Direct product selling and affiliate marketing can be built more efficient with the aid of tell a friend script software. Just like traditional business, such as a grocery store or a restaurant, online businesses are also reliant on the traffic of visitors. Certain number of visitors can be interpreted into certain number of sales. Although not all visitors will be converted to customers, the number of customers is directly proportional to the number of visitors. This means that as the number of visitors increases, the number of customers also increases. Implementing viral software can spin]facilitate|aid|assist[/spin] the steady flow of visitors in a commercial website using send to a friend.

Some tell a friend programs are very easy to execute because they only involve the embedding of scripts. These simple codes can be duplicated from open source websites and pasted on any websites. However, the features of these free referral scripts are very definite. They may simply display text boxes and forward buttons. They may simply be able to create simple text invitations. They are also not capable of importing or extracting referrals from new subscribers or customers. The only referrals be listed are those who are directly cited by the new subscribers. On the other hand, complex viral software codes have higher capabilities.

Sophisticated tell a friend programs may take minutes to configure and install. They also have basic technical system demands. For instance, there should be a dedicated server that is capable of processing PHP scripts. Installing these programs does not require computer programming skills. Upon installation, the system can be fully functional even without the direct supervision or arbitration of the website owner. Periodic maintenance is not mandatory because the system can run in auto-pilot. It can continue importing referrals and sending invitations as long as there are new subscribers or customers. Stable flow of visitors can be generated in the process using send to a friend.