IKMA news, stock and chatter increasing
iKarma Inc.: Viral Marketing Pandemic Unleashed
Apr 19, 2006 11:15:00 AM
JUPITER, FLORIDA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/19/06 -- iKarma mixes Viral Marketing and Social Networking with Word-of-Mouth and Reputation Management.
"The art and science of marketing is changing", says Paul Williams CEO of iKarma Inc, (PINK SHEETS:IKMA) "Unfortunately millions of good small businesses are being left behind". Publications like Business Week, INC, Forbes, Business 2.0, Fast Company and Wired may regularly feature companies using cutting edge marketing techniques, but average readers interested in actually implementing those ideas are often left frustrated and confused. To enable small business owners around the world to actually join this marketing revolution, iKarma has combined several of today's most powerful marketing concepts into a single easy to use online tool.
Get Viral and Sticky, RSS Linked and Web 2.0 Clique
iKarma combines reputation management, business networking, viral and word of mouth marketing with a healthy dose of Web 2.0 interconnectivity to create a marketing tool that can be used by almost any business, no matter how large or small. Let's take a look at how iKarma combines these powerful components:
- Reputation Management
Vendors who sell products through Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) have proven the economic value of giving consumers an easy way to check a seller's reputation. iKarma breaks the reputation manager free from the confines of traditional closed auction and shopping websites and allows any business to reap the benefits of capturing customer comments and ratings. iKarma then adds a conflict resolution system to help handle temporary misunderstandings, and a feedback system so iKarma users can add comments to each review. This whole system is then optimized so iKarma user profiles rank high on search engines like Google (PINK SHEETS:IKMA) and Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO). Finally, iKarma lists users in its own directory where businesses are listed by the reputations they earn, rather than the money they pay.
- Business/Social Networking
People are connecting and communicating like never before. Consumers trust the opinions of other consumers, and the opinion of a trusted source trumps every other form of advertising. The public fascination with networking can be seen in the rapid growth of social networks like Flickr and MySpace, and with business networks like LinkedIn and Ryze. To help iKarma users join in this consumer-centric revolution, every iKarma profile features an advanced network viewer making it easy to identify and connect with trusted businesses through multiple degrees of separation. The iKarma network viewer incorporates an advanced visual "mind map" interface (ex. www.ikarma.com/user/networkviewer.asp?userid=1) that makes exploring these interconnections a fun, easy and visual experience.
- Viral Marketing
iKarma was designed from the ground up to be intensely viral. Every iKarma user is guided through an automated process to add iKarma seals to their email, website and other online and offline communications. Every iKarma reviewer is given the option to forward their review to others who might have an interest, and every iKarma profile contains a tell-a-friend feature to spread this awareness even further. Search engine optimization ensures iKarma profiles come up when anyone searches on an iKarma users name or business, and/or when a search is done on the name or business of anyone who has left a review. iKarma users even get viral exposure by reviewing others. For example, let's say John posts a review on iKarma about the great work that Cindy did for him. When Cindy tells others about her iKarma profile, or when John's review of Cindy comes up in an online search for her, John's review gets seen in addition to Cindy's. Any of these people may now check out John's Profile. So, indirectly, John has spread his own iKarma by simply reviewing other good service providers. This makes iKarma a powerful source of indirect referrals, and a great way to benefit by giving to others.
- Word-of-Mouth
Word of mouth is so powerful that it trumps every other form of advertising. But Word of mouth suffers from two weaknesses. First, most consumers have a relatively small circle of friends and family with which they share and exchange information. Second, the short attention span of the general public gives word of mouth a limited window of time before consumers start talking about something else. iKarma breaks through both of these limitations. By making customer comments available online in written form, a single iKarma review can be used to influence thousands of prospects anywhere in the world. iKarma enables word of mouth to transcend both time and distance.
- Web 2.0
iKarma has been diligently working with the Web 2.0 community to incorporate Web 2.0 features and open architecture. iKarma profiles can be cross linked with a user's other online profiles to establish an overlapping web of identify. These cross links could include a user's eBay profile, social network profile or personal blog or website. iKarma incorporates tagging so users can tag their own profile as well as that of any individual review. RSS feeds of iKarma profiles are available in multiple configurations and the popular iKarma Network Viewer can be embedded in to any website. iKarma is currently accepting applications from beta testers for its upcoming API.
iKarma, Positioned for Growth
Favorable reviews of iKarma have recently appeared in C/NET News, PBS and across the web in various reviews by Bloggers, the Web 2.0 community and even a few Venture capitalists. But iKarma is designed to grow all on its own.
Every aspect of iKarma that helps our users build and spread their own reputation also helps build and spread awareness of iKarma itself. Every iKarma user who writes or requests a review, and every iKarma user who adds an iKarma seal to their email, blog or website, helps spread public awareness of iKarma to new users. Our free basic (advertising supported) service combined with an easy upgrade path to our (planned) advanced paid service, will ensure that iKarma is positioned for viral growth while preserving a workable revenue model.
To ensure maximum media exposure, iKarma has built a tag based media alert system that allows Bloggers and writers from various industry trade publications to monitor what consumers are saying about businesses in the industry they cover. iKarma is literally a story generator, and this new feature should become a gold mine of story ideas for business writers as it spreads public awareness of iKarma. Our terms of service give writers free permission to quote from any iKarma review as long as iKarma.com is credited as the source. Bloggers and writers interested in talking with us about how trust and reputation influence their readers can contact us at anytime for interviews and additional information.
All posts that are authored by me are my opinions after my own careful due diligence and not to be taken as investment advice. Please due you own dd prior to making any investment that i may mention.
