Photo author: atomicshark

Word of mouth promotion is one of the easiest, most effective and cheapest (actually free) ways to promote ever. All you have to do is get the word out, and if what you’re promoting is interesting to your target, it has the potential of turning viral.

For example, I accidentally stumbled upon a site, yougetsignal.com, that has a few very useful network tools. I found it useful, so I told some (maybe 15) of my colleagues and friends from work and university. I assume some of them told their friends and the ball kept rolling until about 4 days later when my roommate (which works for the same company as I do) came to tell me that he heard about this great tool - you guessed it - it was on YouGetSignal. I hadn’t told him because he doesn’t care much about this sort of thing, but somehow he found out and thought he’d tell me, since he knew I’d like it. I can’t help but think that the word I set out circled back to me… that’s awesome.

Take for instance this rather plausible scenario with very conservative numbers: you have a blog, you tell 10 friends you feel might be interested. They check it out, 8 of them actually find it interesting and tell about 5 of their other friends each. They check it out and each of those tells 2 of their friends. That would make the visitor count to your blog from this alone rise about 130 and who knows how many of those would become regulars.
Again, note that this is an attenuated, conservative example. It might actually be much better and it might not die down on the 3rd tier.

“So what’s the big deal? If you tell them, they will come.”

The first time I tried this I got a rather unexpected result. I was down at the pub with a few friends (5 of us, I think) and over the first round of beers I casually told them I had started blogging (about t-shirts, that was my old blog). It had dawned on me on my way to the pub that this was the perfect opportunity for me to do some promotion. I was getting ready to write down the URL on their beer coasters so they could check it out later, but I didn’t have the chance to get to that - one of them, whom I later found out thought blogs were a means for “the establishment” and “the corporations” to push products onto people (he’s a bit of a 21st century hippie), said something along the lines of:

“So what are you going to try and sell us? Do you want us to click on your ads now?”

I sat there, just shocked about what I heard. I didn’t even have the chance to explain in detail what it was about. The others we were with seemed to be more impressed by the inquisitive attitude of this guy than with my attempts to defend my work. The herd effect strikes again. Soon the conversation drifted to other topics and I hadn’t even had the chance to get beyond “You know, I started blogging about t-shirts”…

Very disappointing, especially since these were my friends, some of which I had known for years. But any kick in the butt is a step forward, so I tried to learn as much as possible from this experience:

1. Never “preach” to a crowd

This was obvious to me. Try not to promote to too many people at once. If one has preconceptions about what you are trying to promote (blog, product, whatever), the rest of the group is likely to join his side, throwing you on the defensive. And defensive isn’t a good place to be when you’re promoting your blog. Instead, contact your friends individually or in groups of two, tops. This will mean there is less chance of a bad apple corrupting a lot of your targets.

2. Screen carefully

You know your friends, right? You know what they like and dislike. Based on that knowledge locate and tell only people you think would be interested. Don’t send out mass messages on IM networks, don’t send e-mails to your whole address book. Spamming your friends will do you limited good.

3. Catch them when they’re likely to be receptive

We all have problems: we’re tired, hungry, have a lot on our mind etc. Try to time your message in a way that won’t intrude and you’ll see increased response.

4. Take your time and don’t be evil

You don’t have to tell everyone today. There’s no deadline. Don’t be too eager and don’t make them feel uncomfortable. Dont even think about asking them to click your ads!

5. Don’t brag

No-one likes a braggart. They don’t want to hear how much you make a month from your blog (on top of your bigger paycheck). Don’t antagonize your friends, or you’ll end up losing more than a few potential feed subscribers and visitors.

… and a pub isn’t the best place to promote anyway, I learned that the hard way.

So how should I do it?

Mention it casually in conversation, send out a few thoughtful, well written e-mails, don’t make a big deal out of it it but make sure they write down the URL. Plus, remember, for this to work high quality, interesting content is needed. Get crackin’ and expect the day when someone you know comes to you and says “I heard about this awesome blog, you should check it out!” and it’s your own.