Petitions have the potential to go viral simply because the issues surrounding petitions are often emotionally charged.

People sign them and pass them to their friends to sign them… especially if the issue is very important to them.

Let me give you an example…

Example: In 2007, United States football player Michael Vick was accused of cruelty to animals since he was running a dog fighting ring (he was subsequently convicted). At the time, people were enraged by his actions.

So what do you suppose happened?

That’s right, petitions flew around the Internet – raging from petitions to the NFL to suspend him immediately, to petitions requesting that he get the maximum punishment. And they flew around because people were so passionate about the subject that they signed them and then forwarded them to their friends.

While strong emotional issues seem to work best, you of course you can also make a humorous petition.

Example: Let’s say your site includes some sort of site mascot. You might create a petition to write your mascot in as the next president or other leader of your country.

Note: Most online petitions, of course, aren’t actually going to be submitted to any authority. However, they are useful in that they can raise awareness of an issue. And for that reason, people will sign them – if only to feel like they’re doing something about an issue where otherwise they are helpless.

The Michael Vick petitions mentioned earlier are good examples. Signing the petitions served as a way for the signers to rechannel their anger and frustrations.

Just as with quizzes, there are two ways you can build a mailing list with petitions.

The first way (and most preferable method) is to work to convert the traffic into your subscribers.

The second way is to inform signers that their name is automatically added to a mailing list when they sign the petition. Since some people won’t bother to read that “small print,” you’re likely to get spam complaints if you go this route.

Tip: As usual, make sure the newsletter people are signing up for is as closely related to the petition issue as possible. In the above Michael Vick example, a good newsletter would be something that keeps people informed of the Vick case as well as dog fighting and other animal abuse.

Perhaps you’re racking your brain trying to think of what sort of petitions people in your niche might be passionately interested in signing.

Here are a few tips to uncover those issues…

FOLLOW the news to find out new developments in your niche.

Once you’ve hit on hot topics that could easily become emotional hot buttons for your niche, go to the next step…

FREQUENT your niche forums to keep abreast of what everyone is talking about.

Are people talking about the news items you discovered? If not, what ARE they talking about?

Basically, you should be looking for extremely busy topics on forums. These are the ones that get a lot of views and replies very quickly. If fights tend to break out within these topics, even better – it means people are emotional about the topic and are taking sides.

Example: A few years ago the popular weight loss and bodybuilding forums were in an uproar because a popular weight loss drug was about to be banned in the U.S. People were hoarding and stocking up like crazy.

But they were also venting their frustrations on forums. And – you guessed it – they were creating petitions in an attempt to raise awareness of the issue and halt the ban. The ban went through – but many, many people in the niche signed those online petitions.

FIND OUT what the popular bloggers are blogging about.

As soon as you see something interesting on the news or hear about it elsewhere, be sure to quickly visit your niche blogs to see if the topic is being blogged about. If comments are enabled, again look for topics that have lots of comments and heated discussions within the comment threads.

FEED the topic to your own subscribers and visitors.

Send the news to your list, post it on forums, and blog about it. Is it causing quite a “stir” in your niche? If so, you’ve hit on an emotionally charged topic.

Now that you have some topic ideas you can start making petitions. You can do so free online. Simply search in your favorite search engine for “create an online petition” and you’ll unearth dozens of free options.

One important tip: Be sure to remind people to tell their friends about the petition… and give them a compelling reason WHY they should tell their friends. That sort of specific call to action usually increases the viral effect.

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About the Author:
This article was created by Tim Dodd, Head Trainer at 3dInternetMarketing.com. 3dInternetMarketing are fast building an excellent reputation showing online business owners where they can quickly & easily earn additional profits from their existing client base and how they can literally tap into an unending source of well qualified, eager to buy, new customers. To learn more visit [2] www.3dInternetMarketing.com today.

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