Socialist marketing? You MUST be kidding.

Okay, I'm kidding. "Socialist" is about the only thing that word of mouth marketing hasn't been called. Thanks to the Internet, we've coined terms such as "Social Media" and "Social Influence Marketing," but when you get right down to it, it's basically good old word of mouth. We have new tools for starting, shaping, and responding to the conversations, but the principles are the same:

• Create positive experiences for your customers and prospects
• Encourage them to spread the word

The challenge is in how you do it, and the answer is different for every business.