Many of us with an online presence have seen the explosive growth of web companies over and over again. Netscape was the early pioneer of online viral marketing, but other companies soon eclipsed them. Hotmail was another example. Those of us who do wish to grow our stature in a kingdom made up mostly of internet Peasants, look to these and other online Princes and Kings with dreamy longing. How could we ever hope to achieve even a fraction of the relevance of these towering icons of success?
Knowing that the power of viral marketing is there for anyone to strategically employ is excitingly enticing. The potential of doing something viral and hitting it big is actually much more realistic than the hope of winning the lottery. Is it realistic enough for us to actually make an attempt? If so, how should we go about the effort? These are questions that taunt us as internet peasants. The possibility keeps us scratching at the base of numerous established castles, hoping beyond hope to scale their walls and establish our own place upon the battlements.
In the meantime the giants laugh. The traffic and activity that we bring to their establishments raises them even higher on piles of cash and bounty. That mounting treasure is coming from you and me. It results from our nickels and dimes as we strive to rise above the sweating, clawing masses.
Online, the viral concept is what separates the men from the boys. Control over the power of that exponential traffic expansion as it explodes tremendously onto the scene gives the controller a place among the royal nobility of the online culture. Again, could that actually happen to us? The answer is YES, it could!
In network marketing the term “downline” has come of age. The power of the pyramid is not all bad, even though the unscrupulous use of the principles has given the concept a bitter taste. Pyramidal benefit sharing is not endless, and no-one should ever promise that it is. Also, each lower tier of the “downline” has less value than the tier above it, and no-one should ever promise that that it doesn’t. This having been said, there is huge value in the upper tiers of a viral entity. The problem that the Peasant faces however, is that the Kings and Princes will not partition any of that power out to the Peasant population. It seems a cruel irony and a socio-economic inequity that these same desperate Peasants are the ones upon whom the nobility depend for their prominence, prosperity, and power.
You and I are actually members of multiple downlines. We all probably have downlines ourselves that we cannot benefit from and that we are often not even aware of. If you have a profile on a social networking site, you almost certainly have a downline. Do you imagine that the King of Facebook will allow you to profit from your Facebook downline? The answer to that question is not as simple, or as cynical as you might think.
When Facebook first got started, the King was likely a simple Peasant, just like you and me. At that point, the Peasant of Facebook may well have been willing to share power to begin the viral process that resulted in the establishment of his ivory tower. As that establishment began to develop however, the one time Peasant of Facebook began also to join the ranks of the online royalty.
Not knowing this scenario to be true, we can yet imagine that there were other Peasants that grew to Nobility along with the Prince of Facebook. We can also imagine that as they all came up in rank, the opportunity for others to mount that rocket faded and died. The window of opportunity closed, and here we are talking about it in big eyed wonder, and with more than a twinge of jealousy to boot.
So, what do we draw from the imaginations of this land of fairy tale and fancy? We come to understand that there must be other opportunities like the one we’ve fancied, and that these that are out there right now. It is to these that we should look for a viral opportunity. We need to find one that is destined to go exponential, and we need to find it early on, while the window is still open. Tupperware parties and Mary Kay make-up parties have burned themselves out. There is no more room for valuable spots in the downline because the efforts are too far along. Netscape is burned out. Hotmail and Facebook have no more need for ambitious, want to be Kings.
So look for that opportunity in your online expeditions. Take great care however in your search for a new rising star. Don’t believe promises that are obvious lies, and get your relationships in writing. But be assured that there are real and substantial opportunities out there right now and that you can find them. Get in early, get a strong position, and work hard to make it a success. That’s our best bet at getting in on the benefit of the viral phenomenon.
Jeff Rogers is the President and Founder of
www.dragnetmarketing. He is an online networking strategist who believes that relationships are just as important online as they are face to face. In order to have good relationships one has to give something up to get something back. Mr. Rogers has made it his focus to make the give and take more fluent and utilitarian through his strategies. Get online and on the street tactical advantage with Dragnet Marketing strategies and self managed viral Video Pages.
