1. Press Releases. I think for the money, press releases can be a rather effective way of exponentially multiplying one's marketing message by means of others' communication networks and resources. One release, sent to 100 newspapers, could be viewed by hundreds of thousands of readers. I ordered XpressPress.com's $225 "Distribution Circuits" offer (http://www.interferenza.net/xpresspress/al/affiliates.cgi?112) that sent my release to about 825 editors and writers who voluntarily subscribe to their news release distribution service -- and therefore aren't as likely to delete it unread. It's hard to evaluate my results so far. My first release announcing the "debut" of a new service probably wasn't too compelling, and it's hard to see a specific traffic "bump" as a result. Also, articles may not all be coming out immediately; it may work like a time-release capsule. But I'm not going to give up that easily. I have a couple more "events" planned that I'll feature in news releases. You'll see some free news release submission services in our Web Marketing Info Center. http://www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket/pr.htm
2. Free Articles Containing Links. I offered (and extend the offer) for my readers to host my "Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing" article (http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-principles-clean.htm) on their own site -- an offer I just do not make for my other articles. Several readers took me up on it, but I was surprised by how few. Then I realized that I had offered you an HTML page with a very complex layout rather than a "clean" HTML page that would be easy to put on your own website. So I've corrected that. And in order to increase the value the article hosted on other sites, I have placed the URLs of the hosted copies on a page on my site, and then am continually submitting it to the search engines. http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-linking.htm That not only promotes my partners' sites, but increases both the findability of the article with links to Doctor Ebiz, and the "popularity" of http://www.doctorebiz.com as perceived by search engines. ("Popularity" in number of links pointing to a site boosts ranking in some search engines.) If you haven't hosted my article yet, why don't you. I'll help promote your site, and you'll get great content with your own look and feel. http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-principles-clean.htm Just make sure you tell me the URL where I can find it on your site so I can boost your site, too. http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-reprint.htm
3. Free For All (FFA) Sites. This technique doesn't exactly qualify as a viral technique, though it purportedly places a link to my site on hundreds of pages quickly. While these pages probably won't bring too many clicks to visit my site -- FFA pages are too cluttered with "junk" URLs -- the number of URLs pointing to my site will increase perceived search engine "popularity," and it's painless (if you follow my advice). Here's how to do it, but be SURE you use a "free" e-mail address, not the one you use for your regular e-mail, because you'll get a great deal of SPAM as a result of your submission. You can submit to sites using these interfaces: LinkStation Free Submission Service http://www.global.gr/mtools/linkstation/ and JimTools.com http://www.jimtools.com/?wmt72 Jim Wilson, the well-known editor of JimWorld Gazette (http://www.jimworld.com/gazette1.html?wmt72), believes that FFA sites can be an important source of traffic. I'm not so sure, but I'm experimenting -- and the price is right.
4. "Plugs" in Newsletters of My Network of Friends. Over the past 4-1/2 years I've taught literally thousands of Web marketers how to use newsletters to promote their business. I hoping that as a favor to me, that hundreds of you will include a plug for Doctor Ebiz in your newsletter. To help facilitate that I've put some newsletter copy on my site ready to copy and paste. http://www.doctorebiz.com/press/blurbs.htm This is a very powerful viral marketing technique, but it is based on the strength of your personal network, and the loyalty of your friends. Blatant appeal: If I've taught you something in the last several years, please plug Doctor Ebiz in your newsletter. http://www.doctorebiz.com/press/blurbs.htm I'll REALLY appreciate it. A variation of this is to barter for ad space with newsletters of similar size to your own.
5. Recommend-It.com I'm actively using Recommend-It.com buttons on each page of my new Doctor Ebiz site, and they seem to be working. So far in the last month a total of 447 people have recommended my site out of a current 9,000 subscribers, about 5%. Since word-of-mouse is the most powerful kind of referral, I value these referrals very highly. Read my recent review of Recommend-It.com http://www.wilsonweb.com/reviews/recommend-it.htm
6. Requests to Forward. In every newsletter I send out, I ALWAYS encourage people to forward a copy to a friend or business associate. I have no way to track the success of this, but I'm sure the reminder helps some copies to be forwarded and results in wider distribution of my marketing message.
7. Free Syndication of Up-to-Date Content. Next week I'll be announcing how you can syndicate the up-to-date Doctor Ebiz column on your own website. http://www.doctorebiz.com/syndicate/ It's still another way to spread the word. This is similar to free articles with links, but different. More next week. Promise.

I realize that this article is about my own marketing project, but I hope it has given you ideas of how you can add to or extend your marketing efforts through viral techniques. I'll report later on which of these techniques worked the best for me. Notice that I'm not "putting all my eggs in one basket," but launching a variety of at least seven viral techniques simultaneously. In case one or two fail, others will hopefully pick up the slack.

Hey, friends. Among your other Web marketing efforts don't forget to Go Viral!