Viral marketing is an excellent and inexpensive way to get people talking about your blog. The primary component to viral marketing is people talking about something, anything, that will guide people to your website for more information. This technique is not as new as some people seem to think and print magazines have been using the power of viral marketing to sell issues and subscriptions for years. There is no reason that you cannot use this power to get more readers for your blog.

Here are 5 excellent viral marketing tips from print magazines that you can follow to gain more exposure and higher readership for your blog.

#1. Get People Talking About You

One way that print magazines have grown in popularity is by getting people to talk about the magazines themselves. For instance, many newscasts include phrases like, “according to a U.S. News and World Reports article…” or “People magazine reports that…” As long as the magazines continue to gain people’s attention and make them talk about the articles written between their covers, they will sell subscriptions.

With an internet blog, the story is no different. Set your blog up with quick ways for people to share your post on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and other social networking sites where there will be more sharing and discussion of your post. Post your blog articles on your own profiles for these sites and see how your own friends can help you get the word out.

Word of mouth is critical to viral marketing, remember this the next time your are writing a post for your blog.

#2. Go Against the Grain

Don’t be afraid to be controversial! If possible, use a controversial headline that will make your readers take a second look before they even start reading the article. Most people read only a few sentences before deciding if an article or post is worth sharing. Do whatever it takes to make them share your posts!

#3. Have Guest Posters

Many a print magazine will feature a celebrity writer or feature a celebrity on their cover in order to get the attention of the celebrity’s fans. Why not try this yourself. See if you can get someone well known or popular to contribute to your blog. This will bring people to your blog to read the contributors post. It will most likely end with them looking at what else you have to offer. You can gain a lot of readership this way.

#4. Talk About Popular Culture

Regardless of whether your blog is about popular culture or not, if you are able to talk about the hottest movies, music and artists you will get people interested in reading what you have to say. It’s even better if you can combine your blog’s topic with an artist or band to create a potentially viral post, eg. The Ten Most Tricked Out Cars From 50 Cents Videos. Another example are the Harry Potter movies or the Star Wars movies. There are entire sections of the population who will seek out anything they can find about these movies prior to their release. Perhaps your blog will get discovered if you are able to post something interesting about an upcoming or newly released film.

#5. Forget Gimmicks

High quality viral marketing is a result of people talking about you, not about some gimmick you tried on your blog just to get their attention. High quality means that they will keep talking about you and not only talk about your gimmick until someone else does something cooler. Print magazines don’t do gimmicks. They offer content in their subject area and they are straightforward in how they offer that content. Following this rule of thumb is a good idea. Advertising gimmicks are just that, a gimmick. What you are looking for is a way to develop a following of people who talk about you and share your blog with their friends and family members.

Make an impact on your readers and let them make an imprint on their friends that will send them straight to your blog. This is the technique of viral marketing. It is a very effective technique if you know how to make it work for you. You can save a tremendous amount of money and time if you can develop a viral following. Print magazines have been using these five techniques for a very long time and they always manage to get their issues flying off the shelf. Reading your blog doesn’t cost your readers a penny, and that gives you a solid advantage. You can get people talking and keep them talking, sometimes through your own prodding and sometimes just by the quality content and smashingly successful headlines that you craft to catch your readers’ attention.

Most of us sit in front of a computer a lot, so clicking Google is a lot faster than finding — then flipping through — the phone book. Not to mention you can’t enlarge the font in the phone book, like you can in your browser. (How? Click CTRL and the + sign of your numeric keypad.)

So it’s no surprise that telecommunications companies in many states are getting the OK to discontinue printing and distributing those dusty old relics of a bygone era. Even the phone companies themselves admit that most people now use the Internet rather than letting their fingers do the walking when they want to reach out and touch someone.

That’s also why it’s essential for your small business to have a website today.

Footnote: Ironically, today is the last day of operation for Google’s free 411 alternative, 1-800-Goog.

As a panelist, my topic was the importance and benefits of having a business website — especially visibility and credibility. I also spoke about Search Engine Optimization’s strengths (and weaknesses).

I explained that a website is a valuable sales tool that can help potential customers get to know, like and trust you — then hopefully become happy, repeat customers who send loads of referrals your way. It’s best used as the “hub” of your other marketing, both online and offline.

I displayed some of the many ways a small business can benefit from a website, using as examples websites I’ve created for local clients, like Indigo Organic Salon for Hair, Joseph Barnett Photography, and Safe Haven Humane Society’s blog.

I was joined on the panel by Blake Baldwin and Lee Cote of Video Creations, who expertly handled all the sound and video for the event. Blake said some very complimentary things about my work and this blog. (I guess I fooled him!) Also by Ralph OBrien of Customized Computer Design, and Bill Griffith of Griffith Technology.

Thanks also to Paulette Millette of York County Community College, who emceed the workshop, and Angus Macaulay and Charlie Galloway of the Kennebunk Economic Development Committee for the invitation.

PS: Need someone to speak about Internet Marketing, Web Design and/or SEO Copywriting to your group? Contact me!

II. Thou shalt honor thy customers worries and problems, for that is what keepeth them awake at night.

III. Thou shalt focus thy copy on the customer, not thyself. Show them how you can help them end their wailing and gnashing of teeth, and thou willst be an answer to their prayers.

IV. Thou shalt not glorify thyself by making empty promises thou cannot keep. Indeed, thou shall back up thy promises with proof: case studies, testimonials, etc., of how how thou hast helped others like them in the past. In other words, thou shall put up or shut up.

V. Thou shalt not bore thy visitors, who art afflicted with a short attention span. Thou shalt trim the fat.

VI. Thou shalt ask for thy visitors’ e-mail addresses and permission to follow up in the future. But thou shalt not browbeat them with over-aggressive or over-frequent missives.

VII. Thou shalt offer value in exchange for their e-mail addresses. This may taketh on many forms, including expert guidance within thy field of endeavor. (Stone tablets optional.)

VIII. Thou shalt optimize thy website for the great god Google, lest thy website be cast into the wilderness and ignored by those searching for thy goods and services. Ditto for the lesser deities, Bing and Yahoo. Yea verily, these are false gods, but hey, business is business.

IX. Thou shalt optimize the layout of thy copy to pleaseth the eye of thy reader. This meaneth headings and subheads, wide margins, white space and bullet lists. Banish thy clutter to the dark, unspeakable places.

X. Thou shalt not bully, browbeat, or hard-sell thy beloved customer. Rather, thou shalt partner with them, embrace their problems as thine own, and help them achieve their goals.

When she says quick and easy, she isn’t kidding. To get rolling, just answer seven simple questions (which you should already know the answers to) and you’re on your way:

1. Describe your ideal customer and what’s important to him/her.
2. What do you want your marketing plan to accomplish?
3. What competitive advantage do you have that will make it easy for them to choose you?
4. What will you offer your customer that will make them choose you?
5. How will you build a relationship with your customers?
6. How will you measure success?
7. What resources will you need to help you get there?

We’re all visual people to one extent or another, so one of Ivana’s best tips is finding a photo that most closely represents your Ideal Customer. Then create a collage, magazine cover or vision board around them, showing the things that are most important to them. Keep it in front of you and refer to it frequently while creating your marketing materials. Make sure what you’re writing has real meaning and value for your IC.

Read the complete article for additional inspiration.