When it comes to internet marketing, there is a range of topics that you need to know in order to make your business work. Being a marketer, you will know where to start and what the logical sequence is to learn new topics. Then, NOT being a marketer but making an effort to become one, you won't know the logical sequence.

If you're smart, you start with finding someone with experience to tell you what to do first and what next. If you're like me, you just start with whatever crosses your path first. And very likely get lost in the process as there is no logic to what you're doing.

I first started seriously on-line in February 2004. By the time the winter arrived, I was completely lost in all the sources of information available. I was craving some logic, some order, some sense to what I was doing on-line. Begging the universe to send me something - a coach, a course, a book - anything to help me find structure.

And the universe answered my prayer. My solution was called: Mark Joyner...

I met him on a forum. Don't ask me why - though being subscribed to those 3 dozen newsletters - I had never really noticed his name. I know it's pretty amazing that someone who's being called "The Godfather of Internet Marketing" did not manage to get my attention for the 10 months I'd been on-line by then, but it's true. When I first 'met' Mark at this forum, I didn't know him from a bar of soap...

And it didn't dawn on me I was dealing with a 'guru' here, until I saw all these posts with people literally making digital knee-falls to thank him if he responded to what they had wrote. So I decided to 'do a google' on him and it was only then that I discovered why he got so many fans...

The time had come to finally read some of his work. First searching through my 3G of free bonuses, I found out I already had 5 of his eBooks and special reports. Which included some real eye-opening stuff.

Later I purchased "MindControlMarketing.com" and like I said, I read "Confidential Internet Intelligence Manuscript II" and thought it to be brilliant. Personally I like it better than MindControlMarketing.com - then this view isn't shared by everyone!

Now I happen to really like Mark's work. But I am very aware of the fact that his style is not for everyone. And you should know this, before you decide to buy any of his work. Let me explain a bit more of what you can expect from Mark.

Mark mostly writes concepts. What I mean by this, is that you will receive the structure of his ideas or strategies, but you shouldn't expect lengthy explanations of the details (with the exception of his ad testing info). He sometimes tells a bit more about how something works from his own experience. He hardly ever goes into situations his clients resolved with his methods. Let alone discussions of how anyone who studied him became successful.

There are a lot of them out there however. I spoke with Russell Brunson, Josh Anderson and Mike Filsaime and all three of them attribute their recent successes for a large part to what they learned from Mark Joyner. They will testify to this if you ask them. And these are only three guys I happen to have spoken to personally. There are many, many more around.

By now I've come to realize that the best way to learn internet marketing, is to select one person to study and stick to his (or her) methods until you see results. Once you've mastered one system, you can start fine-tuning it by learning about others. It's also the only way to survive the information overkill. This is what Josh, Russell and Mike have done and it's paying off. They've all had their big break-through in the last year.

First and foremost, you should feel comfortable with how your example achieved his success. (That he's proven his success is a logical requirement.) If you find anything dodgy about him, some marketing tactic that you would never employ yourself, don't follow their lead. You won't make it if you cannot believe in what you're doing whole-heartedly.

The other thing to look at is what this person specializes in. There are several aspects to marketing which can contribute to being successful. For example you will find a lot of people who feel testing is the key to their success. Yet there are others who don't test that much and still have a very healthy business based on their customer support, their product quality, their copy writing skills et cetera.

Then find what you're most talented in yourself and look for a person who can help you make that talent excel. Get that part going first and fine-tune the rest later. Or if you can afford it, join forces with others and delegate what you're not good at.

Howard Gardner, a professor at Harverd University, is most known for his study on multiple intelligences. You can distinguish at least 7 seperate intelligences and most people will have 2 or 3 better developed than the rest. They are:

* linguistic - the written word
* mathematical - logic and reasoning
* spatial - 3D modelling
* kinestetic - body language
* inter-personal - social skills
* intra-personal - personal reflection
* musical - storytelling, music, rythms

Take a look at which intelligences are the strongest within you. These are the ones you can use best for learning anything new. Is it through reading, listening to tapes, seeing models, talking to others et cetera.

Then find a person who addresses your strongest intelligences in the way they teach.

I know that the media from the internet are limited in some ways, but at least you will be able to distinguish between linguistic, auditive and spatial materials.

This is a tricky one. The chicken and the egg story if you're on a shoestring budget. Which came first?!

Gary Halbert told in one of his newsletters that he was approached by some obscure Irish guy who wanted him to be his personal mentor. Gary told him he could never afford this and gave him his monthly fee. Much to his surprise, a couple of months later the fee was wired to his bank account and the next week the Irish guy showed up...

It turned out that his older brother had ben mentored personally by Michael Dell and his advice was to find the best mentor for you and find some way for paying any mentoring fees. It pays back in the end.

You've probably noticed that there is something of an 'inner circle' when it comes to internet marketers. They all seem to know each other personally and whenever any of them launches a new product, you will find the rest of them promoting this and their testimonials on the sales pages.

These are the people that succeed on-line. And if you can manage to somehow become part of the circle, you'll most likely make it. The newbies you now hear from have managed to get mentorship from the ones that have been around a while. It's probably the most expensive way to succeed, but it pays off. And a lot of them are now offering mentoring programs which are a lot more affordable than personal consultation. Give this option some serious consideration!

But the least you can do is to invest in some good study materials. Seriously - though there also is some good material available for free, you need a magnifier to find it among the crap which is mostly offered. You simply don't have the time to research this all. Get yourself at least one good resource and pay for the darn thing!

If you're looking for marketers who teach through examples, try Corey Rudl and Joshua Safran. I have their internet marketing courses and they are very elaborate. Corey's course exists of two jam-packed tangible folders with a bunch of CDRoms. But the main focus is the written word.

Joshua is a person who himself doesn't learn well from written materials. So his NPOD course comes in 20 audio CDs, 2 videos (DVD's by now probably) and not so much written stuff, though he has a lot of additional materials posted on a special website for his course members.

Back to Mark - his strong point is that he cuts through all of the usual BS and provides you with a very clear blueprint of what needs to get done. Models. Overview and structure would be the keywords which describe his way of teaching best. You will learn models that you can tie everything else you learn onto. So I consider his work the backbone of your business, which helps you to stay organized inside your head.

But then, my best intelligences are spatial and linguistic. One of the reasons I work out interviews is that I cannot remember very well just from what I hear. I need the written words for any knowledge to sink in. And models to structure this. If you're looking for such a model to structure your business:

Confidential Internet Intelligence Manuscript II

What I also like about Mark is his philantropic work. If you visit his personal website, you'll find that he's actively encouraging people to make a real and valuable contribution to create a better world for all. Not the usual 'everyone rich' thing. Though he believes it's possible for all of the population to attain a certain minimum level of wealth - having proper food, water, housing, clothing and education at least, and if you are aware of the money spent worldwide on weapons, drugs and medicine, there is a good case to be made here.

The emphasis in Mark's philantropic work is on finding unifying goals to accomplish together. Positive goals I should add. Basically the higher needs of the Mazlov pyramid (my words, not his) - love, comfort, friendship, trust.

Another thing I like about him is that he really makes an effort not to judge people. Accept that we humans aren't infallable. Some things we do well and at other things we suck. We struggle with our love and our fears and that's what makes us human.

Of course not! And he'll be the first to admit this.

Though I was a real sceptic at first, I've come to really appreciate him. Getting to know him personally helped a lot. I will admit this instantly. Mark is a personal friend now. But otherwise like I said, the way he structures marketing strategies really works for me.

I whole-heartedly recommend you study Mark Joyner IF his style is a way you can relate to.

To get to know Mark a little better, I suggest you browse around at his personal website:

www.markjoyner.name

Especially look for his 'Constructs' as they will tell you a lot about his personal views on life...

I've added links to Mark's sites and books below.

I hope this review will help you in making a decision about whether or not you want to learn more about marketing and getting what you want from one of the most successful experts online.

Wishing you a world of wealth,

Patricia Ritsema van Eck