The Way Of The Webpreneur

Producers of products and services are slowly starting to recognize that what Consumer reports say about their products and services isn't nearly as crucial as what consumers say to each other about them. Therefore, we have the ballooning of viral marketing…..wordof-mouth…or buzz. And... We'll take 2 case studies as concrete proof. MSN Hotmail?s viral marketing success tale is practically in the domain of folk lore. Back in 95, when Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith approached the venture capital firm of Draper Fisher & Jervetson with their thought for a free e-mail service, the firm liked the theme but wondered how they'd draw in members and build a company around it. Nowadays there are more than thirty million participating members. The Hotmail user base developed faster than any media company in history; faster than CNN and AOL! Hotmail tripled its size in a single year. The present sign-up rate for new memberships frequently exceeds a 1000000 per week