Jonathan Miller uses high school students to spread the word about his service. Well, actually, they're former high school students, and some haven't cracked an Algebra text in 20 years.

What they have in common: they all graduated the same year from the same high school, and Miller's Reunited Inc. hosts high school reunions. Each time a new person registers online through its Web site, a message circulates to scores of classmates.

With each new registrant comes a new buzz of activity. It's like a self-propagating virus.

"If we don't maintain a consistent form of communication, people can forget about the event," said Miller, owner of the Weston-based high school reunion service.

"Viral marketing," a term in vogue, is a new name for an old concept: word-of-mouth advertising, said Herschell Gordon Lewis, a veteran direct marketing executive based in Fort Lauderdale. The name "viral" perfectly suits the concept, he says. The goal is to "infect" one person with a product's message and have that person "infect" others, Lewis said.

It sometimes works because customers feel they're turning friends on to a special offer or insider's opportunity available to a select few, Lewis said. Or there can be the lure of a reward. For example, America Online offers hundreds of hours of free Internet access just for referring a friend.

Today, viral marketing includes direct mail, telemarketing, electronic mail, the Internet and "affiliate programs," where customers resell products for others. Even "street teams," which place hawkers with products or marketing materials at special events, have gained favor among marketers targeting younger audiences, who are susceptible to peer influence.

For small businesses, viral marketing can be a powerful and low-cost way to spread information, Lewis said. The product often costs little to give away, especially if the result is a new buyer paying full price for the service.

"The whole trick to successful viral marketing," he said, "is if you want people to do something for you, you have to make them think you're doing something for them."

Examples of viral marketing abound.

During the 1998 holiday season, Dallas-based NVision Design Inc. created the computer game "Good Willie Hunting," followed the next year by "Elf Bowling" and "Frogapult." The small applications are easily e-mailed on dial-up Internet connections, and the games quickly gained popularity.

Transmissions of the games and visits to the company's site grew by 50 percent, said Dan Ferguson, former owner of NVision, and now creative director and co-founder of Blackdot (www.kewlbox.com), which creates "advergames" for clients like T.G.I. Friday's and Mrs. Fields Cookies.

And last summer, Hasbro Games gave 1,000 Chicago kids 11 samples each of its new Pox handheld computer game. The idea: "infect" the 1,000 kids, so they'd give away the other 10 units to friends, and then create a buzz about the new game, said Mark Morris, Hasbro's director of public relations.

As for Miller, he combined Web savvy with traditional direct mail. This winter, a postcard was mailed to up to 80 percent of the members of the classes whose reunions the company was hosting. The card listed the Web site. Once graduates register for the event, word of their participation is e-mailed to fellow classmates.

"It becomes more than a message," Miller said. "It reminds people about the event, and they tell their classmates."

Ultimately, Miller's goal is to ensure top attendance at each reunion, and expand the total number he does. Registrations for this year's reunions using the e-mail service have tripled over those done last year without the combined marketing effort. Also, in 2001, the company did 45 reunions. This year, it will do 50.

"The viral marketing is helping us do our job better," he said.

Power of the pen

After 15 years in business, Steve Leveen, president of Delray Beach-based Levenger, a retailer of reading and writing materials, believes personal attention helps win new customers. But included in that customer care is a touch of viral marketing.

Whether it's a pen, a wallet or a briefcase, each product that bears the Levenger name is "a little emissary" for the brand -- one he hopes will elicit some discussion among the owner and a potential customer. When a product is shipped, included is a catalog with a message noting, "Thank you for shopping with us. Do you have a friend or neighbor who might be interested in this catalog?"

Every two weeks, the company sends word of specials and ideas to its 400,000-name e-mail list. The Web site features a tool to e-mail a Web page link to another person.

But customer care is the best way to win new converts, he said. Leveen spends the first few minutes of every day with his fountain pen and a stack of personal correspondence cards, responding to customer complaints, concerns and even their compliments. He does about five each day.

While Leveen enjoys his ritual, he recognizes, too, that satisfied customers spread the word.

"Not only is this really fun, but you now have a customer for life. And how much is that worth?" Leveen asks.

It all adds up

Up to 40 percent of InterPay Inc.'s small business customers are referred by accountants. But making connections with CPAs can be challenging.

So the company found a way to make friends and encourage them to remember InterPay's name when recommending a payroll service, said Nanci Simonson, the Fort Lauderdale district sales manager for the Mansfield, Mass.-based company.

InterPay sales associates visit CPA offices to drop off "Do Not Disturb" door hangers that state, "Shhhh … CPA at Work." They also deliver coffee and pastries, host a pizza party for the accountants and staff, and send flowers and cookies to the accountants' family.

The door hanger has residual marketing value throughout the year, and the delivery helps endear the sales rep with the accountant and the staff.

Last year, CPA referrals jumped by 15 percent, Simonson said.

"It breaks the tension with the gatekeeper, and gives us an excuse to get in front of them," she said. "It gets me in the doors, and puts a smile on their face."

Golden move

To Robin Levinson, viral marketing occurs whenever she and her husband, Mark, are out on the town, on vacation or hosting an event to showcase jewelry from Levinson, their Plantation-based jewelry store.

For example, in 2001, on a mountain in Vail, Colo., Robin met a fellow skier who commented on a diamond bracelet Robin was wearing. Levinson had an employee overnight her a few other samples.

"They bought $60,000 worth of jewelry in the hotel while on vacation," she said. After they left, the customers referred South Florida friends to Levinson. They have since become regular customers, Levinson said.

This spring, the Levinsons will host several invitation-only dinner events for their 100 best customers. The goal: show off some of their best products, and have those customers who may not buy anything that evening tell their friends about the store.

Word-of-mouth marketing directly results in more than half the store's annual sales, she said. Best of all, it's a low-cost, soft-sell process.

"You can't just keep selling and selling. You have to create relationships," said Levinson, who also mails quarterly newsletters to 9,000 customers. "It's all very viral because it catches on and people want to come here."

Jeffery D. Zbar is a freelance writer. He can be reached at jeff@goinsoho.com.