This myth is the major cause of failure for underfunded startup brands. I’ve heard many new business owners say that they don’t spend a penny on advertising or any other branding method because they’re waiting for “word-of-mouth” to kick in and build their brand. Years ago this was possible; in a small industry without a lot of brand competition or mass messaging, it didn’t take long for word to spread. Those days are over, though. With a different customer attitude and the many options available to the consumer, waiting for word-of-mouth to build their brands leads many businesses to shuttered doors. It’s a great way to increase business over time, but it isn’t something to base your business plan and success on. It isn’t proactive, and it simply doesn’t work in today’s competitive climate. It’s wishful thinking, not a realistic business plan.
Solution: A great way to build a list and incorporate word-of-mouth into your marketing is to launch a blog. They’re free to set up and, if used correctly, you’ll not only engage your potential customer, but you’ll also build loyalty and word-of-mouth. Blogs provide valuable content for your customer in your area of expertise. They’re excellent education and relationship-building tools.

I find this to be true on many levels. My dad (Tom Price) has always encouraged me to build a good customer base and use word of mouth as our marketing campaign. My dad owns an accounting firm in Nashville, TN called Price CPA’s and has built a very strong brand for his services, which has allowed for his company to find success in this way of marketing. For me, it was a struggle to find success in producing word of mouth sales without some incentives. We set up the blog, sent out Starbucks cards, had referral programs, etc – but never saw a huge reaction with our clientele. So what worked? Well what we had to do was find the people in the industry that were more experienced in the field we are in and picked their brains. We discovered that our brand was changing and first we needed to establish what our brand would be. After this we jumped into a few different campaigns and set up a network of people with our referral program, we began to find what worked for us.

My main points:
1.    Discover who you are and the product you sell
2.    Find the customers that would be most attracted to your services
3.    Test the market; find the medium you should be marketing
4.    Make the experience for the customer unforgettable

Thanks to Starr Hall specializes in PR, co-branding and licensing, online branding and building businesses worldwide through the power of social networking for the first part of this post.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/branding/webbrandingcolumniststarrhall/article201918.html