Tweet

The Secret Behind the Success of Work at Home Gurus

Written by: Jeff Casmer

Article Overview: The success of the internet marketing giants of the web 1.0 era is that they have embraced the power of the web to harness “collective intelligence”. Companies like Yahoo, Google, eBay, Amazon, Wikipedia, and del.cio.us are leaders in the internet marketing realm because they allow users to contribute to the expansion of their business.

The Secret Behind the Success of Work at Home Gurus

The success of the internet marketing giants of the web 1.0 era is that they have embraced the power of the web to harness "collective intelligence". Companies like Yahoo, Google, eBay, Amazon, Wikipedia, and del.cio.us are leaders in the internet marketing realm because they allow users to contribute to the expansion of their business. Yahoo for example was born as a directory of links and its collective work the net's users remains the core of its value. And eBay's product is the collective activity of all its users. eBay grows in response to user activity. Its competitive advantage stems from the mass of buyers and sellers, which make any new website offering similar services, appear much less attractive.

Amazon as well has made a science of user involvement. They were not the first website to sell books nor are they the last but their user engagement allows them to out-space even major competition like Barnsandnoble. Even Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, a product that doesn't seem likely to allow user participation, gives users the opportunity to not only add an entry but edit one as well. This completely changes the dynamics of content creation.

One of the greatest things that have emerged from Web 2.0 is user participation. From Blogger to Myspace, companies are now beginning to understand that they do not have a monopoly over the creation of their websites and products nor should they. The greatest internet success stories don't advertise their product. They instead undertake "viral marketing". This is the recommendation of a product from one user to another.

Think of chain letters or forwards and how quickly they get passed around the web. Imagine growing your business at that same magnitude. You don't have to be as large as Amazon or Google to put this strategy into practice. Viral marketing can take the form of a free e-book that is passed from one recipient to another or a video clip, viral marketing can even be seen in the form of an image. The point is to create a "buzz" around your product. Viral marketing has gained popularity because of the ease of carrying out the marketing campaign at a low cost, good targeting and the rapid response rate. The web itself is built on this method. People collectively come together to share and add, what's more anyone can do it. Any one can download a code to use and anyone can add a project.

Websites are no longer relying solely on advertising to get the word out, and why would they when viral marketing is so effective. Not only in terms of profits is viral marketing ideal for new age internet marketing but it can ease the burden of being the sole contributor of building your business.

Users are eager to contribute so why not take a note from the big players and put your users to work for you. Propel your business through the adoption of viral marketing.

Related Articles
  A Secret That Most Online Home Business Entrepreneurs Never Reveal
  How Good is Your Guru?
  4 Top Secrets To Successfully Starting A Home Business
  #1 Reason for Network Marketing Success - Part One
  Online Guru Bashing As An International Past time

Article Tags: amazon, barnsandnoble, blogger, buyers and sellers, chain letters, collective activity, collective intelligence, collective work, competitive advantage, content creation, e book, ebay, forwards, google, internet success, online encyclopedia, similar services, user involvement, viral marketing, wikipedia



Related Forum Posts
Books for Women Entrepreneurs - There's a thread for good books in the Resources folder, but it doesn't target books for businesswomen particularly, so I figured I'd start such a thread here. It doesn't matter how successful you are in your business - it's always possible to learn something new. In subsequent posts I give Table of Contents and brief descriptions for various titles - most of them devoted to the businesswoman - and sometimes a review. If anyone else has read a review, or has read the book and found it useful, please comment! 1. The Old Girl's Network 2. Mother's Work 3. The 7 Greatest Truths About Successful Women 4. Pitch Like A Girl 5. Workplace Warrior 6. Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the Modern Consumer 7. Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery 8. She Wins, You Win 9. Napoleon On Project Management 10. Why Good Girls Dont' Get Ahead, But Gutsy Girls Do 11. Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years 12. The One Minute Millionaire 13. Talking From 9 to 5 14. Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambitions 15. 101 Best Home Based Businesses for Women: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road To Success 16. Work With Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living. Revised and Expanded 17. Fail-Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful 18. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End 19. Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide 20. Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen 21. Start Small, Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business 22. Rewired, Rehired or Retired: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker 23. The Martha Rules: 10 essentials for achieving success as you start, build or manage a business 24. The Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to create Successful Enterprises 25. Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy 26. The Promotable Woman 27. Leave The Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro shows you how to do more in less time and feel great about it 28. The Work At Home Balancing Act: The professional resource guide for managing yourself, your work, and your family at home 29. Secrets of Six-Figure Women
Try wikipedia.com for more information - That depends what type of business you are involved in. Maybe if you share that, we can help you a little better. I work mostly in the Work at Home industry so my advice would only be along those lines.
Re: Success - I study success intently, and would like to share: Here's two excellent and nearly identical success-formulas from a couple of the world's masters. FIRST FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Clear, Definite Purpose 3. Committed Decision 4. Take Action In Faith (Bonus Secret Sauce: 5. Repeat Consistently) I made a video about this, but am not allowed to link it yet. Google "Ryze Success Steps" for it. Oh, and this is Napoleon Hill's (Master Of Success Laws)'s Formula. SECOND FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Understand It Is Already Done (Faith) 3. Relax & Allow It To Unfold (Go about your life calmly) This one is courtesy of Abraham-Hicks (inspiration for the movie The Secret). Hope that helps!
Re: Web Business Podcast is LIVE! :) - Hi David - have you thought of making these into videos? Even if it doesn't have you live on screen? Remembering the Success Secret Keywords would be a lot easier if we could see them.
Victoria's Secret - Too Sexy? - This will be upsetting for some men. I just heard a report about Victoria's Secret and it was interesting. Their sales were down drastically in the 4th quarter of 2007 and the report was about how they are thinking the company has gotten too far away from the heritage that made it the blockbuster company it is. They are thinking the ads etc have become too sexy and the plan (at the moment) is to make the ads more sophisticated. That would be like the Super Bowl commercial which was very tasteful, but very different from any Victoria's Secret I've seen lately. Who do you all think the current sexy ads are targeting? I think its the men that they hope will buy these items for their female significant others. I hate to give Omarosa any kudos - but most women aren't "sold" on an item by an ad of a near naked sexy woman. Shri


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Earn More Money - Easy Home Business Ideas

The Right Job - Part Five 'Compensation'

Here's a great ROI

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.