The 10 Best Affiliate Marketing Courses for Affiliates in 2024: Beginner + Advanced!
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money online – full stop.
The concept is straightforward: just promote someone else’s products to an audience in exchange for a commission when a potential buyer clicks your affiliate link and purchases the product. With that said, it’s NOT always as easy as some people make it out to be!
Becoming a successful affiliate marketer and building a thriving business can take years to accomplish, usually after a lot of trial and error. But by learning the ins and outs of affiliate marketing from experienced marketers with a proven track record, you can significantly shorten the learning curve and avoid unnecessary pitfalls.
We’ve already covered the best affiliate marketing books you can read to learn from those experts – now, let’s check out the best affiliate marketing courses!
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10 Best Affiliate Marketing Courses
In this post, I’ve put together a list of 10 popular courses that can teach you affiliate marketing. These are considered by many in our industry to be the best affiliate marketing courses available right now!
They are (in no particular order):
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Table of Contents
Top Affiliate Marketing Courses
- Spark by ClickBank
- The RMBC Method – Stefan Georgi
- Commission Hero – Robby Blanchard
- The Authority System System (TASS)
- Project 24 – Income School
- Fat Stacks Bundle – Jon Dykstra
- The Affiliate Lab – Matt Diggity
- Wealthy Affiliate
- Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
- Passive Income Geek – Morten Storgaard
Try Spark by ClickBank
Now, before we dive into it, I want to mention that ALL of the courses on our list are good!
However, some are more helpful than others – and some are more geared toward beginners or advanced affiliate marketers.
With that said, let’s take a look at our top 10 list!
1) Spark by ClickBank
Spark by ClickBank is actually a bundle of top-notch affiliate marketing courses created by ClickBank in partnership with our own in-house marketing experts, plus other experts throughout our industry. All of these courses are available to access for a low monthly price – and in them, you’ll learn everything from copywriting to email marketing and Facebook Ads to TikTok.
See our Spark by ClickBank review or read to the end of this article to find out more about Spark!
What You Sign Up For
Spark offers you access to the following:
- 12+ In-Depth Courses on Different Traffic Sources
- Access to Our Private Discord Community
- Exclusive monthly affiliate marketing podcast
- Access to ClickBank Accelerator, a funnel builder tool
- Optional 1×1 coaching
- And many more ClickBank resources for affiliates
The content includes courses and lessons by in-house and outside industry experts, such as:
– Media Buying With Facebook & Meta Ads: Learn how to buy Facebook Ads for affiliate marketing with ClickBank’s in-house media buyer expert, Knute Fosso.
– The Profitable Affiliate Blogging System: Find out how to grow a profitable affiliate blog with yours truly (Daniel Thrasher). I walk you through everything from choosing a niche to building your blog, coming up with your content strategy, producing content that ranks, and monetizing the site!
– How to Grow & Monetize on TikTok: Guest expert Rachel Pedersen, The Queen of Social Media, shares her in-depth for finding success as an organic content creator on TikTok, Instagram, and more!
These are just a few of the quality courses featured in Spark to help you find success.
Teaching Method: Mostly video-based training
Price: $23.50 for the first month (50% off), then $47 per month (or $2-3K for the VIP package)
Refund Policy: No questions asked 30-day money-back guarantee
Support: Available from the community, course creators, and the Spark team at ClickBank
Pros:
- Great for newer and intermediate affiliates
- Many different affiliate marketing methods and tactics in one place
- Learn from industry experts and in-house ClickBank experts
- New content added regularly
Cons:
- It’s a bit of a choose-your-own-adventure, so you’ll need to decide on your path as an affiliate
- The training focuses primarily on ClickBank, as opposed to other affiliate networks or monetization methods
Spark By ClickBank Summary
Spark by ClickBank contains courses by several acclaimed affiliate marketing experts and is geared toward helping beginners earn their first affiliate sale in as little as 7 days! New content is added regularly and prioritized based on what’s working now.
If you’re already using advanced affiliate techniques to promote products, and you’re making more than $250,000 from affiliate marketing, then Spark is probably not the right program for you.
However, for the beginner or intermediate affiliate marketer, Spark is a perfect way to build your business on a solid foundation. It covers affiliate marketing more broadly – with more ways to generate traffic through free and paid methods – than most other affiliate marketing courses on our list, and it provides a like-minded community, page building tools, and even 1×1 affiliate marketing coaching to help you find success faster!
More later in this post on how Spark is different from other courses and can help you succeed.
2) The RMBC Method by Stefan Georgi
Rating: 2.0/5.0
The RMBC Method is a four-step copywriting process developed by Stefan Paul Georgi in 2014. In his course, Stefan provides a step-by-step approach to writing sales copy.
RMBC stands for Research, Mechanism, Brief, and Copy.
The target audience is anyone who makes a living by selling things. But by his own admission, the two biggest markets Stefan is targeting are freelance copywriters and business owners. The word “affiliate” only appears once in his 117-page sales copy.
However, by improving your copywriting skills, you can connect better with your audience as an affiliate, and this can lead to higher conversions and better results!
Course Content
The RMBC Method consists of 10 modules and nine bonuses.
Module #1: WelcomeModule #2: ResearchModule #3: MechanismModule #4: BriefModule #5: CopyModule #6: FascinationsModule #7: Attention Grabbing LeadsModule #8: Writing Killer HeadlinesModule #9: Subject Lines and Ad CreativesModule #10: The AOV Money Close
Bonus #1: Using The RMBC Method to Write a New Keto Sales Letter from ScratchBonus #2: Writing Advertorials with Heath WilcockBonus #3: Big Ideas ExplainedBonus #4: Coming Up With Unique Mechanisms for Health OffersBonus #5: Writing Facebook Ads with Mike BuontempoBonus #6: Writing mini Sales LettersBonus #7: Immediate Income Module 1 – Cash-Pulling EmailsBonus #8: Immediate Income Module 2 – High-Converting UpsellsBonus #9: Lifetime Access To The Members’ Only Facebook Support Group
Teaching Method: Mostly video-based training
Price: $997 (or four monthly payments of $397)
Refund Policy: No questions asked 60-day money-back guarantee
Support: Available in private Facebook group
Pros:
- An excellent course on copywriting
- Great for copywriters and product owners
Cons:
- Not specifically geared toward affiliate marketing
The RMBC Method Summary
If you are serious about building a sales or ecommerce business or want to write sales copy for businesses in the direct response space, then the RMBC Method can absolutely help you succeed.
It’s an excellent course – but with that said, if you are an affiliate marketer who wants to learn how to grow your affiliate marketing business, there are more suitable courses on the market that are more targeted toward affiliate marketers.
3) Commission Hero by Robby Blanchard
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Commission Hero by Robby Blanchard is a comprehensive, in-depth course on how to use Facebook Ads to earn affiliate commissions. It covers a “simple” 3-step system on how to achieve this from the comfort of your home!
Course Content and Resources (as per the sales page)
– The Complete Commission Hero System – Complete Access To The Commission Hero Private Coaching Group – Million Dollar Ad Images – Complete Facebook Super Profits Training System – Complete Done-For-You Landing Pages
Plus the following bonus material:
– Live Weekly Q&A’s & Coaching – Million Dollar Rolodex Of Contacts – Snapchat Training – $10k Month Email Marketing Module – Access To A Facebook Insider
Teaching Method: Mostly video-based training.
Price: $997 (or two monthly payments of $597)
Refund Policy: No refunds
Support: Available in private Facebook group. Alternatively, via email for urgent or very specific questions.
Pros:
- Suitable for beginner and advanced affiliate marketers
- Do not need a website or email list
- Teaches paid advertising step by step, a lucrative modern skill
Cons:
- No refunds
- You need to spend a minimum of $10-$20 daily on ads
- Not as easy as it might appear (you can lose money advertising on Facebook)
Commission Hero Summary
Paid ads are the fastest way of earning affiliate commissions. But, there is a risk-return trade-off – the potential return rises with an increase in risk. And with an increase in risk, you have a greater chance of losing the money you spend on ads!
The Commission Hero sales page claims you can easily make thousands per day by promoting other people’s products for huge commissions. While these results are no doubt attainable, they’re obviously not typical.
In addition, the sales page states that you don’t need a website. This is a bit misleading, because inside the course, Robby recommends signing up to use ClickFunnels. This is a landing page builder that will set you back $97 a month.
Overall, Commission Hero is an excellent course. But it should be more transparent about the additional tools or services needed, as well as the fact that Facebook Ads won’t always give you a positive return on your ad spend.
Based on the above and the fact that they have a no refund policy, I give Commission Hero four stars out of five.
4) The Authority Site System (TASS) and Authority Hacker Pro
Rating: 4.5/5.0
Created by Gael Breton and Mark Webster, The Authority Site System (TASS) teaches you how to build a successful affiliate website from scratch. Then, the upsell Authority Hacker Pro takes it to the next level with detailed blueprints and courses around email marketing, hiring writers, building funnels, and more.
Course Content
The Authority Site System consists of 14 modules and a bonus module.
Module 1: The Authority Site Business Model 101Module 2: Finding NichesModule 3: Qualifying nichesModule 4: Site planningModule 5: Site SetupModule 6: BrandingModule 7: Building Posts & PagesModule 8: Creating info contentModule 9: Writing content: Step by StepModule 10: Optimizing & Publishing contentModule 11: Initial Link BuildingModule 12: Affiliate setupModule 13: Writing & Optimizing Commercial contentModule 14: Advanced tactics
Bonus Module: Becoming an authority
Teaching Method: Mostly video-based training
Price: $997 (or six monthly payments of $249)
Refund Policy: No questions asked 30-day money-back guarantee
Support: Available in private Facebook group and from their support team
Pros:
- Comprehensive content that shows you how to build and monetize authority sites
- Free content updates for life
- Real-life case studies to learn from
Cons:
- Might be overwhelming for beginners
The Authority Site System Summary
Building a successful authority site takes time and hard work. According to TASS, you’re looking at around 15 hours a week or 3 hours every weekday evening with the odd weekend thrown in. If you cannot devote the time to building your affiliate business, this course is not a good fit for you.
You also need to be willing to invest at least $200 – $500 for recommended tools and services.
The Authority Site System is perfect for beginners or sites earning less than $1,000 per month. If you have an established site earning over $1,000 per month, Authority Hacker Pro shares advanced tactics for high-level, experienced marketers.
It is hard to find many real flaws with TASS or Authority Hacker Pro. But there are a couple!
First, to take your site to the next level, you need to get Authority Hacker Pro – this is an additional expense if you have already invested in TASS, and is only available at certain times of the year. In addition, topics like email marketing should be included in TASS and not only in Authority Hacker Pro.
TASS has 180+ video lessons, and Authority Hacker Pro has 400+ videos. While packed with a lot of valuable content, this might be overwhelming for many.
For the above reasons, I give TASS four and a half stars out of five.
5) Project 24 by Income School
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Project 24 from Income School is the brainchild of Jim Harmer and Ricky Kesler. Although Jim left in 2021 to pursue other interests, Protect 24 is alive and well and growing.
The name “Project 24” refers to the goal of creating an online business that can replace your day job in 24 months – the course creators mention that it is only a goal and not a promise or guarantee.
Project 24 provides a solid foundation if you want to build a profitable blog or YouTube channel. The emphasis is on creating high-quality content to drive traffic.
Course Content
Protect 24 is not a traditional course – it’s a library of 27 courses.
The two pillar courses are the Blogging Course and the YouTube Course. Other courses include:
- Info Product Course
- Affiliate Marketing Course
- Authority with E.A.T.
Teaching Method: Mostly video-based training
Price: $449 for a year and then $249 for each additional year
Refund Policy: No refunds
Support: Mainly through the Project 24 community
Pros:
- Easy to follow, well-structured course
- Suitable for beginners
Cons:
- No refunds
- Recurring annual payment of $249 to get access to updates
- Expect to typically wait 6 – 8 months before you start earning commissions
Project 24 Summary
Project 24 claims that “unless you’re earning more from your website than you want to,” it’s a good match for you. It includes beginners, those who have tried and failed, and advanced internet marketers.
Although the course is good for beginners, if you already have a site or YouTube channel that earns you affiliate commissions, you might be disappointed by the level of content inside Project 24.
A nice feature is Project 24 Milestones that tracks the impact the program has had on your online business.
The milestones are:
- Curry Day – Once your site has earned $5 total.
- $100 per Month Badge – When your site earns $100 in one month for the first time.
- $500 per Month Badge – When you have earned $500 in a single month.
- $1,000 per Month Badge – Once you’ve earned $1,000 in a single month.
- Full-time Income (Finisher) – Once you reach $4,000/month.
All-Time Project 24 Milestones Reported (Updated July 2022):
- Curry Day Earners – 1,166
- $100/Month Earners – 749
- $500/Month Earners – 470
- $1,000/Month Earners – 361
- Full-Time Income Achieved – 187
The reported milestones are proof that Project 24 works. However, they don’t divulge the total number of people who have bought the course. This makes it impossible to determine how many people (as a percentage) have achieved the various milestones.
Project 24 offers a solid foundation for building a profitable blog or YouTube channel. However, it’s a long process, as they do not focus enough on the importance of obtaining links from other sites and keyword research. And their no refund policy poses a risk for new buyers who might be disappointed with their content.
For the above reasons, I give Project 24 three and a half stars out of five.
6) Fat Stacks Bundle by Jon Dykstra
Rating: 3.0/5.0
The Fat Stacks Bundle is a series of courses created by Jon Dykstra on how to make online with niche blogs. The primary monetization method is display ads – generating about 80 percent of his income.
Course Content
The Fat Stacks Bundle consists of 11 core courses:
#1: Niche & Domain Selection#2: Website Setup Video Tutorials#3: Long-Tail Deep Dive (Keyword Research)#4: Content Site Autopilot (Outsourcing)#5: Natural Link Building Formula#6: Display Ads Deep Dive#7: On-Site SEO Deep Dive#8: Facebook Magnate#9: Site Speed Magnate#10: Content Service Comparison Case Study (27 content services compared)#11: Niche Exponential (Recurring Income)
In addition, you have access to detailed niche site progress reports, strategy changes, experiments, case studies and more.
Bonus: Access to private membership forum with over 1,000 members.
Teaching Method: Written and video-based training
Price: $497 for a year and then $97 for each additional year
Refund Policy: No questions asked 30-day money-back guarantee
Support: Available in private membership forum or via email
Pros:
- Suitable for beginners and more experienced online marketers
Cons:
- Not primarily focused on affiliate marketing
- Course not always open to new members
The Fat Stacks Bundle Summary
The Fat Stacks Bundle is a great course on how to make money online with niche blogs. Jon shares all his secrets on how he makes $50,000+ per month with simple niche blogs.
Jon’s reliance on natural link building is commendable, but he could have covered link building in more detail. By following this course and implementing everything you learn, I have no doubt your patience and hard work will eventually be rewarded. However, as great as the course might be, it is not primarily focused on affiliate marketing.
For the above reasons, I give The Fat Stacks Bundle three stars out of five.
7) The Affiliate Lab by Matt Diggity
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The Affiliate Lab by Matt Diggity is an affiliate marketing course teaching you how to rank, monetize, and flip (sell) affiliate websites. It focuses 100% on affiliate marketing as a monetization method.
Course Content
The Affiliate Lab has over 45 hours of training and 210+ videos.
It consists of the following core training course and 13 bonuses:
- The Beginner’s Lab
- Exclusive Facebook group
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Masterclass
- Featured Snippets Masterclass
- Authority Blueprint
- Flipping Masterclass
- Outreach Masterclass
- Website Recovery Kit
- Affiliate Email Marketing Masterclass
- Affiliate Portfolio Playbook
- Optimize Your Health
- SEO Testing Crash Course
- Topical Authority Masterclass
Teaching Method: Mostly video-based training
Price: $997 (or two monthly payments of $597)
Refund Policy: No refunds
Support: Available in members-only Facebook group or via email
Pros:
- Suitable for beginner and advanced affiliate marketers
- Lifetime updates
- Teaches how to flip websites for huge profits
Cons:
- No refunds
- Potentially risky methods of building backlinks
Affiliate Lab Summary
The Affiliate Lab is a course dedicated to making money with affiliate marketing by building sites that rank well on Google and bring in free organic traffic. Matt has done a great job putting it together and updates it regularly when he is ready to share new information and test results!
It is also the only course on our list that teaches you how you can flip your website for 32 to 40 times its monthly profit.
The no refund policy is unfortunate for a course that costs nearly $1,000, as it might not appeal to or be suitable for all buyers. I would also point out that in the past, Matt leaned heavily on Private Blog Networks (PBNs) for link building.
More recently, he appears to have moved away from advocating that risky practice, with an emphasis on more white-hat link building methods – but there’s still a section on PBNs in the Affiliate Lab course. It’s good that they provide this newer training, and thankfully, they continue to update the product with new content regularly.
(To learn more about why PBNs are risky, refer to Neil Patel or Search Engine Land for more information!)
For the above reasons, I give The Affiliate Lab four stars out of five.
8) Wealthy Affiliate
Rating: 2.0/5.0
Wealthy Affiliate was co-founded in 2005 by Kyle Loudoun and Carson Lim. It has grown into the world’s largest online training platform and community for affiliate marketers, with 1,400,000+ members across 193 countries.
Course Content
They offer several training programs, including:
– Online Entrepreneur Certification – 5 courses, 50 lessons.– Affiliate Bootcamp – 7 courses, 70 lessons.
In addition, they have a Training HQ section with training videos, and classrooms.
Some of the courses (for premium members only) in their Training HQ section include:
– Online Entrepreneur Certification – Getting Started Level 1 – 10 lessons– Building Your Own Traffic Producing Website Level 2 – 10 lessons– WA Affiliate Bootcamp – Getting Your Business Rolling – 10 lessons– Online Entrepreneur Certification – Making Money! Level 3 – 10 lessons– Online Entrepreneur Certification – Mastering Social Engagement – 10 lessons– The Business of Content – Achieving Maximum Success – 10 lessons– WA Affiliate Bootcamp – Content, Keywords and Conversions 10 lessons
Some of the topics (for premium members only) in the classrooms include:
– Search Engine Optimization – 8 videos, 4 courses, 29 tutorials, 15 webinars. – Social Engagement & Marketing – 19 videos, 4 courses, 27 tutorials, 8 webinars.– Keyword, Niche and Market Research – 14 videos, 4 courses, 45 tutorials, 11 webinars.– Authoring & Writing Content – 12 videos, 6 courses, 54 tutorials, 5 webinars.– Everything WordPress – 88 videos, 5 courses, 60 tutorials, 5 webinars.– Website Development & Programming – 27 videos, 5 courses, 55 tutorials, 8 webinars.– Email Marketing – 1 video, 5 courses, 14 tutorials, 2 webinars.– Pay Per Click Marketing – 7 videos, 5 courses, 14 tutorials, 1 webinar.– Video Marketing – 15 videos, 5 courses, 5 tutorials, 1 webinar.
Teaching Method: Mostly video-based training
Price: Free plan with limited access. A premium membership costs $49 per month – you get a $30 discount for the first month. Alternatively, $359 per year if you decide to pay annually.
Refund Policy: No refunds
Support: Mainly by asking questions to the community
Pros:
- An active and helpful community
- Access to keyword research tools
- Web hosting included
Cons:
- Hyped-up sales page
- Information is often many years old and outdated
- A lot of inconsistent advice and recommendations
- No refunds
Wealthy Affiliate Summary
Wealthy Affiliate follows a 4-step business building process:
Step 1. Choose an Interest.
Step 2. Build a Website.
Step 3. Attract Visitors.
Step 4. Earn Revenue.
It sounds reasonable, but the problem is how WA proposes you go about it.
For example, under choosing an interest, they mention:
“This can be anything at all, any interest, passion or even something you have no personal experience with.”
Choosing the right niche is the first step in building a profitable affiliate website. If you get this step wrong, you are almost certainly doomed to fail, regardless of how much time and effort you devote to your business.
As far as building a website is concerned, they mention:
“Building your very own website is SIMPLE within Wealthy Affiliate. The process takes less than 30 seconds to build a beautiful looking, mobile, and revenue ready website.”
Less than 30 seconds? Anyone knows that building a beautiful looking, revenue-ready website does not happen overnight, never mind in 30 seconds.
Despite the hype, Wealthy Affiliate does contain some good, helpful information! But unfortunately, much of the most important information, such as search engine optimization (SEO), is a bit outdated. And this can actually can hamper your efforts in building and optimizing your affiliate marketing website.
There are many great reviews for Wealthy Affiliate. However, most of them are from affiliates promoting the program. And I suspect many of these affiliates make more from promoting Wealthy Affiliate than any other affiliate program they might be promoting.
For the above reasons, I give Wealthy Affiliate two stars out of five.
9) Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing School
Rating: 2.0/5.0
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing School by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner is a course where she shares how she went from $0 in affiliate income to over $50,000 per month.
Note that Michelle is a well-respected blogger in the personal finance niche, known for high affiliate payouts.
Course Content
The course contains six modules with 30+ lessons, worksheets, and several bonuses. You also get access to a private Facebook group.
Module 1: What Is Affiliate Marketing?Module 2: How To Find and Apply To Affiliate ProgramsModule 3: Follow The RulesModule 4: How To Get Your Readers To ConvertModule 5: Strategies and Ways To Promote Affiliate LinksModule 6: Rinse and Repeat
Bonuses:
– How To Always Get Approved To An Affiliate Program– How To Drive Thousands of Visitors To Your Blog With Pinterest– 9 Things You Must Do When Something Goes Viral– How To Increase Your Page Views– Worksheet – My Affiliate Products And Services– Worksheet – The Perfect Affiliate Link Checklist– How To Maximize Your Reach, Your Impact, and Your Revenue with Facebook Ads– Editing And Writing Strategies That Will Take Your Content To The Next Level– How To Legally Protect Your Blog
Teaching Method: Text-based – PDFs, tutorials, and worksheets
Price: $197 (or two monthly payments of $105)
Refund Policy: Conditional 30-day money-back guarantee. To receive it you must show “that you went through the course and took action.”
Support: Available in private Facebook group or via email
Pros:
- Responsive and helpful private Facebook group
- A well-structured layout that is easy to follow
Cons:
- Mostly shallow, generic content that is available for free elsewhere
- Not enough information or detailed instructions on how to do things
- The important topic of SEO is ignored
- Conditional money-back guarantee
- It does not cover how to build a blog or website
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing School Summary
This course might be a good investment if you have a blog and want some tips on how to monetize it through affiliate marketing. However, if you are a complete beginner who still has to build your first blog or have some experience blogging and earning commissions from affiliate marketing, this course might disappoint you.
Michelle does not share any groundbreaking strategies or cover the topic of affiliate marketing in depth. She completely overlooks topics such as SEO. And although she shares some helpful content on WHAT to do, she does not for the most part cover HOW to do it.
Her conditional 30-day money-back guarantee is subject to the condition “that you went through the course and took action” which significantly waters it down. In addition, she recommends several paid tools and services in the course that she does not mention on the sales page.
I find this course lacking in breadth and depth, so I give it two stars out of five.
10) Passive Income Geek by Morten Storgaard
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Morten Storgaard launched the Passive Income Geek course in 2020 after creating a popular YouTube channel of the same name. As the name suggests, it focuses on how to build passive income websites.
Course Content
The course contains over 18 hours of over-the-shoulder videos covering topics such as:
- Choosing a Good Niche
- Topic Research
- Finding a Good Domain Name
- Setting Up Your Website
- Writing Awesome Content
- SEO Tips
- Monetization (Ads and Affiliate Marketing)
- Social Media
- Outsourcing Content
Teaching Method: Mostly video-based training
Price: $399 for a year and then $199 for each additional year
Refund Policy: No questions asked 30-day money-back guarantee
Support: Available by asking questions in the course community or via email
Pros:
- Regular updates
- Step-by-step instructions demonstrated
- Suitable for beginners and perhaps more experienced marketers
- Transparent sales copy without any hype
Cons:
- It will take time before you get any results
- Focus is more on ads than affiliate marketing
- Not enough emphasis on getting backlinks
Passive Income Geek Summary
Morten claims, “This course will teach you all you need to know to go from scratch to full-time income.” And although he does not guarantee that you will reach this goal (no one can), it is a bold statement!
I believe it is eventually possible to earn a full-time income by implementing Morten’s course material. But it will take a lot of time and hard work to write the content you need. And if you outsource the writing, you are looking at a large investment in content creation that won’t give you a positive ROI for many months or longer.
The sales copy states that if you publish 2-3 articles per week, you should expect 20-50,000 page views per month after about a year. And that should make you $400-$1,000 per month from ads, at which time you can add some affiliate programs to earn more revenue.
I do not understand the logic of waiting for about a year before you start with affiliate marketing. In my opinion, blog posts should be written from the start in such a way that you can insert affiliate links as soon as you have sufficient traffic. You don’t have to write 100-150 articles and wait until you get 20-50,000 page views before you start promoting relevant affiliate programs.
With that said, I commend Morten on being transparent and sharing examples of some of his niche sites, such as:
GoDownsize.com – It gets over 500,000 page views per month from Google and Pinterest traffic and generates $33,000+ per month from ads and affiliate programs.
AnimalHow.com – Morten started this site in November 2018 and sold it in September 2020 for $30,000. At the time it was sold, it was getting 73,000 monthly page views from 107 articles, generating about $1,000 per month.
SewingMachineTalk.com – This site was started in October 2018 and is getting 50,000 page views per month from only 32 articles.
Although Morten recommends some paid tools in his course, they are optional and not necessary to succeed. Besides a domain name and basic hosting plan, no additional investment is required – unless you want to outsource content creation.
Passive Income Geek is a solid course and I give it three and a half stars out of five.
A Note on the Different Types of Affiliates
Now that we’ve looked at all of these top courses, I wanted to point out one quick thing: there are basically five types of affiliates out there making money online right now. These include:
- Content publishers
- Influencers
- Email marketers
- Paid media buyers
- Community managers
Traditionally, affiliate marketing has tended to be more focused on how to build an affiliate website and make money that way – this is the primary approach for content publisher affiliates.
But the reality is, you’ll find massive websites in most major niches that have consolidated a lot of traffic and organic rankings. (For example, NerdWallet in personal finance or Wired in technology.)
So while it’s certainly still worth looking at building niche or authority websites as an affiliate, I encourage you to be open to additional affiliate marketing methods beyond just SEO and niche websites.
As we’ll share below, Spark by ClickBank includes courses on everything from paid ads and email marketing to organic traffic and TikTok.
What Sets Spark by ClickBank Apart From Other Affiliate Marketing Courses?
Unlike the other affiliate marketing courses, I didn’t assign Spark by ClickBank a rating, as it might be considered presumptuous given my proximity to the program. (I work at ClickBank and have created a few of the courses inside of Spark personally.)
However, I can highlight what differentiates Spark from the other affiliate marketing courses on our list and how it can benefit you.
A Mini MBA in Affiliate Marketing
The best way to understand Spark by ClickBank is to view it as a mini MBA in affiliate marketing. It covers a lot of ground and gives you a good overview of affiliate marketing and traffic generation methods.
But similar to a traditional MBA, it doesn’t necessarily make you an expert in every topic.
A Focus on Proven Tactics
ClickBank has been in business since 1998, and we have paid out more than $6.5 billion in commissions. We know what works and what doesn’t. And although our core business isn’t selling courses, our business heavily relies on your success as an affiliate (or product owner).
That is why we want to do everything we can to support and help our affiliates succeed, even if it means making our affiliate education more affordable than other courses on this list!
Industry Experts in One Place
Most affiliate marketing courses have one (or maybe two) actual course creators involved. These are typically an expert in a specific affiliate marketing method.
With Spark by ClickBank, you get content from affiliate marketing experts in a wide range of traffic sources, not only one or two.
Spark features experts and topics like:
- Perry Belcher – Copywriting and Offer Creation
- Ben Harris – Affiliate Marketing
- Robby Blanchard – Facebook Ads
- Max Finn – Facebook Ads
- Ian Stanley – Email Marketing
- Anik Singal – Copywriting
- Paul Counts – Organic (Free) Traffic
- Rachel Pedersen – TikTok
We know there are many ways to grow and expand your affiliate marketing business and that no one is an expert in everything.
That is why we work with so many different industry insiders to give our students the best chance to succeed.
Beginner-Friendly Learning Curve
Spark by ClickBank might seem overwhelming at first, but most courses contain short, digestible videos ranging from 3-7 minutes. Spark accommodates your lifestyle and unique learning pace, even if you can only spare 10 minutes or an hour at a time to work through the content.
Unlike some other courses that contain hundreds of videos, Spark is more concise. We want to get our students up and running fast so they can earn their first affiliate commission within weeks while continuing to learn how to grow their business!
If you work through a few lectures a day, you can expect to finish a full Spark course within two weeks. But Spark doesn’t stop when the videos, worksheets, and checklists end. We offer live weekly coaching and open mic Q&A sessions so you can ask questions and get answers in real time, and we also add new content to the product regularly.
Verdict: What is the Best Affiliate Marketing Course?
Determining what is the best affiliate marketing course is not easy. It will depend on your objectives, budget, time constraints, and whether you are a beginner or experienced marketer.
In principle, most affiliate marketers choose one of the following to get customers on the front end:
Get free traffic – Get free organic traffic from Google and other platforms, such as YouTube, Pinterest, and Facebook. You can either create the content yourself or outsource some or all of it.
Building an authority site, YouTube channel, or an organic social presence takes a lot of time and hard work. But, if you are willing to put in the effort, it’s possible to earn a lucrative passive income for years to come. And if you do build an affiliate site, you have the option to sell your entire site down the road for 30 times or more its monthly income.
OR
Pay for traffic – Send traffic either directly to the merchant you are promoting or preferably to an intermediary landing page/bridge page, using a paid ads platform like Facebook Ads, Google Ads, YouTube Ads, or native.
This option can give you fast results, and you can promote multiple products and services simultaneously for huge profits. However, not all ad campaigns are necessarily profitable, and the moment you stop advertising, your business is dead. In addition, ad campaigns are typically not “set it and forget it” – they need to be closely monitored.
Taking the above into consideration:
The best affiliate marketing course for organic traffic
The Authority Site System (TASS) – Rating: 4.5/5
TASS is the most comprehensive course for building an authority site you can monetize with affiliate marketing. At $997, it is not a cheap course, but you have the option of paying for it in six monthly installments of $249. It comes with free updates for life and a no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee.
In close second place with a rating of 4/5 is The Affiliate Lab by Matt Diggity. It also costs $997 (or two monthly payments of $597), but does not come with a money-back guarantee.
If you have a more limited budget, consider investing in Protect 24, Passive Income Geek, or Fat Stacks Bundle, depending on your needs. They are all solid courses, but remember that Project 24 does not offer refunds.
The best affiliate marketing course for paid traffic
Commission Hero – Rating 4/5
Commission Hero is a solid course by top-tier ClickBank affiliate Robby Blanchard on how to use Facebook Ads to earn affiliate commissions. At $997 (or two monthly payments of $597), it’s not a cheap course either, and it does not come with a money-back guarantee.
However, if you want to tap into the power of paid ads to make commissions faster, Commission Hero is a great investment for your affiliate marketing business.
NOTE: Our official Spark by ClickBank education platform also contains some high-quality paid courses on both Facebook Ads and YouTube Ads.
Conclusion
Becoming an affiliate is a great way to make some money online – all you have to do is choose affiliate products to promote in exchange for a commission. Affiliate marketing even has the potential to earn you a full-time income.
However, as easy as all this might sound, it can cost you serious time and money to get going!
By investing in a reputable affiliate marketing course, you can significantly shorten your affiliate marketing learning curve. Sadly, successful affiliates aren’t going to support you and share their secrets for free – buying a course gives you a shortcut to knowledge and expertise that you couldn’t get any other way.
Investing in one of the best affiliate marketing courses on our list, such as The Authority Site System or Commission Hero, is expensive – no doubt about it! But this can also save you many headaches trying to learn everything by yourself through trial and error.
However, not everyone has $997 to invest in a course, and not everyone knows which type of affiliate marketer they want to be yet – so if either of those apply to you, ClickBank is here to support you!
Spark by ClickBank: A Comprehensive Affiliate Marketing Course Bundle
With nearly 25 years in business and more than $6.5 billion paid out in commissions, ClickBank’s marketplace has helped tens of thousands of affiliates to build their own online businesses. We know what works!
Our core business isn’t selling courses, but we still rely on the success of our affiliates. That’s why we created Spark by ClickBank – to support new affiliates in succeeding for a nominal monthly fee.
If you are serious about making money online with affiliate marketing, Spark by ClickBank can provide you with the foundation you need for success. You can join our community right now for only $23.50 for the first month – or supercharge your success with the Spark VIP package and 1×1 coaching!
Thanks to the 30-day money-back guarantee, you really have nothing to lose. We hope ClickBank can be a part of your affiliate success!
Whatever course you take, stick with it. The affiliate marketing journey takes time, but it’s well worth it!