Viral marketing has been around forever. Consider one type of viral marketing – marketing through word of mouth. By our nature, when we love (or really dislike) a product, we tend to tell others.  That’s viral marketing. It spreads like a virus.

Viral marketing continues to be one of the top ways to market any business whether it is online or in person. Creating viral reports is one way of kicking word of mouth marketing up a notch to the next level online. There are few marketing techniques that work as well as this one even in the age of Web 2.0 marketing.

Let’s start by defining the term “viral reports”. Essentially, these are pdf reports  created by you that people in your target market pass along to others.

Why would others pass along your report? Your viral report will generally include something that is interesting, may spark a debate, or is entertaining in some way. It can also be a source of income for the person sharing the report as you’ll see in just a minute. The report is usually free, and generally acts as a lead in to your paid products or other services.

Now you can harness the power of viral reports with these 4 quick and easy tips.

Research Your Market to Spark Ideas

One of the hardest parts about launching a viral report is deciding on a subject. It’s not an uncommon occurrence to be met with writer’s block that you believe you’ll never overcome. The good news is that if you do your research and decide what your target market is looking for, that you will discover what they want, and guide you to give it to them – thus keeping writer’s block to a bare minimum.

Visit online forums, blogs, websites, and social websites to get an idea for what is currently popular and what is interesting to people in your market right now. Is there a hot topic? What are the questions asked in the most-viewed threads on the forums?

Remember, if you want your viral report to take off, you need to make sure you’re writing about something people are highly interested in.

Make it Easy to Pass Along

The main point of viral marketing is that people will pass your report to others and they in turn will do the same. You’ll want to make it extremely easy for them to do so. One way would be to make the report readily available at your website and allow visitors the option to download it without even having to opt in to your mailing list. Though you may be hesitant about trying this, you must remember the more roadblocks you put up, the less chance people will have of obtaining the report and subsequently passing it on to others.

A great tip is to make sure you include a statement in the book that clearly explains that people can pass the information along to whomever they choose.

Simply state the following inside the report:

“If you loved this report feel free to send it to a friend!”

“Please pass on this valuable information to your friends and family!”

“Don’t be stingy. Share this report with a friend!”

Sometimes, people need to be told exactly what they can and cannot do. If you make it clear that they can and should pass along your viral report, they will be more apt to do just that.

Avoid Fluff

Your viral report is just that, a report. It should not include long, flowery language in an attempt to extend its length. Keep your writing precise and to the point.

Remember, your main goal is to get your report passed on to others again and again, so share valuable information in an easy-to-read language. Readers will not recommend a report that was boring, or was a waste of their time.

Make sure you clearly lay out to the reader what they can expect or what benefit they will take away after reading it. If you can accomplish these goals, your report will be passed on over and over.

Money Talks

If you include product recommendations inside the viral reports, it’s a good idea to allow people to brand your report with their own affiliate links.

Which grabs your attention more?

Share this report, because it’s good.

Or

Share this report and earn money!

There are several software programs that make it easy for people to customize your reports with their affiliate links. One very popular program is ViralPDF.com Since it’s possible your readers can earn money from customizing the report they will be much more motivated to share the reports with others.

One marketer who really understands the value of creating viral brandable reports is Jimmy D. Brown. You can find several of his brandable reports at www.brandablestuff.com/tools

Creating viral reports is really a lot of fun and can make for an effective marketing campaign. Remember to make your report both interesting and informative so people enjoy it and pass it along. Avoid filling it with fluff so that readers feel the report has value. And, make the report brandable so everyone who receives a copy of the report can instantly understand the benefit of passing it along to others.

Social sites like Twitter, Facebook, and StumbleUpon have become hot and are getting hotter all the time. Both online and offline businesses are jumping into social marketing – and for a good reason. It works. To push past your competition, you’ll want to continually build relationships and stay ever-present in the marketplace. Social media can help you to accomplish this. And, it’s fun.

Thankfully, there are simple and effective ways to use these social Web 2.0 sites. I’ll share some of those tips with you now.

Twitter Is Golden

Many people are using twitter as a way to connect with colleagues, family, friends, and customers. If you haven’t tried Twitter, now may be the time to set up an account and see what it’s all about. Twitter is a “micro blogging” platform where you can write (in 140 characters or less) anything you’d like. You can update people about your day, share resources, send a link to your websites, etc. – anything that you feel your followers will find useful or interesting.

When you’re a member of twitter you “follow” people and they will “follow” you.

This just means that when you log in to your twitter account you will see the messages posted by those who you’re following. Likewise, the people who have decided to follow you will see your messages.

Ex. Sally follows Paul. So, when Sally logs into her Twitter account, she can see Paul’s updates on her screen along with all of the other people she’s following.

Assuming you’re using Twitter for marketing and making money, the people you follow and those who follow you should be highly targeted. They log in because they are interested in what you and others have to say. Since there are only 140 characters allowed per “tweet” (twitter post), you’ll want to encourage your followers to follow your link for more information on what you are referring to.

If you use this social media site in the correct way you’ll gain loyal followers which leads to targeted traffic and then some very targeted customers. Some have even found Twitter traffic to be more targeted than PPC and article marketing, both which have been deemed proven methods of internet marketing.

Facebook for Friends

Facebook is a social media site that actually started out as a way for college friends to keep in contact. Soon enough high school students signed on, now it is being used for business as well. It seems that everyone you run into today has a Facebook page. As of this writing, Facebook has over 200,000,000 active users. That’s a whole lot of potential traffic.

Just like you have followers on Twitter, you have friends on Facebook and that’s where the power of Facebook lies.

You can update your status, link to your website, and leave comments on your friends’ Facebook pages. Again, this creates a great community feeling and also very targeted traffic since people will get to know you and become interested in your opinions and suggestions before clicking through a link to your website.

Digg Your Way to the Top

Digg is a very interesting way to receive traffic, and it is currently adored by Google. The basic idea is that when you enjoy or really “dig” an article, you “Digg” it. If other people are interested they will Digg it as well (by clicking the “Digg” button that appears). The more Diggs a web page gets, the higher the rankings and exposure tends to be.

You can Digg your own articles and pages on your site as long as you are careful. Digg has banned users for spamming or being too self promotional. However, if you use the true social aspect of it by making friends, digging their articles, and digging great articles you find online you can easily drive targeted traffic to your own submissions as well.

Linked In for Business.

Linked In may be classified as an “unusual” social media site as compared to Twitter, Facebook or Digg. While those sites tend to promote finding old friends and making new ones while networking socially, Linked In is geared to the world of business networking. Using it will help you network within your chosen niche for suggestions, support and help. It will also allow you to search other niches and help you find targeted prospects as well.

Linked In is similar to Facebook in the fact that you will be given a Linked In “page” where you can post information about your business and the reason you are there. You can add business websites, blog addresses and anything else related to your business. As of this writing over 40 million professionals regularly use Linked In. Just think of how many people you may be able to reach out to in regards to your business, Linked In is definitely a great social site for all business owners become a member of.

Social sites put an exciting spin on website promotion and marketing. Not only are you getting fantastic exposure to your online business, but it’s great to feel as if you are a part of a community, and it’s a whole lot of fun.

Although online business owners are being dazzled by social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, the old-style method of participating in highly-targeted forums or message boards is still one of the most effective traffic-generation methods used today. Your link can be prominently displayed in front of the exact audience you’re attempting to lure. Don’t overlook this strategy. You may be surprised with the results it still brings in.

These suggestions will ensure that you are using forums effectively and to the best advantage.

Choose wisely

Forums are extremely popular on the internet. You can more than likely find a forum related to just about any subject you can think of from fantasy baseball to purses. Because of the abundance of forums, you should be very picky when choosing which ones you’ll frequent and post on. This will save you time and allow you to achieve optimum results.

Basically you want to decide on a forum that relates either directly or indirectly to your niche, but there must be a connection. Otherwise, your posts will be just a time waster. In fact, the more you can “niche down” your topic, the most effective your marketing will be.

For instance, if you’re selling NASCAR memorabilia, then targeting a general sports forum may generate some results, targeting a fantasy football forum will probably get very little results, but finding a NASCAR forum will get the best results.

Read the Rules

Your next step after deciding on a forum to join would be to read the rules of the forum. There are forums that may not allow you to include a signature file (where you would put a link to your website) at all. Others have rules that dictate how many posts you need to have before you can add a signature file. Some allow zero marketing – so you’d skip those.

Once you read the rules, remember to always adhere to them no matter what. If you violate these rules in any way you may be pegged as a nuisance and kicked out of the forum, while possibly ruining your reputation and wasting your time.

As long as you’re a valued contributing member of the forum offering great advice and content, more often than not you will be able to include a link to your site in your posts.

Create a Compelling Signature File

After choosing a forum or two and familiarizing yourself with their rules, it is time to decide what you want your forum signature file to express about you. Since you want people to click through to your website, you need to make sure that your signature line is targeted and entices people to learn more about you.

This is a wise opportunity to utilize your copywriting skills. Make sure those one or two  sentences gets prospects attention and curiosity as well as alerts prospects that you may be able to solve a pending problem of theirs as well.

It is wise to test your signature file and tweak it to see which advertisement gets the best results. Keeping it fresh also gives the added benefit of attracting the eye to those who’ve gotten used to your old ads.

Build Trust

People may be a bit suspicious of new members when they first join a forum. There is a dynamic in any forum, and believe it or not, often cliques are formed. If you want to have hope of getting people to click on your signature file and eventually buy from you, you’ll need to earn their trust first.

There are many different ways to accomplish this, and you can get an idea for which way is best by looking at the profiles and posts of the most prolific and respected members.

Examples of how you may build trust with forum members include…

• Having a profile picture.
• Using a real name (or a real sounding pen name) as your username.
• Filling out general info in your profile like location or birthdate.
• Including some personal information in your profile bio, to make you seem like a real person that they can relate to.

People generally want to know something about who they are speaking to or considering doing business with.

Forums can be a source of highly-targeted web traffic when used smartly and correctly. Choosing a related forum, following the rules, creating a great signature file, and proving that you can be trusted are all excellent ways to ensure that you’ll get traffic to your website and benefit from increased “expert” status while networking in online communities.