Some call it e-sneezing. Others call it viral marketing or consumer-generated marketing. Regardless of what you call it, involving you, the consumer, in the Internet selling process has become one of the most popular trends in online marketing. When you sneeze, you're expelling millions of particles at a speed of more than 100 feet per second. That kind of quick distribution is what some companies have achieved by using word of "mouse".

Take for example the largest web-based email provider in the world, Hotmail. In the first one and a half years, Hotmail signed up over 12 million users. Normally, a print publication might hope to reach a total of 100,000 subscribers within a few years of starting up. Yet, Hotmail signs up more than 150,000 users every day, seven days a week and now boasts 66 million users.

Every outgoing Hotmail e-mail includes the tagline "Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at www.hotmail.com. When you use Hotmail as your email address you become like a salesperson sending the word about the company all over the globe. On top of that, when you first sign up, you supply the company with personal information including your occupation and salary. Of course that information can be used to tailor advertising to your income level and personal interests. That's one way Hotmail makes money. And make money it does which is why, in 1997, Microsoft was willing to buy Hotmail for $400 million US.

Viral marketing often means that, as a consumer, you get things for free. There are many sites that offer you free greeting cards [www.regards.com], free web page storage and tools to build your page [www.geocities.com], free software [www.completelyfreesoftware.com/], and many other kinds of freebees [www.alottafreebies.com/]. When you send your greeting card, you indirectly advertise for the company that makes the cards. When Geocities hosts your webpage, it gets free advertising every time someone visits your page. Sometimes, you can be expected to do a bit of promotion for a product before you can have it for free. In some cases you cannot access the free item unless you first agree to sign on some friends. Other times you might have to subscribe to a newsletter to access your free product. That subscription means you will receive advertising directly into your online mailbox.

Getting things for free can be great for the consumer. It can also be a good business tactic. Sometimes, the free online product or service acts as a loss leader, to get the consumer to buy other products from within a family of products. Take for example the two competitive Internet browsers Netscape [home.netscape.com/] and Internet Explorer [www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/]. In 1994, when Netscape was first released, you could download it for free if you were going to test it or use it for educational purposes. Netscape became a popular browser even though most people didn't pay for it in the end. In 1995, Microsoft finally caught on and decided it would have to outsmart Netscape if it was going to get consumers to convert to its product. So, unlike Netscape, Internet Explorer was marketed as completely free. That strategy worked and, today, Internet Explorer controls over 90 percent of the browser market.

Netscape and Internet Explorer also make money through advertising on their sites. If you don't mind receiving ads, then you can get some free software in what is called "sponsored mode" as opposed to "paid mode". You get free content on television because you are willing to sit through ads for products and services. In the same way, you can get free versions of software such as the popular email management software Eudora [www.eudora.com/sponsoredmode/registration/]. To get it for free, you will have to put up with advertising banners on your Eudora screen at all times.

When on the Internet, do as the Internet does. And the Internet tends to do very much its own thing. It's a trend setter. The new trend of viral marketing can often mean free access to products and services for the consumer. That kind of sneezing may be contagious but, for now at least, it appears to be doing us more good than harm.

Previously published in The Express 06/01
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