Not all people tell the truth, so it’s unlikely that everything you read on the web is going to be fact. To counter that, especially when in connection with something as ethereal as word of mouth information, listed here are a number of statistic’s and sources that you (if you so desire) can check for accuracy at your leisure.

1. Family and friend recommendations are more infuential when giving out word of mouth information (AdAge).

2. Traffic to a site that posts reviews will typically return to that site nine times, and are twice as likely to purchase from that website than others (source: McKinsey and Co.Jupiter Media Metrix).

3. Consumers trust close friends more than experts or even celebrity endorsements (65%, 27% and 8%, respectively; Yankelovich).

4. A Nielsen worldwide study of some 26,000 users in over 40 markets reported that consumer recommendations were the most credible form of word of mouth information advertising within the 70% plus of respondents.

5. The figure is enourmous, 116 million user generated content was made in the U.S. alone in 2008, with an additional 82 million content creators. With the extended reach and influence of Web 2.0 and social networking, these figures are sure to climb (source: eMarketer.com).

6. Social network users are three times more likely to purchase a product or service on the strength of a recommendation from an associate or friend rather than any other form of advertising. (the source: Jupiter Research).

7. 86% of people asked said they trust a friend’s recommendation over the experts, with 83% saying they trust user generated comments over a critic’s (Marketing Sherpa).

8. 66% of social networkers are more inclined to purchase due to a recommendation, compared to 52% that aren’t social networkers (Royal Mail home shipping tracker).

9. 81% of holiday shoppers read through user reviews prior to purchasing (Nielsen Online).

10. Consumers totaling 86% read reviews on businesses before buying, with over 90% saying that they trust those reviews (Kudzu.com).

11. 49% of shoppers stated that they have made many of their purchases based solely on the strength of consumer reviews. Of this total 53% bought on the strength of user reviews;48% by comparison charts;41% due to editorial reviews and comments;58% due to shared shopping lists.

12. Nearly two thirds (62%) of home-based consumers browsed on line user generated product reviews before making a purchase (Deloitte and Touche) with 62% stating that they would also browse sites with user reviews in order to make entertainment purchases (Marketing Sherpa).

13. 7 out of 10 people who read consumer generated news and reviews are highly likely to share those opinions, which amplifies the impact (Deloitte and Touche).

14. 74% of surveyed consumers state they base purchasing on user generated reviews of their customer rating for a product or company (Society of New Communication Research).

As you can see, word of mouth information coming from trusted sources such as friends, consumers, etc. is the most powerful form of advertising.

Endless referrals are possible for anyone with the advent of the Internet. Endless referrals mean for you that you have an exponentially growing business which is constantly making you more and more money while you do relatively little in order to get all that business.

There are essentially two methods of using the Internet to generate endless referrals: viral marketing and affiliate marketing. Viral marketing is essentially exclusive to the Internet. Affiliate marketing has been around for a long time, but is made easier and more powerful by the Internet.

Affiliate marketing might be difficult to make work for you if you are offering a product in a niche market. However, if you are offering a product or service that has broad appeal, such as teaching everyday people how to make serious money with minimal risk by investing in e-mini futures contracts on the stock market, then affiliate marketing will work wonders for you.

With affiliate marketing, some of your customers will turn into individuals who send business to you. Once you have great affiliate marketers, they send you most of your new business while you sit back and reap the benefits of the knowledge and training you gave out. They could be paying you a tiny amount of all the new revenues; or, you could set it up so that you pay them a huge commission for every sale they get for you, the balance is yours. So, for instance, every time they sell one of your products for you at $100, they get $40 and you keep $60.

The most important thing with affiliate marketing is that you make it possible for the affiliates to duplicate your own business model exactly, even if they are not the entrepreneurial kind by their nature. You want to have literally thousands of ?offices? open that all run like your original one. A way to get affiliates working for you is to set up the opportunity and list it as a link on your site when starting your business.

With viral marketing, you will use the power of social networking on the Internet. This will work if you sell to a niche or not, and may work better in a niche. Viral marketing works on the premise that associates of people who become your customers will listen to their recommendations and want to deal with you. This is an effective assumption.

Viral marketing operations by your making use of sites like Digg, Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, Yahoo?s Buzz Up, and the ever growing array of other social bookmarking and networking sites to make yourself known in a relate-to-you oriented way rather than a sales and marketing way. People who understand your product offering and find it of interest will become a new customer. Then, they start blabbing to their friends about you, and send them to your website. After a time, your new sales (and repeat business) become effortless?for you are getting endless referrals.

Every entrepreneur would love the day to arrive when they don’t have to market their services any more because buyers come to them through their referral system. The reason that most people don't have great referral networks or develop referral systems is that they haven't yet learned how to ask. People are not mind readers, unless you ask them to refer other people who may be interested in what you have to offer; then you won't get a referral.

If a customer is pleased with your product or service and tells you so, then is the time to say thanks, if you know of anyone else who might also benefit from what I have to offer, then please give them my contact information. A tiny variation of this is I'm pleased you are happy, perhaps you know someone else who would like to pay off their second mortage.

The above is a perfect scenario, very often people are most happy with what they get, but because we don’t act straight away and ask them, the time has come and gone.Another great way of developing a referral system is with the thank you letter where you thank a person for their business and then end saying that you have enclosed two of your business cards for them to pass on to others.

There are occasions however, when the above methods of developing a referral system do not work, especially in the financial sector. The fact of the matter is that people vary rarely discuss their finances with others, and so wouldn't be sure who might be interested in the services that you have to offer. Keep in mind, there are a couple of approaches to compiling a referral system that are far more likely to work.

Successful business people have realized that it is a must to stay in touch with your clients by asking them if they would like to receive your monthly news letter. This will give them helpful financial tips and at the end you could ask if they know anyone else who might be interested in the information.

You should network with other companies in your area and send out a letter now to try and get people together on the same referral page. When people meet this way, they are far more likely to make referrals to your business. These things are proven methods of building a referral system, but it won’t happen in a day.

If you are going to build a great referral system that will still work in the future, then you need to not rush.

It takes a lot of time and energy to build a business from the ground up, especially if you do it on your own, this is why it helps to have a good referral network. Do not think of yourself as out there alone, why not think of some ways to create a network of people that you would prefer to refer business to then they, will be happy to refer to your company as well.

To build a great referral network takes some work in getting people you know well already to understand what you have to offer as far as products and services, then they can refer others to you. Once you have a good network there will be no more cold sales calls because a network will refer people to you. Once you have educated individuals close by, like clients, colleagues and professional friends. When these people know enough about your product then they will be able to direct others towards you.

As you start building a network, you may want to decide what you could offer as an incentive for people to refer friends and family to you. To begin, you should offer new individuals to the network a small referral fee for bringing in new people to your business. What motivates many sales people is the commission check that they receive at the end of the month, offering a referral fee will motivate people to refer more business onto you. A powerful referral network will do almost all of your marketing for you.

Don’t be afraid to ask. If a customer is really happy with your service, they are going to be pleased to assist you with referrals. If there is a discount or a referral fee at the end of it, then they will be even more delighted to help you out. If you want to increase your business and create a powerful network then you must be proactive. nstead of waiting for a referral to you, just get out there and ask for them, most people will lend a hand, especially when that help is reciprocated in some way.

I have found that whenever I face a strange situation, such as asking for referrals, it helps if I write out what I want to say and then practice saying it aloud until it sits comfortably with me. When people see that you are comfortable in asking for their help then they are often more than willing to give it and this is a good way of building up a powerful referral network.

If a client compliments you on your product or service then this is the time to ask them if there is anyone else they know who would benefit from what you have to offer. They will probably be more than happy to refer someone to you when they know that your product or service is what they are looking for. If you stick with it in this way, you will quickly have a powerful referral network that will increase your sales exponentially.