Going Viral?

A virus only lives if its host continues to live. It's sole duty is to reproduce and spread to other hosts. Viruses by nature are built to weaken and eventually kill the host if they themselves are not eradicated, weakened or made dormant. To remain viral a virus must stay true to it's nature and continuously spread; however, fundamental problems exist as the notion of "going viral" is applied to business strategy.

In the true sense of the phrase, "going viral" doesn't seem to be a very reliable means of continued success. When living out it's manifesto the virus will repeatedly encounter two different scenarios:

1. Hosts will increasingly become immune as anti-viruses are produced. (competition)

2. Virus will reach maximum penetration, leaving itself no other place to spread. Eventually it

will die off as a result of it's own success. (unbalanced growth)

If one intends to achieve continued success as a viral business, they must take a step backwards to become the creator of viruses; not the virus itself. Viruses are made of DNA and RNA. A RNA virus is more effective in this case because it uses the DNA of the host to replicate itself. In other words, create thing's your "host" or prospective consumer will except, use and help spread. Once your virus is being spread on it's own, step away and allow the host to regain its strength or simply stop marketing your "thing" to them. At this point, you should focus your energy on producing a new RNA virus that will be compatible with your previous creation. Doing this will allow you to effective target the hosts that except and replicate your virus the fastest while leaving the rest of the population open for growth.

At this point we would love to leave you with a fantastic, life altering conclusion but unfortunately we couldn't come up with one. Hopefully we made a compelling argument for an alternative "viral" model. Check back with us soon....maybe we'll figure out a way to write a blow your mind conclusion for this entry.