ClickBank University: Do You Really Need It? This Will Help You Decide
Do you really need ClickBank University?
There’s so much written about people becoming millionaires via affiliate marketing and selling their goods on the internet that it’s tempting to give either or both a try. But how do you start? That’s always a big question.
Yes, you can dive into YouTube and learn everything you need to know on the subject, but there are plenty of reasons to pay for a course to learn either affiliate marketing or how to become a vendor.
Parting with your hard-earned money generally forces you to complete the course. Good online courses should steer you in the right direction, so you don’t waste time learning stuff you don’t need.
In this ClickBank University review, we go into detail on what the training is about, what they promise, and probably more importantly – what they deliver.
Note: ClickBank University is now being rebranded to become “Spark by ClickBank.”
ClickBank University
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Ease of Use - 75
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Features - 40
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Customer Service - 80
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Value for Money - 30
Summary
ClickBank is a good affiliate marketing network. However, ClickBank University is little more than a sales funnel for landing page software. This is pretty deceptive if you look at the sales pitches. However, the training classes do provide some true expertise for people who are completely new to affiliate marketing or those who want to sell their own products on ClickBank. Unfortunately, CBU is very expensive.
Pros
- CBU 2.0 works for novices
- Easy-to-grasp training videos
- Weekly training Q&A sessions and webinars for the duration of the courses
- Good customer support
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Affiliate marketing training is outdated and simplistic
- Too many sales pitches via email and annoying upsells
- CBU toolbox lacks the relevant information
- Training videos are poor quality
- Videos contain information but not enough “how-to”
Contents
What is ClickBank University?
Although ClickBank launched in 1998, ClickBank University (CBU) only arrived on the scene in 2013.
The early version of CBU focused on creating your own product. They continue to place a significant emphasis on the vendor area, and as a result, their online education base has grown significantly.
The addition of the affiliate marketing course adds new dimensions to the original edition. The program developers understood that beginning as an affiliate is the best introduction to making money online before people venture into becoming vendors.
CBU is a series of “how-to” instructional videos that guide you through the process of creating an affiliate site and understanding how ClickBank operates. It also includes how to choose a niche, what it means to be an affiliate, and briefly touches on attracting visitors and earning money,
The organization focuses on assisting people in creating digital items for online sales. eBooks, training videos, and online classes are examples of digital products.
So, while you will not earn a degree, the skills you will master could enable you to make money selling digital products or marketing them as an affiliate marketer.
ClickBank offers the following niches or subjects:
- Art
- E-Business & E-Marketing
- Dating
- Fashion
- Health & Fitness
- Education & Jobs
- Business/Investing
- Cooking
- Home Decoration
- Interior Design
The Founders of ClickBank University
The two main founders of ClickBank University are Justin Atlan and Adam Horwitz. Justin Atlan is a successful internet entrepreneur with a degree in economics from the University of California.
Justin Atlan made his fortune through affiliate marketing and selling online as a vendor through ClickBank. He began generating money online at the age of 18 and has continued to develop his following since then, primarily through ClickBank.
He co-founded ClickBank University with Adam Horwitz offering his specialty – marketing and monetization via internet platforms.
Adam Horwitz, like Justin Atlan, is an internet entrepreneur, YouTuber, and Instagrammer who has been generating money online since the age of 18.
A few years before he joined forces with Justin Atlan and formed ClickBank University, he was popular for his Mobile Monopoly course, which teaches you how to generate money with your phone using Instagram.
Adam Horwitz and his partner have a YouTube channel where they film their travels as digital nomads.
What is the ClickBank University 2.0 Course About?
Following the platform's success, the owners launched its new ClickBank University 2.0 version, which includes online business courses for both affiliates and vendors.
Despite its name, CBU is not a legitimate “university,” so don’t expect to be able to earn a degree from them.
ClickBank University 2.0 promises to set you up for success as a work from home option, whether you are an affiliate wanting to make money online by advertising someone else's goods or a vendor wishing to sell your own digital products.
Who is ClickBank University Best For?
If you need a digital marketing degree or diploma to help you get a job in a marketing business, CBU is not for you.
If you have already established an online business as an affiliate or vendor, CBU is also not for you – sure, you may learn a few new methods and ideas to assist your online company, but that’s about it, so don’t waste your money.
CBU courses help beginners who know nothing to generate a full-time, part-time, or passive income.
ClickBank University 2.0 Course Outline
The full course consists of an 8-Week Affiliate Marketing plus 12-Week Vendor Class and offers the following:
- Expert Classes Bi-Weekly
- Curated Add-on Trainings
- CBU Toolkit and Traffic Center
You can choose between two training tracks – Affiliate Mastery and How to Become a Vendor.
Let’s examine the affiliate and vendor course outlines in more detail.
Affiliate Training
This program teaches you how to create your online business and generate money by marketing other people's items. However, ClickBank 2.0 training is designed to get you to promote and sell items created specifically by ClickBank vendors.
Week 1 – Affiliate Marketing on ClickBank
- Affiliate Profit Plan
- Setting Up for Success
- Goal Setting
Week 2 – Understanding Affiliate Marketing
- Affiliate Basics
- Navigating Through the ClickBank Marketplace
- Secrets of the Top ClickBank Products
Week 3 – Finding Your Passion
- Discovering Your Passion
- Researching in Your Niche
- Picking the Perfect Product
Week 4 – The Ultimate Affiliate Marketing Funnel
- The Truth About Traffic
- Affiliate Funnel 101
- Building Squeeze Pages (A squeeze page is all about persuading a visitor to supply their email address by promising something worthwhile in exchange – see squeeze pages vs landing pages to learn more)
Week 5 – Always Over Deliver
- Building a Relationship with Your List
- Different Ways to Deliver Free Content
- Outsourcing Your Content
Week 6 – Writing the Perfect Swipe
A collection of your strongest subject lines, emails, and landing pages that people can go to for ideas and inspiration.
- Getting People to Open the Email
- Making Sure They Click
- Offering Bonuses
Week 7 – The Email Blueprint
- Using Broadcasts (Usually an announcement you send to a large group of people at once)
- Automating Your Emails
- The Perfect Balance
Week 8 – Scaling and Expanding
- Toolkit Traffic Area
- Opening the Floodgates
- Creating a Product
Other downloadables are also available as bonuses to help you better comprehend the program material and apply it to your road to becoming an affiliate marketer.
They offer a variety of videos varying in length from 5 to 15 minutes every week, so instead of condensing everything, they make it easy to find the information you may need.
You can also download the outlines (titles and subtitles of each) for the training videos which helps with information retention.
Keep in mind that you pay for any program based on the potential outcomes. And if you don't take the time to master each subject, you'll be squandering your money.
Vendor Training
The Vendor section is for members that want to do it all, from producing the product to hiring various professionals to assist with the launch.
It's considerably more intricate and scarier than the Affiliate Track, so start there. However, most of the hard work is done at the start since you can hire affiliates to perform the selling for you after you've launched.
This curriculum will teach you how to generate money as a seller and create your own online business. You'll learn how to develop your own product and offer it on the ClickBank marketplace.
You should have a product up and operating and ready to earn money within 12 weeks.
You'll discover how to correctly plan out your sales funnel, complete with applicable upsells and downsells.
Additionally, you will understand how to create a logical re-marketing cycle and turn cold visitors into genuine buyers.
Week 1 – How Does It Work?
- A breakdown of the ultimate aim of the 12-week strategy for success
Week 2 – Discovering Your Ideal Product
- Combining your passion and experience with what's successful on ClickBank will provide you with the precise knowledge needed to select your ideal product.
Week 3 – Creating Your Avatar
- Your avatar is your consumer, and to provide what they require, you must first understand their mindset. What are their passions, the demographic makeup, what is their issue, and how will your solution address it? If you understand their problem, you can develop a solution.
Week 4 – Creating Your Product
- Discover the tried-and-true formula for ClickBank success. Understand how to structure your product, such as videos or an eBook. They also show you how to outsource your product production, so you don't have to create it yourself.
Week 5 – Creating the Ideal Upsell
Upselling is convincing a consumer to make a more expensive purchase than anticipated. The idea is to multiply profit by capitalizing on the purchasing momentum.
- Increase the value of each consumer by giving upsells.
- This is critical for attracting affiliates. The more money they can make with each sale, the more enthusiastically they will promote your product!
Week 6 – Sales Copy & Conversion Maximization
- Learn the secrets of excellent sales copy from CBU’s in-house copywriter. Even if you have the best product in the world, if you don't have a fantastic sales pitch, you won't be successful.
Week 7 – The Simple Video Sales Letter
- Discover the professionals' methods for developing high-value and effective video sales letters. Spending thousands of dollars on video creation is not necessary.
Week 8 – Product Finishing
- Learn how to put the finishing touches on your product. Correct any mistakes and ensure that all your product's components are in good working order.
Week 9 – Getting Your Product on ClickBank
- How to get your product on the ClickBank Marketplace step by step.
Week 10 – Attracting & Managing JV (Joint Venture) Relationships
- Attracting affiliates is one of the simplest ways to become successful on ClickBank, but you must first understand what they want. Discover how to persuade people to trust your goods!
Week 11 – Split Testing
- Learn how experimenting with different wording, advertisements, and funnels can significantly boost conversions.
Week 12 – Extending Your Success
- How to build on first sales and success by generating more visitors.
Bonus: Selling High-Ticket Products through Webinars
- The instruction is comprehensive, guiding you through the process of creating a product and launching it via your online business.
How Much the Course Costs
The ClickBank University sales website tries to get you to believe that the curriculum costs only $47 per month, but after you join up, you'll discover a whole pile of additional fees. CBU's actual monthly cost is closer to $215.
Hidden Costs
The hidden costs of ClickBank University are as follows:
ClickBank Builder: $594 – or $679 total if you “split the fee” – and you can't follow parts of the key training if you don't have it.
Products that you wish to promote: Week three's video casually mentions that “it's not a terrible idea for you to actually buy the product” you want to market on ClickBank.
Aweber: In week four of the training, students hear that one of the reasons ClickBank Builder is so incredible is that you don't need to acquire a domain. Then, in week seven, students are informed that they must have their own domain names to utilize Aweber – a premium email marketing platform that will cost you at least $19 per month.
Fee-based Traffic: The CBU sales page claims that it will teach you “how to produce nearly endless traffic and clicks basically on demand.” They fail to tell you that all of the traffic creation strategies they teach are fee-based.
Additional Resources students have to pay for: In the CBU bonus sections, you'll find all the trainers suggesting various paid items and services.
- As an example, the CBU bonus video claims that it's an overview of how to use the “scarcity and urgency driven product launch” course. Here, it recommends Timerlay ($250 per year) and Email Countdown (now called Deadline Funnel, $37 per month).
- In week five, there is also a mention of the optional expense of outsourcing content development rather than doing it all yourself. If you go that way, it will cost around $20 for “a complete one-page fantastic story.”
Paying the Absolute Minimum
Let's assume you pay the absolute minimum to complete the basic CBU affiliate training; you'd end up spending:
- $564 for the standard CBU membership ($47 x 12)
- ClickBank Builder costs $594
- Approximately $20 for every ClickBank product you wish to promote
- Aweber costs $194 (Annual plan works out cheaper)
- Approximate cost of $10 for your own domain
- $1200 for traffic (minimum of $100 each month)
Totalling the list gives you a better idea of the full cost of ClickBank University: $2,582 for the year, or about $215 per month.
Traffic Center
The Traffic section discusses the traffic-generating tactics that have proven most effective for the CBU team. This section focuses solely on purchased traffic. While the lessons in this part are of high quality, organic, free traffic training is entirely absent.
This section is in two major modules: Facebook Advertising and Instagram Shoutouts. The CBU team argues that these two techniques have been tested and that they thrive on Facebook and Instagram.
A student is likely to expect a comprehensive internet marketing plan to include all kinds of traffic-generating techniques. In this regard, ClickBank University 2.0 falls short.
Facebook Advertising
You’ll learn how to use Facebook ads to generate traffic to your squeeze pages, but this section is relatively short on all the technical information required to run affiliate marketing programs efficiently on Facebook.
Instagram Influencer Marketing
This traffic lesson is about paid Instagram shoutouts. Adam Horwitz is the traffic instructor since he has some expertise with affiliate marketing on Instagram.
Influencers can earn commissions on Instagram via affiliate links, selling goods, DTC (Direct to Consumer) products, and the monetization tools the platform is slowly rolling out. Adam suggests buying shoutouts from Instagram influencers to attract traffic to your squeeze page.
Google Ads
Fred Lam, a well-known internet entrepreneur in eCommerce and affiliate marketing, teaches about paid traffic via Google Ads and Bing Ads.
YouTube Ads
The YouTube Advertisements course teaches you how to use YouTube ads to generate visitors, but they only discuss the paid techniques to get traffic to your squeeze page. A copywriting program also briefly touches on how to write compelling sales copy.
Toolkit
This section focuses on the business's technological aspects. There is a collection of short how-to videos for various tools.
The tools described in this section really aren't necessarily the best on the market. Instead, consider it one of the CBU team's “recommended tools.” And, some of the instruments are costly.
This module covers the following topics:
- Setting Up a Custom Domain with GoDaddy
- Creating a Sales Presentation with PowerPoint
- Video Editing with Camtasia
- Recording Your Sales Video with Camtasia
- Camtasia Alternative APowersoft for Screen Recording
- Design Banners, Posts, & Giveaways with Canva
- Setting Up Your Funnel with CB Builder
- Split Testing with Visual Website Optimizer
- Increasing Conversions with Optinmonk
- Enhance Your Social Media Activity with Hootsuite
- Outsourcing with Upwork
- Sending Broadcasts and Automating with AWeber
- Demographic Research with Google & Twitter
Camtasia (Screen Recording)
The seventh week teaches you how to create an easy video sales letter for your ClickBank product. You can easily produce a text sales movie using PowerPoint and Camtasia.
Camtasia is a software package developed and distributed by TechSmith. It allows users to produce and record video courses and presentations through a screencast or a direct recording plugin to Microsoft PowerPoint.
Canva (Graphics)
You’ll learn how to use Canva – a free online graphical application that combines design, picture editing, and layout to assist instructors and students in creating visually appealing projects.
Visual Website Optimizer (Split Testing)
Visual Website Optimizer is a simple A/B testing tool that allows affiliate marketers to construct several versions of their websites and landing pages, evaluating which version delivers the highest conversion rate or sales.
You're offered an upsell opportunity after purchasing ClickBank University 2.0. You will be able to purchase the ClickBank University website builder, allowing you to create your own website on ClickBank without needing a separate hosting platform. The website builder contains a drag-and-drop website editor for creating landing pages and blogs from scratch.
The CBU website builder costs roughly $600 (or $680 if paid in seven installments). This is a ridiculous sum of money for a website builder. There are dozens of hosting platforms, like Bluehost, that will allow you to host a website for a few dollars per month.
This particular ClickBank University review looks at why should you avoid getting this update. First, there is no reason to pay that much money for a website when you can get it for much less somewhere else. Next, you do not want to be tethered to the ClickBank website builder platform.
Hootsuite (Social Media)
You’ll also learn how to use Hootsuite – a social media management platform that covers practically every social media manager's job area. Users may do anything from curating great material and scheduling articles to managing team members and monitoring ROI (Return On Investment) using a single platform.
Support
The ClickBank University training program comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so your investment is risk-free.
You have the following options for assistance:
- Email, Phone, or Live Chat
- A Private Discussion Forum
- Lecturers Adam Horwitz and Justin Atlan are available for weekly Q&A sessions
- Q&A replays are accessible on demand
Extra Courses Offered
ClickBank University continuously attempts to sell you a landing page builder. Their selling point is that they simplify the process of developing a sales website, or at the very least the landing page, which is critical for conversion.
Learn about ClickFunnels costs $97 per month. And the LeadPages course costs $48 per month.
The Advanced Training requires a $97 one-off payment – if you decide to become a ClickBank earner, this course teaches you how to earn more money with them.
ClickBank University Pros and Cons
Pros
- The training is suitable for novice users.
- The bite-sized videos are well-presented and straightforward.
- You get exposure to a wide range of legal traffic sources.
- Experts offer weekly Q&A sessions and webinars to keep the information current and relevant.
- CBU provides a tool that will undoubtedly assist you in creating opt-in pages.
- They have a great customer support system and a substantial one-month money-back guarantee, so it's risk-free.
Cons
- Sophisticated affiliate marketing training is absent.
- There are irritating sales pitches from CBU members through email and even more annoying upsells.
- The builder tool’s monthly charge may be prohibitively expensive if you are not producing money regularly.
- There are too many instructions on what to accomplish and not enough examples of putting them into action during the actual enactment.
- The CBU toolbox lacks sufficient information.
- The training seems geared toward product producers rather than affiliate marketers.
- The majority of the videos are simplistic, and the quality isn't good, leaving you wondering if they are authoritative or not.
- It isn't really training. It's a man standing in front of a camera, video after video, talking about how to do things in a very general way, with no specifics on how to execute what he's telling the camera.
There are many free resources available on the internet. For example, take a look at our article on How to Make Money with ClickBank.
Conclusion
Since ClickBank University 2.0 collaborates with ClickBank, one would expect it to be more thorough in the instruction, particularly in the affiliate marketing and traffic sections.
ClickBank University has several flaws. The sales page makes a lot of strong statements, but in the end, this is an entry-level marketing course on ClickBank.
The ClickBank University team portrays their program as the simplest to generate money with. A potential student may believe that all they have to do is pay for the instruction, view the videos, and then start making money. It's a lot more difficult than that.
The course is comprised of numerous complicated actions with a steep learning curve, making it difficult to succeed in general.
This course is worth a look if you want to become a vendor on ClickBankWe but would not suggest it for anyone looking to earn money as an affiliate marketer on ClickBank.
Instead, we recommend checking out The Authority Site System (TASS) by Authority Hacker (find out more in our Authority Site System review).
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