I shared a bit of news with a friend a few days ago. I told her that I’m pregnant. Unplanned, but sometimes babies like to beat the odds.

What amazed me was how fast word got out. A few days later the father of one of my daughter’s friends asked me about it. The girls had been friends in preschool but were now separated. The friend I told was the mother of a kindergarten friend.

Makes me really curious as to the path the rumor took. So far as I know, those two people don’t know each other.

I don’t mind word getting out that way, but I did find it amusing.

If only it were that simple to get word of mouth marketing going for a business. As a rule, it’s not. How many products get people talking the way word of a coming baby does? How many blog posts do that?

Of course, it can be done. That’s the whole idea of viral marketing. You create something that people want to talk about, that they want to share with all their friends.

It’s quite the challenge, although you can take a look at the various social media sites and see things that have taken off well in that area. These are a little different from things that get talked about in the real world but similar principles do apply.

Humor can work. Then again, it can fail miserably. That’s just how it goes. But people like to laugh and if you can make them do that they may tell their friends.

Extremely useful items also get talked about. That’s what gets people going on about their favorite new gadgets or even a cleaning product that works really well.

Engaging people’s enthusiasm matters. People are generally enthusiastic about babies, whether they be their own or someone else’s. Think about what really gets you really enthusiastic.

It’s not easy to get people to talk about your business but you can do it. Look at things from the customer’s view and figure out what there is to rave about to other people.