Not all Internet marketing suggestions initiate online. Some work best offline to get folks to go online. Here is one such suggestion:

Are you using any viral marketing strategies to build your business? In other words, are your prospects and business associates doing anything to "spread your business message?" If not, why not? It is extremely easy to do. If you know how to create a business card using Avery label #8179. If you know how to create a PDF file using Word, Wordperfect or the free Open Office Suite,you have the ability to create cost-effective marketing campaigns for your business that are practically self-perpetuating. In fact, if you are involved with any business networking groups, you ought to be able to help them spread their message as you spread yours - and vice versa.

Let me give you a real life example. I am a member of a business association. I created a viral marketing tool I call a "pass-along card." Although it may look somewhat like a business card as it is the same size and shape, it is not. A business card is meant to be kept by the person who receives it. A business card is simply contact information for a business. A "pass-along" card is an invitation. To be useful, the recipient MUST take action - usually send an email and make a request. Once the request is satisfied, there is no point in keeping the card. Hence, to make it continually beneficial, the card actually states you are to "pass it along to someone else." That is why the card is viral - one card can positively impact many lives.

Here is what my pass-along card says:

Special Invitation
FREE Business Mixer

Special Offer
FREE Power Networking PDF

CDMM
lamar@mchsi.com

This is a pass-along card. Sharing this card is good for business. So, pass it along.

The only contact information on this card is the e-mail address. That is not by accident. This is "by design." Speaking of design, with a little ingenuity, you can use the pass-along card concept in an automatic marketing dispenser in high traffic areas to spread your message. Never heard of an automatic marketing dispenser? Well, have you ever seen a Post-It Note holder mounted on a bulletin board? I plan to install one today at my local supermarket. I have been granted permission to do so. How do you mount such a mechanism to a bulletin board? First you get a wire mesh business card hold from your local office supply store. Next, you flatten the holder out. Use rubber bands to attach the wire frame to the Post-It Note holder. Then attach the wire mesh frame with the Post-It Note holder attached to the bulletin board with thumb tack or better yet small srews (so someone cannot easily remove it). 3M actually has a service which will actually print the Post-It Note message for you. Or, use can attach the messages yourself using two Avery Label #8160 labels per sheet. Whenever a packet of labels is used up, you simply slip another packet in its place. Simple. Cost-effective. Efficient.

Lamar Morgan
CDMM
Creating a buzz for business in the boardroom

Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901