Tell-A-Friend Script

If you are a businessman and wanted to advertise your business in the conventional way, you would have to hire an advertising agency to create an ad for you and pay to have it shown on TV, radio, newspapers or on billboard. If you have the capital, this approach seems a viable idea. But what if you're just a small-time web entrepreneur with little cash to spare? Such a standard form of advertising seems highly unlikely. However, the ground rules of real-world advertising do not apply in the same manner as their online counterparts, as ingenious tools like the tell-a-friend script can help web businesses advertise themselves online.

As its name suggests, the tell-a-friend script is a computer script that allows users to "tell a friend" or to recommend a certain site to their contacts through e-mailed referrals. Usually written in Javascript or PHP, the script usually takes the shape of a short, fill-in-the-blank form placed on a webpage. Visitors of that page simply have to fill up the form with basic details (like their name and friend's email address), which in turn the script will use to create an e-mail that will be sent to contacts the user provides.

Through the tell-a-friend script, online entrepreneurs have a cheap yet practical way of advertising their business on the web. People who visit the site can advertise it to their friends and family, and they in turn can promote it to others. In the long run, this continuous word-of-mouth referral generates brand awareness of the business.

By now you have probably known what viral marketing is or, at least, what it can do. Also known as viral advertising, viral marketing is a buzzword denoting marketing strategies that use existing social networks to increase brand awareness or sales through self-replicating viral phenomenon. Viral marketing holds a huge importance online because of the various social networks online. And one of the tools which can aid in facilitating viral marketing online is the tell-a-friend script.

One of the ways website owners can market their sites virally to their target demographic is by the use of the tell-a-friend script. A type of computer script, the tell-a-friend script is embedded onto the website and enables visitors to recommend that website or a certain product or service to others via e-mail messages. The script basically consists of a form which users have to fill up with various information (including the user's name, his or her e-mail address, and the e-mail addresses of the contacts who are to receive the recommendation), which in turn is used by the script to generate an e-mail to be sent to the target recipients. Some scripts also incorporate incentives such as free programs or item discounts to further encourage people to send recommendations.

Because they are very cost-effective and easy to use, the tell-a-friend script is often used as a viral marketing tool by bloggers, affiliate marketers, and even large online businesses. These scripts are also often free of charges and can be downloaded on web development sites although some advanced scripts have to be purchased for a small fee on selected websites.

When it comes to advertising, the last thing that people would think of is engines. After all, aren't engines supposed to be powering our cars? Although that is true, engines are not just exclusive to combustion and provide mechanical power. In fact, they can also give advertising power to businesses especially those that are based online. All of this is possible through the list-building capabilities of the Viral Inviter tell-a-friend scripts.

If you own and manage a web-based business, one of the gadgets that may help you advertise your business and attract more customers is the Viral Inviter tell-a-friend scripts. A kind of viral marketing tool, Viral Inviter is macro list-building engine designed to assist people in importing e-mail contacts into your site and send them e-mail invites. With a few simple details, visitors of your site can send quick and easy e-mails to their friends and family, recommending them to visit your site and try out your business.

Viral Inviter tell-a-friend scripts advertise business to people the same way viral videos spread: from one person to another. Although its developers describe mainly as to streamline the once-tedious process of making and sending e-mail invites, Viral Inviter actually facilitates the viral advertising of the business across social networks using e-mail messages. Using the program, users are able to recommend your site to their friends and family, and if they too like the contents of your site they can pass it on to others. With continuous use, brand awareness of the site and the business overall is spread across the network, resulting in public interest and eventually better web traffic.

Aside from list-building engine capabilities, Viral Inviter tell-a-friend scripts also have additional features not found in other viral marketing programs. These include a comprehensive Web 2.0 system architecture, support for all major web e-mail services, and universal compatibility for web hosting servers.

Wouldn't it be great to have a robot to help you in your work? Having a helping hand around with business can be quite beneficial, especially if you are swamped with work. However, unless you work in an industrial assembly line having a robot in your office is very unlikely if not expensive to do. However, if you own and manage a web-based business, having a simple robot to help with you is possible thanks to the Viral Inviter tell-a-friend script.

Although it is not technically a robot, the Viral Inviter tell-a-friend script is a handy gadget that can automatically help you and your customers market your web-based business online. Also known as a tell-a-friend script, the Viral Inviter code is installed into the webpage and allows users to import contacts and refer your site to friends and family. No need for complicated e-mail registration and log-in procedures: users simply have to fill up a form with their name, message and the e-mail address of their contacts. Once the Send button has been clicked, Viral Inviter will automatically forward an e-mail referral to the target recipients with the sender's name, his/her recommendation, and media related to the website being referred.

With the Viral Inviter tell-a-friend script, web entrepreneurs are able to promote their website and business virally to a large online audience with only minimal effort. This is because the people who visit the site will promote it themselves: the script enables visitors to send recommendations to friends and relatives, and if they like it they in turn can send recommendations to others. This creates a self-sustaining spread of awareness about your website while you focus on other important aspects of your business.

Other features of the automated Viral Inviter tell-a-friend script include a Web 2.0 architecture that supports Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and other web email services. It also boasts an affiliate feature that lets visitors leave affiliate links on the website.

The success of many viral marketing campaigns on the web is largely facilitated by tell-a-friend software. A significant number of commercial websites use this software to automate their respective referral systems. Although this method is just one aspect of online marketing strategies, it is efficient in generating steady traffic of new visitors and customers. This is achieved through automated referral. Every time someone visits and makes a transaction, the software extracts referrals by requiring the customer to validate the transaction using his or her email account. The social networking sites (e.g., Facebook.com) are the first sites that actively used this software in expanding their networks of subscribers.

In the case of social networking sites, the built-in tell-a-friend software is not only used for recruiting new subscribers but also used for updating the existing subscribers. The subscribers/members have their respective social networks that are further strengthened by the automatic updates from the other contacts within their social networks. For instance, if one member uploaded new photos, that member does not need to manually send notification to all his or her contacts in a particular social networking site. All the contacts of a subscriber will automatically be notified through email regarding the most recent activity.

Through the automatic notifications, the members of a particular online social network groups are not only updated about the latest activities of their contacts but their social bonds are further reaffirmed. The tell-a-friend software of a social networking website acts as the universal herald and common arbiter among members of a social network. In this manner, the common bond is reaffirmed even when the members are not directly communicating. In some social networking sites, all the online activities of the members within those sites are monitored and announced to other members. This is not necessarily a violation of rights to privacy because the subscribers actually conceded to this upon registration. It would defeat the purpose of social networking if this feature is not present.

If you are only starting as an online entrepreneur or marketer, you will realize that it requires hard work, especially if you are a one-man team. The web design, programming, product development, and marketing will be largely done by you. Web design is relatively easy. You do not really need to have a working knowledge about HTML or CSS to create a webpage. Many free templates are available online and you can simply download them. Some very professionally-made templates come along with the purchase of a web domain and web-hosting subscription. Programming and marketing, on the other hand are technical aspects that requires skills and hard work. However, some work can actually be automated such as in the case of a built-in referral system that uses a tell-a-friend script.

Programming a website can be done less frequently and for maintenance or upgrading purposes only. However, marketing a website is an ongoing process that must be done on more frequent and regular basis to maintain a steady and sustainable flow of customers. Search engine optimization (SEO) and advertising are the two basic methods of marketing a website. The first method is intended to increase the page ranking of a website in search engine results while the latter is intended to directly attract customers. Incorporating a tell-a-friend script in a website is an example of the latter method.

You can automate the referral system of your website by using tell-a-friend script. You can get simple versions of this script from free online sources. You can simply copy the codes and paste them on your website. The script displays a simple referral box form with send or submit button. The form requires email address referrals from each visitor or customer. Automatic invitations will then be sent to the referrals by clicking the submit button. If your site is interesting or useful enough, using the script can attract visitors and customers at viral scale.

Manually composing and sending emails to multiple recipients is a boring and laborious process. Just imagine doing it several times everyday. It would not only be a waste of time but also a waste of energy. The task is very monotonous and simple enough to be automated. Hence, virtually all commercial websites have auto-responders that automatically acknowledge transactions or send template answers to common inquiries. There are codes and special software applications that are used for this purpose. On the other hand, auto-responders should be differentiated from a referral system such as the tell-a-friend script. Unlike an auto-responder, this type of script is used for marketing purposes.

Auto-responder scripts or software applications simply respond to individual email inquiries or transactions. On the other hand, a tell-a-friend script sends multiple email invitations generated from one new subscription or transaction. For every new customer or subscriber, multiple other customers can be attracted. This is because it operates as part of a referral system. Its main purpose is to further promote the site and not merely respond to an inquiry or acknowledge a completed transaction. Some websites with more sophisticated referral systems, subscriber simply has to enter his or her own email account detail. The email addresses of the other contacts will automatically be extracted but with the permission of the subscriber.

Typically, in order for tell-a-friend script to work, a confirmation link or code must first be clicked or entered by the subscriber. In doing so, email invitations will be sent to all his or her other email contacts. At the same time, the transaction will be completed and the subscriber can then have full access to other services of the website. This type of referral system is very common among social networking websites such as Facebook.com, Hi5.com, and Friendster.com. Full access is only granted after the signup email account is confirmed.