When it comes to the question of some of the top online business courses, there are at least five that come to mind. Now when I say ‘top online business courses,’ I mean popular, but they are popular for a reason.
There may well be better courses out there as well which are not so well-known, such as John Thronhill’s Ambassidor Program or various courses on Udemy, one of which enabled me to bank my first affiliate commission.
Let’s have a wee look at the five I have in mind anyway shall we? These will be brief overviews; nothing too in depth.
#1. Commission Hero by Robby Blanchard
Okay, so definitely Commission Hero is one of the big ones. Robby Blanchard who was and possibly still is the top ranking ClickBank affiliate, is basically a guy who has mastered the art of running Facebook Ads.
He ran many experiments and blew a load of money in the process, but eventually he got good enough at it that he made his own course. He gets his students to do these test experiments as well until they too find an ad campaign that works and makes good money.
He also has a lively Facebook group which, hats off to him, he is actually very active in. He is of course also a YouTuber but I don’t find his videos all that helpful, plus he talks very fast and in his usual humorous tone. Not quite my cup of tea if I’m honest.
So what about Commission Hero? Well, you know a load of so called ‘fans’ of his course are really just affiliates trying to make money from it by selling it to others and so they’ll put up all these reviews and push it like crazy and praise it to the skies whereas in actual fact, the program and what it teaches isn’t what they are following themselves in order to make money – it’s not their own online business, just a hot product on ClickBank.
Do I Recommend It?
Well, are you good at running ads? Is that your thing? And remember, we’re not even talking about Microsoft/Bing ads or Google Ads, or YouTube Ads… No! We are talking about what I consider to be the dreaded and infamous Facebook Ads!
Now why am I saying this? Well, if you’ve ever given it a go, you probably got your Facebook Ad Account swiftly shut down, seemingly quite randomly, and for very vague reasons. Facebook are always shutting down people’s Ad accounts. Robby addresses this issue by saying you need to be aware of their rules, which he admits are vague and that they seem to just want to be in control. He also says you should just keep asking them to restore your account and that no doesn’t usually mean no… Like what?! Imagine going from $350 a day from ads to absolutely zero! Just in the blink of an eye. Then you have to fight with unreasonable Facebook to get your account restored…? Naaa.
Some people have the patience and the know-how for Fb ads, (or at least they must think they do) but I wouldn’t really send anyone down that route in a rush. So no, I can’t say I recommend it to the average person, but not because the course isn’t good; he’s done a very intelligent job of it, but because I don’t like or trust Facebook when it comes to advertising.
#2. The Super Affiliate Network by Misha Wilson
The Super Affiliate Network is an online community with a fair amount of training in marketing… but not that much training. A lot of it is about offering you ‘done for you’ stuff like funnels, follow-ups, offers etc. It’s very much a pay as you go program. The whole lot starts with a front end payment of only $1, but if you keep going with it you’ll end up shelling out thousands…!
Misha Wilson is certainly an experienced, knowledgeable and successful online entrepreneur and affiliate marketer and his program does sell. So for an entry fee that’s next to nothing, you haven’t got much to lose. Bear in mind that it is the program itself that you will be constantly encouraged to promote, and you will be given tools to do so. I think the temptation for many with this kind of thing is that is focuses more on promoting the program than getting value from the program itself.
There is an online Facebook group for members in a certain level of the program. And you can get some good information and help from the community.
You will have your own coach who will negotiate with you as you set out on your journey with the Super Affiliate Network. Now, his job is basically to get you to pay for as many of the upsells as possible, but he will also help you out in the level you are in as well. So, it is nice to have a personal coach, so long as you are aware that he is also there to make you invest more money into the Network.
Do I Recommend It?
To be honest, I might actually go for this one over Commission Hero. But it’s not great in my view, despite being so popular. They are not honest in the beginning about all those expensive upsells and the training itself is sometimes more talking than showing you how to build an online business, so it’s all too easy to blank out and think, ‘this is a load of waffle.’
So, no! I don’t especially recommend this program either. But if you want to check it out, you might find it suits you and you might have the budget for it. I mean it’s been going petty strong for many years now and people do make money and get rich from it. I suppose for me, the deception, the expense and the fact that it’s mostly about promoting the program itself, makes me conclude that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
#3. Savage Affiliates by Franklin Hatchett
Okay, now this course I have to say is a good one. It’s reasonably priced and comes with two packages: Standard Pack and Super Pack, both containing great value for money. Franklin is a very successful affiliate marketer and coach. He’s been in the industry for many years, has a YouTube presence that is still very active today and spends his online career learning, making money and teaching others his own strategies and business blueprints.
Included in his Standard Package is:
Niche Selection and Product Search
Building and Managing a Website
Email Marketing & Funnel Basic
Amazon Affiliate Marketing
ClickBank Affiliate Marketing
Search Engine Optimization Training
Free Traffic Methods
Paid Traffic Training
Community and Weekly Q&As;
Cost – $197
Included in the Super Pack is all the above plus:
Step by Step ClickFunnels Affiliate Academy
Done For You Affiliate Marketing Funnel
Multiple ClickFunnels Pre Made Funnels
Launch Jacking Affiliate Method Blueprint
Web Hosting Affiliate Method Blueprint
Cost – $297
Do I Recommend It?
Do I recommend Savage Affiliates? Yes, definitely. But…! You’ll need a bit of a budget. Franklin requires you to use ClickFunnels if you’re going to follow the steps laid out in his course and benefit from his own/done for you funnels. ClickFunnels does offer a 14-day trial for free but after that you have to pay a whopping $97 a month! Not to mention an autoresponder as well for the email marketing. Now, there are cheaper funnel builders such as HBA Funnel Builder but to follow the course properly, this will probably just end up being too confusing for the average user and you will miss out on the done for you funnels.
You will also need to have a budget for advertising since paid traffic is a big part of the course. In fact the emphasis of this affiliate marketing course is more geared towards paid traffic than organic/free traffic.
However, for all the information and resources, Savage Affiliates is well worth the money as online courses go. And I would go for the Super Pack if you’re going to invest in it. An extra $100 is going to be money well spent, not to mention that it is only a one time fee – no recurring bills. Once you have the course, it’s yours for good.
The video quality of the modules is excellent and his private group is very active and helpful. I think this guy is legit and has a real bargain going for both new and intermediate affiliate marketers. As for advanced affiliates, they will benefit from the extra things provided in the Super Pack but not really from anything in the Standard Pack.
#4. Super Affiliate System by John Crestani
Okay, the Super Affiliate System. Here we really are talking about big investment, big course and big money to be made.
First off, who is this guy? Who is John Crestani? Well, he started out as an ordinary dude who just got the bug for wanting to make money online using nothing more than a laptop and internet connection! Don’t we all?! So he struggled and struggled and struggled until he cracked it and realised his dream. He’s now a multimillionaire and at least four of his students have also become millionaires like himself. So he’s a serious guy with a library of knowledge and decades of experience and of course… a guy with a big, fat, expensive affiliate marketing course!
The course costs $997 if you buy it in one go, but you can also pay for it in three instalments.
So what’s this course like? Firstly, you’ll be interested to know that he updates it so that it stays relevant to the present day’s online marketing world. Secondly, there is a huge amount of informative, rich and in-depth content. He takes you on a six-week training course, including mentoring within the Super Affiliate System.
Below are just some of the topics, each covered during hours and hours of content:
Google Ads
YouTube/Video Ads
Facebook Ads
Search Engine Marketing
Social Advertising
Free Traffic Methods
Website Creation
Funnels & Funnel Building
Product Selection
Creating Traffic & Engagement
Pre-Selling
Data Analysis
Researching Niches
The Success Mindset
Advanced Marketing Strategies
He goes very in-depth, but again a core feature here is paid traffic methods. He also puts a fair amount of energy into getting you to sell his own course as an affiliate. Now, okay, that’s some pretty shameless self-promotion right there. However, I am inclined to forgive him up to a point. If I had put my whole heart into creating a course that contained all these gems of knowledge of my life’s learning and achievements as a high profile marketer, I’d probably be pretty keen to sell it too! I’d at least let my students know how selling it could help others and make themselves a good commission. But that is one of the things people don’t like him for. Too much into selling his own thing.
On the other hand, it’s not too difficult to apply all the knowledge and resources for the promotion of other products. There are people out there giving testimonies of making a full-time income from only one of the modules in the course; Google Ads for example.
Do I Recommend It?
This is another straight forward answer; if you have enough money saved up and are able to spend more on ads and ClickFunnels, then it should pay off and make you some serious money further down the line, so yes, I recommend it to those of you who are ready to go deep and spend big.
However, there are other more affordable courses and it may be wiser to go through some of these before splashing out on the Super Affiliate System.
#5. Wealthy Affiliate by Kyle and Carson
Well, here’s my old favourite – Wealthy Affiliate. This masterful online training course which has gone from success to success and from update to update, has been going steadily since 2015 when it was created by Kyle and his business partner, Carson.
Wealthy Affiliate is a platform designed to take learners through the process of building their own website and making money with it. All students or newcomers can start for free with 1 free website and a fair amount of free training. Premium members have access to build up to 10 websites if they wish and they benefit from all the training, coaching and other tools as well.
Inside you will find two training courses, each with a certificate to be gained upon completion: The Online Entrepreneur Certification, designed for those who are in any niche they choose, and the Wealthy Affiliate Bootcamp, which is designed for the promotion of Wealthy Affiliate and is generally for those in the Make Money Online niche.
The platform offers a series of training modules with very clear and easy to follow video tutorials as well as written instructions and best of all in a way, specific action steps to be taken at the end of each lesson. Before you proceed to the next lesson, you will have the satisfaction of ticking the boxes containing the tasks to be completed for that lesson.
This is a very simple, yet very clever feature of WA; they make you take action all the way through. They don’t just teach you. They make you build up your business so that it is up and running even before you finish the course. And you have a ton of know-how and a beautiful website that you can be proud of.
As for support, there is a whole tech team on stand by for that.
As for help, there is not only your personal coach and various WA experts whom you can private message at any time, but an entire community to whom you can ask questions, interact with and be motivated, inspired and encouraged by. The whole atmosphere is like a family; everyone is so friendly and helpful. You just feel good about yourself, you feel you’re in the right place, in good hands, and want to constantly improve. If you stick at it, you basically can’t go wrong.
There is a whole thread dedicated to sharing success stories. You can read about other’s successes and tell your own success stories.
You have access to Jaaxy, which is the internet’s #1 keyword tool, allowing you to write blog posts that will eventually rank on Google, often on the first page, allowing you to gain free traffic to your website.
Here I have only given the very basics, but WA is jam-packed with all kinds of perks, tools, benefits and goodies! And best of all, the whole lot is yours for only $49 a month. Alternatively you can go annual and save.
Do I Recommend It?
Sounds like a yes doesn’t it?! Yes, absolutely. This course is one of the very best, if not the best you’ll ever stumble across online, considering all that it provides you with for so little money. It does contain a section on PPC marketing but it’s emphasis is more on producing a traffic producing website that ranks high in Google, Bing and Yahoo, but especially Google.
It’s by no means a way to make money fast or with minimal effort. I think it’s a genuine and authentic way to make money however. It brings out the best in you, it’s honest, it’s ethical, it’s genuine and you can feel really fulfilled and proud of yourself. It is a long term, realistic and well tested and proven method for making consistent money online… big money that is, depending on the work you put in.
I hope this has been informative and even somewhat enjoyable to go through. Leave some comments down below and follow me on this site for more Make Mone Online posts, full of useful tips and powerful information for growing your own profitable business and presence online.
To Your Success!
You are right my friend. I was gathering my cash to give to John Crestani when I met a wealthy affiliate and I decided to join the network of affiliate marketers. You are very right when you say Wealthy Affiliate takes learners through the process of building their websites and making money from it. Top of it is that it is affordable with thousands of training
Hi Dominic, I am pleased to meet you. I am thrilled to have read the top online business courses you provided. Well, I have noted the ones you fully recommend, and I believe they are worth giving a try. I’m on wealthy affiliate now, and I got hooked to Savage Affiliates by Franklin and Super Affiliate System by John, though they are costly. This is helpful, thanks for sharing.
Jeez, #3 and #4 are asking people to really take a leap of faith, aren’t they? Forking over hundreds of bucks just like that is not an easy decision to make, especially because people who want to get into online marketing are doing it to make money that they don’t already have. WA has been really helpful to me so far, though. I’d say if you’re willing to put in the work, the investment will pay off eventually. $50 a month isn’t that bad.
Yes, you’re absolutely right! Hope you’ll give it a go! Wishing you success sir!
I understand how you feel about Facebook Ads. That’s why I always have a doubt about Facebook ads courses offered online. But some are excellent. But, the techniques explained are sometimes so complicated that you feel that you are throwing your money out of the window without learning anything.
I don’t like courses that offers more do-it-for-you stuffs than teaching you how to do them. Savage Affiliates seems interesting even if it’s pricey.
But I’m a big fan of Wealthy Affiliate because the lessons offered are up to date and easy to understand. The community is incredible. You will always find someone ready to help you if you have any question about a specific topic.
Well, the topic was very understandable and informative, especially due to me being curious about a couple of them I’ve seen surfing, the first was the Supper Affiliate and the Savage affiliates.
The HBA funnel you are 300% correct I have tried it in the past along with a 30-minute workday, your post did exactly what it was meant to do compel me to try the WA.
Thank You For Your Content;
Bill Wright
Thank you so much Bill, great input!
Hi Dominic, this is a great review of the Top Online Business Courses. It’s very comprehensive with a great deal of relevant details. Your honest opinion on each is appreciated.
My favorite is Wealthy Affiliate. I feel lucky that I was able to find this platform. I agree with all the benefits that you have listed but to me the most important thing is that it allows me to follow my passion. I don’t get stuck in the making money mode. I allow my passion to flow and the money comes almost as a site effect to that. It truly is an amazing platform.
That’s lovely to hear Anna. Thanks for the comment here!
Thank you very much for recommending these courses. I’ve heard about both Wealthy Affiliate and Savage Affiliates since they’re recommended a lot in my Facebook group. It seems Savage Affiliates offer more value compared to Wealthy Affiliates, although the cost will be higher too. Can I ask, between those two, which one provides deeper resources for paid performance marketing?
Humm, well there are a lot or resources in Savage Affiliates. But Wealthy Affiliate has a whole module on PPC as well.
Hi Dominic & thank you for sharing this article.
Reading and looking throughout your article, btw never heard about this “Commission Hero ” program good to know. Or Super Affiliate Network program or Savage affiliate, very interesting. All of those as I’ve said never hear but thank you for your honesty.
Your review is quite a comprehensive subject, a very good explanation with pros and cons for everyone understanding.
Thank you once again & many blessings to you
I have been an affiliate for a year now and I am shamed to say that I don’t know any of these. I have a long way to go indeed. Kyle and Carson are known to me and they offer the best training.
The others I don’t know them or what they do, but it can be something I can explore specially when it comes to ads. I have wondered about Facebook ads and this is something I like to try in the future.
Thanks for sharing your choices and tips. It’s very useful for those of us who have just started our journeys and who haven’t reached their goals yet.
Thanks for sharing this article. It’s good to get a comparison review like this whee you can not only deal with one program at a time, but compare 5 at once. I must say, i’ve actually had a look into them all but one (Number 3) and i wasnt too impressed by most of them. They tend to ask a lot of you to put in, with little assurance of anything back out (except of course their word. But they obviously WOULD say that it’s good). The number 5 one though, Wealthy Affiliate beats them all hands down and it lets you try it out Free for as long as you want. That to me is a clincher because you have no need to risk your hard earned cash on something that may turn out to be useless. As it goes, i’m also a member of Wealthy affiliates and i find it great. You have a very helpful network of skilled professionals who will help you in your work.
Thank you for this impressive review, Dominic. Respect you did a great job. It is clear to me that Wealthy Affiliate is the best. All the others have a few hidden costs or are too expensive for me. At Wealthy Affiliate, you know what you pay, monthly or annually, premium or premium plus. No hidden costs, lots of support, and a great community. There is something for every budget. I will recommend Wealthy Affiliate to everyone.
Monique.
Enjoyed the article it makes it much easier than doing research in each company out there especially with all the scams companies out there it takes a lot of time and sometimes wasted money, I like how you added your recommendation for each It always nice to see what other people think of the programs. Thank You for the honesty.
I have not come across the first three programs that you mention in this top online courses, but I have come across John Crestani’s Super Affiliate Program. And yes I have been with Wealth Affiliate for two year now and can confirm that they are one of the top affiliate training programs that you could ever wish to be part of.