Viral marketing has been around since people have been selling and talking. It was just a matter of time that someone came up with a catchy term for the internet counterpart of word of mouth and rumors. Now we call them things like email and testimonials. The so called "Buzz" of viral marketing is that it spreads like a real contagion and results in increased sales for the product or service in question. By being a part of, or better yet, starting a buzz, you can turn your product or business into the next hot trend. But make no mistake, it will only be a trend, until something buzzier comes along.

For the up and coming or resident internet entrepreneur, having a plan or strategy will keep him/her, the product and the business well ahead of the game. It is possible to create a buzz, ride the wave until it dies and later create a different buzz about the same product or improved/modified product.

What exactly is the definition of viral marketing? I asked this same question when I first heard the term and was rewarded with confusion and controversy on a subject that was truly simple but in which people for some reason or other wanted to make it seem like nuclear physics. This is the definition that I like best:

"Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can often be word-of-mouth delivered and enhanced online; it can harness the network effect of the Internet and can be very useful in reaching a large number of people rapidly." wikipedia.com

Nice and simple, at least I think so. If this definition doesn't work for you then you need to find one that makes the light go on in your head, Ding! Plainly and simply, you must generate interest in a product or service so much so that people will love it and recommend it to others who will in turn do the same thing. Eventually though, every virus must die, perhaps to be caught again, but die it must. There are only a limited number of prospects interested in any one product. The buzz you create will end but it really doesn't have to.

Proper planning along with alternative methods to market your product/service and gradual product/service modification, either in the product or the deal, can change a buzz. This is akin to having the common cold which can mutate in to many other varieties of the same virus. The virus changes (modification), or the deal changes (circumstances), either way you keep selling like hot cakes.

In this article, I am assuming that you already know a little about viral marketing, if not don't fret, you can quickly learn all that you need to know to get started. For those who are in the know below is my list of unexpanded techniques on viral marketing that will keep a marketing campaign going indefinitely if handled correctly.

Allow people to reprint your articles

Send the same simple message through all of your communities

Gear up your networking

Join Google Groups

Identify and name the broad market

Allow people to use any of your freebies as free bonuses for products or services they sell

Don't position your product or service as part of a general category

Help out local charities

Participate

Identify and make an inventory of potential customers' needs

Allow people to use your online discussion board for their own Web site

Make your examples borderline outrageous

Target your dollars carefully

Leave a link in your signature - where appropriate

Formulate narrower markets

Allow people to sign up for a free Web site on your server

Sprinkle your materials and marketing messages with success stories from real people

Consider introductory discounts or free samples

Fill out your profile no one can keep you from putting your link in your profile

Identify the determining dimensions

Allow people to add their link to your free Web site directory

Offer customers multiple (but simple) ways to inquire about, investigate and order what you offer

Generate some press coverage

Find Groups that are made for promotion and networking

Name possible segment markets

Allow people to provide your free online service to their Web site

Get experts on your side by bringing them into conferences, advisory groups and seminars

Work the distribution channels

Identify Your Fellow Power Users

Evaluate the behavior of market segments

Allow people to give away your free e-book to their visitors

Ask customers for referrals

Give superior customer service

Stealth Study

Estimate the size of each market segment

This article can't cover each of these topics, then it would be a book but you can easily do a Google search for each one to get an idea of what I'm talking about.