Viral marketing strategies for your business

Viral marketing refers to any strategy that encourages people to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for growth in the message's exposure and influence. There are examples of viral marketing all over the web. If you have a Hotmail e-mail account, you unwittingly infect the recipient with the footer message included in each e-mail. Hallmark.com offers free e-cards for you to send to a friend, who will have to watch a short advertisement for Hallmark before reading your message.

One of the most popular viral marketing campaigns last summer was the Wedding Crashers movie website, which included a feature called "Crash the Trailer." You could upload a photo of yourself and a friend and watch the trailer of the movie with your pictures replacing the photos of the characters in the movie.

You don't have to invest a lot of money into creating your own viral marketing campaigns; you simply need to offer something unique and valuable to your clients that will prompt them to tell their friends and family about it. Here are a few viral marketing ideas you can implement into your business:

E-mail your clients a link to your Home Price Index. And, of course, encourage them to forward your e-mail to a friend! The Home Price Index uses information from Freddie Mac's CMHPI (Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index) to estimate the value of a home based on its original purchase price. Homeowners can also opt-in to receive quarterly updates, which your XSite (through XSellerate) sends to them automatically. Not only is it a great lead capture tool, it's another way to keep your XSite in front of your customers (and your customers' friends)! Activate this feature by going to the Lead Capture section of your XSite and checking the box at the bottom of the "Home Price Index" window.

Write your own articles on real estate topics that would be of interest to consumers on your XSite. Then, allow people to reprint them on their website, in their blog, newsletter, magazine, etc. Not only will your articles bring in additional hits, but it will also help build your credibility. Be sure to add a brief bio of yourself to the end of each article and include your guidelines on reprinting your work.

You may also try submitting your articles to a website content provider like ArticleCity.com . Simply submit an article you've written to the site and, if it's accepted, it will be listed in their directory.

Send your clients an e-newsletter with useful information or unique advice. Sending your newsletter via e-mail makes it easy for your clients to forward it to a friend. XSellerate, the automated marketing program, has 10 different newsletter templates to choose from and many include pre-written articles on saving money, home improvement and more – just add your own content and contact information and send it to your contact list.

Include a signature in every e-mail. This may seem simple and, likely, you already include your contact information at the end of your e-mails. But try including a catchy tagline or your company slogan in your signature and add a separator like a dotted or squiggly line between the email message and your signature. It helps set it off from the text and if your e-mail is forwarded, it will stand out.