"To say that Gilt.com is on fire may be something of [an] understatement," says Rohit Bhargava at the Influential Marketing Blog. "The site, which features daily special sales of luxury products at discount prices is on track by some estimates to pull in $400 million in sales for the 2010 calendar year."

According to Bhargava, smart marketing has played a critical role in the company's success—and you might learn a thing or two from techniques such as these:

Setting the stage with amazing photography. High-quality images create a compelling visual experience for Gilt.com customers. "More than that," he says, "the images are changing every day, which demonstrates that there is fresh content all the time and that the site will be worth visiting again and again."

Nurturing an atmosphere of exclusivity. While there are ways to skirt the rule, new customers may only join the site when invited by an existing customer. "It doesn't pay for them to actively prevent people from becoming members," notes Bhargava, "but they work hard to make their current members feel as though they are part of an exclusive club."

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