Affilorama Overview

Affilorama is an affiliate marketing course that is suited to marketers with no experience. It covers everything from building a website, to promotion, niche selection and content creation. Its creator, Mark Ling, has a good online reputation as an honest business man. The basic course is free and contains a lot of good information and quality videos. There are a number of up-sells in the program which can be a little confusing if you are a complete beginner.

One issue with Affilorama is that some advice given may actually harm your online business. Some of what’s taught has been outdated for some time such as back linking, PLR content and content spinning. Don’t attempt any of these strategies. Search engines are onto this behavior and will ding your site if they determine you’re using them. I hope Affilorama updates their course to remove this type of advice in the near future. If they do, I will review the program again and update this page.

The marketing course is sold through an affiliate network and offers a 50% commission on everything if you wish to resell the course itself. Some of the material, like the Jetpack is kind of pricey compared to similar products so it could be a tough sell. The overall quality of the courses is quite good aside from some outdated strategies like back linking and content spinning.

The Sales Page

The sales pages are well laid out and fairly clear about what you are purchasing. They describe the available products, each on its own page, pointing out their benefits. The layout is clean and easy to digest. I do like the way the site provides plenty of information and doesn’t have that ‘hard sell’ feel. There are believable testimonials that don’t make outrageous claims or feel contrived.

My initial impression after looking over the sales material is that Affilorama is a solid offering and the free membership is tempting. If you are curious about the quality of the offering, sign up for the free membership and see for yourself if Affilorama is your cup of tea. If you are a beginner, you are sure to get something out of even the free course. The videos are good quality and most of the information is usable and actionable.

Pros

Free Membership: The free courses in Affilorama are of good quality and worth checking out, there is no time limit for the free membership. There are plenty of videos that take the beginner by the hand and shows you what to do to get started. If you have some experience, the material probably still has something to offer but is best suited to the beginner.

Site Hosting: One website is included for a year if you are a Blueprint member which is $197 for lifetime access. There is no free website offered in the free membership. You can find your own site hosting though and start building it yourself using the training.

Through Training: The lessons are through and extensive. They contain good quality information that is easy to understand and take in as a beginner. There isn’t much left to wonder about after completing a lesson. Even the free lessons will take some time to get through and will leave you with a good understanding of what affiliate marketing is all about if you are a beginner.

Community: There is a forum available to the members. You can post questions and exchange ideas with other members as well as form business relationships. Although Mr. Ling is known to appear in the forums occasionally, his visits to offer advice are fairly infrequent. The community participation can vary and isn’t always real active.

Support: Support is available but can be a bit slow. When requesting support it isn’t uncommon for a couple of days to pass before a reply is received. Nonetheless, the support is there if needed.

Tools: You will be able to try out the available tools for 1 month with Blueprint if you already have a website. If you don’t have a website of your own, the tools won’t be of much use.

Good Reputation: Mr. Ling has a good reputation among his peers and in the online community as a whole. He is seen as one of the good guys in the marketing world. He has other projects that also enjoy a good following and reputation.

60 day Guarantee: If you do make a purchase at Affilorama you can get a full refund within 60 days. Nothing else is known about refunds or how long they take.

Cons

Outdated Techniques: Some of the training is outdated and may harm an online business as far as search engine rankings. Specifically, back link building is frowned upon and could get your domain delisted altogether. Also, using PLR (duplicate content) and content spinning will only serve to kill your rankings in search engines. Avoid these teachings at all costs.

Slow Response: The fact that there is support and a community is good. However, response time in both can be somewhat slow. In our world of fast moving everything, response times are important.

Expensive: In my opinion, the costs of the paid memberships is high. The Blueprint is $197 and the mostly done for you Jetpack is $997! It is mostly the Jetpack price I am referring to here. The Blueprint price is closer to inline with similar courses. There are cheaper options, other than Jetpack out there, that provide better value depending on your goals and needs.

Up-Sells: If you have read any of my other reviews you already known I am not a fan of this marketing technique. To be fair though, the up-sells on Affilorama do provide additional value and aren’t required to get something out of what is offered for free. Just know, you will be subjected to them if you sign up for the free offering.

Rating & Wrap Up

Overall, Affilorama is a solid training program by a guy with a good reputation in the space. Mr. Ling has been online for many years and there is mostly good things said about all his projects including Affilorama. The training is through and has something to offer even experienced marketers. The quality of the videos is excellent and are easy to follow and understand. Everything that even a beginner needs to known is covered in the right amount of detail. The go at your own pace setup prevents information overload and the video format keeps learning fatigue to a minimum.

Not everything about the site is perfect though. Some of what is taught could actually hurt your efforts in the long run. Back linking is unnecessary these days and will likely get your domain delisted, or at least, kill your rankings in the major search engines.

The use of Public License Rights (PLR) materials will show up as duplicate content to search engines and kill your rankings. Using content spinners will also hurt you so please ignore any advice that you are taught in these techniques.

The only other complaint I have is the cost. Depending on your goals, $197 Blueprint program, which is a one time fee, isn’t too out of line but the Jetpack package, $997 is way too expensive for the value. The Jetpack package claims to do most of the work for you, but doing the work is part of the fun. Not necessarily while you’re doing it, but after it’s done. The pride of building a business from the ground up can be quite gratifying. I recommend trying out the free offering at Affilorama to get an idea if the Blueprint package will suit you.

Feel free to post your comment below. I especially want to hear from you if you have personal experience with this product. An email address is required but it will not be shared with anyone, put on any list, or used for any kind of marketing, just to alert you if there are any replies. Thanks and happy hunting!

PlanetBizOp.com

->Steven

*The articles on this site are my opinion based on thorough research and/or personal experience vs. the claims made by the product sales pitch. The information provided is for educational purposes only. Your experience may vary and you are encouraged to research all products and form an opinion of your own prior to making any purchase.