ClickBank is a famous affiliate marketplace on the web where marketers can find and promote digital products as an affiliate. You can also list your own digital products for other affiliates to promote on ClickBank.
ClickBank offers a course program called ClickBank University, that is all about how to make money on ClickBank. We’ll take a closer look at this course program, what it offers, and if it is worth the cost in this review of ClickBank University.
What Is ClickBank University?
ClickBank University (CBU) is a two-fold course program that offers premium training to anyone who wants to make money as vendors and affiliates or both exclusively on ClickBank. The online classes span over an 8-week training with several videos. ClickBank University launched the first version in 2013 and upgraded it to version 2.0 in 2016.
ClickBank University is promoted by ClickBank itself. When you visit ClickBank, you get the popup asking you to learn how to make 7 figures from ClickBank. You are redirected to ClickBank University.
Who Is Behind ClickBank University?
ClickBank University was launched in 2013 by three digital marketers: Adam Horwitz, Justin Atlan, and Matt Hulett. However, the program teachers are Justin Atlan, Adam Horwitz, and Milana Kalimullova (or Milana Atlan). Each one of them is said to be expert affiliate marketers and has experience with ClickBank.
Justin Atlan is the one teaching the Vendor section in the CBU program. Justin is a millionaire with several other sources of income besides ClickBank University. Adam Horwitz teaches the Affiliate section in the program. He has sold many other online courses, including mobile monopoly (all of which are no longer available). The third teacher is Justin’s wife, Milana. She appears in the sales and welcome videos in the ClickBank University program.
She also teaches the Market and Customer Research module in the course. She has a BA in Economics from UC Irvine.
ClickBank University Pricing
On their sales page, ClickBank University is advertised to be a recurring payment of only $47/month. This payment provides access to:
- An 8-Week Affiliate video training
- A 12-Week Vendor video training
- Expert Pre-recorded Webinars
- CBU Toolkit
- Interviews with several experts in the field
- AND an Exclusive ClickBank University Community
- And bonuses
On the sales page, ClickBank University makes you believe that you would only need to pay $47 per month. However, when you enter, there are a few upsells (specifically ClickBank Builder). In effect, if you calculate everything you would have to pay for, you will see that the real cost of CBU is around $250 per month!
That is because you will eventually have to pay for other compulsory things like:
- The ClickBank Builder (costs $594+ to follow some of the core training).
- Some products that you want to promote
- Aweber for email marketing (costs $19 per month)
- Your own domain name
- Paid traffic
- Additional tools
- And the optional cost of outsourcing content (cost you about $20 per page article)
Of course, you will need to pay for most of these expenses even if you follow another course, however the ClickBank Builder fee came as a bit of a surprise.
ClickBank University Curriculum
ClickBank University includes training on the two core parts of ClickBank: Affiliate and Vendor. Aside from these, there are several bonus sections in the program. When you pay for ClickBank University, you will access a library of training materials and videos.
Affiliate Module
This section is taught by Adam. It consists of an 8-week training series of videos and downloadable PDF files. It is mainly for anyone who wants to learn affiliate marketing to promote digital products on ClickBank.
Vendor Module
This section is taught by Justin. It basically contains 12 weeks of training for people who want to create and sell personal digital products on ClickBank.
The entire program can be categorized into four sections or modules.
Section 1 CBU = 12-Week Video Training Course For Vendors
ClickBank University uses this section taught by Justin Atlan to teach people how to create their own digital product and sell on ClickBank. This section shows videos about coming up with a profitable product, making a good sales funnel, and process to scale profits with joint ventures and split testing.
Justin lectures on how you will map out your sales correctly with upsells. And how you can use squeeze and landing pages to turn cold traffic into customers.
Section 2 = 8 Weeks Training For Affiliate Marketers
For affiliate marketers with no product to sell, this section is made to help. In this module, Adam lectures on how to select highly profitable products on ClickBank to promote. Some products will give you commissions as high as $100 per sale. And according to him, you can make four figures every month by selling those kinds of products every day.
More importantly, ClickBank University emphasizes building an email list and effectively making more money out of it. You would not only send traffic to a landing page and forget them. You have to retarget.
Section 3 = Traffic
In this module, you will learn a few methods of driving traffic to your affiliate products. You will learn about the Instagram Shoutout method. You will learn how to promote your product with PAID traffic. The advertising platforms they teach to use are Facebook and Instagram. There are three videos for Facebook advertising and another three for Instagram Shoutouts.
Section 4 = Toolkit
This section is where they teach you everything you need to know about setting up your own website for affiliation with ClickBank. You will learn how to do some technical things. For instance, you will learn how to set up your domains, edit video, and outsourcing.
Weekly Live Q&A Webinar
There is a Q&A webinar done by Adam and Justin available to students only. You will be able to access their answers to questions. You will also get access to expert interviews.
Private CBU Facebook Support Group
All students are automatically members of the CBU forum where they can come together and ask questions.
Quality Of ClickBank University Course
The videos in the ClickBank University program are very high quality. The audio quality is superb as well. They spent so much time perfecting the website’s interface. It is very easy to navigate and get through the courses. However, the videos are very short and are only 7 – 10 mins on average.
T the tools, such as the ClickBank builder, are great for making basic squeeze pages and landing pages for your ClickBank products. PDF files are accompanying each course, which may necessarily be useless because they have no new information.
The core training at CBU focuses on using ClickBank Builder. The ClickBank builder feels basic and cannot create professional topnotch landing pages like other CMS builders. It is also only working with CBU servers and cannot whenever you opt out of CBU.
Does ClickBank University Deliver?
ClickBank University, like many ClickBank products, makes a lot of bold claims on the sales page. For example, ClickBank University’s Milana noted that you can earn your first ClickBank income in 24 hours. While this might work if you have already been making money with affiliate marketing, it is unlikely that new affiliate marketers will achieve such results.
When you enter the course, you will have only a 3-week video training available. At the end of the third video, you have only learned how to find profitable products on ClickBank. Even though you could watch all the three weeks in an hour, there’s no way you can make money from merely knowing the products you want to promote! You have to wait until after 3 weeks to watch the rest of the video.
Most of the videos are very basic and most suitable for absolute beginners. 90% of the training videos are just headshots of the lecturers talking to the camera. There are no screencasts, screen recordings, or anything. Most lectures that you would see for free on YouTube are only taught using hand gestures instead of showing students into ClickBank.
Another claim from the sales video is that when you enter the CBU, there will be no technical barriers from making your income from ClickBank. In reality, once you pay your first $47, you will land on an upsell page. CBU will try to upsell you THREE TIMES! You will have to buy their $597 ClickBank builder and an advanced training course if you want to make the most of ClickBank University. Without the ClickBank builder, it is difficult to follow along with the training and implement what they are teaching. With ClickBank Builder, you can only host your website on CBU servers. That means you need to continue paying them money, and you cannot move your website elsewhere if you decide to leave CBU. While this is a nonissue for marketers who intend to use ClickBank Builder, it may be frustrating for those who already have their own tools.
Who Is The ClickBank University Course Best For?
ClickBank University is best for beginners who are looking for a course specifically about ClickBank.
The course itself is very basic, as is to be expected with a course that is only $47/month. If you want to dive deeper into some of the topics in the course, you will need to do your own research or enroll in other course.
It should also be noted that this course will be most effective if you plan to use ClickBank Builder. We mentioned earlier that the builder is an “upsell” and at one point it becomes clear that it is an essential tool if you want to make the most of the course.
Is ClickBank University Worth The Money?
At $47/month, the course may be looking into IF you are interested in ClickBank-specific marketing. The course itself is very basic and best-suited for beginners. Don’t feel pressured to invest in the upsells unless you are confident that you will need them.
Even though CBU is a great product with legit training videos and forums, it seems like course isn’t as well maintained and updated as it could be. For example, Adam and Justin promised to be active in the community, but they are not. There are several questions and comments in the community, but none from CBU support or the teachers. The most recent webinar in the program dated September 2017!
That said, ClickBank University comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you are unhappy with the course, you can request a full refund within 30 days. We always respect when companies back their courses with guarantees, as it shows they are confident in the offering and they want to make sure they have happy customers. If you feel like ClickBank University may be a good fit for you, you can sign up for one month to see if it delivers.
That said, we believe there are better affiliate marketing courses available in a similar price range. Here are 9 of the best courses we’ve reviewed.
Alternatives To ClickBank University
CBU charges you $47/month for some basic video training and an abandoned forum, with old recycled webinars for ancient affiliate marketers. Besides, suppose you are a stark beginner at affiliate marketing. You really want to make money online with realistic expectations and teachers. In that case, you should consider joining Wealthy Affiliate: $49/month. Wealthy Affiliate offers a free trial period. Besides, there are no bait and switch. If you must buy tools, they will tell you upfront.
Another excellent program for affiliate marketing and digital marketing is Project 24 by Income school. It costs $449 for 1 year, but if you remain, it’s $199 for every other year after. You will get a free theme and real-time mentorship and support.
Other excellent affiliate marketing programs online are Savage Affiliates, Authority Hacker, and The Affiliate Lab.
Final Verdict: ClickBank University
ClickBank University leaves a lot to be desired. The sales page makes a lot of bold claims but, ultimately, this is an entry-level course for marketing on ClickBank. That, combined with the additional upsells, makes it difficult for us to confidently recommend the course.
Pros
- 30 days refund policy
- Relatively inexpensive
- ClickBank-specific lessons from experienced ClickBank marketers
Cons
- Shady marketing
- Abandoned forum and community
- Too many costly upsells
- Lessons are very basic
- The scope of the lessons is limited to ClickBank marketing
