The ultimate viral traffic machine.
June 18, 2007
In case you think that I'm about to pitch the latest software package, marketing system or search engine optimization method, think again! There are many outstanding pieces of software, a lot of effective marketing systems and quite a few SEO tricks and procedures that will increase your traffic, to be sure. But none of those things come even close to this incredible viral traffic machine.
Before I tell you what this powerful mechanism is, let me give you an example of how well it works.
My latest software product, Instant Article Wizard 2.0, was released last month, and has done phenomenally well. In case you haven't seen it yet, I strongly suggest you take a look at it:
http://www.instantarticlewizard.com/
As I expected, the software became a favorite with my affiliates very quickly, and sales are still very strong. However, I noticed something today that really surprised me: a full 50% of my sales were not coming from affiliates at all, but from somewhere else.
Fifty percent! That means that for every dollar I made from my affiliates, I was making two dollars from sales that were not due to affiliate efforts.
I was intrigued, and did some research to find out where all of these sales were coming from. What I found was amazing! People all over the web were discussing the product. In forums, on blogs, social networking sites–everywhere. People were linking to the site by the hundreds (and even thousands) with no affiliate link at all!
That's when it hit me. I had discovered the ULTIMATE viral traffic machine: word of mouth.
If you feel let down by this revelation, don't be. The fact that word of mouth is the ultimate viral traffic machine may not be any great surprise to you, but I can tell you that it is a very underutilized traffic mechanism.
People focus on search engines optimization, pay-per-click, affiliate programs — all effective marketing methods. But those methods cost money (or require a heavy investment of time). Word of mouth is free!
Now, the real trick is generating word of mouth. How do you do it? This is the most fascinating part, because it's just so easy.
To generate insane amounts of traffic and profit using word of mouth… create a great product!
Yup, that's really all there is to it. If you create a great product, people will talk about it, blog about it, chat about it, and in many other ways begin to drive free traffic to your product site.
Timing is important here. I always do a beta release of my software to a segment of my current customers before doing the full release. That way I can work out the major bugs and get feedback regarding additional functionality that would be of use to my customer base. That way, when it comes time to actually do the full release, the product is destined to generate a lot of positive buzz.
If you fail to do any pre-release, you might generate some negative (or mediocre) publicity up front, which will cost you in the long run. In fact, I'd say that every hour of effort you put into the pre-release of a product will pay you back a hundred fold. It's easy to get excited and want to launch a product NOW, but your patience will be rewarded.
The other side of that coin is that you don't want to wait too long before releasing. Being first to market has a huge advantage, too (think eBay and Amazon.com). Do some beta testing, get some feedback, and make some improvements, but don't try to make a "perfect" product before releasing. In the programming world we call that "feature creep", where the customer demands more and more features until the project budget and time line have been blown.
So, to break it down again: 1) create a great product, 2) pre-release it to a few customers, 3) get feedback and make improvements, 4) launch.
Following those four steps will result in a swarm of word of mouth traffic, in addition to the expected affiliate traffic. Like I said before, 50% of my sales are coming directly to me through word of mouth. Play your cards right and there's no reason you can't have that kind of success as well.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Comments
55 Responses to “The ultimate viral traffic machine.”
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Jonathan Leger has been earning his living online full-time since the fall of 2004. He regularly posts advice about search engine optimization (his current passion), AdSense and Internet Marketing. He is the creator of a suite of popular software tools, including: Jonathan L Leger 
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Sounds like a great idea. I would also include some form of promotion in there too. Some press releases and lots of articles to get the buzz going. I guess forum posting would also help, and all forms of Web 2.0 utilization.
Very insightful and useful column!
Jon,
Congratulations on your success and the viral traffic results! You've leveraged anticipation, a great product and word of mouth in a positive way.
We've used Instant Article Wizard to create articles that have been accepted by Ezine Articles.com.
All the best,
- Dave Pipitone
How do I sign up for your affiliate program?
I can second what you say Jonathon, as I see it almost every day with our product.
It launched in November 2006 and people are still talking and posting on blogs about.
Sett up Google alerts on all your products and your own name, then watch what people are saying and writing.
It can get really interesting when your product goes viral.
Regards,
Stewart
Chris:
Here's the affiliate info page:
http://instantarticlewizard.com/cbaffiliates.html
Hi Jon,
I have to say I purchased your product out of shear curiosity. I am a professional freelance writer and I just had to see what this product was going to do. I have to say I was quite surprised. It was easy to use and research using your product saved me hours of time.
I will admit that I actually don't use the research as you show in your video to create my articles as I feel like this is just cheating and of course I know that the article won't be unique but for research purposes I would definitely recommend this product to all freelance writers.
Social bookmarking websites are really taking off and if you can get people talking about you, your product, or even your website then you are on to a winner. It definitely is the way to go for 2007 and probably for many more years to come.
Keep up the good work,
Amanda
Hi Jonathan,
Interesting post! Amazing how something as simple and free as word-of-mouth is often overlooked. Thanks for sharing.
All the best,
Francois du Toit
You are absolutly right…just an hour ago I made a comment on a forum. The question there was about an ebook on how to write articles in 30 minutes. I suggested to take the money he wanted to spend and instead buy your product and included a link to your articlewizard..without an affiliateid.
Why…because I wanted to make clear that I ddin't suggested the product for the money but because I think it is realy good.
The sugestion about the beta is a good one…must remember that coz I'm building something now too
Hey Jon;
Just wondering, what makes a product great??
Austin.
Austin:
That really depends on the market. In my own personal case (software), making a product easy to use without sacrificing power or functionality is key.
There's a lot of very powerful software out there that is very difficult to use and therefore out of the reach of the average person. I tried to make the software powerful, but balance that against usability.
Hi Jonathan,
) Thanks!
I've owned Instant Article Wizard, (IAW) for several months now, and I love the product! I don't utilize it nearly as much as I should, but when I do decide to spend a day or an evening writing articles, I've found the software to be indispensable! I highly recommend it!
I intend to write a post about it on my blog very soon, (with an affiliate link of course
Chris
Hi Jon,
I purchased your product based upon a recommendation from a friend. It is a great product. So I have also recommended it to others.
I agree with you word of mouth is a powerful tool.
To your continued success.
On the Road to Success
John
You mentioned one method of referral, or word of mouth advertising. Jay Abraham covers 93 methods and he suggests that everyone use at least 3 at all times. So keep in mind that not every product needs to stand out in quality in order for somebody to succeed. If my goal is to sell more Heinze 57 catchup than anyone else….there's a program for that too.
Even a controversial product can do well by word of mouth, its just the hype behind the product.
Ever see a movie a that really sucked, but you just had to see it because everyone talked about it? I think the newest product someone should create is the new word of mouth machine…
I find IAW great for writing new feature pages for websites. I can research anything I want and then have something to work with. I've always found that the hardest part is just getting started. IAW solves the problem
What are the other products/software that you sell Jon (am sure I've seen some somewhere)?
Austin.
Nice to see this works well for you Jonathan, but I'm wondering how this can be applied to a non-software or e-book product.
What if your sites offers free information in order to entice opt-ins. Not sure how to get much of a viral affect from something like that.
Stephen
Stephen:
If your information is very valuable, then people will talk about it.
A prime example is the Bum Marketing method. I've seen posts galore on the popular internet marketing forums about it, all pointing people to the place where you can get the free course.
That's all word of mouth traffic, and all free.
Hi Jon,
Tremendous research tool. Writing articles is a struggle for me and I find your IAW tool a godsend. Thank you!
Regards
Jonathan.
I don't think that the type of product matters. For sustained growth however, the product needs to be good, to be worthy of discussion. IAW took a tired strategy and made it better. Certainly worth talking about in my book.
Charlie
Hi Jon
I am one of your customers just dropping a line to let you know I found how much your blog is worth. For the last 11 months work.
How Much Is Your Blog Worth?
Your blog, jonathanleger.com, is worth $1,129.08
Here's a button you can put on your blog: (the HTML is below)
http://www.business-opportunities.biz/projects/how-much-is-your-blog-worth/
Well I've not had the success you've had with those numbers Jon, But I do have to agree on the word of mouth in principle.
As a similar thing happened for me on a smaller scale.
I had an ad in an ad section on one forum - but it sold 4 times better when someone discussed the packages value and benefits in a different section of the same forum, followed by more comments from happy customers leading others to purchase and add their opinions too.
As you say - a good product is a must …and I do love IAW
Randy
Jon,
I imagine if this sort of activity works for you it would be wise to follow your suggestions. Currently though, I'm marketing other people's products, and haven't taken the time to produce my own. If and when I do I will remember what you have said here and utilize it. Thanks for the heads up.
TJ:
$1,129.08 'eh? LOL. This blog is worth a hundred times that… No doubt they use measurable values like backlinks, PageRank, etc., but most of the traffic to this blog is via (surprise, surprise) word of mouth!
Hi Jon
I have found your articles and software to be very helpful in my internet marketing business. I didn't have a clue on how to write articles until I tried your program. It's great and now I'm a published writer. A dream I have had for myself all my life.
Thanks for creating it and sharing it with everyone. I think this can be the beginning of a great friendship.:-)
Meg
Hi all … as the norm you’re right on the money there Jonathan yet another great tip… remembered these quotes …. Perfect time and place to share them here
Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.
Jim Rohn
————>
A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.
Jim Rohn
Google Web Results 1 - 10 of about 1,110,000 for
(The ultimate viral traffic machine). (0.10 seconds)
All my best to you and yours
Phillip Skinner
Most of the marketing guru's will be the first to tell you that the most powerful tool anywhere is WORDS!
Be it from articles or word of mouth.
Jonathans' IAW is indeed one of my better purchases that I have made in a while.
Thanks for making our lives much easier with this great piece of software.
Jonathan,
I'm not sure if this is one of your better posts. Why? Well, there isn't anything particularly new here. It's common sense really, but I guess we all need to be reminded of the obvious ever now and then!
- The ultimate viral traffic machine - create a great product. If only it were so easy!
- To get people talking about your product it's got to be great. Well… yeah.
- To create a great product it has to be tested first. Umm yes, only the fool hardy would release something that was untested.
Jonathan, how do you come up with your great product ideas? Do you identify a problem and then try and solve it? What were the costs (time and money) in creating your great product - InstantArticleWizard? …and what's your profit?
Haydon:
That's my point. It SHOULD be obvious, but apparently it isn't because of all the junk that's spewed out into the internet marketing world on a daily basis.
I am astounded at how many people release products without any proven results anywhere on the sales page as well–so yes, you would think it's common sense that a product should be tested first, but many of them apparently aren't.
I agree with you completely in all respects, and that's why I made the post that I did.
And yes, I basically identified a problem and attempted to solve it. I spent a few weeks coding the software, but the concept took over a year to develop in my head before I actually created the product.
My profit has been outstanding — I'm very close to 6 figures in 45 days, and sales continue to roll in…
Great info Jon! As one of your affiliates I am looking forward to your next product. They seem to sell very well. In fact I am looking for a product to promote to my list of 5,000+ this week.
Paul
Jon,
I recently purchased IAW 2.0 for my new blog site and found the research tool to be very useful in writing fresh original content from that research.
I understand the value of word of mouth and marketing on the web and use web 2.0 for back links and promotion. IAW means fresh articles compiled from all over the web and a little effort on my part to
make the info original and also keyword relevant.
cheers
J
Hi Jon,
As usual, this is an excellent article, as is your software. I agree with your sentiments 200% about word of mouth.
However, there are a couple of points where I feel that you are not 100% correct. People that visit this blog have not come by word of mouth - you emailed to all your lists, telling everyone to come and look at your blog. I know, because I received 4 emails from you, 1 for each product that I have purchased from you in the past, including IAW.
It is also highly likely that a number of your 50% of sales that were referred without an affiliate came from your emails to your lists. You have created lists of all your customers and are working them very well.
You also are an extremely creative person and this is evidenced by the excellent software that you create. Further by the ideas that you come up with to promote new concepts that you discuss in your blog entries. I wish that I could be as creative as you
Keep up the good work.
PS Can I please become one of your beta testers for your next software products?
Barry
Jon,
I find using tell-a-friend script for the purpose of word-of-mouth advertising to be useful too.
What is your comment on that?
warmly,
Zamri
I was hesitating about purchasing IAW 2.0, but after reading this, I've made my decision! I will do it soon…
Thanks for a great post!
Luiggi
Barry:
In response to your comments:
"People that visit this blog have not come by word of mouth."
Yes, many, many people come via word of mouth. Not everybody, but my stats show that many do.
"It is also highly likely that a number of your 50% of sales that were referred without an affiliate came from your emails to your lists."
Initially, yes, but I'm talking about more recently (as in this week). Those persons are not people coming from my list — my list got the email last month. Maybe a few here and there, but no way 50% of my sales are from my list 45 days later. So those are word of mouth sales.
Jonathan,
I purchased your product to help me write some articles for my upcoming blog and a larger website I am putting together. IAW 2.0 is very easy to use and has made writing articles something I now look forward to doing. This is the best software investment I have made. Thanks,
Steven Goforth
I would assume you use tracking links in your emails don't you Jonathan? If so then you should be able to definitely rule out the percentage of users that arrived via your emails to your list.
And to Jonathan's comment that his blog was worth a hundred times what that one site claimed it was worth I think your dead on. If I'm not mistaken this is a blog built with Semiologic which is a very good wrapper for WordPress making it well optimized.
Now on top of that note that Jonathan builds a lot of this blogs words "words are money no!" by implementing a well designed method of marketing and one I am going to try to do as I prepare to build my first list.
Notice how Jonathan often builds up anticipation in his emails then asks a question like "want to know more" then tells you to go to his blog to read the full story and recommends that we post our thoughts. People then post relevant content adding value to the blog.
Want to know how else Johnathan is building the value of this blog using this technique? Thought you might……….just head over to MY blog at http://……….. ha, ha just kidding.
Seriously though the other thing is that people stay on his blog longer which Google likes to see people do because that means the site is valuable to those who come here and is noted as such by the big G.
Did I miss anything Jonathan? If so please post at my blog at http://www………..oh man I know your wishing I'd post the rest of that! LOL
Oh yeah i forgot I did actually have a question! I have a copy of IAW on my home system and was wondering am I allowed to install this on a second system? I was thinking of installing it on my work system for those, ah hem, slower periods.
-Stephen
John,
IAW 2.0 is smart and so powerful software to write many articles without violate the copywrite. I need only to add some idea and make logic order to make
fresh article ready to use to any of my online business.
charles
Hi Jonathon ,
great article , with all the systems , methods and ideas for viral traffic her is one that seem to have been grossly overlooked !
Extremeley happy with IAW2 purchase having also version one , head spins with the amount of info available in a few seconds ready for fresh idea creation . For the folks thinking about purchasing IAW2 or any of Jonathon's products its a no-brainer , all of his products over deliver,
Regards
Robert .
Hi Jon
I think your advice on releasing when ready (rather than perfect) is spot on.
I've heard elsewhere how important it can sometimes be to say something rather than wait for the perfect moment or word. I know I've often agonised over a mail-out often jeopardising a deadline in the process. My experience has always been that so long as I have something useful to say, my colleagues are unlikely to agonise over how I say it.
Hi Jonathon.
I would like to point out that one of your Highly Recommended pages (Triple AdSense Earnings with Site Translation Translate your sites into 9 foreign languages in 5 minutes) is sold out) which is pity as I would liked to have that or a similar program, do you have any alternative suggestions.
Thx
Lawrence
Hi Jonathan,
First I just wanted to thank you for IAW. I made my website with it (text) and it has been bringing in sales lately. Plus I have been using it to help me with general article marketing.
I wonder however if word of mouth can work with affiliate programs? Should I offer money (percentage of sales) for referrals?
Mike
Absolutely spot-on!
Word of Mouth is really the ultimate traffic machine for 2 principal reasons :-
1. It's believable since there is no ulterior motive, like earning commissions, in discussions about the product. Everything comes out - the good, the bad and the ugly with no holding back.
2. There is no cost involved anywhere.
Now we have to wait and see if somebody can bring out another product - The Word Of Mouth Tracker.
And maybe a companion product, The Word Of Mouth Generator.
Well done Jonathan, IAW is a great product
Charles
Hi Jon,
I have a confession to make. When your emails used to come through i never read them and was always marking them as junk…..but they kept coming through to my inbox and couldn't work out why they weren't being redirected to my junk mail. When one day i actually read one. I couldn't believe the gold in your email and immediately trawled though my old emails to look for all the other ones i had not read. I learnt my lesson there and then. Always take the time, even if its just a second to see whats coming your way. I am in process of setting up my own shopping directory website and in a sea of seo and marketing its easy to feel very lost between the meta tags, blogs, forums keywords etc so now i look forward to your emails to give me some inspiration and direction.
Thanks.
Nat
ps, i really loved websites you gave us, (ie the warrior forum, digg ect) more of that would be great
Jonathan,
As a new blogger and article writer, I love your product. It helps me to organize and write out my thoughts much faster than otherwise. Although I did sign up based on your email promotion, what you say makes good sense. As someone with an eye toward creating her own products, I will keep your formula in mind: Great Product, Pre-Release, Feedback & Improvement, Launch. Thanks for a great product and an insightful article.
Dearly Beloved Jonathan:
Greetings!
You know you always come up with quality and quantity resources.
The planet is sure blessed and favoured to have you.
Do not relent. Make it as simple as this…
Keep Up The Good Work That You Are Doing.
Remain blessed and a blessing.
We shall communicate again soon if God is willing.
Regards,
Olakunle Solomon Fatoye.
Jon,
You are right. Low tech is still the best.
As a customer, affiliate, and someone who uses your products and swears by them, you're an inspiration to me. You create great offers that live up to what you claim in your sales letters. I love the new Instant Article Wizard. Even though I'm a writer, it helps me create great ideas for my articles. Viral Profit Machine is pure genius.
Thanks again for all you do. You've helped give me back my passion for internet marketing, as well as made my marketing job a whole lot easier.
Can't wait to see what you do next! Jinger Jarrett
This is a really useful tip.
I can see how it can work not only for Internet marketing products such as the ones you develop, but also for other types of products, services and even websites themselves.
If a product, service or site is genuinely of good quality and truly helpful to those who come to know about it, people just can't help but talk about it to others. We're social animals, after all.
Out of over 30 newsletters, blogs, forums, sites, and garbage that I subscribe to, this is one of the very few that I make a point to read every time.
Why? First, it's one of the most - probably THE most - honest and helpful there is. Second, Jonathan, you're actually a great writer, and I love reading anything you write. I was especially touched by the story of your life before you made your Internet success. Your ebooks too are clear, concise and well-crafted.
I really like the way your emails introduce a subject and then lead me to your blog here, where I can not only pick up even more of your tips and browse your other pages but also learn from your members' comments.
Believe it or not, there are many Internet marketers who send out emails without any link to their own website or blog. They just have the one link to someone else's affiliate product. What's with that? Is there a term, I wonder, for the opposite of viral marketing?
Best wishes, Jon!
Well great product is the one that helps people solve their problem easily - I mean the one that is adding some real value.
1. Article marketing is best free and effective way to promote websites and thus earn money.
2. It's really hard for many people to write articles from "empty knowledge background".
3. Here comes IAW and tells "Now you guyes have got it - now you can do it fast and easy!"
4. See why IAW has become popular? It's offering real value to many people in need =)
You hit the nail on the head Jon.
Now if I could just figure out what product to create I would be all set.
I'll bet a lot of people struggle with trying to come up with an idea of how or what product to create. I'll come up with something eventually.
Off I go to brainstorm.
Ken
Hey Jon,
As always your info is so valuable and well written. You are one of the few people on the net that has any credibility.
Thank you so much for the great info!
Great post Jon. I need to check in more often to your blog.
That's a very informative report Jon. I appreciate your taking the time to do it. Now, for the guys like myself who are not programmers, but have a great idea for a product, how would you suggest we proceed to do this without some dishonest programmer ripping off the idea and taking it to market as their own?
Thanks,
Anthony
http://bloss2.blogspot.com
Sounds great, i'll give it a try,thanks
It will surely help great with any writing tasks. The bad is I have not yet tested it. I am looking forward to run it any days from now.
Thanks!