Marketing System and Method

A compensation system, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory device in communication with said processor, the memory device having data and instructions stored thereon which, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to:
• send a message to a first party for forwarding to a second party, wherein the message includes a link and the link has a sponsor identifier;
• receive an inquiry from the second party, wherein said inquiry is initiated by the second party selecting the link;
• correlate the sponsor identifier of the first party with an activity of the second party;
• and
• provide credit to the first party for the activity of the second party.

A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a processor, cause said processor to:

• send a message to a first party for forwarding to a second party, wherein the message includes a link to said processor and the link has a sponsor identifier;
• receive an inquiry from the second party, wherein the inquiry is initiated by the second party selecting the link;
• correlate the sponsor identifier of the first party with an activity of the second party;
• and
• provide credit to the first party for the activity of the second party.

An apparatus, comprising:

• means for sending a message from a first party to a second party, wherein the message includes a link and the link has a sponsor identifier;
• means for selecting, by the second party, the link;
• means for correlating the sponsor identifier of the first party with the second party;
• and
• means for providing credit to the first party for an activity of the second party.

A computer-assisted marketing method, comprising:

• identifying a referrer;
• correlating a referred consumer and the referrer that referred the consumer;
• receiving referred consumer purchase information;
• calculating compensation due the referrer for referred consumer activity;
• transferring consumer activity-related data to a merchant storage device;
• and
• transferring consumer activity-related data to a non-merchant storage device.

A computer-assisted marketing method, comprising:

• identifying a referrer making a referral to content on the world wide web;
• correlating world wide web activity of a referred consumer to the referrer;
• and
• calculating compensation due the referrer for the world wide web activity of the referred consumer.

A computer-assisted marketing method, comprising:

• identifying a referrer;
• correlating a referred consumer and the referrer that referred the consumer;
• receiving information regarding contact the consumer has with at least one merchant;
• calculating compensation due the referrer for the contact with the at least one merchant;
• transferring data related to the consumer contact with the at least one merchant to a merchant storage device;
• and
• transferring data related to the consumer contact with the at least one merchant to a non-merchant storage device.

A marketing system, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory device in communication with said processor, the memory device having data and instructions stored thereon which, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to:
• identify a referrer;
• correlate a referred consumer and the referrer that referred the consumer;
• receive information regarding contact the consumer has with at least one merchant;
• calculate compensation due the referrer for the contact with the at least one merchant;
• transfer data related to the consumer contact with the at least one merchant to a merchant storage device;
• and
• transfer data related to the consumer contact with the at least one merchant to a non-merchant storage device.

A marketing system, comprising:

• a web server, including:
• a member registration module
• a member referral module;
• a member compensation module;
• and
• a member reporting module;
• and
• a database in communication with said web server, said database storing a plurality of data used by said web server for operation of the system.

A collection of objects for a marketing system, comprising:

• a member registration object;
• a member referral object;
• a member compensation object;
• and
• a member reporting object.

A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause said processor to:

• identify a referrer;
• correlate a referred consumer and the referrer that referred the consumer;
• receive information regarding contact the consumer has with at least one merchant;
• calculate compensation due the referrer for the contact with the at least one merchant;
• transfer data related to the consumer contact with the at least one merchant to a merchant storage device;
• and
• transfer data related to the consumer contact with the at least one merchant to a non-merchant storage device.

An apparatus, comprising:

• means for identifying a referrer;
• means for correlating a referred consumer and the referrer that referred the consumer;
• means for receiving information regarding contact the consumer has with at least one merchant;
• means for calculating compensation due the referrer for the contact with the at least one merchant;
• means for transferring data related to the consumer contact with the at least one merchant to a merchant storage device;
• and
• means for transferring data related to the consumer contact with the at least one merchant to a non-merchant storage device.