Viral Marketing is marketing that has a life of its own - multiplying it's recipients as it spreads - rather like a virus actually.

Viral Marketing is the creation of a message or ebook that is self-perpetuating and hence distributed exponentially after its release. Each receiver likes the email or message so much that they pass it on to one or more of their friends or family.

The Internet is full of many classic examples, the most famous one being that of the (cant use the word as it is considered spam) email company - Hotmail.

Hotmail was a (cant use the word as it is considered spam) email service provider so it could control the format of all its outbound messages from every Hotmail account. They came up with a viral marketing campaign that has yet to be beaten and saw their traffic skyrocket and eventually lead to Microsoft buying the company as a result of their exponential growth. So what did they do? Simple. To the footer of each outgoing email they attached a signature file that read: To get your (cant use the word as it is considered spam) email account go to "www.hotmail.com".

As more and more people received emails from existing Hotmail account holders so the word spread about their (cant use the word as it is considered spam) email service - unheard of at that time and the rest, as they say, is history.

You can copy this format by adding your own signature to your own emails. Include a short advert about your company and add your web site. Make it about 3-5 lines.

In more recent times there was the Jib Jab email - providing a very humorous, but cruel, musical cartoon lampooning the USA presidential candidates. It spread like wild fire around the world and even appeared on international news programs. It was so popular that the servers were bought down several times.

Have a look at the reports on the "Butterfly Marketing" to see a similar recent campaign. Mike Filsaime himself received numerous emails telling him to buy the product. This was not only superb marketing - and Mike is the genuine, successful marketer as well as being a nice guy - but also viral marketing powered by a great product and good affiliate programming.

So how do you start your own viral marketing campaign? Get yourself a great message, mp3, ebook, article or set of pictures. At the bottom of the email, in the ebook, were put your company details and web site. Put your own links in the ebook or on the mp3, put a great resource box on the article - so that they are passed on as your product takes on a life of its own.

What kind of subject should you choose then? Humor is the number one - but also great poems and stories work well. Have a look at "Interview with God" for a great poem that built up a web site business purely on viral principles. Of course, Morgan the owner works very hard marketing it now, but people telling people about the web site was how it grew so very quickly.

Viral ebooks are also very popular - try and make the information unique, catchy and of interest to many. Put your contact links inside of it and encourage people to share it. If you do it well then people will pass on your ebook and thus details of your web site and products as well.

Articles are also viral marketing tools - write a good informative article with a catch headline - make it the right length and submit it to article sites. If you do it right - then others will publish it on their web sites and in their ezines. As more and more see your article and read your resource box - then more people will see your web site and products.

When used properly, nothing can match the power of viral marketing. It is so effective because it is based on personal opinion, much the same way as an editorial carries more weight than an advertisement because it's coming from a trusted source. You trust your friends and colleagues to send you material that is interesting, useful, and pertinent to you personally. Trust will always be more powerful than flashy design and expensive ad campaigns, and when information comes from someone you trust, it is much more powerful.