Tell-A-Friend Scripts

One of the most talked- about topics in web marketing circles nowadays is the so- called tell- a- friend script. With this script, traffic is said to increase in great numbers and more people tend to visit the site using it. But what is it really? Also known as the refer- a- friend program, the tell- a- friend php script is a computer script written in the PHP computer language that forwards e- mail recommendations from one person to another. The script is embedded onto the website via a file uploader, and can be used by site visitors to send e- mail referrals to their e- mail contacts without having to open up their main e- mail account. The script usually asks for basic identifying information such as name, gender and age as well as the e- mail address of the people who will be receiving the message. Some scripts also have the option to send a personal note along with the referral to give it a more customized touch. Because the message is sent by e- mail, the tell- a- friend php script is a cost- affordable form of viral marketing. People who visit the site can promote the website through e- mail to their friends and family, and the people who get the recommendations can continue this word- of- mouth transfer by sending to others in turn. However, because the spreading of awareness is done by the people and not by the marketer, the latter has almost no control over its direction. This could lead to problems with scalability as large amounts of traffic cripple the website's servers. Poorly made generated e- mail referrals are also considered as spam by most users, leading to more potential customers lost than gained. So what's the verdict with the tell- a- friend php script? Although they are a cheap and novel way to advertise your website online, it should not be used as the main marketing tool. It is best used to complement other, more established means of marketing.

When people think of advertising, the last thing that usually pops into their heads is the referral. But as strange as it might sound, referrals are a powerful marketing tool and can promote a business as easily as it were advertised during a primetime slot on national TV. This especially true for businesses that operate on the web, as they have access to tools such as tell- a- friend scripts that harness the power of referrals to their maximum marketing potential. If you know somebody who owns or manages a business online, there's a chance that they have a tell- a- friend script installed on their website. As its name implies, tell- a- friend scripts are computer scripts designed to help people "tell a friend" or about the website. Once installed the script visually consists of an online form, a Send button, and a Reset button. Visitors of the site simply have to fill up the form (which usually asks for the sender's name and the e- mail contacts he/she wishes to send the referral), and click the Send button. The script then generates a e- mail referral out of the details provided, and sends it to the selected e- mail contacts. With tell- a- friend scripts, businesses are able to use person- to- person referrals more effectively to advertise their website. With the script: users can refer the site others, and if the people who receive the referrals also liked the site, they can pass on the referral to others. In the long run, the continuous referrals create a near self- sustaining "viral chain" that spreads awareness across social networks on the web, heightening interest about the website and the business overall. And since all the advertising is made by the people and done through e- mail, the business saves on advertising costs.

Because they are easy to set up and can significantly propagate brand awareness of products and services, tell a friend scripts have become an indispensable part of every web entrepreneur's toolbox. In almost every commercial website nowadays you can find links to Digg, Reddit, and other viral sharing programs designed to spread that particular website to the Internet masses. If you manage an online business and do not have at least some kind of tell a friend script in your website, then you are missing out on a marketing opportunities. However, despite the limitless marketing potential these scripts provide there are some things entrepreneurs should not use it for. And two of these are Spamming and Astroturfing. As owner and proprietor of a web business, you should always avoid using tell a friend scripts to initiate spamming and astroturfing campaigns. Although they sound and named differently (the first was named after canned meatloaf while the other after fake grass), both share the same goal: to exploit the public. Spamming is a marketing strategy where a company sends numerous unsolicited commercial bulk messages to people, while astroturfing is a technique where a marketing push is disguised as a grassroots campaign either to promote a product or discredit the competitor. Although it was never designed for these purposes, the tell a friend script's ability to send automated messages to large numbers of people makes them perfect for these underhanded marketing strategies Entrepreneurs must always use tell a friend scripts in the way they were meant to work: to educate your potential customers about your business and encourage them to pass that information on to their friends and family. And spamming, astroturfing and other similar marketing techniques are not included in this premise. But by using these strategies, customers will lose their trust in the company, which is something even the most advanced tell a friend script cannot draw in.

Over the years, viral marketing has become a driving force in the success of any web- based business. As off- putting as it sounds, viral marketing techniques are highly effective in drawing in people (and potential customers) to a target website with only minimal investment in terms of time and money. This is especially more important nowadays with the volatile world economy and the ever- increasing number of competitors. So it is no wonder viral marketing tools such as tell a friend scripts are so hot today. If you are a web entrepreneur and are looking for a cheap yet highly effective way to market your business, you can try out tell a friend scripts. As its name implies, tell a friend scripts are computer language scripts that are embedded on a website which helps users "tell a friend" or make a referral about the website. The script usually looks like a button or online form which visitors can fill up with their personal details and recommendation to their email contacts. Once sent, the referral will appear as an e- mail message on their contact's inbox along with attached media such as links, pictures, or video related to the website. A key advantage of using tell a friend scripts is that is that it streamlines, if not encourages, the process of referring your website to other people. Instead of logging in to another browser window for the email client and composing an email, all the user has to do is to type in the message he or she wants and click send. But most importantly, the script incrementally increases awareness of your business to your public, doubling upon every referral. Most advanced scripts also have monitoring features which track how many recommendations were made using the script and how many people clicked the link on the email. Because it provides maximum yield with only minimal capital, tell a friend scripts are quite sought after especially amongst startup companies. However this does not mean that it guarantees success for the business. After all, a visitor to your website would not make a referral if the services you provide are substandard and unsatisfactory. Like all successful businesses, is only with high quality products and services that these scripts can work effectively.

If you are interested in earning online, there are two main methods of doing it. You can either earn by doing freelance jobs or you can do it by becoming a web- based entrepreneur. If you are highly proficient in some skills such as writing and programming, you can work online as freelance service provider. You can earn decent income by becoming a freelance service provider online. It has the advantage of flexibility and minimum overhead expenses. However, your potential income is limited by the amount of work that you can do. Online entrepreneurship is a better alternative if you want to leverage your earning potential. Using tell- a- friend software in affiliate marketing is one way of leveraging your income potential online. Leveraging is the method of multiplying your effort and reach without actually over- exhausting yourself. As a freelance service provider online, you can only leverage your effort by working faster and working longer. However, since you are working alone, your leverage is really very limited. If you hire somebody else or sub- contract, it is not anymore merely being a freelance service provider. You have transitioned into entrepreneurship. Although you may still do a lot of work, delegating your tasks to others will significantly increase your leverage. This is also the principle that operates in affiliate marketing with the aid of tell- a- friend software. Basically, affiliate marketing is an indirect approach to doing a business. Instead of promoting your own goods or services, you become a middleman or an agent for somebody else. You will be promoting somebody else's products in exchange of commissions. You simply have to place the affiliate links in your website and do the search engine optimization to assure steady and large traffic of visitors in your site. For every leads or referrals that you generate, you will be paid certain amount of commission. Incorporating tell- a- friend software in your affiliate marketing website will further increase your leverage.

Online marketing is very different from traditional marketing. Although it requires lesser amount of capital investment, it is more technical and requires personal attention. In most cases, a startup online business is an enterprise that is operated by only one person. All the initial works such as setting up a website, optimizing the website for search engine results, programming and maintenance, and marketing are all done by the owner of the online business. However, there tools such as the tell- a- friend scripts that can be used to automate the operation of an online business. The supervision and regular maintenance of the business operator can be minimized. Unlike traditional marketing, online marketing can be done even without direct human intervention. Traditional marketing relies on mass media to create product awareness and product demand. Advertising through newspapers, radio, and television is very effective in selling mass- produced consumer products but it requires big investment. This type of advertising can reach a large portion of the population but is dependent on "shotgun" approach. This means that it is not very precise in its strategy. On the other hand, automated online marketing strategies such as the tell- a- friend scripts are capable of generating new customers from an initially small group of people. Online marketing strategies that use tell- a- friend scripts are called viral marketing. It is called as such because of the way it spread. It can start from a single person or group and spread to capture a significant portion of a specific market. It also has a counterpart in offline marketing which is more commonly known as the word- of- mouth marketing. Aside from low cost and low maintenance, another advantage of viral marketing is its ability to capture a significant portion of a target market. This is because of the tendency of people who have common interests and needs to share information.

It is now very easy to create your own personal website. You do not even need to be highly skilled in programming or HTML to setup your own web page or website. You do not even need to spend a dime to setup and operate a simple homepage. There are many free platforms that you can use to build your own website. There are also various free templates that you can use to make your website more attractive. However, when it comes to serious online business, attractive templates are not as important as generating traffic. Some tell- a- friend scripts can help you in this aspect. If you are fond of social networking sites or blogging, you probably already realized the importance of link exchanges or bookmark exchanges. The popularity of your site will largely depend on how many people are able to conveniently find your site. If you have an online business, driving traffic to your site is your number one priority. Greater traffic volume means higher profit potential because some of your visitors will become your customers, clients, or subscribers. You can use tell- a- friend scripts in your site to instantly send messages to people in your contact list every time you update your site or you are doing a promotional campaign. You might be wondering what exactly are tell- a- friend scripts. If you are fond of using social networking sites such as Facebook or Hi5, you are already using the same scripts. These are the scripts that allow the social networking sites to send email messages every time there are updates. Now, you can include these scripts in your own site. There is no more need for manually sending email messages to your contacts every time you have a new product or promotional campaign. With the use of this viral marketing technique, you can literally spread your online marketing campaign like a virus.

Many small, startup online- businesses are using tell- a- friend scripts in their websites to have marketing leverage. The competition online is so stiff that the probability of success is very slim for most startup businesses. This is not only because of the existence of big players but also because of the existence of many small players that have identical products (goods and services) being offered. It is really easy to be lost in a crowd if a startup business looks just like everyone else. Marketing leverage is only very effective if a product is distinct and has a captured market niche. A market niche limits competition but requires focus. The leveraging power of tell- a- friend scripts is very effective within a market niche simply because they facilitate highly- focused marketing campaign. These scripts automate viral marketing campaigns by providing convenient means of importing referrals and sending auto- generated invitation emails. In this manner, people who share common interests, wants, and needs can easily share information about a product. The information can spread like a virus infecting a vulnerable population whose members are connected by specific social networks. A handful of the right type of leads can potentially bring a deluge of thousands of visitors and customers. The tell- a- friend scripts maximize the potential of social networks by providing fast and efficient means of spreading viral marketing campaigns. Commercial websites that use these scripts can attract continuous traffic of highly targeted visitors. This is because the geometrical expansion rate of viral campaign can be made faster and convenient. Visitors and customers simply have to provide their email login details. The scripts can automatically extract referrals and send personalized invitation letters in just matter of seconds. Hence, one visitor or customer can potentially bring tens or hundreds of new visitors who have similar wants and needs to those preceding them.