SALES PAGE, you can rake in some business! It's working famously all over the web for a lot of people. That High Voltage page is mine... I'm no dummy (well, maybe)... I can see that on the web, VIRAL IS GOOD. OK, so viral is good. But logic tells me that no matter how many people join and create their own page with your link, and the other advertiser links that this particular virus is carrying, it ain't gonna mean much unless you can make it "catching" (and even if you accomplish THAT, YOUR SALES PAGE must be truly compelling and a good closer)! Everybody on that page has to MAKE IT SPREAD because, unlike a virus in the human population... the webpage virus doesn't just spread itself! It has to be spread by the advertisers along for the ride so that means everybody has to write compelling headlines and ads and get people to the viral site! These "viral campaigns" fail for the same reason the infamous "chain letter" fails... success depends on everybody performing optimally... and they don't. So, once you've found some of these cool viral progams to hop on, DON'T STOP THERE. Come up with some "catchy" headlines to get people to go to that page. Then advertise those headlines EVERYWHERE you can for free. TEST THEM! (Actually the reason I joined High Voltage is that their HEADLINE compelled ME: "Generate TONS of Real, Unique Hits to your website or Affiliate Link for FREE!") As I talk about in the Chronicle article, I've been studying good copy writers since I finally figured out how to drive traffic! Traffic is no good unless it CONVERTS into a lead or a sale, right? Now, I don't know if any of the "mentors" I have been studying would actually think this is an improvement but I think they would. At any rate, TRAFFIC AND SALES HAVE PICKED UP considerably since I started using copy in a new way to promote ALL MY WEBSITES.
For example, I have a nutrition site, Better Living Naturally. I used to advertise that site with copy like: They didn't do so well. Now, after studying and reading some pretty smart stuff, I am using "If I Gave You $43.30 Right Now Would that Make You Feel Better?" Is that more compelling to you? Well, obviously people think so because TRAFFIC IS UP!!! Instead of advertising "Awesome Free Web Tools," I'm now using "How I Increased My Web Traffic 1000% in One Month Free!" Guess which one pulls better. Here's my final point. There are definitely some very systematic and methodical ways to get traffic to your site. But that's not enough. Once you get them there, you have to keep them reading, keep them clicking, keep them MOVING in the direction that you want to take them. A good way to TEST the copy for your website is to create compelling headlines and put them out there on FFA pages, anywhere that's free, advertising your viral program page(s). When you find an effective headline, two good things have now happened: 1) your viral sales pages (which exist to spread your ad for your product or service) will start spreading more and 2) you'll know that you have a winning headline or subhead for your main website. It's all about testing. But if you test on VIRAL PROGRAMS, you've hit the daily double when you get something that really "pulls."
Other Popular Viral Programs:
Jack Hayford has been a professional network marketer and MLM consultant for over twelve years.
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