Creating a Virus

I called my Mom yesterday. She could barely talk. The affect of a common virus, the "cold". And yet research tells us that you can never catch the same cold virus twice.

I don't believe that either.

But the way virii spread is by exposure. In other words, if the virus remains in the petrie dish, or say on someone's hard drive, it will be ineffective. And that's the way it is with anything you do in our field - you gain knowledge, yet you never use it - that's probably why things aren't working out for you.

For websites, a most interesting virus is something of great value. For instance, many people visit www.quote.com to get stock quotes. And they tell their friends. And pretty soon it catches on. Fun sites give us entertainment value. You get the idea.

This weekend www.BaristaGuru.com launched some pretty fun web videos that show you how to make a great espresso, or a great coffee. And I like how it's so easy to do this... viral marketing. All they did was video the making of an espresso, along with comments on why you need to use filtered water, fresh beans, fine grind - the whole nine yards - and then uploaded the video to Google Video.

Next, they placed the videos on their website with a simple cut and paste of the script Google Video gives you. Pretty easy. And plus they're in Google Video's directory. Can't get much better than that.



Do you have an interesting marketing tip you could share? If I deem it worthwhile, we'll share it with the list and you'll be rewarded with the extra traffic. Let me hear from you.

Keep working hard and your goals and remember, get out of the petrie dish!