Internet Marketing Tycoon

**dant** · 06-02-2005, 06:59 AM

It seems that word of mouth advertising is the best way (if possible) to gain free interest in a site. I am thinking of greenzap.com here - months before opening it seems everybody frequenting a forum on the internet knew about the site. The fact it was exposed as a scam is a side issue however

So lets say for the point of argument I had a website that was of interest to a wide group of people & could benefit them how would I go about gaining exposure through word of mouth or even the media. I see sites in the paper all of the time that are interesting/revolutionary - how do they get there! Some sites seem to take off over night and I am just interested how they do this.

I could perform some sort of protest to get on television and promote a website that way - lawsuits are always good as well...

Any ideas?

**shashank_hi** · 06-04-2005, 11:38 AM

Hey, I'd also like to know something about the overnight popularity business. My uniques just don't seem to go beyond 20 daily, whatever I might try. Maybe, as you mentioned, word of mouth is the best, but till now nobody has opened their mouth about my site, i guess.

**brokensoul2271** · 06-04-2005, 11:57 AM

you need to make the site exlusive just as GreenZap and Gmail did. It makes people feel special.

Quote:

I see sites in the paper all of the time that are interesting/revolutionary - how do they get there!

Do you mean actual articles about sites? Cant say Ive ever seen one buut i'm sure it would be easy to get an interestin/revoloutionary site in the paper as papers always need something to write about...

Sign up for every half decent forum under the sun thats related to your sites content leaving a link in your sig and make sure you post like crazy (dont spam though) make it look like your an expert in your field. You'd only need to do this for a few weeks/months to get people coming..

I'm sure theres many ways to get a website big overnight as long as it has something of interest or something other sites dont have which users want ...

I dunno thats just my 2cents anyway ...

**dant** · 06-04-2005, 03:21 PM

I notice your in the UK brokensoul - I've not so much seen full length articles in papers but little snippets in the corner of pages, outlining the site. I have also seen the occasional article - especially interviews etc.

In a way I can see what you are saying about the forum thing, but greenzap spread like wildfire - with everybody posting on forums etc.

I agree with the idea that uniqueness is always important, but what do you mean by exclusivity? Gmail was bound to take off - as well as any service google launches due to the nature of its "brand". With regards to greenzap though, it was just a payment company, how did that work? I'm pretty sure that the company will be a success due to its "word of mouth" marketing.

Even if a site has the best idea in the world it has to get noticed...

**brokensoul2271** · 06-04-2005, 04:12 PM

But greenzap was an invite only service and offered free money. Gmail was invite only (still is as far as i'm aware) and offerd mucho space (as well as carrying its 'brand'). As you can see these all had something to offer and made you feel like you were part of something special if you revieved an invite.

Gimmicks are always good at pulling the crowds...

I dunno I may just be talking a load of rubbish but these are only my ideas...

**shashank_hi** · 06-04-2005, 04:31 PM

I guess more than anything else, it's getting noticed which is important, and this is the most difficult part. I mean, had very few people known about google, gmail would have never taken off. Thats what my guess is. But the reality was that google was a big brand, what it did was noticed by the media and hence everybody craved to be a member.

**brokensoul2271** · 06-04-2005, 05:12 PM

but none will notice you if you dont have anything to be noticed for. You need something special that you can find in most other places..

**dant** · 06-04-2005, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brokensoul2271

But greenzap was an invite only service and offered free money. Gmail was invite only (still is as far as i'm aware) and offerd mucho space (as well as carrying its 'brand'). As you can see these all had something to offer and made you feel like you were part of something special if you revieved an invite.

Gimmicks are always good at pulling the crowds...

I dunno I may just be talking a load of rubbish but these are only my ideas...

Thats an interesting idea, I had forgotten that greenzap was "by invitation" only. It looks like that was the marketing strategy for both sites mentioned, offer something for free (better than the competitors) then make it invitation only - making it seem more special. By invitation only it is doing a lot of the marketing by itself.

I'm not sure greenzap's idea despite working was the best idea for a "corporate" payment company - I still view the website as "fishy" and Im not sure it is completely trustworthy...

Interesting ideas presented in this thread...

**brokensoul2271** · 06-04-2005, 07:20 PM

Quote:

I'm not sure greenzap's idea despite working was the best idea for a "corporate" payment company - I still view the website as "fishy" and Im not sure it is completely trustworthy...

I agree about its 'fishyness'..