I always hated the term Viral Marketing. Although a very descriptive term, it gives me visions of someone in bed, ice pack on head, thermometer in mouth, red nose. Why a red nose? Don't know, that's my vision.

Ripple Marketing. Ah! Much better. My vision there is of a young lad wearing overalls and a straw hat. He carries a homemade fishing pole over his shoulder with one hand and with the other he carries his prized worms. It is a beautiful sunny day in spring and he is whistling a happy tune. He picks up a pebble, throws it in the pond and, mesmerized, he watches the ripples as they grow wider and wider, as if expanding throughout the universe. Yes, this is Ripple Marketing.

Our world has changed so very much in just the past ten years and continues to do so at a rapid pace. The way we do business has changed. Faced with the uncertainty of life itself, people yearn for those elusive commodities of long ago, Friendship and Trust.

Selling your wares at face value has become a thing of the past. Now, you must prove yourself. You must show yourself to be trustworthy. Another term that I hear a lot is relationship marketing, but being the incurable romantic that I am, I will choose to call it Ripple Marketing.

It seems that with the turn of the century, life itself took on a new meaning. I now see people yearning for security and comfort, and this comes through in everything they do, including in the way they choose things. This means that, not only must your product be worthy of their choice, but you must build a relationship and earn your customer's trust.

Although this may tend to put marketing in a different, more complicated light, in reality, what it does is enhance your own life. People are now wiser, or maybe I should say that they are more sensitive to the real person, the real you. There are so many areas of their lives that cannot be controlled, that they are very particular about those very personal areas that can be protected. When you market to someone you are entering one of those most intimate areas.

Ripple marketing is also a growing experience for the marketer, as the novice will learn that to market their services, to market their wares, they will need to build relationships, they will need to be trustworthy. Those who go into this business merely with the dream of getting rich quick, of making money while they sleep, will find that they will fail.

The novice will have quite a bit of learning to do and they may stumble a few times, having to get up and dust themselves off in order to continue. However, once the foundation for that relationship is set in place and as the relationship grows, business will flourish.

For the marketer to become successful, a sturdy foundation must first be built. Flow with the growth of your business, don't be in a hurry. And by all means, do not get discouraged. Make perseverance and determination your two best friends. You will find that, before you know it, your business will be flourishing. But once your business is successful, and you are busy going through your daily routine, you will realize that your customers and colleagues will be nothing less than one big caring and happy family. They will be a family that continually grows like ripples expanding throughout the universe.

Luella May 2006