How much are you worth? Find out with The Viral Loop [closed]

Here’s how it works: you read a book you enjoy and you tell a friend. That friend tells another friend, the next friend tells the next, and so on and so forth, until the book becomes that year’s word-of-mouth bestseller. That first recommendation gives birth to many. Simple.

The concept of pass-it-on is not so new and not so revolutionary – think Tupperware parties – that is, until forward-thinking Web companies got hold of it and created their own, mightily efficient, money-spinning model known as the Viral Loop: the ability to grow a company exponentially because the customers themselves spread it. Super simple.

Outfits such as Google, eBay, Flickr and Facebook all employ the model at the core of their business; all have seen their stock valuations skyrocket within years of forming. The genius lies in the model’s reliance on replication: what’s the point of using Facebook if none of your friends can see your profile, or using Flickr if you can’t share your photos? Where’s the joy in posting a video on YouTube if no one watches it? Thus, in creating a viral product that people want, best advertising is often no advertising at all. Penenberg masterfully explains how this works with case studies of products that were designed to spread.

In this ground-breaking work, the first to analyze this paradigm-busting phenomenon, we are introduced to the architects of the Viral Loop and the companies which profit from its mechanics. Insightful, timely and revelatory, it will reveal the secrets behind the most successful businesses in recent history, and will explain how the Loop will catch you up, sooner rather than later.

Find out how much you’re worth with the Viral Loop widget

Facebook wouldn’t be Facebook if it weren’t for hundreds of millions of users like you. Like Twitter, YouTube, MySpace and Flickr, Facebook leverages the power of social networks to derive its value. The more active you (and your friends) are, the more you are worth to them. You have value. Find out how much you and your friends are worth on Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/viralloop

Win a copy of The Viral Loop

We have seven copies of The Viral Loop to give away – but because it’s a title all about viral marketing, we can’t just ask you a question and pull names out of a hat, we need to do something viral! All you have to do is tell us the e-mail addresses of three people who you think would like to know about Bookhugger – we will send them an e-mail inviting them to have a look at the site and find out more about The Viral Loop. They won’t be added to our mailing list unless they opt-in, and they will be in with a chance to win too.

No more submissions accepted at this time.

Terms and conditions

Closing date for entries: 7th December 2009.
Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
The winners will be selected at random from those valid entries received before the closing date.
For an entry to be considered valid it must have three well-formed e-mail addresses, none of which may be the same as the e-mail address of the entrant.
Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookhugger. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Bookhugger website after the closing date of the competition.
The competition is not open to Bookhugger employees and their families, or to employees of Bookhugger publishers and their families.
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