Every day I receive emails about Chris Record’s Internet Marketing college. Either people trying to sell it to me or people asking me if I have heard about it and whether I think it’s a good opportunity to join.
In this blog post I want to give you my full review of Internet Marketing College and address whether I believe it’s a scam or a genuine business opportunity and whether I am promoting this to my subscribers.
Here’s the short answer NO WAY. I will not be promoting Internet Marketing College. Why? Because it’s just another pyramid based network marketing opportunity with over priced products, similar to all those that have come before it such as Empower Network, IPAS, MOBE, Traffic Authority etc etc.
It’s not legally a scam and so I won’t call it that. However it is very borderline and what I will say is that if you get involved you’re going to be throwing a lot of money down the drain (I know this from Experience).
Warning!
With this type of business opportunity it’s very hard to work out if something is genuine or not because most people who buy the product are also affiliates Internet Marketing College and so many of the reviews out there are fake positive reviews designed to get you to click on their personal link and buy. I think it’s clear that I’m not affiliated with this product in any way.
I have created this review of Internet Marketing College for you so you don’t fall into the same trap that I did previously. Someone needs to protect you with an honest opinion and I hope this article is a reflection of that.
My Story – Learning the Hard Way
A few years back I made the mistake of getting involved in the Empower Network a very similar company to Internet Marketing College
At the time I was going through a bad patch financially having been involved in a startup business that went into liquidation. Around that time I came across Empower. Or they found me somehow. The stories of success resonated with me and I could see people were making money fast with it so I naively jumped in hoping for a solution to my problems.
However, I stopped very quickly because I did not believe in what I was selling. The products were very similar to Internet Marketing College in that you learn how to market products online as an affiliate.
Similarly to Internet Marketing College I realized that the Empower Network products were way overpriced and that if you want Internet Marketing training you can get it a lot cheaper elsewhere. You don’t need to pay 2000+ dollars you can get the same for a fraction of that price. Secondly most of the people, who sell products like Internet Marketing College, aim their marketing at either people looking to get rich quick or the desperate and vulnerable who are struggling financially and need a way out.
Many people who are looking for a get rich quick scheme or struggling financially are for whatever reason not usually the type of people who are going to put in the work to first learn everything about Internet Marketing and then create the daily content such as blog posts of videos so that they can market the products customers.
With these types of opportunities Many people don’t really understand what they are getting into but are lured into the business by the huge numbers that people are earning. Yes some people are earning, but not all and I explain why later in this post. This is exactly what happened to me with Empower network and Internet Marketing college hardly any different.
Internet Marketing College = Another Empower Network
I would go so far as to say that Internet Marketing College is the next Empower Network. Empower Network still exists but is a shadow of its former self with most of the people now leaving and joining Internet Marketing College. The concept is the similar, the products are similar, the people are the same and the way they are selling it is the same.
People Like:
Chris Record
Vick Strizheus (The 4% Group)
Shaqir Hussyin
Jon Penberthy
Paul Lynch
Chris and Susan Beesley
These guys and many more involved were big money earners on Empower Network and again sit at the top of the pyramid in Internet Marketing College.
Empower Network was launched back in 2011 and was successful because no one knew what the hell it was. Now just Google Empower Network and you just get a ton of reviews from people who feel like they were ripped off and cheated and this is because of the way it was sold to the masses. People were made to feel that anyone could make thousands of dollars and it’s really not the case as I explain later.
Empower Network made millions but it was mostly the founders and those few at the top (the leaders) who profited due to the nature of its ‘pyramid scheme’ compensation system and Internet Marketing College works on the same basis. In the Empower Network income disclaimer that they legally are required to display on their website it’s clear that only 1% of their members make any money.
The Pyramid System
Network Marketing and MLM companies are basically pyramid schemes made legal by the fact that they have a product to sell.
The pyramid model is fairly simple but not always simple to understand. People just give up trying to understand it and try their luck with the business hoping to make fast money. With Network marketing or multi level marketing you get a commission when you sell the product as an affiliate but you also get commissions in the form of ‘pass ups’ if the person you sold the product to sells it to someone else. The customers literally become the sales force.
There are many well known companies that use a pyramid model to sell products such as Amway and Herbal Life. The difference between companies like these and Chris Records Internet Marketing College is that Amway and Herbal Life sell physical products that are fairly reasonably priced and at least offer value to the customer. The commissions that Amway and Herbal Life give are lower for that reason.
Companies like Empower Network and Internet Marketing College sell information products that teach you among other things how to do Internet Marketing. A training course about Internet Marketing can be priced at whatever they want. It’s down to the customer to decide if the training gives enough value and all you have to base your decision on is what people who previously bought the product are telling you. However, almost all of these are affiliates selling the product they are using so any review is always biased.
What Chris Record is actually selling is training in how to market his own overpriced products over the internet. He claims that the products are bought by retail customers who just want the training. However, with these types companies most people join for the opportunity to make money as an affiliate and the product is secondary.
With Internet Marketing College for example you need to make 2 sales of a product before you make a commission. Your first 2 sales are passed up to the big guys at the top of the pyramid. After that every 4 sales you get to keep and 1 of 5 is passed up to your sponsor. Buying the product activates your ability to make commissions on it. Most people don’t care how much the product is because they believe they will sell the product and make their money back, which rarely happens.
You can sell Internet Marketing College training without purchasing anything but in this case your first sale is an activation sale and then you would have to pass up another 2 sales. So you’d have to sell 3 of the same product line before you make a commission. All of which is passed up to the people higher on the pyramid, such as Chris Record himself and all his Empower Network buddies that he brought into to promote the company.
The pyramid model is a way to sell a whole lot of product really fast as every customer becomes part of the company sales force. Some people say it’s a scam, I don’t believe that. For many companies with physical products it’s a good business model. What I do believe is that this model was made legal before the internet age, online marketing, instant payment online and information products existed.
Now sophisticated marketers and sleazy sales people have figured out how to use this model to make money from vulnerable people who don’t really understand how people are really making money with it.
But hold on how are people making big money with Internet Marketing College?
Well Yes it is true you can make big money with Internet Marketing College if you have a huge list of potential customers built up from years promoting different network marketing companies.
Most of the guys at the top of the pyramid were involved in numerous MLM and Network marketing schemes including Empower Network among others. In the process they built big email lists of potential customers who also have their own lists. It’s the same pyramid again but they all just move to a new company together.
If you’re new and just starting with this it’s very hard to get to the top of the pyramid. They will tell you; get in now and be near the top. But it does not work like that. Even if you are first into a new company, if you don’t have a list of potential customers you can email who are you going to promote to? Friends and family? Well that’s a quick way to become unpopular and lonely.
It’s very simple. The people making big money are those self proclaimed ‘internet marketing guru’s who have built up a list of followers over many years. As soon as a new product like Internet Marketing College they email their list with a ton of enthusiasm, excitement and a great sales pitch about how this is the next big thing and their followers who have their own list, albeit a smaller version join the pyramid and on it goes until the people with tiny lists join. At the bottom is you with no list being told to follow the training and take action while you pay your 100 dollar monthly fee for being a member.
At one point the tide turns and the all the negative reviews online from dissatisfied customers overwhelm the positive nonsense being spouted by affiliates. It’s difficult to stop the truth coming out eventually. It makes it almost impossible for affiliates to sell the overpriced products anymore. This is when they all jump ship and move to the next company and start the process again. All those with lists make money. Then they use these results to sell to the newbie’s who go on believing that they just need to work harder or do more training or they are doing something wrong. There is always someone new to promote to but it only works in the first year or months when the company is brand new and nobody knows what it is.
Newbie’s have hardly any chance to make money from a product launch. However, that’s not what is portrayed. As soon as a company like Internet Marketing college launches. You are shown numbers of people making hundreds of thousands of dollars, and told that anyone can do it. This is where it becomes almost scam like because you are not given the full picture.
The truth is that you need to build a list of trusting customers over a long period of time, this involves becoming an authority and learning how to convert traffic into leads and into sales. All of this people you see making money have been in the game for years and it took a long time and hustling to get where they are now. I once asked a leader in this industry how they started the process of building a list and making money and he said “you have to fake it until you make it”. For me this sums up what type of business this really is.
Conclusion
Don’t waste your money and your time like I did! I have not purchased Internet Marketing College and do not intend to. For me it’s clear that this is just another Empower Network in disguise with exactly the same people promoting it.
It’s of course possible to make money online with internet marketing but Internet Marketing College is not a genuine route unless you want to take advantage of those people struggling at the bottom of societies larger pyramid scheme.
If you genuinely want to find a way of making money online then you can take a look through the other articles on this website. Alternatively you can sign up for my ‘FREE Work Rewired Training’ Where I show you how I create a genuine online, work from home, business with a simple affiliate marketing system.
It’s better to take a long term approach and sell lots of real products online with a lower commission and know you are giving great value and gaining customers for life. Rather than going after the short term, fast big bucks and out of desperation. I hope this article helps you take a closer look at the product and the reviews and make a better decision about whether to get involved.
Please leave a comment below if you found this helpful and feel free to ask me any questions and I’ll answer them promptly.
Cheers,
Simon