Carnival of Entrepreneurship Is Up

Ben Yoskovitz is performing host duties at StartUpSpark. Jack has an entry up with The Dude as the back story.

Salesmen are

best promotersWhile visiting, be sure to read Wayne Huber on customer referrals.

Referral business is often called word of mouth advertising. More recently, the term viral marketing has been applied to the age old concept. In the end, it’s getting a happy customer to help you sell your products or services. In fact, it’s the cheapest sales force that a business can ever cultivate, as it’s almost free.

Surprisingly, referrals are one of the least used sales and marketing techniques around. Sure, you’ll hear many business owners ask their customers if any other people would be interested in the offered products and services. You might even have said the same tired old line yourself. It’s time to change your tune.

In the non-profit fund-raising business, we call this friend-raising. Be sure to read Wayne’s entire column.