Many things have changed since I first wrote this and I feel there’s a need to update this review for clarity’s sake. If you’ve been googling what is affiliate institute, chances are you’ve seen their online ads somewhere or read some captivating positive reviews. Well, this isn’t going to be one of those.
Instead, I’ll be addressing some of the common questions asked and then, you can decide whether it’s worth your time and money to join this platform.
First, What Is Affiliate Institute All About?
Affiliate Institute (or AI) is basically an online education platform that teaches you how to run a successful online business using affiliate marketing and network marketing. It’s founded by Julian Sherman and Mathieu Jang, the same group of people who also created Global Affiliate Zone years back.
That site has undergone some transition and is now fully rebranded as Affiliate Institute. The training structure, however, remains more or less the same – you get step-by-step up-to-date training, live Q&A classes, marketing tools, and resources and some recommended affiliate offers.
Besides that, you can also schedule a personal call with an advisor, personalized a business plan to meet your goals, create and duplicate high converting campaigns and interact with other members on their private Facebook groups.
Affiliate Institute Membership Cost
Apparently, the cost of the training and features provided inside easily exceed $11K, but that’s not the price you’ll be paying. Instead, the cost of the Level 1 membership is only $99 per month.
Most entry points to this program – whether it’s through creating a new account or via an affiliate link – will lead you to the Level 1 sign up.
But wait, does that mean there’s a Level 2? You guessed it, right. Level 2 is catered for advanced training and it’s priced at a whopping $2,995 for a one-time fee – that is if you get the discount. The entry point to this one is probably the offers you will get after completing the basic training.
Is Affiliate Institute Legit?
As far as training is concerned, it looks legit. The founders are real people, the training is top-class material and some people actually run a full-time online business doing what they learned from the Affiliate Institute.
All the memberships come with a 14 days free trial and they are pretty transparent from the beginning that this isn’t a get-rich-quick money-making program. In fact, the program is going through an accreditation process by the government, to become a recognized platform for producing qualified affiliate marketers.
Fancy stuff, uh? Whether or not you’re suited for their marketing techniques or the membership pricing, is going to be a different matter altogether. That’s where you’ll find opinions contradicts and biases dominates, depending on who you talk to.
Inside the training, there’s no doubt you’ll be learning everything about affiliate marketing from beginner’s level to advanced. They will teach you how to tap into profitable niches, join the Amazon Associate program or find affiliate offers that match with your passion.
That means you can build an online business in any type of niche and I like that kind of flexible approach. But remember I said there is also training in network marketing?
Here’s the thing – the founders are in fact distributors for an MLM company called Enagic that sells high-end alkaline water ionizers range called Kangen, manufactured in Japan. You can’t find this product on retail because it can only be purchased through direct sales.
One unit of these is priced at hundreds to thousands of dollars and selling just one can fetch hundreds in lucrative commissions. And like everything else with the nature of MLM businesses, you’ll make more profit by recruiting team members to grow your downline sales.
You aren’t obligated to join this company if you don’t want to but if you’re interested, you need to purchase one of these pricey water machines to qualify for subsequent commission sales and team bonuses. This is nothing new actually. Back when it was GAZ, they were already selling Enagic so it’s only natural to bring over this high-product offer to the new platform.
So say you aren’t into MLM and just want to stick with affiliate marketing – that’s fine too, but as the training progress, it’s going to be obvious that their teaching focuses on creating funnels, email marketing and running ad campaigns.
In fact, when you register for the free web class prior to joining, one of the first few things Julian promised to teach is to show you how to set up ad campaigns WITHOUT needing any knowledge or technical experience.
This, my friend, is an overrated statement because every marketer used it for copywriting and you shouldn’t take it as it is. The reality is, you do need skills and some basic foundations to make sure your ads run smoothly. Most importantly, you need funds – otherwise, how are you going to run the campaigns?
If you’re caught unaware of this part or only realized after the fact you’ve paid for the membership, it’s not because Affiliate Institute is a scam – it’s just the way paid traffic works. But, being a newbie, this is something you wouldn’t know upfront. Same as how you wouldn’t know about the Level 2 membership either until much later.
You May Like Affiliate Institute’s Training If…
Everyone seeks to achieve different goals online so even though some of the training features may be off-putting, these groups of people may find it useful.
- You have had some experience doing affiliate marketing and now, want to scale your business further with targeted traffic.
- You are looking for a high ticket program offer – Affiliate Institute pays 30% in commission for every new referral.
- You are searching for a more global scale MLM opportunity where you can build teams through internet marketing.
Who Shouldn’t Join The Training
And then, here are the people who should think twice before jumping into the training.
- You are looking to get-rich-quick through high ticket programs.
- You want to learn affiliate marketing online but are new to the field.
- Selling water filter machines isn’t your kind of business idea.
- You prefer to sell your own products instead of representing other people’s brands.
- You are not ready for the risks that come with paid traffic such as losing money, low conversion, and investing in more tools.
Is Affiliate Insitute The Best Training Out There?
For advanced traffic training maybe. For MLM training, also maybe. But it’s certainly not designed for regular people who are new to online marketing. From a price point perspective, it’s far too expensive (consider the price jump from Level 1 to Level 2) to maintain on that kind of membership fee. From a training perspective, it’s just not beginner-friendly.
The program tends to give the notion that you need to spend a lot in order to start out as an affiliate marketer which is not true at all. I certainly didn’t burn a hole in my pocket when I first created this blog.
Free organic traffic can drive equally as much traffic without the use of a ‘unique system’ of a ‘powerful funnel’ and I’ve personally experienced that before. You must also consider that funds may not be available all the time, so it’s always wise to diversify your traffic sources instead of investing everything into one basket.
Also, for those who’re thinking of promoting the program as an affiliate, consider this. Whenever a program sells for too high a price – no matter how good the quality – it is difficult to sustain in the digital economy age because paying goes beyond the comfort zone of most people. When a company has very little income and is not making enough profit, it will eventually cease to operate.
If you are looking for a more cost-effective way to learn affiliate marketing long term, you should definitely check out my recommended training platform here. They offer a free trial (no credit card required) for you to look around and there’re are no MLM offers (pinky promise).
Have you tried Affiliate Institute before or other programs similar to this? We would love to hear your comments down below.
Linnel Withers says
Hi Cathy, I joined GAZ in June 2018 and it upgraded to AI earlier this year. You will not find a better training platform with the best trainers and team support than AI. When you sign up you also become a member of the best, soul-aligned, high energy, high-vibing, enthusiastic, an inspirational group of people. If you don’t like what you see, you have a 14-days money-back-guarantee, no questions asked. US$99 is a lot, but the opportunities available in this group is worth every cent. Well, to me it is. To me the inner work and changed mindset alone is priceless. Like they say, “don’t knock it till you try it”.
T C. says
GAZ had a massive update to become AI very recently making the most compliant affiliate program out there, the value of what you get from step one inside is over 12k and you get that for 99$/month or for the price of a coffee/day. It´s nothing! And it´s not like you´re locked into anything – you can cancel your subscription in less than a minute.
I would rather learn and get certified in all this rather acidify my body daily on coffee.
The community is amazingly full of great human beings, the education inside is fantastic everything is taught from A to Z by absolute gurus in the field and you can use this for anything! It´s insanely transferable and you will know this stuff for life. I´ve been in it for just under a year and I can clearly and confidently say this is no scam it is one of the best business opportunities you will find, but you´ll only find that out once you´re inside and drop the judgment.
Linda says
I LOVE AFFILIATE INSTITUTE! Go through their level 1 training, and tell me that your life hasn’t changed? Unless you’re already a successful affiliate marketer, AI is the leading place to learn all the fundamentals as a beginner!
99 bucks a month, with 30% commissions on each referred client. Plus they endorse ENAGIC! Enagic is magic, people!
Melissa says
Perhaps the platform is ok to learn stuff, but seriously, no one needs a 5k water filter! You can get some for a couple of hundreds that do the job just perfectly fine.
Lucas Vidarson says
Regarding GAZ and AI,
AI IS GAZ, Global Affiliate Zone migrated into Affiliate Institute so that means Julian Sherman is running 2 projects, not 3. He runs AI and AWOL.
I have done the level one Affiliate Institute training and the training platform is just great all the way through. This is some really solid training where you learn FB ads, Funnels, Follow up, Branding, Email Marketing, Traffic and you are walked through the process from beginning to end, these people want you to succeed.
Every week I receive a call from my advisor where we go through the training, look at what I need to focus and schedule the next call, so you feel really taken care of too.
Yes, there are additional FB ad costs, but if you want to be an affiliate marketer it is great to leverage FB’s amazing ad system for your own benefit. The targeting is great and it is better to pay a little bit for a great service than to pay nothing and use shady tools. In the end, it is just more cost-effective.
Regarding the diploma, you receive after each completed level. I don’t know how official it is, but how official does it need to be? I don’t really need recognition from someone else than the best within Affiliate marketing, which I am getting. AI is the best, no doubt. The diploma is also just really fun and encouraging to have.
All in all I am super stoked and really grateful for what AI is offering. In a way I am a walking, talking endorsement of AI, simply because I am so satisfied.
Tommy Elite says
Do you know that the first coach call when investing with AI is to let you know that to reap the full benefit of AI, you have to purchase a Kangen water machine that cost me a few thousand dollars? That’s the BIG secret they are hiding from you. “Big-Ticket product” = “Hand You a High-Converting Offer”. This is simply products of a company called, Enagic.
Riaz Shah says
I have no idea there’s such thing as a certified affiliate marketer. With so many scams running about and the lack of regulation in the affiliate marketing industry, I don’t think the certification is even that important as anyone can just make that up.
It’s concerning though that you pointed out the part about the Global Affiliate Zone’s URL. Might just be me but since Affiliate Institute is charging so high for its membership, the least they could do is buy a new domain :/
Mike Viray says
Thanks for showing us what’s inside this shady program. It’s pretty hard to find reliable and trustworthy online opportunities nowadays, with scammers popping all around the place like mushrooms after an overnight rain shower. Sometimes when things seem too good to be true, they’re probably worth thinking twice.
Queen says
Thanks, Cathy. Reading your review and seeing how shady the owner is, has strongly made me believe I will certainly regret spending my money on this program. Luckily I didn’t.
Andy Zeus Anderson says
Nothing like a reboot of an out-of-date set of training at a high price. Funnels are all the rage but for a good affiliate funnel program to work, it needs to serve all businesses and not just one single program.
In this case, they are trying to compete with the likes of Russel Brunson but with a business model more like the now-defunct MOBE which was shut down by the Federal Trade Commission in the United States as an HYIP Ponzi Scam. The fact is, you get your money learning how to sell this service to get money from others doing the same.
That’s a classic Ponzi Scam structure – spend money to make more money while they only give you enough training to promote their program.
Gwendolyn J says
I have seen a few ads for Affiliate Institute but never look into it. So glad to come across your review.
I have fallen for a few of these schemes and I am sick of being taken for a ride. I have gotten to the point where I either ignore them or, like you, dig deeper.
It never ceases to amaze me how these people fail or get busted under one company name just to resurrect the same scheme under a new one. Where do they find the time and money to scam people? Maybe from the people, they scammed on the last round?
The price of joining AWOL and GAZ is suspicious. If the same guys are running AI, I don’t think they will bring many changes to the program enough to make it look any less shady than their other two.
Linda says
I’m someone who is a certified level 1 AI marketer. They are not a scam. They are changing many people’s lives with their affiliate program & training alongside Enagic- the most powerful distributer program on the planet!