In classic marketing techniques, referrals are limited. You can ask your customers to refer you, but unless you're willing to pay them substantial referral fees, the odds that they will refer you are spotty. Human nature is that most people won't do something unless there's something in it for them. On the Internet, however, you can literally have armies of people referring you, and they might not even be your customers! All you have to do is know how to exploit the digital word of mouth.
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By Gama Seva

Even so, you may have to coax that 80% a little more to buy your stuff. They are a picky lot who may decide to research other online stores before they buy. In classic marketing, you would have a staff person attending to that customer to find out what they need and then matching his/her need to some product or service the company sells. Online, there are no virtual sales attendants, so how are you going to guide people without having to hire someone to man a phone line?...

By Gama Seva

Classic marketing is mostly geared towards the idea that 80% of sales come from 20% of top customers. That's called the 80/20 rule. That's why when you walk into two different stores in a mall, they may have slightly different merchandise, but often it is very similar. They are trying to market to the mass of people whose tastes are mainstream and easy to predict, leaving less room for variety and innovation.

In a recession, the 80/20 rule becomes so overwhelming...