Viral Career Marketing

Viral marketing is another of those hot concepts today. Traditional marketers focus on defining People, Place, Price, and Product, and then executing their plan. Viral marketers try to empower those already using the product to tell their friends about it - and to have those friends tell their friends about it.

The power of this is tremendous. If 20,000 units of a product were sold, and the company was able to get each of these people to tell 20 of their friends about it, and each of these folks told 20 of their friends, then 8 million people would know about the product. If even 1% of those made a purchase, then product sales would quadruple to 80,000 units!

Viral Marketing can be used for every product - even you. Think about it: whatever your personal reputation, how do you think it got developed? Viral Marketing: one person told their friends, who told their friends, and so on.

This same concept can be applied when it comes to career planning. The difference, however, is that it is your message that we want amplified - not your reputation.

This week's action item: Start your personal career viral marketing campaign:

Define your message: What message do you want people to carry outward for you? Is it that you are looking to develop a skill in a particular area? That you are looking for career change? That you are looking for sales prospects of a certain type? If you aren't clear about the message yourself, you can't expect others to be either.

Deliver: Make sure that you are always delivering your message, by example. If there is a disconnect between your message and how you act, then the message will lack credibility, and will never be passed on.

Network: As you meet others, let them know your message. Of course, without an incentive for them to pass it on, they won't. So instead of begging, ask your network what you can do for them - and then do it. Find out how you can help pass on their message - and then do that too. Only once they see you pro-actively being part of their Viral Network, will they start being part of yours.

(Viral request from the author: Please pass this article to as many of your contacts as possible.)

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Copyright © 2006 Knowledge to Action Press and Randall Craig. All rights reserved.

Publication Date: September 5, 2006