The need for a marketing system to help build and grow an online business or Internet Based home business is not disputed by Internet marketers. In fact, many top internet marketers, and more specifically internet network marketers, not only use such a system to help build and promote their businesses, but often also develop a marketing program for the specific purpose of building a particular business interest. There are many systems available, but what is a matter of debate is which system to use since some are obviously superior to others, while many more are simply worthless.

What Is A Marketing System/Program?

An Internet marketing system in simplistic terms can be best described as an online program with built-in tools, processes and resources to significantly and automatically enhance the marketing of any particular online business, while at the same time offering additional income streams over and above the income from recruitment into the primary business incorporated into the system.

The Components and Characteristics of an Effective and Powerful Marketing System

1. An Opportunity to Build Your List Of Subscribers and Monetize That List Is Built Into The System

Based on the premise that every successful Internet marketer has a huge list of targeted subscribers from which they secure product sales and enrollments to business opportunities offered, a good marketing program should offer free subscription (membership) with incentives to subscribe. It should effectively serve as a funnel capturing the contact particulars of subscribers. These subscribers are then added to your list, they are your leads that you can follow up with, build a relationship with and are prospective customers for services and products you wish to promote irrespective of whether these subscribers are interested in the business opportunity you have incorporated into the system/program.

In Internet marketing, the money and the power is in your own list of targeted subscribers and a good and effective marketing system should be to help you do exactly this. By offering people free access to and free membership of the marketing program with the strong incentives offered, you therefore build you very own list. Hence by simply offering free access to a top quality resource, the people you recruit for such free resources are automatically on your list and will be exposed to and offered what you have to offer as their referrer.

To recap, a professional and powerful marketing program will not only show you how to build your own list of prospects online, but it will also introduce your prospects to your business offers and your primary business.

2. Funded Proposal/Funded Sponsoring Model

A funded proposal, which is widely accepted as an important part of the Internet marketing and network marketing process, constitutes the first income stream as the first offer to purchase to your new prospects. It is offering an initial sale to your new prospects before offering them your main product (your online home business opportunity).

From the new prospect's perspective, the funded proposal or the initial (low-cost) product purchase introduces a buyer-seller relationship between you and your referral (new prospect) and sets the tone for your prospect to buy more products from you in the future. It establishes a sense of trust with new prospects in you, their referrer, and as such increases the potential of further purchases from you.

From your perspective as the recruiter/seller, the initial sale is intended to help cover the cost of advertising for building your list by recruiting new prospects and hence new potential customers into the marketing program.

Bear in mind that the entire process of offers to purchase is completely automated by the very nature of the system without any need at all for you to be in direct contact with your prospects regarding the initial offer or funded proposal.

3. Leverage And Duplication

By duplication is simply meant that the system and the processes inherent to it should have a proven success record, which you can duplicate by using it. It allows you to follow in the footsteps of the leaders in Internet marketing.

By leveraging is meant a spontaneous growth of your business and income without requiring additional input from your side. (Money invested to bear interest and as such increasing your income can serve as a good example of leveraging. Another example is companies' employment of people to work for them, grow their business and as such increase their wealth through the people who work for them).

In the case of a good marketing program, leveraging is at your disposal through advertising and affiliates. (The people you recruit into the marketing system of whom many will join your online business opportunity as offered by the program, become your affiliates). Advertising, free or paid, online or offline, works for you when you are not around. Your ad can be read months after it was published with a prospective customer visiting your website from the ad, from where the sales process will take over.

By having affiliates or a network of partners, you can capitalize on the efforts of others that are also interested in building a successful home-based business for themselves. And since most of us who start out a new home-based business can't afford to pay employees to work for us, we resort to recruiting other affiliates to work in our network, where we can also earn a very small percentage from their efforts and success as well.

4. Successful Products and Services to Sell

A preferred marketing program provides for the promotion of any online business of your choice. This online business would be one of the products in the sales process and is preceded by the funded proposal as described earlier, as well as a secondary sale or sales. The funded proposal and the secondary sale are provided for in the marketing system with the former being a low cost ($10 or less) high volume product that funds your advertising and the latter, a medium cost, back-end product or service.

In Summary

1. Your marketing system of choice should be free with a powerful incentive (e.g. marketing training,tools and resources) for people to subscribe to it.

2. The system serves as a sales funnel, generating free leads for you and helps you build your own list of targeted email subscribers. These leads, email subscribers are your prospects for much more than only your home business opportunity offered to them in the program.

3. Your marketing program with its sales process should have a proven success record, meaning that you can duplicate a successful system and process.

4. It should offer successful products and services over and above your online business opportunity, hence offering you additional income streams.

5. It should offer you leverage through the advertising potential of the system and through the nurturing of the affiliates you enrol into the system through whose activities you will also benefit.