Barry Schwartz (Search Engine Roundtable) and Andy Hagans (Link Building Blog) discuss the value of link bait (viral marketing for links).

Barry starts it off with How Much is Link Bait Worth?

But at what point does the effort of a specific piece of content, the price of a tool, the cost of time worth the link bait you are generating?

Barry then explores two examples. Here is what he said that DigitalPoint’s keyword tool will do:

1. Keep gaining new links
2. Keep adding additional users
3. Keep repeat users coming back
4. Requires little maintenance
5. Word of mouth referrals for that tool keeps coming
6. Generates links as long as the tool is useful

Those are great guidelines to keep in mind when brainstorming new viral link building campaigns! Thanks Barry!

Andy then gives his insight into the value of link bait and questions why more people are not using this strategy.

Of course, there’s no precise way to measure the value of a permanent link, but we all know they’re necessary — they’re the lifeblood of organic SEO. Starting point: if you valuate a (quality) permanent link at 12 times what you’d pay per month for it at a link broker, and if you assume the cheapest (quality) link you can get at a link broker is $25 / month, then a permanent link is worth $300 based on opportunity costs.

This is a great line:

“Weighed against 2 hours spent brainstorming, 4 hours spent writing, another hour editing, etc., $299 recurring for the Yahoo! Directory link doesn’t seem so expensive anymore, does it?”

I recommend you read both of their post:
Barry’s article on link bait
Andy’s article on link bait