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The Secrets Behind the Success of Work at Home Gurus

BY: Jeff Casmer
Words: 499

The success of the internet marketing giants of the web 1.0 era is that they have embraced the power of the web to harness “collective intelligence”. Companies like Yahoo, Google, eBay, Amazon, Wikipedia, and del.cio.us are leaders in the internet marketing realm because they allow users to contribute to the expansion of their business.

Yahoo for example was born as a directory of links and its collective work the net’s users remains the core of its value. And eBay’s product is the collective activity of all its users. eBay grows in response to user activity. Its competitive advantage stems from the mass of buyers and sellers, which make any new website offering similar services, appear much less attractive.

Amazon as well has made a science of user involvement. They were not the first website to sell books nor are they the last but their user engagement allows them to out-space even major competition like Barns & Noble. Even Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, a product that doesn’t seem likely to allow user participation, gives users the opportunity to not only add an entry but edit one as well. This completely changes the dynamics of content creation.

One of the greatest things that have emerged from Web 2.0 is user participation. From Blogger to Myspace, companies are now beginning to understand that they do not have a monopoly over the creation of their websites and products nor should they. The greatest internet success stories don’t advertise their product. They instead undertake “viral marketing”. This is the recommendation of a product from one user to another.

Think of chain letters or forwards and how quickly they get passed around the web. Imagine growing your business at that same magnitude. You don’t have to be as large as Amazon or Google to put this strategy into practice. Viral marketing can take the form of a free e-book that is passed from one recipient to another or a video clip, viral marketing can even be seen in the form of an image. The point is to create a “buzz” around your product.

Viral marketing has gained popularity because of the ease of carrying out the marketing campaign at a low cost, good targeting and the rapid response rate. The web itself is built on this method. People collectively come together to share and add, what’s more anyone can do it. Any one can download a code to use and anyone can add a project.

Websites are no longer relying solely on advertising to get the word out, and why would they when viral marketing is so effective. Not only in terms of profits is viral marketing ideal for new age internet marketing but it can ease the burden of being the sole contributor of building your business.

Users are eager to contribute so why not take a note from the big players and put your users to work for you. Propel your business through the adoption of viral marketing.