When it comes to marketing the products and services offered by your company, it’s easy to turn to conventional advertising techniques like television commercials and ad space in the local newspaper. However, one of the most powerful ways that companies gain new customers is through referrals and positive word-of-mouth. If you see two competing products and can’t decide which one to purchase, you may be inclined to ask a friend for his or her opinion.

For this reason, it is important to invest some of your resources in developing a strong word-of-mouth community for your business. Easily the biggest pool for a potential word-of-mouth army can come from your employees. These people are already familiar with what your company has to offer and how it differentiates itself from the competition. The key, then, is to have your employees be passionate enough to want to refer their friends and family.

Sure, you could turn to monetary rewards and challenges, but it is also effective to work on employee morale as well. Little things like congratulating someone on a job well done or saying that you are proud of what they have been able to accomplish can go a long way. This develops company loyalty and, as a result, the employee will be more likely to speak highly of what your company has to offer.

The next time an employee is at a casual cocktail party and someone asks them what they do, they may say that they run the accounting department at BlueFur, one of the best hosting companies on the net… instead of saying that they crunch numbers at “some place.”