The theory behind the Six Degrees of Separation is that all people on earth can be connected together in as little as six steps.
The concept was made fun in the 1990′s, with the creation of The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (oracleofbacon.org) – which is a website that documents how nearly all actors in Hollywood can be connected to Kevin Bacon through no more than six people. I played with the site earlier today and the Hollywood actors and actresses I tested all connected to Kevin Bacon in only two steps… That was interesting. Even Lucille Ball connected to Kevin Bacon in only two steps.
Now, I know what you might be thinking at this juncture… That sounds fun and interesting, but what does that have to do with Internet Marketing?
Great question.
Undertakers and Wedding Planners know something that most people do not realize. With a few exceptions like Michael Jackson and Billy Mayes, most people will only have up to 300 people attend their wake or wedding. As a result, the average undertaker and wedding planner will only bring 300 chairs to the festivities.
That’s neat… But what does this have to do with Internet Marketing?
Great question. 
If you really have 300 friends and you can tell them about your business, and your 300 friends share your business message with their 300 friends, then in very short order, you will have communicated your business’ sales message to 90,000 people!
If only your friends, friends would tell their friends about your business, then your message will have reached 27 million people!
At this point, your friends’ friends’ friends would only need to tell 222 of their own friends about your business, in order to have every person on this planet know your name and what your business could do for them.
But, what does this have to do with Internet Marketing ?!?
Great question.
The good news about your business begins with you. You must tell people about your business with energy and gusto. If you advertise your business with energy and enthusiasm, then your friends may be willing and able to share your message with their friends, and on and on…
But if you keep your mouth shut around your friends… You will never be able to reap the benefits of the Six Degrees of Separation!
Getting people to talk about your business always begins with your own enthusiasm for your business – enthusiasm about how you can help others achieve their goals and solve their problems.
If you are embarrassed to tell your friends about your business, then there must be something wrong! If you are embarrassed, why are you in that business?
Bring enthusiasm to your advertising, and show people how you can help them to achieve their goals and solve their problems. In doing so, you will attract people to your business by the boatload.
My primary website has 20,000 unique visitors come to it each and every month. The average person reads 8 pages when they land on my website.
My website does as it should. It shows people how I can help them achieve their goals and to help them solve their problems. Because of this fact, my website continues to grow on its own, even in months where I don’t have the time to continue build on my advertising momentum.
Although my advertising has been successful and my enthusiasm remains palpable, I can assure you of one more thing… I could not have done it without my friends…
About one year ago, we conducted an internal audit of my business. What I learned is that after Google search engine traffic, my second highest source of regular, monthly traffic was a large number of my online friends/acquaintances who were recommending my business to their friends and acquaintances!
Dozens of my online friends are sharing the story of my business with all of their online friends. A few dozen might seem to be a low number, but to be honest, not all of my friends are into online marketing. The majority of my friends do not realize the freedom offered to me by my business… Sure they know that I haven’t held an outside job in four years, but they don’t quite understand how I do it or why I do it.
To this day, I have one friend who calls me once a week to tell me about the job openings he has discovered in the course of his week… For the first year or so, I told him every time that I was happy doing what I am doing and I would not be applying for those jobs. These days, I just thank him for sharing the information with me.
I have been operating an online business since 2001. Before 2001, I thought I was operating an online business, but the IRS says that if you don’t make money with your business, it is a hobby. I hobbied for a number of years, then I wrapped my head around how to successfully advertise my business. For the first four years of my business, I worked a 60-hour per week job, then I went home and worked my business until I collapsed from exhaustion.
Then in March 2005, my online income had topped my offline income for more than twelve months, so I took the dive and quit my job. I have never looked back.
If you can bring yourself to wrap your head around how to successfully advertise your business online, then you could very well join me and my online marketing friends, associates and customers as full-time online business owners.
Getting the word out about your business is the first step, and whether you know it or not, your friends can help you, but only when you are willing to help yourself by displaying a very real confidence and belief in your business and your products and services.
Editor’s Note: This article previously published here.
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My name is Bill Platt. If you enjoyed this article and found it useful, then you will love my newest ebook titled, “How To Use Article Marketing To Positively Impact Your SEO Efforts”. It is 70-pages of hard-hitting information about how to make your article marketing truly profitable: http://thephantomwriters.com/ebooks/article-marketing-seo.html Or, you can get warmed up with my free “Article Marketing: Beyond The Basics” ebook at: http://thephantomwriters.com/ebooks/advanced-article-marketing.html
Read more articles written by Bill Platt
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