Oh boy! We’re in for it. Someone finally found a concrete way to make money off of one the last great marketing system, word of mouth.

I’d love to hear what you think of this video clip. Did you think it was a pitch? Did you think it was marketing? Will you go to the MySpace link in it?

I didn’t know what I was watching at first. It smelled bad like all those late night TV advertisings catering to despair. It tasted like a blunt hyping commercial. When I got through a little more, I realized someone had reinvented the wheel and successfully marketed it.

All of my life I have worked on my own and started ventures globally, Europe, Japan and here. I never took out an ad. I never advertised because I knew what I do best, I talk to people, I connect. I’m hardwired this way. I’m a walking network. I meet people and the possibilities of partnering with them or partnering them with others percolate. People know me as who I am and clients have always come to me through referrals.

What works better than a friend referring a service or someone to you? Surely commercials cannot touch that. When traditional marketing companies realized they had pushed the envelop too far and lost credibility, they knew it was time for a new system. They were smart and realized they turned everyone off of mass advertising. It was time to cash in on word of mouth.

So there are companies out there that sit down and get people excited about services and get those same people to do what worked well before, concerted word of mouth.

That’s one thing that worried me a little. People like me rely on word of mouth. What will happen now that many could start referring while doing marketers’ dirty jobs. The answer is very simple. Ask why. Ask people to explain why they are referring someone. Ask specifics. What was good about the service? What was unique about the person?

The video had some great point, it informed us that 1 out of 8 U.S. household has a home based business. The video was tauting how working on your own is great, simple and easy. This is where I disagree. First, working on your own requires a special kind of person. Virginia for instance would not want to work on her own, preferring the stability of an office. I, on the other hand would feel claustrophobic going to the same place every day. The video was saying how everyone can do it. I disagree and I feel it is doing a disservice. Have you ever seen someone who went to work on their own for the wrong reasons? Wrong reasons are, wanting to work when you want, how you want. A lot of them end up not happy at all if not broke. Working on your own means you are independent and have many ideas about business ventures and how to run them. It’s more of a virus than wanting to feel free. And most of all, working on your own is not freedom. You are the Chairman and CEO, I agree, but you are the assistant, the clerk, the telephone operator, the middle manager, and everything in between. It is hard work on your own and it takes a lot of discipline.

Oh boy, what will they think of next…