The concept of viral marketing is not new. And to this day, we use it almost constantly in our daily dealings with others. We may not think of using that particular term, nor did the caveman. My point: viral marketing is not a new concept.

Basically, we use viral marketing to share the bargains or freebies we find and enjoy using with friends, family, customers,and coworkers. If we find a product, a business or restaurant we like, we tell people about it, if for no other reason than to make ourselves look good. Everybody knows somebody, and just like rumors, this kind of information spreads fast.

As web marketers, you can use viral tactics to market your newsletter, your Internet site, your products, and services, practically anything you promote. And when someone clicks through the "submit" button on the squeeze page, you build your list and significantly step-up the possibility to make a profit. The beauty of this technique is that, used effectively, the advertising is available for both the seller and for the use of your potential customer.

Even if you're only getting one fresh subscriber or one sale a day, you can generate lots of traffic just by viral marketing alone!

In the beginning, tell-a-friend was the one way that viral marketing started. But nowadays viral marketing has gone from a marketing plan to an art form. Here you will find five ways to create a successful viral marketing campaign.

Tell-A-Friend: This viral technique, also sometimes titled word-of-mouth advertising, is easy: You tell a friend about an ebook or a video course that you found on the web, your friend tells 2 of his friends, and they each tell two of their friends, and so on. It's a geometric progression that eventually could supply hundreds or thousands of subscribers to your list. Also available in the marketplace are tell-a-friend software packages and scripts that will achieve this same goal electronically.

Tell-a-friend marketing works because it is heard from a friend who liked it and not from some paid pitchman who will sell anything for a buck. If your clients are happy with your product or service, then make a way for them to share that joy with their acquaintances. Help your clients to tell each other and your product will sell itself.

Email: Using e-mail is a fast and very easy means to pass information on to a friend or colleague, especially if it involves something fun or free. Once you make an offer via email and make it easy for your customers to send the same email on to their acquaintances and clients, this viral technique spreads your marketing message like a virus -- the good kind, of course.

Just remember, putting a message at the end of your email that says, "Feel free to forward this message to a friend" is certainly not viral marketing at its finest. No -- you must offer something worthy of being shared... a valuable discount, vital and timely info, a bit of humor, or a no cost ebook.

Ebooks: People love free ebooks. Whether you give away an ebook you've created yourself, downloaded from the internet, or rewritten from private label rights material, be sure that it includes your marketing message and a link to your webpage. Once a customer uses the info for his own benefit, he will tell his acquaintances and possibly even pass the ebook on to them. This method uses the multiplication effect to explode the distribution of your message to many others by willing participants.

Articles: Articles can have a dual effect in your viral marketing program. When you write original articles that pertain to your product or service, you build credibility with your readers and after you've published several of them, your readers will come to feel that they know and trust you. Just make sure you add your resource box at the end of the website article, along with a link to your internet site or your opt-in page. Allow readers the right to reprint your articles with your resource box intact on their internet site, in their E-zine, newsletter, magazine, or blog.

If done correctly, high quality articles can be passed on and on, from one reprint to the next, each time creating another online link back to your website with no further effort from you.

Blogging: You can use your own blog to promote your products and services to the internet community. You can also request a blogger with lots of traffic if you can contribute an website article or post to his blog. Make sure you create an great blog post that will get people's attention, and be sure to include a resource box or link that traces back to your own site.

We hope you've found our article about online marketing very educational and helpful. There are a number of sites and articles that can tell you more about Internet marketing.