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Viral Traffic Secrets: The Blueprint

Copyright 2012

Viral Traffic Secrets: The Blueprint

Viral Traffic Secrets The Blueprint


Your Essential Blueprint to Generating Viral Traffic with Free Internet Tools to Get Your Message to Millions of People Online and Make Enor ous Profits

Copyright 2012

Viral Traffic Secrets: The Blueprint

!egal "otice# This ebook is copyright protected. This is only for personal use. You cannot amend, distribute, sell, use, quote or paraphrase any part or the content within this ebook without the consent of the author or copyright owner. egal action will be pursued if this is breached.

$isclai er "otice# !lease note the information contained within this document is for educational purposes only. "#ery attempt has been made to pro#ide accurate, up to date and reliable complete information no warranties of any kind are e$pressed or implied. %eaders acknowledge that the author is not engaging in rendering legal, financial or professional ad#ice. By reading any document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances are we responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, which are incurred as a result of use of the information contained within this document, including & but not limited to errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.

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Viral Traffic Secrets: The Blueprint

Ta%le of &ontents
Viral Traffic Secrets# The Blueprint'(''''((((((((((((((((pg( )
Definition of Viral Marketing; Differences from Word of Mouth; Key Viral Marketing Strategies; The Passion List; Six Viral Marketing Rules to Li e !y; What "ou #eed to Kno$ !efore "ou !egin

&reating an Online Brand(('''''''''((((((((((((((((pg( *+


%dentifying the Most Valua&le #iches; 'ffiliate Marketing; (reating )riginal Products; !uilding "our )nline Re*utation; Secrets of )nline Marketing

Social Media Marketing((((('''''''''(((((((((((((((((pg( ,Most %m*ortant Social Media Platforms; !uilding "our Social Media #et$ork; +o$ to ,ocus "our Marketing to 'chie e Viral Results; Pro iding +igh Value (ontent; %nteracti e Marketing; )n-Page and )ff-Page S.); )utsmarting the Penguin

Face%ook Marketing'((((('''''''''(((((((((((((((((pg( .*
,ree ,ace&ook Marketing Strategies; +o$ to Wall /ack the Most Po*ular Pages; Making Paid ,ace&ook 'ds Profita≤ S*lit Testing and %ts !enefits

Twitter Marketing'(((((((((('''''''''(((((((((((((((((pg( ))
'ttracting T$itter ,ollo$ers; +ashtags and Trending To*ics; Ret$eeting Strategies; T$eeting for Success

Google Plus Marketing((('''''''''(((((((((((((((((((pg( /+


(reating .ffecti e (ircles; +angouts and +uddles; 0oogle Plus 'nalytics; 1sing 0oogle . ents for Maximum .x*osure; Paid 0oogle Marketing Techni2ues

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Viral Traffic Secrets: The Blueprint

0chie1ing Video Viral Success''''''''''((((((pg( 2The 'stonishing Po$er of Video; "ouTu&e and %ts !enefits; 3 Ways to (reate Viral Video; Video Marketing Methods That Work

Secondar3 Viral Marketing Platfor s''''''''(((pg( 2)


The Po*ularity of Pinterest; !enefits and Dra$&acks of Linked%n; Social (omment4 "el*5 fours2uare5 and )ther Sites;

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Viral Traffic Secrets: The Blueprint

Viral Traffic Secrets# The Blueprint


'mong the biggest benefits of the internet is that it allows anybody the opportunity to get their message in front of millions of prospecti#e customers for little or no money, as long as they know what they are doing. (nce you master the techniques of internet marketing, you can get your #ideo, website or ad#ertisement to go )#iral.* +n other words, like a #irus that attacks your body,s immune system, under optimal conditions, your message can reproduce on the internet e$ponentially so that it suddenly attracts worldwide attention. -hile #iruses that attack the human body or a computer #irus that targets hard dri#es are considered to be bad things, going #iral with your marketing is a #ery good thing, indeed. That,s because it means your message is being propelled through cyberspace like a rocket, landing on increasing number of computer screens, laptops, smart phones, tablets and other de#ices e#ery minute. .rom a marketing perspecti#e, there is no better place to be. /ost companies would pay millions of dollars for the kind of e$posure that a single #iral #ideo or website can achie#e for ne$t to nothing or e#en for free.

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Viral Traffic Secrets: The Blueprint


(ne of the first people to reali0e the full potential of #iral marketing used it to get one of the most prestigious 1obs in the world: !resident of the 2nited States. +n 3445 2S Sen. Barack (bama 678+ll.9 was a relati#ely unknown candidate who was looking for a fast, effecti#e way to get his campaign known among the #oters. Saddled with #ery little campaign funds but a great deal of young, media8sa##y young #olunteers, (bama was one of the first 2S politicians to use the power and scope of the internet to propel him to the top of the world,s stage. Beginning with .acebook .an !ages and branching out into Twitter and direct messaging, (bama reached out to all corners of social media to recruit and energi0e followers, but built the framework for a #iral online marketing blit0 that remains one of the most successful in internet history. But politics isn,t the only arena that has been able to harness the power of #iral marketing. :ompanies such as the fast food chain Burger ;ing also ha#e reaped the benefits of the internet,s free tools. +n 344<, the company released a short #ideo called )The Subser#ient :hicken* to promote a new chicken sandwich. The #ideo featured an actor in a chicken suit who would follow the commands that were typed in by #iewers. ike the sandwich it was designed to promote, internet users ate it up and the company,s website was swamped with millions of new #isitors within only a few short days.

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Viral Traffic Secrets: The Blueprint


The music industry also has used #iral marketing to create something out of nothing. +n 344=, =>8year8old singer %ebecca Black created a low8 budget #ideo for a hyper8catchy song she had recorded called ).riday*. 'lthough the lyrics were inane, the ear candy quality of the tune made it irresistible for internet users and Black soon found her #ideo going #iral, e#entually attracting an astonishing ?4 million #iews on YouTube, which was more than == million more than the latest #ideo by ady @aga, who was the most successful pop act on the planet at the time. $efinition of Viral Marketing Viral marketing refers to marketing techniques that use social networks and other web tools to produce e$plosi#e awareness in brand or product awareness. ike self8replicating computer #iruses, which spread from computer to computer e$ponentially, #iral marketing takes ad#antage of tools such as .acebook ) ikes*, re8Tweets, @oogle !lus )A=,s* and other social appro#al tools to spread the word about the brand or product quickly. The result is a sudden and massi#e distribution of the brand or product being deli#ered to a global market #ia word of mouth or network effects of the internet and mobile markets. /ost often, #iral marketing takes the form of #ideo clips, interacti#e .lash games, web pages, eBooks, te$t messages, emails, images, brand8 able software or ad#er8games. The most commonly utili0ed transmission #ehicles for #iral messages include pass8along based, incenti#e based, trend based and underco#er based. But because #iral messages tend to be
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highly creati#e and unique, there are endless potential forms and #ehicle through which the message can be sent. Thanks to the new affordability of mobile de#ices such as smart phones and tablets and near8uni#ersal internet access, #iral marketing is becoming more pre#alent. :onsumers now ha#e the ability to share and spread #iral messages they en1oy faster and with more scope than e#er before. -ith literally the push of a button, a single internet user can promote a #iral message to hundreds or e#en thousands of friends andBor acquaintances who can then pass the #iral message on to tens of thousands or e#en millions more. The ultimate goal of #iral marketers is to create #iral messages that appeal to indi#iduals with high social networking potential and that ha#e a high probability of being appro#ed of and spread by these users in a #ery short period of time. -hen this occurs, you ha#e #iral marketing. The concept of #iral marketing actually pre8dates the widespread use of the internet. Back in the =CC4s, academics first began thinking about that concept that ideas could be spread like #iruses. Their initial research got picked up by marketers, who perhaps first learned of the concept #ia the article )The Virus of /arketing,* which was published in the maga0ine .ast :ompany in =CC?. +n the article, Dar#ard Business School graduate Time 7raper and faculty member Eeffrey %ayport first proposed the )idea as #irus* concept.

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Viral Traffic Secrets: The Blueprint


By the time the internet started to become per#asi#e in society by the late =CC4s, the stage was already set for online marketers to put the concept into practice. -hile the earliest #iral memes included #ideo loops of dancing babies and other silly time8wasters, one of the earliest #iral marketing financial success stories came in =CCC when a team of young, guerilla filmmakers who had made a low8budget horror film called )The Blair -itch !ro1ect* launched an online campaign to promote the film. The filmmakers created a fake website that corroborated the story that the film was the result of )found footage* and that e#ents of the film were actually true. The also posted rumors on message boards that the doomed trio from the film were still missing. Thanks to the ingenuity of the filmmaker,s ability to e$ploit the nascent internet 6and the public,s gullibility9 the mo#ie went on to become one of the most successful films of the year. /ade for F?4,444, the film e#entually grossed more than F3<5 million worldwide. $ifferences fro 4ord of Mouth

Before you could easily access the opinions of millions of other people #ia the internet, actual word of mouth was one of the most trusted and reliable indicators of quality of a particular product or brand. +f a friend, family member or co8worker told you about a mo#ie or brand of cat food they preferred, you would naturally be inclined to take their word for it and perhaps purchase the product yourself.

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-hile #iral marketing is similar to word of mouth in that indi#iduals share their opinions and e$perience regarding particular products and brands with other people, the difference is a matter of scale. !rior to the web, if a person told fi#e people they en1oyed a particular tele#ision show, for e$ample, those fi#e people might tell another fi#e or ten people each that they en1oyed the program, and the influence of that original opinion8 sharer might result in a few hundred new #iewers to the show. Today, most internet users ha#e a few hundred .acebook friends who include friends, family, co8workers, former school mates, former co8 workers, acquaintances and e#en strangers. -hen preference for a single product or brand is shared with a pool of secondary users that large, the result can be thousands or tens of thousands of passed8along messages. 'dd to that the fact that most people also ha#e other social accounts & such as Twitter, inked +n, @oogle !lus and others & as well as social comment sites such as Yelp, foursquare, !interest, and many more, and the possibility of that single opinion going #iral increases e$ponentially. -ord of mouth marketing is critical to the growth of small businesses that lack the resources for huge marketing campaigns. +t,s frequently what keeps a business operating during those early days when it is still struggling to sur#i#e. Satisfied customers tell their family and friends about the business, and this increases its customer base and sales. But when this type of promotion is shifted online, the results can be astonishing.
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5e3 Viral Marketing Strategies Successful #iral marketing requires more than simply pro#iding information to consumers, such as hours of operation, #ariety and types of products offered, and pricing. +t requires tapping into the passion of the consumer so that this passion influences the customer to become an e#angelist for the business. -hen this passion is palpable and the message is posted online, it can be spread effecti#ely to the masses without any assistance from the original business owner. "ntire #iral campaigns ha#e begun by the passion of a single consumer, or a small number of ra#ing fans, with no orchestrated effort by the business, owners whatsoe#er. That is because when a consumer takes his or her passionate energy to the web, they often feel they ha#e a personal stake and in#estment in the success of the business. So the burden is upon the business owner to inspire passion in customers. The good news is that once this occurs, the promotion of the business or brand can take on a life of its own with little or no effort on the part of the business, leadership. The Passion !ist Dere,s a way for you to inspire passion about your business or products: =. Take out a sheet of paper
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3. 't the top of the paper, write the name of your business or product >. Beneath this, write down the top G or 5 things you personally like best about your business or product. 7on,t think about it too much, try to write as honestly as possible. <. Beneath these, write down > or < reasons why you chose this business or product in the first place. 'gain, be as spontaneous as possible. H. .inally, write down the one thing you lo#e most about your business or product -hat you ha#e is your passion list. This is what should moti#ate you whene#er you write or talk about your business or product. +n the midst of the working week, it,s often easy to forget what inspired us to get in#ol#ed with our work in the first place. You passion list can ser#e as a constant reminder so that you can sustain that enthusiasm and help build e$citement for your product or business during e#ery point of contact with customers. Some people find it helpful to frame their passion list and hang it abo#e the computer they use for work. (thers keep it with them in their wallet or purse so they can refer to it when they are out speaking with customers. -hiche#er method you choose, make sure you refer frequently to your passion list so that you ha#e a constant reminder of why you are doing what you do.
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'nother key to the success of #iral marketing campaign is framing the message in a format that can be easily shared. +t has to be easy for consumers who support the business or brand to share their enthusiasm with others. .or e$ample, let,s say your local church youth group is sponsoring a car wash to raise funds for an upcoming retreat. 2nder the 34 th :entury model, you would create a few handmade signs, ha#e a few teenagers wa#e them at passing cars on a busy street and hope for dri#ers to notice. -hile this may be effecti#e on a highly8locali0ed scale at attracting a few do0en customers, it doesn,t allow supporters to push the message on a more global scale. 2nder the 3=st :entury model, you could create an entertaining >48 second #ideo promoting the e#ent, ask the group,s members to post it to their .acebook pages and Twitter accounts, and watch it take off from there. +n this e$ample, it is concei#able to boost response from a few do0en cars to se#eral hundred.

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Besides tapping into people,s passion and pro#iding a format that can be easily shared the last key #iral marketing strategy is to incenti#i0e your message,s promoters. -hile a certain number of your customers will call attention to your business simply because they genuinely like it, far more will do so if there is something in it for them. -hen you offer an incenti#e & such as a free gi#eaway, a discount, or e#en membership into some sort of community of like8minded users & you can pro#ide an incenti#e for not 1ust the first generation of promoters all subsequent generations as well. .or e$ample, the owners of Taco Town, a taco stand in .ort -orth, Te$as, wanted to dri#e mid8week lunch business so they posted a notice on the business, .acebook .an !age that offered a free taco during weekday lunchtime hours to anyone who ) iked* the post on .acebook. Because the page,s >44 subscribers already were supporters of the business, the first generation response rate was high, about >4 percent, or C4 people.

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Because the C4 people who ) iked* the original posting had an a#erage of 344 .acebook .riends, the original offer was e$panded from >44 people to an estimated =,544. (f that second generation, the response rate was less, about =4 percent, or an additional =54 people. Because each of those people also had an a#erage 344 .acebook .riends, the second generation ad e$posure suddenly 1umped to >?,444. Si6 Viral Marketing 7ules to !i1e B3 Viral marketing is not complicated. +n fact, the simpler and more in#iting the message, the broader its appeal will be. -hile not all #iral marketing campaigns need to follow all si$ of these rules, the more that you include in your campaign, the more successful you can e$pect it to be.
1.

Offer so ething of 1alue & -hile the first generation of people who recei#e your message are likely already going to be open to your promotion, subsequent generations may not know anything about you or your

business and, in fact, may already hold opinions about your product
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or brand. -hen you offer something #aluable, the people after the first round of users are going to be more likely to pick up your message and pass it on to their circle of social influence. -hat you offer doesn,t ha#e to ha#e monetary #alue. +n fact, gi#en that #iral marketing can potentially result in a tidal wa#e of responses, it,s better if there is no cash #alue to your offer. But gi#eaways such as special reports, eBooks, instructional #ideos, access to online webinars and other high8#alueBlow8cost items can incenti#i0e the recipients to redeem your offer and pass along your promotion, impro#ing its chances of becoming #iral.
2.

Ensure an effortless transfer to others & (ne of the reasons #iral marketing didn,t catch on prior to the de#elopment of the internet was because deli#ery systems made this type of promotion not cost8 effecti#e. !ostage for direct mail campaigns or e$pensi#e radio, tele#ision and newspaper media kept all but the biggest companies out of the market place. But the free tools offered by the internet ha#e le#eled the playing field, allowing e#en the smallest businesses to compete on equal footing with the biggest competitors. 'nybody can post a #ideo, a photo, an audio recording, a slideshow or any number of media that can be seamlessly and efficiently passed on to other users with the push of single button.

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'nything that interferes with the mo#ement of your message & such as a requirement to enter an email or mailing address & should be minimi0ed in order to promote the #iral nature of your message.
3.

Make it scala%le & -hen you create the message you want to become #iral, it,s better to start small and ha#e the capacity to increase the si0e and scope of your offer rather than starting large and risk being o#erwhelmed by the response. .or e$ample, Taco Town wisely limited redemption of its free taco offer to a specific date so that they didn,t ha#e to gi#e away the store. By putting

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control measures on your offer, you can help ad1ust the speed of its growth as it progresses through the web.
4.

E6ploit %asic %eha1iors8 oti1ations & ike anywhere else, people on the web act in predictable ways. -hen you offer something of #alue for nothing, you can e$pect a big response. +f you incenti#i0e people to promote your offer to others, your redemption rate will increase. By e$ploiting these basic, predictable beha#iors, you can increase the likelihood of your promotion going #iral. .or e$ample, one of the most basic rules of ad#ertising is that se$ sells. +nclude an image of an attracti#e woman on your ad and you are going to attract the attention of a certain percentage of the marketplace, regardless of what you are selling. ;now your intended audience and how they are likely to respond to #arious stimuli, and you can impro#e your chances of going #iral.

5.

Make use of e6isting co

unication networks & -hen -illiam

%andolph Dearst wanted to promote the products and brands of the


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companies he and his associates owned, he created a chain of newspapers that continues to publish to this day. You don,t need to launch a newspaper chains, howe#er, when you already ha#e popular, highly effecti#e marketing platforms such as .acebook, Twitter, !interest, @oogle !lus and the rest that will do the 1ob for you at 0ero cost.
6.

Be cool and %u99:worth3 & !eople are always going to be open to your message if it is framed as )the ne$t big thing* or if they think being associated with your product or brand is going to make them cooler or hip in the eyes of their friends. +f you are able to frame your message in the conte$t of something that is already a hot topic & in other words, something that already has the attention of the marketplace & you can piggyback onto the success of others and bring your product or brand newfound e$posure.

7.

5eep it si ple; stupid & ike anything else, the simpler your message is to understand, the more likely it is to be grasped by the

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general public. 's !.T. Barnum famously stated, )Iobody e#er went broke o#erestimating the intelligence of the 'merican public.* -hate#er your message, keep it simple and straight to the point. @i#en the incredible number of messages they are bombarded with daily, if users ha#e to take e#en an e$tra moment to figure out what you are trying to tell them, they are going to mo#e on to the ne$t thing. 4hat You "eed to 5now Before You Begin 'lthough it offers a scope of global e$posure unlike any other platform, #iral marketing shares certain qualities with other, more traditional forms of ad#ertising. The first and most important is that you ha#e to know who your audience is and what they want. This can be simplified with the use of .acebook .an !ages, online forums, the use of squee0e pages and e#en on8page and off8page Search "ngine (ptimi0ation techniques. (ne of the biggest difference between #iral marketing and other forms of promotion is that the potential response could potentially be o#erwhelming, e#en o#erpowering. /any websites ha#e crashed because their owners didn,t anticipate the massi#e response to a particular promotion or offering. 'nd if users can,t find you & e#en for a short period of time & you are losing potential business
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Viral marketing costs far less than other forms of ad#ertising on the distribution end, but the production quality of whate#er you are promoting should still be as high as you can afford to make it. +f you post a shaky #ideo with poor production #alues on YouTube, odds are it isn,t going to go #iral because it,s too difficult for people to watch it. Similarly, if you offer a free eBook that is poorly written and inaccurate, odds are your intended audience isn,t going to want to pass it along to other people they know. Iow that we ha#e e$amined some of the introductory tenets of #iral marketing we can mo#e on to the methods and techniques of how to implement it for your product, brand or #iral target.

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&reating an Online Brand

Viral marketing can be used to promote #irtually any type of product, brand or concept. -hether you are a musician seeking more e$posure, a manufacturer looking to broaden its audience, or an internet marketer seeking new markets and opportunities online, the ability to quickly get your message out to thousands or e#en millions of people can be worth a lot of money. :reating an online brand or identity is important to any business, but especially if your ob1ecti#e is to craft a message that can easily be passed on from generation to generation of internet users. The easier and more concise a brand,s message, the better it can be absorbed by the intended audience. Think about the most successful brands and the images they immediately spring to mind: Juaker (ats, .ord /otor :ompany, as Vegas, and the %olling Stones. 'ny product that has been successfully branded will instantly e#oke an emotional response from the user & for better or worse. .or e$ample, when you think of Juaker (ats, you probably immediately think about wholesome, nutritious breakfast foods such as oatmeal and cream of wheat. -hen you think
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about as Vegas, you think about a fun, e$citing place where you can go to let your hair down and go a little cra0y. Ieither of these responses is accidental. Both are the result of a careful, persistent effort to create an identifiable brand that e#okes an emotion that the intended user can associate with that particular brand. -hen creating your brand online, it,s important that you pro#ide a consistent, positi#e message that your prospecti#e customers can associate with your company and products. -hat are the core #alues of your company and how can you communicate these to your customersK -hat sort of emotional shortcuts can you use to e#oke this message quickly and effecti#elyK Dome, family, security, lo#e, serenity, se$, ad#enture, danger, safety, hope. 'll of these concepts can gi#e you immediate access to the sympathetic center of your customer base. +n fact, these are the concepts most commonly used in nearly all ad#ertising today. Viral marketing is no different. The quality and effecti#eness of the message needs to be intact before it can be passed on from user to user. By taking care to build your brand so that it is focused on the #alues and message that are central to your business, core, you can present a persistent, simple brand message that can be included on e#ery message you promote. Identif3ing the Most Valua%le "iches
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+f you don,t already ha#e a company or product you want to promote, you ha#e the freedom to build your business around any product you want. @enerally, you should select something that you are passionate about, either now or at some time in your life because you are going to be spending a considerable amount of time in#ol#ed with this product niche. +t would be hard to go to work e#ery day selling dog care products if you can,t stand animals, for e$ample. (nce you identify a product niche for you to work in, remember that the definition of a successful niche is one that has a lot of customers, includes a wide #ariety of different products that can be packaged in #arious ways 6ie. 7igital books, #ideo, audio files, slideshows, physical products, ser#ices, etc.9 and are mid8 to high8priced. .or e$ample, it would be difficult to build a successful #iral marketing campaign around F.<4 replacement parts for high definition tele#isions 6unless you ha#e the market cornered, that is9 because your #olume would ha#e to be massi#e in order to make any serious money. ' better niche would be selling high priced D7 TVs through a dropshipper because each single sale could bring you hundreds of dollars. Viral marketing can be a fast8paced sales platform. -hat,s white hot today may be yesterday,s news #ery shortly. Das anyone heard from %ebecca Black latelyK (ne way to make a lot of money is to find the hottest products, 1ump into markets, make a killing and then 1ump out before you get stuck with a lot of unsellable in#entory. -hile this is profitable for some
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marketers, it is highly stressful because it requires you to constantly be chasing trends, and it,s easy to get burned. ' better idea is to focus on products that sell regardless of what,s popular. There are certain niches that are always going to be popular, no matter how well or how poorly the economy is doing or how big or small the marketplace is. That,s because they offer solutions to problems that can ne#er truly be sol#ed or are so uni#ersal that there will always be people looking for products to help them sol#e them. !eople ha#e been buying products in these niches since the in#ention of money and will continue to buy them in some form or another fore#er: L L L L L L L -eight oss 7og (bedience /aking /oneyB@etting (ut of 7ebt !ersonal 7e#elopmentB-orkout @oals Spiritual 7e#elopmentBDoroscope %elationshipsB7ating ife !roblems

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L .oodB:ooking @enerally, competition in these niches is high because these are the markets where the money is. But if you identify high8quality products in any of these niches, you can confidently set up a long8term business because there will always going to be a market for products in these niches. These niches also gi#e you the ability to sell multiple products to customers, increasing your sales opportunities. Take a look around the internet at any of these niches and you will find a nearly endless supply of products. 0ffiliate Marketing +f your niche allows you to sell digital products & such as eBooks, #ideos, audio recordings, online courses, webinars, subscriptions, coaching and mentoring sessions, etc. & then you should consider affiliate products. 2nder this business model, you promote other people,s products in e$change for a commission on each sale. You essentially become an affiliate of the product,s actual owner. 'ffiliate marketing is not restricted to digital products, either. +n fact, 'ma0on.com, the world,s largest online retailer, has a comprehensi#e affiliate program in which members can promote any of the millions of products the company offers

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They key to a successful affiliate marketing program is finding products that people want to buy. +t,s easy to find out what people want to buy. There are se#eral websites you can go to find out what is popular at the moment. @oogle Dot Trends is the first stop. This site lists the top =44 searches on @oogle, the world,s most popular search engine, during the pre#ious 3H minutes.

ook particularly for items that are listed se#eral different times in different ways. .rom an affiliate marketing standpoint, this could be helpful. But remember that this tracks what is trending at the moment. +t,s helpful to look at a series of days to find products with lasting power. +n this case, ;ombucha tea has been one of the top searches for the past couple of days. This probably would make an e$cellent product to promote through
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affiliate marketing because it,s e$tremely popular right now and 'ma0on is almost certain to sell it. et,s find out.

's you can see, 'ma0on has >?3 items for sale related to ;ombucha tea. Simply select a few of these as products you would like to promote through the 'ma0on 'ssociate program, put a link to it on your page & or mention it in your blog or article or e#en on your .acebook page 88 and you can start earning commissions off of the sales of this red hot product starting right awayM Yahoo Bu00 is Yahoo,s #ersion of this list. +t also shows the top searches, but includes a little more information than @oogle Trends.

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Two other sites to look for hot niches are Trend Dunter and Trend -atching. These tend to be a little more geared towards consumer trends and offer a more global perspecti#e, although both can be narrowed down by country. ;eeping an eye on trends can be profitable in the short run but to make long8term profits, you need to find long8term, reliable niche to e$ploit. -hile @oogle Dot Trends, Yahoo Bu00 and the others are helpful for seeing what is hot right now, there are some other sites you can #isit to find niches with more longe#ity. The first is eBay !ulse. This site shows you the products people are searching for the most:

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-hile knowing that 'ndroid tablets and i!ads are popular you can also dial down to see what specific products in your particular niche are the most popular. .or e$ample, if ha#e a website speciali0ing in cycling, eBay !ulse will tell you which cycling products are the hottest. :lickBank is an online marketplace where you can find more than <?,444 digital products such as eBooks and #ideo courses that you can offer for sale as an affiliate marketer. -hen you promote particular products, e#ery time a customer clicks through to the site and purchases the product, you earn a commission.

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'ccording to a 34== %e#enue /aga0ine article, :lickBank is the top affiliate network in the 2S and has sales of more than F3 billion. +t has more than = million affiliate members and processes about >H,444 transactions per day. +t has customers in more than 344 countries around the world. (ther great sites for finding niche products to promote include :ommission Eunction, which has thousands of the most popular shopping websites, including Blockbuster, 'pple, Best Buy and D!, and ink Share, which also has lets you promote products from some of the world,s most popular shopping sites. 'nother kind of affiliate network is the ):ost !er 'ction* or :!' program. 2nder this model, you are paid a fi$ed sum for e#ery lead or sale you make for an ad#ertiser. Some of the top :!' networks right now are: L L L L !eerfly.com Share'Sale.com @o(ffers.net :!' ead.com

'ma0on 'ffiliates is a program operated by 'ma0on, the world,s largest online retailer, in which third8party sellers can promote products on 'ma0on in e$change for a sales commission. 'ma0on reportedly deri#es <4 percent of its sales from this affiliate marketing program.
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Signing up to be an 'ma0on 'ffiliate is free. -hen you sign up, you can select any of the millions of products offered by 'ma0on. -hen you make your selections, you are gi#en a personali0ed 2% that you can insert into your web page, social media posts, emails, blogs or anywhere you like. -hen somebody clicks on the 2% , they are led directly to the 'ma0on page where they can purchase that product. -hen they buy the product, an identification code embedded in the 2% tells 'ma0on who should recei#e the commission.

'ma0on maintains its own payment system, so you don,t need to ha#e !ay!al or another payment program to participate. :ommissions can be held in the 'ma0on account, used to purchase products on the site, or can be sent directly to you #ia your bank account, a check or a prepaid debit card. There are more than C44,444 members in the 'ma0on 'ffiliate program.

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&reating Original Products 'nother option is to create your own products. This offers pride of authorship and also frees you from worrying about copyright infringement. -hen you create your own products, you can e#en sell them to other affiliate marketers so that they do the hard work of marketing while you collect the profits. !lus, when you create your own products, you can decide what specific niches and sub8niches your product will target, rather than ha#ing to rely on whate#er affiliate products happen to be a#ailable in the marketplace at that moment. (riginal products can be in any format, including eBooks, #ideos, audio recordings, slide shows, etc. !lus, you can repackage the same product in do0ens of different ways, con#erting te$t to #ideo, slideshows to eBooks, audio to slideshows, etc. Your products can be based on completely original research and your own ideas, or they can be re#ised #ersions of other e$isting products. 'nd you can use your own products any way you want, without ha#ing to get anybody else,s permission or worrying about being sued later. .inally, with your own products, you are free to market them in any way you wish. +f your products are of high quality, your customers who en1oy your products will be an$iously awaiting while you create fresh, new products.
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Building Your Online 7eputation +n internet marketing, long8term relationships are usually far more profitable than short8term re#enues. +n only a #ery limited number of cases are there high #alue to 1umping into a hot market, making a big splash, then getting out as fast as you can. +n most cases, building long8term relationships with your customers in the end is the most rewarding strategy, both financially and in terms of your personal reputation, as well as that of your company and brand. -hen you treat your customers as if they are your friends, rather than simply people who buy your products, you can impro#e the effecti#eness of any marketing program. 'ny time you contact your customers & whether #ia email, social media, in forums or anywhere else & you should try to personali0e the e$perience as much as possible. Share details about your personal history and family life. -hen your customers de#elop a genuine emotional bond with you, they ha#e a #ested interest in your success, resulting in a long, prosperous business relationship, fortifying your online reputation. (ne effecti#e way to do this is to follow the )<:= %ule*. .or e#ery email, .acebook status update or Tweet you post promoting your products, post four others that are more personal and direct, e#en completely unrelated to your business. +n these four posts, you can share links to other helpful web pages in your niche, pass along ad#ice, tell personal stories and post pictures and #ideos that reinforce your online reputation as a real
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person, rather than 1ust a marketer who is trying to sell them something all the time. The ability to immediately nurture a personal relationship with your customers is a unique benefit of doing business on the internet. +f you were to walk into the Best Buy and the salesperson started showing you his #acation picture, it would feel a little awkward. Yet for an online interaction, this is completely acceptable.

But when people sense that you consider them nothing more than a customer, they will consider you nothing more than a marketer and soon they will stop paying attention to what you ha#e to say. Two8way communication is critical to success. -ith your #iral marketing campaign, make it easy to facilitate two8way communications by making it easy to your customers to respond to you. .or e$ample, you can
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include )-hat 7o You ThinkK* with e#ery posting that automatically links back to your own email account or web page. This allows you to solicit your customer,s thoughts and opinions, reinforcing their importance to you and the success of your business. .inally, whene#er a customer takes the time to contact you, always send a follow8up thank you and acknowledge how important and helpful their comment was to you. Secrets of Online Marketing Secret < -# You need a is( This is when you sell a membership to your customers so that e#ery month they will recei#e fresh, high8#alue content from you that they can use to impro#e their li#es. +t is absolutely, positi#ely the easiest way to create a long8term re#enue stream for you. Your membership site can be an upsell to an e$isting product & which is highly effecti#e in con#erting #isitors into customers 88 or a stand8alone product. But you need to ha#e a membership site because it brings you money month8after8month. +f you do a good 1ob on research and de#elopment and can create compelling, e$citing content month after mo nth then your customers will look forward to getting it each month. e %ership site; no atter what 3our product

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'nd when customers become fans of your content, they are more likely to pass it on to others, increasing your chances of going #iral. Secret <* : !ook for products that can fall under the sa e %rand u %rella. This makes it easier for your customers to think of you in only one way: 's a trusted friend who consistently pro#ides solid products in their niche interest. Think of it this way: Juaker (ats has =H separate and distinct breakfast cereal labels, ? other breakfast products such as the oatmeal, ? snack bars, < food mi$es, > sports drinks, and that doesn,t e#en count their "uropean operations, which has an entire other line of products.

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Yet when you think of Juaker (ats, you don,t think of :aptain :runch and !ower Bars. You think of the Juaker gentlemen on the oatmeal cylinder and of the wholesome, nutritious foods that are good for you. To build your brand so that you can go #iral, your products need to be linked in the same way. 7on,t sell both hot dogs and running shoes if you are not ;mart. ;eep your brand identity easily understandable and it will be easier for your customers to like and trust you. Secret <+# If 3ou want to %e a like one( Dow much money do you want to make from your internet marketing business during the coming yearK F=4,444K FH4,444K F=44,444K Iow go to this website & bi0buysell.com & and click on the )Business :ategories* in the upper right hand corner. Scroll down to the entry that reads )+nternet Businesses* and click on it. Sort the business opportunities according to the annual cash flow. .ind those that ha#e the annual cash flow that is the same as what you answered the abo#e question. There should be internet marketing businesses you should use to build your own.
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There,s no reason to rein#ent the wheel. 's it states in "cclesiastes =:C, )Iihil no#i sub sole*. )There,s nothing new under the sun.* "#erything you are planning to do has already been done a hundred times before by people twice as smart as you. -hen you learned to dri#e a car, you didn,t sculpt a wheel out of rock, did youK You didn,t go to :hrysler plant and work on the assembly lineK ' an internet marketer why would you want to waste years of your life suffering through trial and error when you can simply find a business that does what you want to do and copy them with a superior product or ser#iceK %esearch #iral marketing success stories in your niche. Take note of what caused them to go #iral, then implement those factors into your own efforts.

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Social Media Marketing


Social media platforms pro#ide you with the kind of access to customers that would be unimaginable only a few short years ago. They are what make #iral marketing possible. By e$ploiting the benefits of social media, you can promote your brand, product or business e$ponentially, rather than laterally, creating a network of customers who can then continue to promote your business for you. Most I portant Social Media Platfor s The most important social media platforms are the ones that are going to get your message out to the broadest possible audience the most quickly. These can #ary based on your niche and also can change based on a #ariety of factors, including the whims of the public, introduction of new platforms with impro#ed technology and applications, and successful marketing. .or e$ample, 1ust a few years ago, /ySpace was one of the most popular social media platforms on the internet. Today, almost nobody uses it anymore. The most important social media platforms that you need to be in#ol#ed in if you want to launch a successful #iral marketing campaign today are:
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1.

YouTu%e & Video is the preferred format for internet users, especially since nearly e#eryone has access to streaming #ideo on their smart phones and tablets thanks to -i.i. This @oogle8owned website is the biggest and most significant distributor of #ideo on the web and it,s impossible to talk about #iral marketing without talking about YouTube.

2.

Face%ook & 7espite its recent struggles on -all Street, .acebook remains the most popular social media platform on the web. +t has always benefitted by its brilliant ease of use and impro#ements in the site,s ability to share #ideo and other formats are only going to make it more popular. 7id you check your .acebook page todayK + thought soM

3.

Twitter & -eb users & especially younger people 88 can,t get enough of this site. 2sers share brief )tweets* about what they are doing and the things they like. The primary benefit is the ability to share links that can take users to other web pages.

4.

!inkedIn & .ocused more on business networking rather than social networking, inked+n continues to be an important platform for reaching corporate and commercial targets.

5.

Pinterest & This site currently holds the title as the most popular social preference platform. Visitors post links to things they like. +f that includes one of your links, you can go #iral #ery easily.

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6.

Google Plus & 'lthough it stumbled coming out of the gate, the wide #ariety of killer apps and features e#entually are going to make this comprehensi#e social networking platform the most important in the marketplace.

Building Your Social Media "etwork +f you hope to launch a successful #iral marketing campaign, you don,t ha#e the lu$ury of picking and choosing which of these si$ sites to use. You need to be on all of them. 'nd they are only the starting point. /any other important social preference sites & including foursquare, Yelp, .lickr and +nstagram, to name a few & are of growing importance. +n a few moments, we are going to take a closer look at all of these sites and how you can use them to go #iral with your marketing. >ow to Focus Your Marketing to 0chie1e Viral 7esults /alcolm /c:laren was right: )The media is the message.* -hen he made that statement in the late =C?4s, he was referring to the growing influence of tele#ision, but his words prophesi0ed the growth of the internet a few decades later. The social media networks you create are the pathway for your #iral marketing campaign. The accounts you create on the se#en platforms listed abo#e and the fans, followers, friends and other contacts you make
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are the point of entry for the messages that you craft. :onsequently, it,s important that you connect with these people effecti#ely because they are need to be passionate, enthusiastic e#angelists of your brand: =. +dentify the .acebook .riends who ha#e the most .riends 3. %e#iew their .acebook home pages, taking careful note of what groups they belong to >. -hene#er they post a status update, always ) ike* it and add a comment <. Iurture your relationship with these users further by ) iking* any comments they lea#e on .an !ages H. 7on,t stalk them, but be consistent in de#eloping an interpersonal relationship with them ?. +f they ha#e Twitter accounts, follow them and re8Tweet anything they Tweet G. 7irect message them on .acebook or Twitter and let them know how much you en1oy their posts. "#entually, they will start paying attention to you

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5. (nce you ha#e a familiar online relationship, send them #aluable content interspersed with promotions for your products C. -hen you post on their home pages, whene#er they comment or ) ike* your post, it will appear in all of their .acebook .riends, pages. Pro1iding >igh Value &ontent So how to you create these con#ertsK !ro#ide something of high #alue for free that your customers can use in their e#eryday li#es. -hat that is depends entirely on what your niche is and the brand that you are creating. .or e$ample, if you are going into the weight loss business, it could be a >48day shred plan for si$ pack abs. +f you are going into the 'ndroid app business, it could be one month,s free access to a killer app you ha#e de#eloped. +f you are going into the sporting goods business, it could be an eBook on tying fly fishing lures. The specific content you must be something your contact s #alue and will appreciate recei#ing from you for free. -hen this happens, they will feel a trust bond with you, they will feel indebted to you, and they will be more likely to promote future offerings from you to their social media network. Interacti1e Marketing
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+nteracti#e marketing is a business model based on building interpersonal one8on8one relationships with your customers. +n the pre8 internet world, this usually meant starting up a con#ersation with someone who walks into your store: )Iice weather we,re ha#ing. :an + help you find somethingK + like those shoesM* This type of relationship building puts your customer at ease, makes them feel like they are welcome and appreciated, and lets them know that you are ready, willing and able to ser#e them. But how do we chat up our online customers, especially when your web page can get thousands of hits per dayK Dow can you make sure each of the people who na#igated to your page get that same sense of familiarity and comfort that customers recei#ed when they #isited your brick and mortar storeK That,s where interacti#e marketing comes into play. +nteracti#e marketing is a rich media e$perience that gi#es customers who #isit your web page the illusion that there,s an actual person behind the screen speaking with them online. The most ob#ious e$ample would be Siri, the interacti#e companion a#ailable on the i!hone <S and H. -hile you may not ha#e the %N7 resources of 'pple, you can still use the tenets of interacti#e marketing to help you go #iral. 'll interactions between your customers and you ha#e a tone that is unique to your company. +t can be friendly, helpful, a little edgy, laid back, e#en funny. -hate#er personality works best for your business.

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ike the sales clerk who chatted up customers when they walked through your front door, the #irtual host of interacti#e marketing sites responds in real time to your customer,s questions and needs, while maintaining the personality that you want to pro1ect. +nteracti#e marketing can pose simple, straight8forward questions and use the information gleaned from your customers, answers to put them into different categories, such as: L )+nterested but 1ust looking* L )%eady to buy but looking for best #alue* L )%eady to buy and wanting to complete transaction as quickly as possible* L ).requent, loyal customer* L (r whate#er categories you choose This kind of lead qualifying and scoring can impro#e the way your #irtual host interacts with the customer so that they can gi#e each customer precisely what they want as quickly and efficiently as possible. On:Page and Off:Page SEO Search engines are one of the primary determiners of the success or failure of your business. /aster the search engine algorithm, and you can
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keep your web pages at the top of the product searches for your niche indefinitely. 2nfortunately, mastering the @oogle and Bing search engines is nearly impossible because the algorithms & the formulas used to determine website )weight* and ranking & are changing constantly @oogle and Bing, the two biggest search engines on the internet, use )spiders* to crawl through the web and find new websites and pages. The search engines then use their e#er8changing algorithms to assess the content of the web page or website, inde$ it and assign it a rank. These spiders then mo#e on to other websites through links and the process continues on and on fore#er.

Search "ngine (ptimi0ation, or S"( for short, is what web page designers and website writers do to make their website more appealing to the search engines. The more appealing the site is to the search engine, the higher it will be ranked on its niche search. +f the website is ranked on the front page of the search & or e#en better, the top spot & then most users are far more likely to click on that website than any of the ones on any of the other pages. .or websites that promote products or ser#ices, this can mean the difference between success and failure. The primary ob1ecti#e of any business,s website is to get ranked in the number one position in their search niche, or at the #ery least on the front page. +f you are not on page
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=, you might as well close up shop because less than == percent of all internet users e#er go past page =. +n most cases, they won,t e#en go down the first few results on the first page. That makes it critical for your website to land on the first page. +f a page has any hope of going #iral, it has to be listed on page = or 3. +t,s as simple as that. (n8page and off8page S"( techniques are one way to ensure that your web pages are ranked high. "$amples of on8 page S"( are including the best keywords for your product niche on your web pages, especially in strategic places such as the title, headline, sub heads, and first and final paragraphs of copy. ;eyword saturation, or repeating your keyword so that it represents 3O to >O of the total words on your web page, also is an effecti#e on8page S"( technique. (ff8page S"( methods would be things like creating a large number of backlinks to your web page from sites the search engines consider to be )authoritati#e.* -hen e$pert sites reference you web page, this tells the
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search engines that what you ha#e to say is important, and it consequently will rank your page higher. Outs arting the Penguin @oogle and Bing are the two largest search engines on the internet. /arketers ha#e spent years trying to figure out the best ways to outsmart these search engines, algorithms using non8organic methods to get their web pages listed at the top of the Search "ngine %esults !ages 6S"%!9 for their niches. 'ware of this, @oogle frequently changes its algorithm to pre#ent this type of fraud. 'ccording to @oogle,s official blog, !anda and !enguin, the second ma1or algorithm update which rolled out in /ay 34=3, were intended to reduce web spam and weed out sites that were trying to undermine @oogle,s quality guidelines, including those that were )o#er8optimi0ed* and that used black hat S"( strategies to dri#e traffic to their pages.

The !enguin update ga#e additional weight to social signals gi#en by the people who use social media the most. +t also takes into consideration
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which users ha#e the largest groups of followers and friends and who are considered to be e$perts in their fields, assigning e#en more influence to their recommendations. That means that instead of focusing e$clusi#ely on S"(, internet marketers are more likely to ha#e their pages ranked higher if they ha#e more social signals such as .acebook ) ikes*, re8Tweets, @oogle !lus )A=,s* and the like. This also facilitates going #iral.

+n the ne$t three chapters, we are going to look at ways to increase your social signals on the three most important social media platforms: .acebook, Twitter and @oogle !lus.

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Face%ook Marketing
Because of their immense popularity, social media sites also are now the target of online ad#ertisers. Since the purpose of ad#ertising is to promote products in places where they will reach ma$imum e$posure, .acebook is of primary importance to ad#ertisers. That,s because entertainment habits ha#e changed. !eople simply spend more time online now than they do watching tele#ision, and certainly more than they do listening to the radio or reading newspapers. +n fact, you can now do all these things using your .acebook account. Free Face%ook Marketing Strategies To successfully market on social media sites you need to build your lists of )friends* on .acebook. +t,s easy and free, and with the methods we will discuss here in a #ery short amount of time you will ha#e hundreds of friends and followers. To identify people who are interested in the types of products you are promoting, look for groups or forums on .acebook that are related to your niche. +f you sell time shares, for e$ample, search for groups related to )#acation tra#el* or )leisure*. (nce you locate them, you can 1oin these groups for free and begin interacting with other members.

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>ow to 4all ?ack the Most Popular Pages You also can start your own groups or forums and in#ite the members of the other groups to 1oin yours so you can ha#e more control o#er the content and its distribution. Similarly, you can create fan pages for topics related to your niche. Then, when people who are interested in your niche search the social media sites, they will find and 1oin your fan pages, gi#ing you an opportunity to de#elop relationships with a whole new group of potential customers. This strategy is called )wall 1acking* the most popular .acebook pages related to your niche. The way you do it is this: Search for niche8 related fan pages that ha#e the most members. Eoin the fan page and spend a lot of time interacting with its members. .ind high8#alue content online and post frequent links to it so that you pro#ide the fan page
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members with content they can actually use. Then send out in#itations to e#erybody on the fan page list to 1oin the new fan page you created. This accomplishes two goals: 's the owner of the page, you get to control the tone and direction of the con#ersation so you can always direct members toward your content and ultimately toward your products. The second ob1ecti#e is that it gi#es you a list of potential customers who ha#e already shown they are loyal to you by migrating to your new fan page. Build relationships with your customers by making positi#e and supporti#e comments about their updates and tweets and reposting them, showing an interest in the details of their li#es, and referring often to personal information they ha#e shared in the past. +t,s helpful to keep a file of notes on each member so you can remember the names of their spouses and kids, places they went on #acation, products they bought from you in the past, and so on. .orward links to articles that you found interesting and that are related to your niche, or e#en those that aren,t. %etweet interesting tweets,
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not 1ust those that ha#e commercial moti#ations. 2se your postings to encourage con#ersations and engage other users in discussions. Making Paid Face%ook 0ds Profita%le .acebook,s sponsored ad program is a lot like the !!: programs offered by @oogle, Yahoo and Bing, but with a slight twist. +nstead of bidding on keywords or phrases, with .acebook ads you can determine who will see your ads based on specific criteria, including their geographic location, their interests, education le#el, work history, e#en their se$, marital status and se$ual orientation. This makes it easier to aim your ads at precisely the types of people who are most likely to buy your products, impro#ing your chances of going #iral. .acebook gi#es you the option of buying !!: or :!/ 6:ost8per8 =444 impressions9. Because the click8through rate on .acebook is low, !!: is usually the best option. +t also allows you to set a daily budget. (nce your budget is used up during a 3<8hour period, your ad will stop appearing until the ne$t day, when it starts at the beginning. .acebook ads are one of the best marketing tools on the internet today, period. This is because .acebook is one of the most popular sites on the planet and because it is easy to integrate your .acebook page with other applications, such as -ord!ress, Twitter, inked+n and many, many other apps. .acebook ads are also e$tremely easy to target at specific types of users. They also are much less e$pensi#e than other ad#ertising methods.
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!lus, creating .acebook ads is really simple and you can ha#e an effecti#e ad up and promoting your social presence in 1ust a few moments. The place to start is by clicking on the )!romote with an ad* button on the right side of your .acebook .an !age:

:licking on this button will bring you to a screen where you can design your add.

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By populating this bo$es you can create the te$t for your ad, include any pictures you want to use, design how it will look and decide where and how frequently it will be posted.
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The 7estination button is where you set where people who click on your ad will go. +t can be a .acebook page, a website or anywhere. The default is your .an !age. ;eep this as it is for now. +n the Type button, you decide whether you want your ad to be a Sponsored Story or a .acebook 'd. Sponsored Stories will gi#e you wider distribution for the Iews .eed stories published about you !age, !lace or app, You can include either a story about your .acebook !age posts or about the #iewer,s friends. .acebook 'ds can promote a .acebook !age, "#ent, 'pp or other destinations on .acebook, or your own website. You can create a custom message and :all To 'ction 6:T'9. %ele#ant actions from the #iewer,s friends will be shown automatically. This helps build word8of8mouth awareness. .or now, we want to lea#e this as a .acebook 'ds so we can promote our .an !age #ia ads. +f you select .acebook 'ds, you can choose either to promote a particular page post with your ad, or you can promote the page itself. +n this case, we want to promote our .an !age. +n the 7estination Tab, you decide where on the page #isitors will land when they click your ad: (n the wall, on the info page, on the photos page, etc. The Title option lets you select a title for your ad. This will automatically be the name of your .an !age. +f you are writing a different
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title, .acebook limits you to 3H characters, which is not many. The Body section is the most important. This is where you write the content of your ad. +t should be brief, snappy and to the point, but also clear as to what benefits your .an !age has to offer and a clear :all to 'ction as to what you want #isitors to do, in this case #isit your .an !age. You can gi#e special offers, e$plain ser#ices, qualities of your product or whate#er you want. Eust make sure your :T' is clear. -hen writing you,re ad, include keywords rele#ant to your niche so that readers immediately understand the adt. 7on,t make your ad a sales pitch, simply pro#ide information about your .an !age in a simple, 1argon8 free, keyword8saturated, clear manner. "mphasi0e immediacy by including words like, )now* and )today*. You will ha#e to be as brief as possible because .acebook limits you to =>H characters or less. The +mage tab lets you upload a photo to use with your ad. /ake sure it is rele#ant to what you are selling and upbeat and positi#e. The image is small, only ==4$54, so don,t try to cram too much into it. The image should be like a one8image synopsis of what you are promoting. 'ds that contain images of people are more effecti#e than those without. 7on,t use slick, professionally produced photos because this will turn #iewers off. Try to use real people, not models in your ad pictures. The !re#iew bo$ allows you to see what your ad will look like when it is displayed. 's you fill in the bo$es, the ad changes.
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-hen you click on the ):ontinue* button, a new drop down menu appears. This is called )Targeting* and is how you determine where our ad will go. Targeting is the most effecti#e way to reach e$actly those people you want to reach. .acebook ads are e$tremely fle$ible, and the site makes it #ery simple to target different subsets as part of your ad campaign. You can go after a huge number of people or only a select group of people, depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

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The first thing you select is ocation. .or local businesses, you will want to target a #ery specific locale. .or larger companies, you may want to make your ad appear nationally or e#en globally. You can choose by country, state, city or 0ip code.+n the second tab, you determine the 7emographics you want to target. This includes age group and se$. -hat you choose depends on the type of niche you are promoting. The third tab is +nterests. This allows you to dial down e#en further into your niche sub1ect. The fourth tab 6not shown abo#e9 is :onnections on .acebook. This gi#es you the option of targeting people who are fans, who are not
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fans, or both. You can also target friends of fans. 'd#anced 7emographics allows you to target men, women or bothP married, single, engagedP interested in men or women. "ducation and -ork is the ne$t final tab. (nce you ha#e set your ad,s targets, when you click on the ):ontinue* button, you will be taken to a screen where you can decide how much you are willing to spend on your ads.

(b#iously, the more money you spend, the broader your ad#ertising campaign can be. But you probably ha#e a limited marketing budget. That means you can only afford to target those people who are most likely to buy your product.

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The first bo$ asks you what kind of 'ccount :urrency you are using: 2S dollar, :anadian dollar, /e$ican peso, "uro, etc. The second bo$ ask for your :ampaign Iame. This can be anything. Eust make sure it is related to what you are selling. The ne$t bo$ asks what is your Budget. This is the amount of money you plan to spend per day on your ad campaign or the lifetime budget of the campaign. "nter any amount you want, there is no minimum or ma$imum. +f you choose per day, once this amount hits the limit, .acebook will stop running the ads of the day. Ie$t you will determine your Schedule. The only option you are gi#en is to run this ad e#ery day starting today. The final thing you will be asked to select is your !ricing method. You will be gi#en two options for ad pricing: Pa3 for &licks @&P&A & You pay only when someone clicks on your ad. Pa3 for I pressions @&PMA & You pay e#ery time your ad is displayed on somebody,s .acebook page. (n .acebook, the click8through rate is low. That,s why it makes more sense to select pay for clicks than pay for impressions. +f you select pay for impressions, your ad may get more e$posure, but you probably will run through your daily budget more quickly. "#en though you pay less for :!/, the efficiencies of :!: usually make it the better #alue o#erall. You then are asked what you will bid to either display your ad or per click. .acebook gi#es you a suggested bid as well as a range. The
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minimum bid is F.4=Bad. 2sually, the suggested bid is the most effecti#e and you should try this first. (nce you ha#e finished setting up your budget, you can re#iew the ad to see what it will look like. +f you appro#e, simply push the )!lace (rder* button. .acebook will ask you how you plan to pay for the ads and you enter your credit card or other financial information here. (ne of the best features of .acebook 'ds is its reporting. -hen you use the .acebook ad ser#ice, you will be gi#en access to information about your ads performance. The best way to track this is through your ad,s campaign management page.

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The report will show you the impressions and clicks o#er a period of time, as well as what your budget was and if you changed your bid.

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Twitter Marketing
+f .acebook is like a fan club for your business, then Twitter is like a tailgate party with o#er 344 million guests. +t has an incredible amount of potential for businesses to reach out and find their target market using simple search tools in order to go #iral. Twitter,s greatest appeal is its bre#ity. You only ha#e =<4 characters to work with, so you ha#e no choice but to be direct and to the point. 's a result, users can quickly scroll through hundreds of Tweets in only a few minutes. ike .acebook, most people use Twitter to keep up with friends, family and e#en people they don,t actually know but would like to know, such as their fa#orite mo#ie stars, politicians and sports figures. Because of its immediacy, Twitter is the platform on which news is spread the fastest. -hene#er something important happens in the world, Twitter erupts with acti#ity. 's a result, it also offers one of the best opportunities for going #iral. 0ttracting Twitter Followers 'lthough you are limited to =<4 characters, Twitter lets you post comments, as well as links to other websites, pictures, #ideos slideshows, and other media, making it a fast and efficient way to get your products and ser#ices in front of a lot of people. +t instantly links users to a large number
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of people 88 both who they know and who they don,t know & making it one of the most immediate and tangible forms of communication e#er created. To get twice the #alue from your work, make sure you link your Twitter to your .acebook and #ice8#ersa. Then each time you post on one site, it automatically posts on the other. +t,s easy to doP 1ust follow the instructions on either site. 'lso, remember to promote your Twitter feed in all the same places you promote your .acebook page. To get the most out of Twitter, you want to attract largest possible amount of followers. -hen you are first starting out, search for people you know, including loyal customers, family, friends, acquaintances, co8workers, and current and former school mates. 2se the search function to look for their names then follow them. Then go to their profile and see who they are following and who is following them. You can follow all of these people if you want, but a better way would be to look for people you either know or who are friends of friends and follow them. (r you can follow only those people who ha#e the most followers themsel#es.
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-hene#er you follow somebody, they get a notification that you are following them. (n Twitter, people will almost always follow you back. -hen they do, your list of Twitter followers becomes filled with people who already are de#oted to your product niche. >ashtags and Trending Topics To supercharge Twitter as a marketing tool, you want to build a huge list of people with an interest in your business, niche. To do this, search for tweets about your niche. .or e$ample, if you are in the water skiing industry, simply conduct a search for )Qwaterskiing*. Then go to the profiles of people who ha#e recently tweeted in this niche and look at their list of followers. +f they ha#e a lot of followers, follow those people. +n most cases, they will automatically follow you back. -hen they do, e#ery time you tweet something, they will recei#e it and there is the possibility they will retweet it so that their followers will see it as well.
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Ie$t go through their list of followers and look for those people with the highest number of followers. These are the people you want to follow to build your marketing program because they offer a point of contact to the most people. .inally, Twitter will let you know what topics are trending at any gi#en moment, and it,s a good idea to pay attention to them so that you can see what people are tweeting about right now. +f your niche sub1ect is trending, it is a great time to start getting your message out because more people will see it. 7etweeting Strategies +f you want to build relationships with your followers, don,t constantly try to sell them products. +nstead, send Tweets that are about your niche but are not related to specific products. (ne good way to do this is to use @oogle or Bing to find articles about your niche, then copy and paste interesting facts about your niche sub1ect and send them out as tweets: )Dere are top tips for beginner waterskiers: http:BBsports.yahoo.comBtopBnewsKslugRycn855?<GGH Qwaterskiing* 'nother effecti#e method is to find 1okes and sayings about your niche sub1ect. "#erybody lo#es humor, so 1ust search 1okes about your niche then copy and paste them and send them out as tweets. You can do the same thing with sayings about your niche:

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) SThe tendency of manTs nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards. There are none but ha#e this tendency to good, 1ust as all water flows downwards. Iow by striking water and causing it to leap up, you may make it go., 88 IiTmatullah -al Qwaterskiing* ) S-hat is harder than rock, or softer than water Yet soft water hollows out hard rock. !erse#ere., 88 (#id Qwaterskiing* Tweeting for Success (nce you ha#e a list of followers, you can continue to build your list of Twitter followers quickly by using following these simple techniques: Make it eas3 for people to find 3ou on Twitter & 'lways include a link to your Twitter profile on all your other social media sites, on your blogs, any articles you write, on your web page and anywhere else you can. Follow 3our followers & +t won,t take long for people to start to find your Twitter page and follow you. -hen they do, make sure you follow the back. This helps build a bond between you and it also lets you see what they are Tweeting. 0lwa3s respond to people who send 3ou Tweets & Twitter will notify you anytime your Twitter name & called your )handle* 88 is mentioned anywhere on Twitter, e#en if it was not directed at you. 'lways follow up with the sender.

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Entertain and infor & "ngage your followers one8on8one and find ways

build relationships with them. !eople usually scroll through do0ens of Tweets until they find something they like. -hen you entertain and inform, your followers will look forward to your Tweets, so they will stop to take the time to read them. 7etweet Tweets fro 3our followers & Twitter lets you forward anyone,s

Tweet with the click of a single button. -hen your followers Tweet something rele#ant, retweet it. 'lso, when you find something interesting, share it with your followers. Participate in group discussions & You can look for Tweets about topics that interest you by doing a search using a hash tag. .or e$ample, if your business is fine wines, you can find e#ery Tweet in which that niche was tagged by searching Q-ineTasting. Bse lists to organi9e followers & Twitter makes it easy to arrange your followers according to specific parameters. -hen you organi0e your followers into groups, you can more easily target specific Tweets at specific groups. Sa3 what 3ou think; not =ust what 3ou are doing & .acebook users like to see what their .riends are doing. But people on Twitter usually prefer to know what people are actually thinking. $onCt start a Tweet with D 88 The U symbol is the first character in a Twitter user,s address, so if you send a Tweet to U'rianaDuffington, for
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e$ample, only she will get that Tweet.

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You may ha#e heard about @oogle !lus and how its enhanced features make it the best marketing tool for business, but what you probably ha#en,t heard is that @oogle !lus is quickly becoming the only tool your business needs to create lasting, influential presence online. That,s because @oogle !lus takes the best features of the internet,s most successful sites & including .acebook, Twitter, inked+n and e#en YouTube & and makes them work better, faster and more efficiently. 'nd @oogle !lus gi#es you all of these enhanced features under one roof: Your @oogle !lus brand page. Dere,s how to create your @oogle !lus account for your business:

-( !ogin to Your Google 0ccount You need to be logged in to your personal @oogle account before you can create a @oogle !lus page for your business. 'll @oogle ser#ices share a common login so you can use your @mail or @oogle 'nalytics login if you ha#e one. *( Start the E&reate PageC 4i9ard (nce you are signed in to your @oogle account, you can get started by accessing the Screate page, wi0ard in one of two ways. You can #isit the @oogle !lus business page and click on ):reate a @oogleA !age* link.
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'lternati#ely, if you ha#e personal profile on @oogle !lus, you can click on the S!age, icon on your @oogleA dashboard that is displayed on the left of your @oogleA profile and then choose the Screate page, link from the ne$t screen.

'n easy to use interacti#e wi0ard will now guide you through the steps of creating your page similar to the wi0ard for creating a .acebook business page. +( &hoose 0ppropriate &ategor3 for Your Page +n the first step after you click on S:reate a !age,, you will be asked to choose the most appropriate classification for your page. The following options are a#ailable:

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L L L L L ocal Business or !lace !roduct or Brand :ompany, +nstitution or (rgani0ation 'rts, "ntertainment or Sports (ther

:hoose the right classification for your page. ,( Enter Basic Info For Your Page
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'fter selecting your classification, a form to pro#ide basic information about your page will be displayed on the right. 'dd your information including your page name 6i.e. your company name9, your address, your phone number, and your category 6i.e. your industry9, then accept the terms and click on create page link at the bottom of the page. .( Bpload an i age for 3our %usiness page @oogle !lus is affiliated with the !icasa photo website, so if you ha#e images of your business there you can simply drag and drop it onto the setup page. (r you can choose an image from your computer.

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The image you choose will be used as the icon for your @oogle !lus page whene#er people #iew your site. +t also will be attached to any postings you post, so make sure you use an image that well represents your busines but is not so detailed so that people can,t make it out when it is used as a thumbnail image. )( Build 3our profile @oogle !lus will ask you if you want to share your page with anybody in your :ircles 6more on those in a moment9. +f you are creating a new page from your personal @oogleA page, these notifications will come from you, not your business page. 'fter you click through this screen, you will be taken to your business, @oogle !lus page. You will then be asked to start building your business, profile.

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't this point, you also can link your business, @oogle !lus page to your business, .acebook .an page, its Twitter account, it,s inked+n page, and its foursquare page, among others. (nce you finish your profile, your @oogle plus page is technically read to go and a#ailable to be #iewed by the public. But because you ha#en,t added any contacts yet or ha#en,t posted any content, it,s unlikely that anybody will be able to find you yet. -hat you need to do first is to start building your :ircles &reating Effecti1e &ircles /anaging your contacts is easy with @oogle !lus because it allows you to group them according to :ircles. You can create indi#idual :ircles for friends, family, acquaintances, employees, #endors, or whate#er category you want. Then you can create sub8categories within these :ircles to make it easier to communicate effecti#ely with specific groups,
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such as customers who prefer certain types of products, groups of employees separated according to their a#ailability, or #endors according to their deli#ery days, for e$ample. 's your business grows, your :ircles also will e$pand. So will your ability to manage these groups according to your business, specific needs. :ircles keeps your business working efficiently. >angouts and >uddles Da#e you e#er wanted to own your own tele#ision network, one that broadcasts programming de#oted e$clusi#ely to you and your business. @oogle !lus, Dangouts tool allows you to do e$actly that. Dangouts is a free web8based #ideo chat program that lets you interact with other users in real time using #ideo and audio feeds that are connected directly to your @oogle !lus home page. 'lthough Dangouts currently limits you to =4 chatting with =4 users at a time, this limit is e$pected to be raised e#entually. But you don,t ha#e to wait for @oogle to come out with a new #ersion of Dangouts for you to e$pand the reach of your #ideo networking. link your Dangouts to your YouTube channel and you ha#e an unlimited number of people who can watch your #ideo #ia YouTube li#e. !lus they can participate by submitting te$ts that will appear directly on your Dangout #ideo feed.
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Your Dangouts can be recorded and inde$ed, making them a#ailable for playback on your YouTube channel by anybody at any time. Dangouts lets you pro#ide li#e #ideo one8on8one #ideo customer ser#ice, answering customers questions or showing them the best ways to use your products. (r you can host webinars for your employees, record them and make them a#ailable online as permanent training modules. 'nother possibility is creating a #ideo8based .requently 'sked Juestions library about your company and its products. @oogle !lus, Dangouts also offers a feature called (n 'ir, which allows you to broadcast and record your hangout to your YouTube channel. That means that e#en though each Dangout is limited to ten participants 6including you9, an unlimited number of #iewers can follow along on YouTube. 'nd #iewers ha#e the ability to submit li#e questions and comments #ia te$t. This is like ha#ing the ability to create your own interacti#e tele#ision program right from your desktop. (n 'ir also lets you record presentations, meetings, discussions, forums and other e#ents and then organi0e them any way you want, gi#ing your contacts unlimited access to a library of your Dangouts recordings. (n 'ir also allows you to edit the recordings of your Dangouts to remo#e slower moments, edit out questions, etc. You can e#en impro#e production #alues by adding an introduction or images after the fact, music and links to other #ideos or websites.
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(ther business applications for this feature include: L L L L !roduct showcases and demonstrations i#e customer ser#ice !roduct launches "ducational seminars and industry roundtables

2sing (n 'ir is simple. 'll you need to do is to click the )Start a Dangout* button on the top right of your @oogle !lus page. You will get a prompt asking you to install the free #ideo and audio plug8ins if you don,t already ha#e them. Then you simply send an in#itation to the people you

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want to participate in your Dangout and you are ready to go on the air li#e with #ideo streamed on your @oogle !lus profile.

Then simply integrate your Dangout with your e$isting YouTube channel using the link pro#ided and you are broadcasting to e#erybody who clicks on that channel. The broadcast will also be recorded, so it can be inde$ed and sa#ed for future #iewing. -ith the ability to broadcast, record and store a library of Dangouts using the (n 'ir application, your business can effecti#ely create your own #ideo network de#oted e$clusi#ely to your company, its product and ser#ices. Some brands already are e$ploiting this platform to promote their business.
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Some benefits already created by commercial8based Dangouts include being able to offer e$clusi#e content and behind8the8scenes access, inter#iews and seminars that allow your customers to get more in#ol#ed with your brand, li#e feeds to e#ents and announcement, interacti#e #ideo blogging, and customer ser#ice announcements.

/ost importantly, ha#ing your own #ideo network allows you to build brand loyalty with your customers. +nstead of paying to place ad#ertisements in front of potential customers, you can in#ite your

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customers to participate in a platform that is one giant commercial for your business. +f you e#er wonder about the popularity of te$t messaging, 1ust walk down any busy city street. +nternet users ha#e embraced te$t messaging as the fa#ored way of communicating with other users, e#en more so than face8to8face con#ersations or telephone calls. Traditional te$ting lets you to send a single message to another person. But a free @oogle !lus ser#ice called Duddle allows you to send a message to an entire group of people. Then e#erybody you sent your te$t to engage can maintain a con#ersation with e#ery other member of the group simultaneously. 'nd it,s all based on your @oogle !lus homepage or smartphone app. .or e$ample, trying to get a group of friends to decide on which restaurant to meet at can be an ordeal, but with Duddle you can instantly create a con#ersation in which e#eryone can participate. !lus you can share photos, #ideos, links to restaurant re#iews, online menus, @!S
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directions and much more right from your portable de#ice with e#erybody in the group. Duddle also has mobile marketing applications for business, such as letting you create an ongoing dialogue about your business and its products with an unlimited number of customers selected from your :ircles. 'nd you can tailor each con#ersation to each specific group to match their specific interests. Google Plus 0nal3tics

'nother free feature, called %ipples, lets you see e$actly who is promoting your posts, where they are promoting them, how many people they ha#e in their :ircles, and what other people are doing with your posts

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once they recei#e them, gi#ing you an actual real8time picture of how your business is being percei#ed on the web. 'rmed with this critical information, you can design your promotions and postings to follow the most profitable and popular paths. Bsing Google E1ents for Ma6i u E6posure

@oogle "#ents is another a free ser#ice on @oogle !lus that lets users get together with friends and colleagues, plan e#ents, and share their e$periences during and after the e#ent. -ith sharp design and the ability to select themes and add photos, #ideo and other rich te$t, "#ents lets users document meetings, parties and other e#ents. You can e#en create group photo albums for commemorating special times, online and offline. "#ents is accessible from your @oogle !lus home page. +t also lets you keep track of upcoming e#ents, %SV! to e#ents right from your @oogle !lus page, link to your @oogle :alendar, and access the "#ent pages of past e#ents. "#ents lets you build e#ents for your business, including seminars, employee meetings, shareholders e#ents, social e#ents, charitable occasions, special sales or whate#er you want. You can send in#itations to all of your contacts or specific :ircles, or to email addresses. "#ents will keep track of their responses to you can know how many people are planning to attend.

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The ser#ice e#en lets you to gi#e your contacts permission to in#ite other people to the e#ent if you wish and you can authori0e your guests to add photos to the "#ent page. !re8made themes can be used to build the "#ent in#itation page, or you can upload your own, such as your corporate logo or a photo related to your business or products. You also can create an "#ent as a Dangout, such as meeting to with groups of customers, #endors or employees online to discuss a particlar topic. (r you can create a public e#ent.

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"#ents allows you to add additional fields to your "#ent, such as a link to a website, a ticket seller, a YouTube #ideo, transit or parking information and other details. Then, before, during and after the e#ent, you can upload photos and #ideos to the "#ent page so you can access these photos from both your albums page and the e#ent page. +f it is a recurring e#ent, such as an annual meeting or party, you can post pictures from pre#ious e#ents in the new "#ent page. (nce more than one photo is added to the page, you can play a li#e slideshow of all the photos. 'nother great feature is that "#ents allows you to share photos and #ideos from the e#ent in real time if you want. Simply go to the "#ent page and turn on the !arty /ode and any photos and #ideos you take there can be instantly shared with e#eryone at the e#ent. :urrently, this feature is only a#ailable on 'ndroid de#ices, but it is e$pected to be made more widely a#ailable soon. You can share the "#ent page, including photo albums and #ideos, with people who weren,t originally in#ited to the e#ent by posting it to your profile and sharing it with any of your :ircles you want. 'nother useful app 88 @oogle !lus, free Streams & lets you keep up with your business, your competitors and other topics of interest to you with the click of a button. You can set up permanent, %SS8type feeds directly on your @oogle !lus home page for any topic you want. @oogle,s gigantic search engine will constantly scour the web for the latest articles, postings
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and links related to your topic and post them on directly on your page in real time. Sparks is another free tool pro#ided by @oogle !lus that lets you instantly recommend interesting content you find to your :ircles. !lus it pro#ides you with a constant stream of content that people within your network recommend. 'nd it all appears directly on your @oogle !lus home page in real time. Paid Google Marketing TechniFues @oogle !lus also lets you connect your @oogle 'd-ords account to your @oogle !lus account. This lets you show how many A=s your ads recei#e. +n addition, people who conduct a search on @oogle and see your adds on the S"%!S will see which ads the people in their :ircles A=ed. This lets your pay8per8click marketing take on the structure of a social media marketing campaign. @oogle also plans to use this as a key metric for your !!: ad#ertising. +n order to link these two accounts, you ha#e to turn this feature on in your @oogle 'd-ords account by enabling Social "$tensions. You can make your @oogle 'd-ords account e#en more effecti#e by linking it to your @oogle !lus page so that social signals of your :ircles can be included in search results. +t is another e$ample of how word of mouth has been transformed in the 3=st :entury into social signals. -e all make buying decisions based on the ad#ice of our family and friends. inking
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'd-ords with your @oogle !lus account 1ust codifies this for the internet age.

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0chie1ing Video Viral Success


Iearly e#ery modern smart phone, digital camera, e#en desktop !:s come with cameras built into them nowadays. /ost shoot high definition #ideo as well, making it easy to produce engaging, high8quality #ideo you can use to promote your business. The 0stonishing Power of Video There are a number of different kinds of #ideos. %esearch #ideos created by your competitors so that you can create something unique and also learn from their mistakes. The most common type of #ideo is to record you or someone else talking about your business. ;eep the #ideo short, less than =4 minutes certainly, better yet less than 3 or >. ;eep your #ideo li#ely and entertaining, and always promise to re#eal more and more information as you go on so your #iewers will keep watching all the way through. The second kind of #ideo is a series of static screen shots, such as a !ower!oint presentation. They can actually be created with !ower!oint, if you already ha#e the program, or you can download a program that will allow you to build one. These kinds of #ideos are going to be more like commercials than testimonials or sales pitches.

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2se a script. The script should be set up so that there is one line for each slide. The lines should be #ery short, usually not more than ten words, which means you will ha#e to be #ery economical with your writing. 'nd ob#iously, the line should be rele#ant to what is displayed on the screen. "ach slide will be on the screen only for about > seconds, no more than H, e$cept for the last slide which will stay onscreen until it fades out. That means for a 3 minute #ideo, you are going to need about 3H to >H lines of te$t. (nce you ha#e created a #ideo using one of these techniques, try creating a second and third using the other two techniques. This will triple your e$posure and gi#e you e$perience with different types of #ideo production. -ith internet marketing relying more hea#ily on #ideos, this e$perience is going to be key to going #iral. YouTu%e and Its Benefits YouTube is the biggest of the #ideo sharing sites in Iorth 'merica, so if you don,t post your #ideos on any other site, you should post it on YouTube. /usic #ideos and TV shows and mo#ies are the most popular YouTube #ideos, but how8to #ideos and #ideos that are unusual are also among the most #iewed. Dow8to #ideos that are part of a series are more popular than those that stand alone, so if you ha#e a =4 minute #ideo e$plaining how to
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change the air filter on your home furnace, for e$ample, you would get more #isitors if you broke it into three >:>> minute #ideos. ' great way to build a following and increase your chances of ha#ing your #ideo go #iral is to record any seminars or webinars you host. Break your webinar #ideo into se#eral files and create an online #ideo series that YouTube users can subscribe to. Dow8to #ideos should pro#ide #aluable information that people can use to perform a specific task. You can feature your products and business if you want, but #ideos that are commerciali0ed tend to be less popular than those that appear to be independent. The second kind of #ideo that is hugely popular on YouTube are those that are unusual andBor funny. Some of the most popular #ideos of all time on the site ha#e featured people or animals doing unusual yet interesting things. 'mong the most popular are those featuring babies and young children doing and saying funny things, people lip8syncing and anything ha#ing to do with cute animals. (n YouTube, weird is re#ered. +f it,s appropriate for your business, come up with a #ideo that is wacky yet fascinating. +f you hit the right tone, it can offer your best hope of going #iral. Se1en 4a3s to &reate Viral Video
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Because #ideos are the format of choice for most internet users, your odds of going #iral are impro#ed if you focus on creating a #iral #ideo. Dere are se#en shortcuts you can use to impro#e your chances of success:
1.

The

ore 1ideos; the %etter & Basically, the more #ideos you

produce, the greater your chances that one of them will go #iral. +t,s sort of like playing lottery. The more tickets you buy, the better your chances of winning.
2.

Make 1ideos that are funn3 & !eople will watch and share #ideos they find entertaining. /aking people laugh is the easiest way to entertain them. Dence, funny #ideos are often the ones that goes #iral most frequently.

3.

Target 3our fan %ase & The internet,s ability to find specific micro8 topics of interest quickly means that there are a lot of fans out there for whate#er you are selling. +f you gi#e them content that feeds their fanaticism, they are going to be more likely to pass it along to their contacts.

4.

Parod3 and satire sell & (ne of the most basic comic tools is to make fun of something that takes itself too seriously. You can connect with audience and entertain them using parody and satire. Eust remember to always keep it tasteful.

5.

5eep the

guessing & Video editing techniques makes it relati#ely

easy to create something that looks real but is not. Some of the most popular #iral #ideos are those that make the #iewer wonder if what
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they are watching is genuine.
6.

People lo1e gi

icks & Techniques such as egos, action figures,

time lapse, stop motion and miniatures make some of the most interesting and most popular #iral #ideos. By packaging your message in some sort of gimmick, you can broad its appeal.
7.

Me eCs the word & /emes are quirky internet cra0es that spread like wildfire o#er the web. By being aware of what,s hot & Doney Badger and /c;ayla +s Iot +mpressed are two recent e$amples & and incorporating it into what you are trying to promote, you can catch ride on a rocket of popularity.

Video Marketing Methods That 4ork The whole point of creating #ideos and posting them on popular #ideo sharing sites is to create additional backlinks to your website, so don,t forget to post a link to your site underneath your #ideo. You would be surprised how many people forget this stepM Videos promoting your products are one of the best ways to impro#e your site ranking on @oogle and other search engines, and the search engine algorithms will continue to gi#e more weight to #ideo in the coming years. +t,s a good idea to embrace it now because it will be an important part of all future marketing programs.

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Secondar3 Viral Marketing Platfor s


-hile YouTube, .acebook and Twitter are the most important sites to focus on for #iral marketing, they are not the only sites. Because the popularity of sites wa$es and wanes faster than the phases of the moon, what is hot today may not be popular in a few weeks, so it is important to pay attention to online popularity trends. 'lthough it may seem unlikely right now, any of these sites may e#entually take center stage.

The Popularit3 of Pinterest The internet is a fickle place and the fortunes of websites rise and fall. .or e$ample, /ySpace 1ust a few years ago was the most popular social

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networking site on the planet. Today it has few #isitors and is owned by Eustin Timberlake. Dowe#er, when you,re hot, you,re hot. 'nd one of the hottest websites right now is !interest. +t,s what is known as a social bookmarking site, or a place where users can create pages where they can post links to articles, web pages and other content that are of interest to them that they would like to share with others. -ith !interest, users can )pin* links that interest them so that #isitors can gain instant access to recommendations and referrals. 2sers can use preprogrammed page templates or design their own pages so that they can look any way they want. !interest is an easy way to promote your web pages and products because it can be linked to your blog page, Twitter account, .acebook page, inked+n page or 1ust about any other site. +ts popularity and influence continue to grow, making it a site that is key to your efforts to go #iral. Benefits and $raw%acks of !inkedIn inked+n is a social network that allows you to keep track and organi0e professional connections. Since 344>, inked+n has been helping business professionals keep track of current and former co8workers, find 1obs, learn more about potential employers, arrange for professional references, and fill 1ob #acancies.
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.or the internet marketer, inked+n is a great way to network with people and to make contact with other professionals. +t,s not as good a place to promote products as Twitter and .acebook, but it can be useful in de#eloping long8term business relationships with others who can help promote your products and ser#ices. Social &o ent# Yelp; foursFuare; and Other Sites

-ith more than H< million unique #isitors per month, Yelp is one ofhe most popular social re#iew sites on the web. 2sers can post re#iews about anything, from restaurants to dog parks to shopping malls. They also can search for certain kinds of businesses with defined geographic area. +f you want to find dog walkers in Delena, /ontana, for e$ample, Yelp can offer

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you your options, along with customer re#iews, maps, photos, hours of operation and other information. Yelp allows businesses to post ad#ertisements and to be designated as )featured businesses*. But because of the growing popularity of the site and others like it, most businesses spend more time playing defense than offense: Bad re#iews on the site can be damaging to your business. .oursquare is a social networking site for mobile de#ices, such a smart phones. /embers )check in* at #arious places they #isit and are also linked to other users, and each can see the others check ins. "ach check8 in awards the user points and sometimes )badges*. The foursquare user with the most check8ins at any particular place is named the )mayor* of that location. The app also allows users to lea#e comments, make recommendations and to send instant messages to other users. .oursquare is a fun, young smart phone app with a competiti#e edge as members compete to collect the most badges and be named mayor of the most places.
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.oursquare also lets companies to pro#ide discounts and freebies to members that check8in at their location. These can be an effecti#e marketing strategy for persuading new customers and regular customers to #isit your business. Businesses also can create pages of tips and allow users to )follow* the company and recei#e e$clusi#e tips and e#en special badges when they check in at enough locations. Some restaurants and bars ha#e e#en begun posting the foursquare logo on their front window to encourage members to check in there. 7igg is one of the most popular of the )social news* sites that ha#e de#eloped in recent years. 2sers are able to post articles and links about things that of are interest to them. (ther users can then like or dislike the articles. Those that are the most popular are pushed to the top of the 7igg feed and those that are not fall to the bottom. 7igg is sort of like a combination of @oogle and Yelp, where users take o#er the role played by the search engine algorithm. +t can be an effecti#e way to help you go #iral by promoting your articles, blogs and websites and potentially increase traffic to your site by creating additional backlinks.
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.lickr and +nstagram are two of the most popular of the photo sharing sites. Both allow users to upload photos or photo albums to the home pages, where they can be #iewed by family and friends, or e#en the public. /any businesses are using these sites to promote their products and ser#ices. They can be an effecti#e way to pro#ide access to your company,s catalogue or build your reputation online. -ikipedia is an online encyclopedia that is edited by its users. +t has quickly become the go8to site for information for e#eryone on the web because pro#ides e$tensi#e basic information on e#ery topic imaginable. The downside is that because the content can be pro#ided and edited by e#erybody, some of the #eracity of its entries is questionable. Still, there are business applications for -ikipedia that include creating an entry for your business that describes its products and ser#ices, its history and location, and its moti#ating mission statement. !hotos can also be uploaded onto -ikipedia pages. +t could be a good way to help people find your business. Skype pro#ides #ideo telephone and conferencing ser#ices for its H3= million users. +t,s free to download and Skype8to8Skype calls also are free. +t is a great way to conduct business meetings and conferences without e#erybody ha#ing to tra#el to a single location, and its #ideo ability make it easy to gi#e presentations. You can e#en load !ower !oint presentations onto it and include a #oiceo#er.
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Skype is quickly gaining in popularity as more and more businesses become aware of its benefits. +t will certainly ha#e a deep impact on business tra#el in the coming years, perhaps e#en on telecommuting. 's a traffic generating tool, it is important for your customers to know that you ha#e Skype access because it will make many of them more willing to contact you directly. This can gi#e you an opportunity sell them additional products and impro#e your relationships without ha#ing to physically tra#el to their location. +n this guide, we ha#e described the many tools a#ailable to you on the internet offer a wide #ariety of opportunities to go #iral. By creating original, helpful and entertaining content and promoting it across a wide #ariety of platforms, you can build e$citement and enthusiasm among your most loyal followers so that they can begin the process of ha#ing your content go #iral. Iow, the rest is up to you to utili0e these tools to their fullest potential and to get your content to go #iral. 'll the bestM

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