In this review I shall be discussing what is the ClickFunnels Affiliate Program and is it right for you.
ClickFunnels Affiliate Program Summary
Name: ClickFunnels Affiliate Program
Website: https://www.clickfunnels.com
Price: Free Training. 14 Day Free Trial. Then about $97 to $297 monthly
Owner: Russell Brunson
Overall Rank: 6 out of 10
ClickFunnels Affiliate Program Overview
In this section I will show how the ClickFunnels Program works. This will include the steps necessary to make money.
Russell Brunson, the amazingly successful entrepreneur, was the brainchild behind the ClickFunnel system. Russell was first fascinated by using the Internet to make money at the young age of 12.
As a salesman, he marketed any and everything. He made his first million online just after graduating from college, and before he founded ClickFunnels. Russell was one of the pioneers of the funnel system to grow an online business.
Wikipedia does a great job in explaining how a funnel system is used to take a consumer through an online journey that ends in purchasing a product. They call it the Conversion Funnel.
Russell Brunson has created a system that automates this process when combined with third party supporting tools. I will provide details in the discussion about the ClickFunnel System.
In order to educate his entrepreneurs Russell has written many books such as Dot.Com Secrets; Expert Secrets; Network Marketing Secrets; and his latest, Traffic Secrets. Overall Russell has sold hundreds of thousands of his books, mainly in eBook format, and has a following of over one million entrepreneurs.
What is Russell s secret to become so successful at a very young age?
He markets the idea of using secrets that can be used to make money fast. Everyone loves a secret, right? And who doesn’t like the prospect of making money fast.
Four Step Funnel Example
A very large group of prospects start the process by seeing an ad. This could be on YouTube, Social Media or even through AdSense. These prospects are taken through a series of decision-making steps where fewer and fewer take the action required to go to the next step. There are several ways to do this. Here is one:
- Prospect sees an ad in their browser for a free product, usually an eBook with valuable information they are seeking.
- A small percentage will click the ad and a window to collect their Email address in exchange for the eBook will appear.
- They enter their Email address and another window will pop up to show a promotional video followed by instructions, on how they can get their eBook.
- They follow these instructions and eventually get their eBook. Or whatever the free product they were promised.
In this example I have shown a FOUR step process where the prospect needs to make a decision between each step to move forward or not. In essence this acts like a filter to eliminate those who are not serious. The narrowing down of the initial number of prospects is what likens such a system to a funnel.
How Russell Brunson Uses This 4 Step Funnel To Enroll Prospects
I am going to show you this 4 STEP Process I went through to get a free book as well as to the free ClickFunnels Affiliate Training System.
FIRST STEP
In the FIRST STEP you see a paid ad possibly via YouTube or through a social media platform. When clicking the ad, the following window appears in your browser that is the SECOND STEP.
SECOND STEP
Read the copy. It’s very compelling, right? Who doesn’t want to earn money on autopilot?
They are looking for action takers who want to make money on autopilot without lifting a finger. Action takers who do not want to lift a finger seems odd. But who am I to judge.
Also, notice that in this SECOND STEP you only need to enter your Email address making it relatively painless. After you click the blue button you will be sent to the THIRD STEP in the window below.
THIRD STEP
When I went this far in the process, I did check my inbox and there was nothing. In this funnel they want you to watch the video and then make a decision. Do you want to start the free training or claim a free book? Since this window is in a browser, it won’t disappear. So you can actually click both one after the other, which I did.
The FOURTH STEP has two results.
The first result is the path to the start of a 7 STEP training process that helps you set up your ClickFunnel System with associated prospecting tools.
The second result is the channel that tells you how to get your free book, entitles Expert Secrets.
I clicked the free book red outlined button first. This took me to one of the channels in the FOURTH STEP below.
FOURTH STEP – Path to claim your free book
The premise of Expert Secrets is that we are all experts at something. And that we can use that information as leverage in our business to help others change their lives. Predominantly by introducing them to the ClickFunnel affiliate program.
Strangely, this free book is not offered as an eBook but a paperback you can buy on Amazon for $19.95. If you fill in your information that now includes your shipping address, it will be mailed to you. But you will have to pay for shipping. $7.95 within the US and $14.95 the rest of the world. Can you guess why this is so?
You will be required to enter your credit card information which ClickFunnels will now have on file. Ease of further upsells.
When you scroll down this browser window you will find videos and testimonials from other entrepreneurs who explain how they have used their knowledge to create eBooks that they give away in exchange for the opportunity to share their ClickFunnel business building system using their affiliate link on their own website landing page
Since I didn’t fill in my address, I will not be getting the free book mailed to me.
Although the ClickFunnel Affiliate Training is free, the associated software necessary to run your online business is not. Depending on how deep you go, the cost could range from $97 to $297 monthly.
FOURTH STEP – Path to the 7 STEP ClickFunnel Training and Setup Process
When I clicked the Start Your Free Training blue outlined button I was directed to the 7 STEP ClickFunnel Training System.
I will now share this 7 STEP ClickFunnel Training System with you using screenshots of each step. This is an affiliate marketing system where the star product featured is the ClickFunnel System itself. When you succeed in acquiring a paid subscriber through your marketing efforts, you will be paid a commission of $40 for every subscriber who joins the program at the $97 price. When your free 14 free trial ends your credit card on file will be charged $97. As this repeats each month $40 in passive income will be generated for your sponsor. And when you sponsor a paying member, you will also earn a passive income of $40 each month. As long as the member maintains their payment.
The main thrust of these 7 STEPS is to enroll others in the system and help them learn how to do the exact same thing. In addition to the ClickFunnel Affiliate Program, each of the tools you will end up paying for has an affiliate program of their own.
When you add the monthly subscription of these tools, your monthly cost could be $297. Hence, there is a strong incentive to use your affiliate links to market everything you pay for to not only reduce your monthly costs, but also to generate a net recurring income for you.
Let’s now dive into the ClickFunel Training System also named the Super Affiliate Training Business Box.
ClickFunnel Training Step 1
You commence Step 1 with the above video that shows how you can earn a dream car of your choice.
Firstly, note the title in the black box at the top. The training is indeed free. But, and this is a BIG BUT, in order to make the system work, you will have to invest into tools and services that are explained in subsequent steps. The cost can range from $97 to $297 depending on how many tools and services you subscribe to.
Is it possible to go from 0 to $10,000 a month within 30 days on autopilot? This is just the first example that is a surefire way to attract people who want to get-rich-quick and are willing to pay the fees of the program to achieve this goal. What do you think?
In order to maintain excitement and motivation, included in this first step training is a video that shows how it is possible to get a free car of your choice. To earn this bonus you are required to enroll 100 new paid members. There is a saying, “A New Car Of Your Choice Within 100 Days”. This implies you will sign up one new paid member each day for 100 days.
The first question is how do you accomplish that? The answer will be shown further down.
The second question is what car can you qualify for? I found out that you have to lease it with a $500 monthly bonus you will receive when you meet your 100 ClickFunnels sales quota. The type of car you get will depend on what that $500 will get you.
What is not made clear in the training is how long will you get that monthly $500 bonus? Do you have to maintain the one sale a day? I suppose that question will be answered after you register.
Remember when you lease a car you will have to pay upfront costs plus insurance. There goes the $4000 in commissions you will have earned.
The more exotic cars will require upwards of $1000 a month for the lease You will need to make at least 200 sales for this level of luxury. Hence, the car of your choice will be dictated by the number of paid subscribers you are able to sign up.
When you watch this video, assuming you got through this sign up process, all the cars shown are luxury models from BMW’s to Maserati! Who will not get excited at the prospect of getting a free car?
Ask yourself. Is the car really free?
Before we go to Step 2, I want you to read the earning statement in the back box at the top of the Step 1 window.
“How to earn from zero to $10,000 per month on complete autopilot!”
Let’s do the math. At $40 monthly commission per sale
Every training step below includes a video that walks you though the setup process. The videos are very well explained, short, and straight to the point. Since many of the functions are done for you, there is not too much for you to do.
ClickFunnel Training – Step 2
You are mandated to take the 14-Day free trial before paying the $97 a month fee. Read the script under the WAIT notice in the gray box above. Doesn’t that give the impression that you will be making $5000 by the end of the month with done for you funnel setups? It appears they are very generous in doing this all for free!
In order to make good use of these funnels what do you think you need. TRAFFIC! Guess what’s coming down the line. You will be shown what you need to do to get that traffic.
ClickFunnel Training – Step 3
Here is where by a click of a button all your funnels are loaded onto your own dashboard. This video shows the funnel path you took to get here. This is what you will be using to attract new prospects and help them create their won funnel system.
This is a good point to state the logic behind the simplicity of this system. Unlike the traditional Affiliate Marketing website where you select a niche and promote products within your niche, here your niche is already chosen for you. ClickFunnels. Hence, your website is devoted only to singing up new ClickFunnel customers. In fact, as you will see later, the Privacy Policy and Disclaimers are automatically added for you. Your only focus is to set up your funnels and to make sure your affiliate links are located in the right places.
Notice that once the 14-day free trial ends, you will be charged $97 a month. There is a huge reason to get your funnels and affiliate marketing system set up and running during this trial period.
Firstly, the company wants you to start earning money by attracting prospects into your funnel system. When you select your domain, one of the advanced training will take you through creating a website landing page that is at the top of your funnel. More on this later.
Secondly, the sooner you get linked into the ClickFunnel Marketing system, the less likely you will be to dropout. Plus, as you go further into the training you will find out that more costs are involved.
ClickFunnel Training – Step 4
You only need one domain and associated Email address for a successful affiliate marketing business. The cost for the domain name and the hosting is free. Can you spot a common theme here? Instead of truly developing your own, independent business, you are being attached to their business system using the done for you easy setup to convince you this is the best way to go.
Of course, if you truly believe this will earn you $10K at the end of one month, why not? It will come down to how well you are able to get traffic into your funnel. And lots of it. Do your homework.
ClickFunnel Training – Step 5
ClickFunnel
Two autoresponders are offered. Get Response and Aweber. The preferred option is Aweber. And it is a pretty good option. But, you will need to register and select a monthly plan. The basic plan is about $29 a month. The link you will be using to sign up will of course be the affiliate link of your sponsor. Which you also did when you set up your account to pay for ClickFunnels.
ClickFunnel Training – Step 6
In Step 6 you are encouraged to sign up for the affiliate programs shown. All of these are tools that are recommended as part of your ClickFunnels business building system. You may be wondering what Instato and Udimi is. More about these later.
ClickFunnel Training – Step 7
Remember I said that one of your tasks is to make sure to set up your various affiliate links properly? If you do not do this, guess what happens. Your sponsor’s links will be used by default and he will be credited for your sales. You don’t want that to happen.
The last statement says your business is complete. What that really means, the online mechanics of your business Setups indeed complete as long as you followed through on all the action steps you were taught to do in each of the videos.
So what’s missing? Several things actually.
System Integration And Setup
An advanced training module that follows after the 7 Step ClickFunnel setup is given to help you connect the dots as they call it between your ClickFunnels, Autoresponder system and your Landing Page. The following section addresses this function:
TRAFFIC
Two approaches are addressed.
- Using an Email list. with the Udimi program
- Using Instagram with the Instato system
Notice that using SEO and organic means of attracting traffic are not part of the ClickFunnels plan. In fact, the training clearly states that the typical affiliate marketing website is very confusing to visitors. With so many menus, articles, banners and links, what should a visitor do?
Clearly this does not tell the whole story why the traditional affiliate marketing website is configured that way. The approach is diametrically opposite to the ClickFunnel system.
With ClickFunnels, the aim is extremely narrow and is primarily a done for you set up. The ClickFunnel business owner is trained to throw money to others who set up the automation to do the work for you. I see one flaw in this process.
No matter how great the automated system is, the financial cost to pay for traffic could end up being prohibitive to many. It will be further down the line when this shortcoming is painfully discovered. I have a post script about this at the end of my review.
Udimi
In this approach each member is connected with people who have large Email lists. You are trained to select those who have lists that have a history of providing the best results. It will be up to you to decide who to hire. It will cost you 50 cents an Email. A recommended minimum number to start of putting into your funnel system is 100. That means another $50 a month.
Here is where I have a problem with. The funnel has several steps. And the click through rate can be less than 10% at each step. Let’s take the 4 step funnel. We would be generous of we assigned a click through rate of 10% at each level. For just ONE paid customer you would need to start off with at least 10,000 people entering your funnel system. At 50 cents a pop you are looking at $5000 just to get ONE sign up.
I sure hope I am dead wrong and that the click through rate for the entire funnel is say 1%. In that case starting out with 100 emails you could end up with one sale. What do you think?
My feeling is that those who are able to drive prospects into their funnel must use other means too. And there is another. Instagram. Let’s loo at the Instato System.
Instato
Instato is a two part training system. This system automates the process of finding potential prospects on Instagram and automatically entering them into your funnel system. There is a cost to use this system. But it is not shown.
Pros & Cons
There are many aspects of this system to like. And many not to like either. I ranked this opportunity 6 out of 10. You will see why below.
Pros
- Done for you system with very little decision-making required by you
- Easy to understand training videos to set up the ClickFunnel System
- Very clear and duplicatable affiliate marketing process to earn money
- Good income earning potential as a ClickFunnel Affiliate
- Provides affiliate opportunities for the tools you actually use
- Russell Brunson has put together an experienced team of helpers
Cons
- You are made to believe it is easy to start earning big and fast
- Missing information on the traffic statistics necessary to meet the high income goals
- Relatively high monthly cost with upsells
- The true cost to achieve sufficient traffic may be a deal breaker
- Rigid system makes it difficult to adapt to adding other affiliate opportunities like Amazon
- The ClickFunnel eco system is designed to lock you in during the trial period
- It may be legal but smells scammy since the primary niche is the system itself
- High income is bandied about like it is the norm
- The truth that the free car is not really a gift but a lease. The overall cost may be prohibitive
- Excessive Hype typical of MLM companies
My Opinion Of The ClickFunnel Business System
I have offered my opinion in several relevant areas as I wrote this review. The $97 monthly fee will not be sufficient to make this system a success unless you have the means to generate and drive traffic into your ClickFunnel system through other means.
If you are not able to do that, be prepared to pay out $297 a month to get all the moving parts to make the system work. That is not an unreasonable monthly business investment if that was sufficient to generate the traffic necessary to help you sign up one customer a day. I feel you will have to do much more, including pay more to earn enough income to at least cover your monthly expenses as well as to generate a living wage.
Is This Right For You?
If you like the idea of done for you systems and willing to believe that it will really work on auto pilot, then maybe it is. But do your due diligence to find out what the members typical earn.
You can also use ClickFunnels for any other online business where you want to make it easy to guide your prospects towards a product you recommend that will solve a problem they have. In this scenario you do not opt in to the ClickFunnel Affiliate Marketing system as presented in this article.
However, you will still incur the $97 monthly fee. There are other funnel systems available that may be less costly. Like Converti that is faster and costs only $297 a year compared to ClickFunnels that adds up to $1164.
Once again, do your homework. A funnel is a good investment when you are at the stage of your business where you are generating a lot of traffic.
What Alternatives Are There To Enter Affiliate Marketing?
In contrast to the ClickFunnel Affiliate Marketing System, you can select a niche that you are passionate about and create your own website to write helpful articles about your niche products to help a customer make a buying decision.
These products can come from a company like Amazon that offers an Affiliate Program. In fact, there are thousands of companies that offer such programs. When you select a niche it could well be satisfied by more than one company.
How would you like to learn how to create your own affiliate marketing business using the training and platform of one of the most successful companies in this business?
I am talking about Wealthy Affiliate. They have been in business for over 14 years and have trained over two million entrepreneurs. I’d like to invite you to check out the Wealthy Affiliate Platform for free. You can read an article I wrote that goes into great detail what you get with Wealthy Affiliate as well as how the platfoirm works. Or you can click the banner below and scroll down to learn more at the Wealthy Affiliate free sign up page.
All the best to you.
Edwin Bernard
I had never much understood how funnels worked or what they were, but you explained this so clearly in this post. The four steps now make perfect sense to me. It is, in fact, brilliantly set up, and your article has given me ideas. One always learns, isn’t that true? 😉
Using the book as a free gift is so clever, kind of sneaky that that is how they get your credit card info when you fill that in for the sending costs. But then, what is the program that they sell? Some sort of training? so, could I, in theory, start a training and set up a funnel about it? I don’t know yet how to do all that, but I am happy I finally understand how it works 🙂
Signing up new funnel customers, that’s how they make money then? By getting people to join and finding more people to do the same? And I guess that when you sign up for an autoresposnder that the owner gets a commission, since it is an affiliate link, like you mentioned.
Russel Brunson has set up a system that has made him rich, and I’m sure that it can make others rich too, but in order to succeed with this, I believe that you must have some experience. This may be hard to do for newbies.
Hi Christine,
Actually, the system is set up to automate everything. Sadly the fuel to make it work is cold hard cash.
Besides the subscriptions for the connected components like ClickFunnels, Autoresponder and social media traffic generators, you also have to pay to build your Email list. At 50 cents an Email that can add up fast soon. I feel that it will take more than 100 Emails s month to generate anything decent. If one can afford the cost that appears to me about $500 a month at least, then the payback will be amazing. But there are no guarantees. It will depend on the quality of leads you get.
It does work as people are making a lot of money from it. In this case it takes money to make money. And if you don’t have the money, then tough.
I wanted to make people know this situation so they will get involved with their eyes wide open.
I sincerely appreciate your comments.
Edwin
This post is lengthy but explains in detail what you’re getting with Click Funnel. Thanks for the information! Everyone who is looking for a home based business needs to read this first. It’s definitely not for me! Keep up the great work of helping people be informed about these type of businesses!
Hi Sharon, it’s not for me either. Monthly costs will be far more than the $297 subscriptions for all the connected components when you add in the cost of the Email lists.
Thanks for reading this rather lengthy post.
All the best to you.
Edwin
Thanks for answering the questions that I have had relating to the Clickfunnels Affiliate Program to help me decide if it is something I want to get involved with and promote to others. I prefer to recommend programs and tools that work over reviewing scam products that are out there (there are many and such reviews will get traffic, but I am more a solutions guy)…
You have laid out the process clearly and I am sure that the platform itself is solid, so I do believe I will give this affiliate program a try. I have many friends that use Clickfunnels for their business, and some have online-only based businesses while others do marketing online for their offline brick and mortar business. This was very helpful and I have bookmarked the page to get back again in case I have any issues!
Hi Dave,
You are correct that many folks use ClickFunnels for their businesses independent of joining the ClickFunnels business system. Traffic is based on paying for Email lists instead of organic traffic. The real costs are more than the subscription fees that ad up to $297, when you account for the Email list cost. I feel you need at least 1000 emails to make a decent start. And that machine will require feeding regularly.
If you can afford the monthly costs to create a income earning business faster then this is for you. I feel that many join only to realize they need to pay more, much more to generate traffic. And they probably drop off. Hence more and more members need to be recruited each month.
If you give it a shot please let me know why it will be working out for you.
Cheers!
Edwin
I didn’t’ know Russell Branson started thinking of becoming wealthy at such a young age. Thanks for a review of this program, I might have to try it myself. It can I even model some of what he has done, I may be able to provide a good living to my family. The only concern I have is traffic, would click funnels work even if you have less traffic?
Hi Jagi,
The conclusion I came to is no matter how great the system is after putting all the components together it will do zip until it is fed with traffic. Since this system is not based on generating organic traffic but paid Email lists, that cost is an unknown. My feeling is that it will take at least 1000 emails to get it started. There goes another $500.
Until the system is raking in a sizeable income, it will be hard to afford a decent list. A classic chicken and egg theory. I got the impression that in this system you have to use money as leverage to get money rolling in. It looks like it will work. It is working for others. But the monthly investment could be as high as $1000. This will bar a lot of people from entering.
Here is what I think happens. The videos and marketing copy makes it seem so easy to jump from 0 to $10K a month within 30 days. A lot of people will pay the fees and jump in. Only later they will realize they need to spend much more to create traffic. When they end up being disappointed they drop out. But new people will enter. So those at the top will always be showered with money from the new members entering the system.
I can’t afford it just like you.SO I’m out.
Edwin
Hi! I have been thinking if it would be a good idea to join Click Funnels. I had high expectations concerning this program but I’m glad I came here to read your post. It takes a lot of money to make this baby work and I really can’t afford it now. They don’t explain this from the start and that also disappoints me.
Thanks for this post!
Hi Ann,
That is what I found. The $97 a month subscription to ClickFunnels is useless if the other components necessary to make it work are not subscribed to as well.
However, the most costly component is understated. Namely the purchasing of leads in the Email list one needs to create at 50 cents an Email. They suggest starting off with 100. IF that was enough to generate customers, I would be knider to this program. I feel that you will need not 100 but 1000 leads to get momentum to generate sales. It would take a lot of sales to recoup the monthly subscriptions as well as the cost for Emails.
Those who can afford it stand a good chance to make some decent money. But I am sure it will take longer than what they project.
Thanks for you comments.
Edwin
I have tried the ClickFunnel system as promoted by promoted by Russell Brunson. Based on the reviews of many who are using it, once you understand the system, it can prove very lucrative.My experience though, is that it’s not that easy to understand for the newbie. In addition, there was no one willing to give personal assistance. I contacted them on at least two occassions and was given the same response. The videos will explain everything. Yet when I went to the videos, I was unable as a newbie to get answers to my questions. I however bought one of his book. At first read, the concepts were not immediately understood, but as I have taken time to review them, they are more clear. The fee too, was an issue for me accompanied with the continuous upsells. While I appreciate the value of upsells, it would always be more encouraging if the inital offer would allow me to begin to make an income. After that, going for the upsell would be automatic.
Russell,
You points are spot on. I got the impression that if all one purchased was the right to just ClickFunnels with the monthly fee of $97, you’d be on your own if you tried to market it without using all the supporting programs that also have monthly fees.
Russell Brunson just released a new book called Traffic Secrets that I am interested in purchasing and reading. I wonder if he will share other means to generate traffic other than what is in the ClickFunnels system.
People are making money on it but not before spending a ton themselves.
Thanks for your comments.
Edwin
Wow Edwin, this is the most comprehensive explanation of the ClickFunnels program I’ve ever read. I’m glad I came across your article. Two things concern me about this program. One, the program appears to very much focus on selling more of the CF program rather than establishing other niches to help solve customer problems. After all isn’t that what good businesses do – solve people’s problems? And two, you don’t even have to use CF to promote CF, which to me is a big red flag. That’s starting to sound like a classic MLM program (Amway, anyone?).
Thank you Edwin for shedding some light on this topic.
You got that right. It’s like a self propagating program. However, affiliate commissions are only paid for the people who purchase the programs from you using your affiliate links. Hence it does not go down several levels like in a MLM Program.
The founder, Russell Brunson is hugely successful in other MLM programs. Most MLM programs are legitimate and work well for those who work the program. The earnings paid through leverage can be very compelling. However, only the members who build teams and train at least a few of their recruits to do the same are able to build a large network and benefit with large incomes. Most of us cannot do that.
ClickFunnels can also be used for other affiliate marketing programs and is very popular. Hence there is some benefit if used wisely.
Thanks for your helpful comments.
Edwin
Hi Edwin
I agree with much of what you say about ClickFunnels in this very well written and informative review.
Russell Brunson is very adept at the use of ‘Clickbait’ headline advertising, and IMHO, this over promises and under informs in respect of what you need to do and how much you need to spend to get the level of income he suggests is so easily achievable in such a short timeframe. This, I believe, panders to the greedy and prays on the un-informed. In the latter case, it can lead to disillusionment and the giving up of dreams by people who could really do well with the right education, mentoring and support.
Unless you already have the marketing skills and a significant budget, this is not a programme that I would have wished to join as a ‘newbie’ to the world of Affiliate Marketing.
As with many of the programmes produced by these ‘Gurus’, the emphasis is on selling the programme to make commissions, rather than helping people to develop the necessary skills to build their own independent online affiliate marketing business. If you’re tied to promoting a specific product, with a ‘done for you’ system, how ‘independent’ are you really?
Hi Richard,
You echo my sentiments exactly. When I wrote my review I tried to impart this message but in a diplomatic manner. Sadly, over promising and under delivering is a sure fire wqay to make money as there is no shortage of people who want to believe there is a fast and easy way to make money. If that was the case, the world would be filled with millionaires.
Wealthy Affiliate who I am a member of has a totally different culture. It takes training, patience and hard work to create an online business that provides passive income in time. And I hope people who visit my website will see the value in getting trained properly.
Thanks for your supportive comments.
Edwin