Paul--I am a marketing strategist; word of mouth is powerful--but it is very slow. You need other business building strategies. 

I guess that is ok for a very small business. But if you want to grow--then there are many other tools to use. 

I have to agree with James. Word of mouth (aka networking) results in quality referrals. I have a small business and find digital advertising (website + social media) has a yield. My website is designed as my central point of contact. Once people meet me, we switch to email/text/phone per their convenience.

LinkedIn is my go to digital source for leads. It has proven remarkably effective. I am just starting to understand Alignable...

James, I'm also a marketing strategist and think that a multi-faceted approach is best.  But I don't think that discouraging people from WOM is wise, since it's not always slow.  I've set up numerous WOM campaigns for clients, and their results have been very strong.