One of the key concepts of any type of list building or traffic generation is viral marketing. There are a number of viral tactics, many of which WILL work and many of which WILL NOT work. I would like to discuss two techniques that I have found to be successful in promoting my websites and building my list.

The first technique I use is a form of rebranding. There are a number of free ebooks that you can get your hands on and a number of paid products that will not only allow you to rebrand with your own link embedded, but also let you claim the product as your own (a very effective form of affiliate marketing). I like to generally use the free products to rebrand with a PDF rebrander and give away as bonuses or promotions to my list. In return, the subscribers on my list will often re-distribute the book with my links still embedded in them. If not, my links are still available for them to click on when I give away the book.

I find the rebranding technique to be useful mainly in bonus giveaways only. Although this tactic provides a good amount of initial viral marketing, it does not flow as well as my most powerful technique that I am currently using to build a serious amount of targeted subscribers to promote my new ebook.

My favorite tactic is to use list-building techniques similar to an MLM downline. There are a number of products available that are used for the sole purpose of referrals to generate a large downline that you can use to email, which will in-tern give you a large source of targeted to leads to drive to your site. This idea is quite popular along with the entire viral marketing phase, but there is still an important link missing to make this work: you need to still be able to generate referrals.

After your family and friends are used up, how will you continue to promote your list-building software for free? Well, there are emailing databases called safelisting that allow you to email other members of the list; but these are generally ineffective because the majority of members are solely subscribed to send out their own emails and NOT read yours. This is where paid advertising comes in.

You must still be willing to purchase email or ezine ads to initially build your list-building software list to eventually promote your niche to your site for free. In addition, you must find ways to test the best ads for your money and tweak your promotions to get the best responses. This is essential in your investment stage in order to set up your downline to explode and leave you with a substantial database to email for eventual promotion to your site and your personal subscription list. I have built a new technique called the 'Viral Tactic' in order to piece this process together in a step by step manner. I go into further detail in my newsletter and products.

In any event, viral marketing will give you the best bang for your buck, but only if you set yourself up right. Promote to the right audience and your downline will be exploding in no time to give you a continuous supply of leads for all future promotions. Good luck in your viral marketing and list building ventures!

About the Author

Derek Huizinga is an independent marketer for several affiliate programs and 2 companies based out of Grand Rapids, MI. He is working on his bachelor's degree (FINALLY) in business and plans on involving himself in independent contracts in the future. He runs the 'Viral Tactic' website for list building at: http://www.viraltactic.com