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Introduction

The concept of viral marketing is simple…

Implement an entity that is so compelling, so interesting, so valuable, that anyone who comes in contact with it immediately has the desire to share it with someone(or everyone) they know.

In other words, it’s viral.

But only in the sense that once that entity is out there, it takes on a life of it’s own, spreading and multiplying like some powerful yet non-threatening virus.

As Martha Stewart says, it’s a good thing.

There are numerous and creative methods that can be implemented for viral marketing. But in order to be effective, any method chosen needs to contain these same three primary ingredients (in one form or another)…

1. content or characteristic that is valuable, useful, entertaining, etc.

2. information about you, your business, and/or your products

3. encouragement and/or means to pass the viral entity along to others

Here are several examples of viral marketing methods…

•Hand out a free ebook thatthe viewer can download from your website.

•Hand out a free ebook that the viewer can brand with their own information before they themselves distribute it.

•Write and distribute your own articles with topics that are directly related to your website and/or products.

•Syndicate your blog or newsletter content through RSS.

•Place a funny or instructional video on your website.

•Offer interactive games or puzzles on your website.

•Offer email services.

•Offer a greeting card service.

There’s really no limitto the methods in which viral marketing can be implemented. The only criteria is that viewers have the ability to either tell other people about it or to personally pass it along to someone else.

Beyond that, the “virus” can pretty much spread itself. Which is exactly what you want to happen.

The true benefit of any viral marketing technique is the fact that you only need to set it in motion once. From that point on, it becomes a word-of-mouth type process that spreads and multiplies on its own.
Naturally, you can also continue to independently push, promote, and advertise any viral method on an ongoing basis…

Like taking the time to list your free ebook in as many download locations and directories as possible.

Or visiting discussion boards and letting the readers know about some ebook, funny video, or free greeting card service you have available (without breaking any of the board rules).

Or implementing and improving keyword search engine optimization for pages that are associated with your viral marketing methods (just like you would any of your other website pages).

Viral marketing methods -if used properly -can be responsible for the majority of targeted traffic and overall promotion you receive. And of course, the more traffic you receive, themore income you’ll ultimately generate.

Viral Marketing Techniques

Adhering to the following guidelines will help you achieve the most benefit from viral marketing.

First and foremost, you need to provide something that’s both original and interesting. If you want the best viral results, you can’t distribute ebooks that have little or no value in terms of content.

Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it can be inferior. Instead, you should view ebooks (or any other viral entity) in the same light as you would a product that you intend to sell. As something worth putting a price on.

If it’s not good enough to put a price on, it’s not good enough to use as a viral marketing tool. After all, no one is going to recommend something that has little or no value, much less pass it around to their friends and associates.

No matter what you come up with -ebook, report, funny video, greeting card service -make certain it’s something people will want to talk about and share with everyone they know. Otherwise, there won’t be any viral benefit to enjoy.

Another important factor involves thinking outside the viral box…

The most common method for distributing content is to use free ebooks. But what about audio and video presentations? These two formats in particular have recently gained a great deal of popularity. Take advantage of that fact and you could see a tremendous boost in your viral marketing results.

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Introduction

Live video is quickly becoming one of the most powerful methods of reaching people. Think about some of the major product releases you (or people you know) have been excited about in recent years. Maybe it was the newest iPhone or Macbook. Maybe it was a really cool I.M.

product that was hyped up.

Chances are, live video had a part in all the product’s hype. Apple does live streaming events on a regular basis. Why? Because they work! They make product announcements cool and fun, and people feel like they’re learning something before anyone else, because not everyone is able to watch the live event.

People can make comments and ask questions. Sometimes you’ll even learn more than your listeners!

In fact, many people are using live video in place of webinars, which is actually beneficial for many reasons, such as:

Live Video Marketing

Webinars usually limit the number of viewers to a relatively small number, while many live video platforms don’t have limits or have much larger viewer limits.

Many live video methods can promote your live stream for you, even to people who don’t follow you, something webinar platforms can’t do.

Most live video platforms are free, while webinar platforms usually charge you a one-time or monthly fee.

People are often more comfortable using Facebook or YouTube, whereas they may not want to download software or learn how to use a new website in order to attend a webinar.

There are many benefits to using live video over webinars!

In this guide, you’re going to learn some of the best ways to use live video to promote your own products and generate the kind of interest companies like Apple do!

So let’s begin.

Why Use Live Video?

In the introduction, we talked about how live video can be huge in generating buzz for a product launch, but that’s not the only use for it. There are several other ways live video can be beneficial to your business.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can use live video to bolster your business.

Generating Buzz

Obviously, live video is great for generating buzz. Apple reportedly had more than 20 million people tune in to watch their keynote address in the summer of 2014. 20 million! That’s absolutely astonishing, and you can imagine how much buzz it generated.

But you don’t have to be as big as Apple to make use of live video for generating buzz for product. Even if you don’t have a big list yourself, you can always promote your live event through partnerships and other methods. We’ll talk more about how to promote your live event in a later chapter.

Conducting Surveys & Research

Another great way to use live video is to conduct research. There’s no better way to get feedback than to ask people during a live broadcast, because people are more open to asking questions and giving their opinions during live broadcasts. This is probably because they see others doing so, which gives them the confidence to speak up themselves.

If you’ve tried doing surveys and didn’t get much in the way of results, this can be a great way to encourage people to give feedback.

Teaching Something

Teaching is another great way to use live video, because you can show people how to do something live, and then answer questions right away instead of fielding questions for days or weeks afterwards like you might if you just posted a video online.

That way, if you haven’t been clear enough about a particular step in the process, or you inadvertently left something out, people can let you know right away and you make changes.

Keeping Interest

Keeping interest is another great use for live video. If you have a list or a fan base on social media or some other platform, live events and streams can keep people interested in what you’re doing, what you have to offer, and who you are.

In this day and age, when thousands (even millions) of people are competing for the same eyeballs in certain genres, it pays to keep your audience interested. You want to keep all eyes focused on you as much as possible. People only have so much time to watch content online. Live streams are one way to ensure more people watch yours instead of someone else’s.

Replacing Webinars

Live Video Marketing

You can use live video to replace any kind of webinar you might think of, and you won’t be charged a fee for the privilege. Webinars can be quite costly, and they have viewership limits, but using a platform like YouTube or Facebook is free and they usually have no limits on viewers or have much larger limits than webinars.

Additionally, most people are already comfortable using Facebook or YouTube, but may be reluctant to download special software or learn how to use a new platform just to attend your webinar.

Live video makes a great replacement for webinars, and once you start doing live events, you may never hold another traditional webinar!

Live Video Platforms

There are many different platforms you can use to go live online. We’re going to concentrate on a handful of the most popular ones, because those have the most viewership and are generally the easiest to use. It really doesn’t matter which platform you use unless you already have a good sized following on one of them. In that case, it’s probably best to stick to the one that has the largest following.