Viral Marketing is creation of a message that is self-perpetuating and hence distributed exponentially after its release. The Internet is full of many classic examples, most famous one being that of free email company - Hotmail.

From Zero To Hero - Overnight!

When they started out Hotmail were missing a vital factor - traffic. The growth rate of their traffic was not sufficient to meet needs of company and a boost was required. It was at this point that first mass viral marketing campaign via Internet was launched.

As Hotmail was a free email service provider it could control, to a certain extent, format of all outbound messages that each Hotmail account holder sent. It was this fact that led them to come up with a viral marketing campaign that has yet to beaten and saw their traffic skyrocket and eventually lead to Microsoft buying company as a result of their exponential growth.

So what did they do? Simple. To footer of each outgoing email they attached a signature file that read:

"To get your FREE email account goto www.hotmail.com".

Not only should you be tracking where money is coming from but also where it's gone to. No point kidding yourself - it wasn't cheap was it? There were developer's costs, graphic design costs and hopefully some costs set aside for taking on web site marketing experts to get your site found. You should track what you've spent and then see what's coming through door rather than going out when it comes to your web site. To help you - in what needs to be a constant review and improve process - here are 7.5 ways to get more sales through your web site.

"Get On With It!", I hear you shout, "Tell Me The 7.5 Ways To Make More Sales!"

1. Use a professional web developer to build site in first place.

Don't cut corners or budgets. How many business owners have an idea for a business and then take up science of bricklaying to build their own shop or premises? Exactly - don't do it. Your job is to run your business effectively - not designing websites.

2. Use a professional graphic designer when your site is being developed.

If you use your friend next door we can all tell. A rough rule of thumb is to spend 10% of what you would like web site to make. Just think about that for a minute when you get ‘that guy from down pub’ to 'knock you one up for £100..". And remember - you'll need professional web development AND professional graphic design input. Web developers are not designers. Graphic designers are not web developers. Glad we've got that cleared up..

3. Use a professional web site marketing company to get your web site found - in search engines, in directories - on anywhere on web that matters.