The internet is never short of resources that can show you how to start an online business. This week, I come across another site called Marketing University and it seems pretty thorough. So, what is Marketing University and what can you expect from their training courses? This review will provide a much-needed answer and guidance.
Marketing University at a Glance
This site isn’t very much heard of online, but if you’re on Facebook, you may have read about them before.
1) The facilitator for the courses is Armand Morin, an experienced internet marketer, author and motivational speaker who has been active in the scene for the past 20 plus years.
2) The entire learning is structured like a library format, where there are different marketing topics to choose from, at no particular order or any level of learners.
3) The teaching method is mainly through video tutorial in which a lesson can span between 7 to 45 minutes per session. No downloads, no notes or cheat sheets whatsoever.
4) Despite its name, the training is not an accredited educational institution, which means, it doesn’t provide any certification upon the completion about a particular course.
5) The fee of the course is based on a monthly subscription at $47/month or $447/year. (Note: There seems to be contradicting information in regards to this because when I signed up, that’s what the fine print says on my account dashboard, but in the official homepage, Armand stated that it is $97/month instead). Anyways, you still get a 2 week trial (for $1) to think about it before you commit to the payment.
My First Impression of The Site
When I first come across the site, I could tell that Armand is someone who knows his stuff and puts it out very professionally. It’s obvious that his main objective is to teach so he doesn’t pull all those upsells, promotions or marketing gimmicks like what you would often see with other sites. It kind of reminds me of the Lynda learning platform.
The signup process was seemingly easy. You just need to fill out your credit card information, retrieve the password that’s delivered to your email and within seconds, you are in the course area.
I wasted no time in checking out the training materials and found a few things that I like about it.
The Pros
1) Firstly, the video quality is really good and because Armand is a professional speaker, the delivery of his content comes out loud and clear. You probably would have guessed from the video above.
2) His courses cover a wide variety of topics in the area of modern marketing and judging from the video length, one can pretty much say that his explanation is very elaborate. For example, he covers the WordPress setup process very thoroughly and that’s good.
Just to give you an overview, here are some of the important topics that you can learn from him;
- Video Creation Secrets – Learn how to master the art of recording videos live in person, phone, tablet or desktop.
- Google Advertising – Learn how to utilize Google to drive targeted traffic to your website.
- WordPress – Learn how to set up and what plugins you should use for your WordPress website.
- Behavioral Marketing – Learn how to treat prospects and customers based on consumer behavior.
- Easy Product Creation – Learn to create your own (digital) product and sell online with proven methods.
3) Besides running Marketing University, Armand also conducts live training classes in a few locations across the United States and you can see all these activities on his Facebook profile. The good thing is that these trainings are then added into the archive so technically, you can expect a new course for every month.
4) Most of the courses are actually geared towards creating one’s product/services through video marketing, webinars or membership site in order to grow a more sustainable business income. Hence, it’s good training for those with this plan in mind.
The Cons
As much as I respect Armand’s expertise, I feel that there are a few things in this training that can be improved for a better learning experience.
1) Firstly, those long video presentations can actually sabotage one’s concentration. Without notes for reference and a checklist, one can actually lose track from the one-way learning method that Armand applies. I certainly found myself in that situation while watching one of those tutorials.
2) Some of the topics are quite technical for instance, I don’t see the need for manual WordPress installation or hiring someone from Fiverr to do the job when there are so many hosting platforms available that offer one-click installation without hassle. It’s good to be geeky, but for inexperienced people who want to start a business online, the majority will prefer a much simpler approach. Wouldn’t you?
3) Since it works as a library format, there’s actually no course sequence for anyone to follow. For example, someone who’s totally new in the field would pick a course like Google Advertising without having any prior knowledge about keyword research.
Or someone would jump into the topic of conversion without learning what their niche is all about. This unsystematic approach can be overwhelming for some people and confusing as to what is what.
4) If you are coming in to learn about affiliate marketing, eCommerce or drop shipping, you wouldn’t find many resources here for sure. As mentioned before, it is more geared towards one’s own product creation and getting started from there.
5) Lastly, there’s no forum area or any avenue of asking Morin questions on the site. In order to do so, you’ll need to go onto their Facebook page where there is more interaction between the members and the tutor himself.
So, Is Marketing University Worth Joining
Judging from all the activities that I’ve seen, you can rest assured that this is a legitimate training site. The only benefit that I can see from the membership is probably the addition of a new course every month. As for everything else, I found that the courses are more suitable for intermediate learners than beginners.
If you belong to the latter category, you’ll require something more guided like what they have inside Wealthy Affiliate. In fact, their comprehensive training is also beneficial to marketers of any levels.
Here’s a quick peek into what’s offered within their membership features.
Overall, I hope that this review has given you a clear understanding of what you can (and can’t) gain from the training at Marketing University. If you are still stuck in making a choice, why not come and have a look inside Wealthy Affiliate (for free – no credit card required) and I’ll personally show you how to build a successful online business from scratch.
Hope to see you on the inside.
Question – What type of online business are you looking to start? Have you found a training that works for you? Perhaps I could help if you leave your comment below.
Anita Alig says
Hi Cathy
Thanks for this information about Marketing University. You mentioned that one part of the course is about using Google Adwords, which is something I’ve been thinking about. Have you used it to drive traffic to your website? If so, did it work and what kind of budget do you need?
Cathy says
Hi Anita. Yes, I have just started using paid traffic and already seeing some positive results. My budget is usually between $5 to $10 and I’ll monitor how things go before putting in more or switching to a new one.
Kenny Lee says
This Marketing University sounds like a solid program, but I think most of the topics can be found in Wealthy Affiliate – at a much more affordable price (more so, if you sign up during the Black Friday deals).
Cathy says
Hi Kenny. Yup, the Black Friday deal is quite a bargain for many people who are looking for web hosting, online business training or polishing their SEO skills. You are basically looking at a $60 difference in membership fee, which brings down your investment to about 80 cent per day. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything as low as that AND STILL delivers top-notch training.
Geoff says
It is such a pity that the learning is not organized to allow for newbies to start at the beginning and work their way through the training. I would imagine, with the experience this man has, there would be quite a few gems to uncover.
It is easy to become overwhelmed with information and without support, many will not fully grasp the knowledge he intend to deliver.
Personally, I wouldn’t waste my time and money on this type of training.
Cathy says
That’s true Geoff. The last thing people want to face is another mountain of information that is already available (for free) on the internet. Lecture style teaching isn’t really popular with eLearning – what most people need is an interactive and engaging environment that can stimulate thinking, bounce ideas and most importantly, get them to take action.
Alejandra says
Hi Cathy,
I haven’t heard of Armand Morin before, but thanks to this review, now I know. Marketing is so important for any business today. As a business owner, I’m always looking for ways to get more sales, but it seems like his training isn’t providing much detail on this subject.
How is your recommended platform superior to this? Thanks.
Cathy says
Hi Alejandra, the fundamental is the same for any type of online business. To get more sales you need more traffic and Wealthy Affiliate teaches both organic and paid traffic acquisition – just like many places do. In exception, there are a few in-house tools that can assist in better organic rankings AND there are many experts in the community that can offer guidance on how to run successful ad campaigns without blowing your budget.
All this communication accelerates learning and thus, help people to achieve better results as compared to a one-way lecture technique.
Arun Sabharwal says
There are plenty of legit training platforms available across the affiliate marketing sphere, but the problem with these courses is that they don’t provide step by step training. Newbies joining these programs do not get much benefit. As you rightly said if one is starting as an affiliate marketer, there is no need to go into technical details of installing WordPress.
Cathy says
Hi Arun, the manual way of installing WordPress is a drag especially when most companies now offer one-click installation. With the latter, you can have one set up in less than a minute. It’s easy, convenient and you can focus more time on creating content and start ranking on Google.