This week’s vein of online ore can be found at www.groupon.com

Groupon provides a service for vendors and customers alike, by making group discounts more accessible to the general public.  Every day Groupon offers a group discount in the form of a special coupon that only “activates” if enough people sign up to meet the requirements specified by the vendor.

For the consumer this means a chance at great discounts on wonderful services, a chance which improves when they tell their friends, but which comes with no risk if the offer falls through.

For the vendor, Groupon …

What is it about an online article that makes people forward it on to their acquaintances?  Is it a feel good story? Practical advice? The unexpected?

According to a recently concluded study of the New York Times  all three play a factor, but the most important element is whether or not a story can evoke a feeling of awe.

There is no science to evoking awe, but there are some patterns that you can look for.

• Does your writing evoke a feeling of vastness, that there is something greater than you and your reader?
• Does your article tell the reader …
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Web browsers have …

Viral marketing, it sounds like a bad thing, doesn’t it? I know that the fist time I heard someone refer to viral marketing I thought they were talking about an unhealthy cross of a virus and adware.

Before I go any further, let me define a few terms.

• A virus is a malicious piece of code that can copy itself into a computer without the permission or knowledge of the user.
• Adware is any software package that automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements.
• Viral marketing is neither of these.

Viral marketing actually refers to any marketing techniques that make use of existing social networks …