“Spark” is the latest online marketing training program by ClickBank, comprehensive and reasonably affordable for a beginner. ClickBank is considered to be one of the most popular affiliate marketplaces for a number of reasons (which I’ll explain in a little while) and that marketplace itself is teaching the basic skills. I don't think it's too bad, if you’re brand new to making money online, you might find it useful. So today, my Spark by ClickBank review will show you what you’ll get, what kind of techniques you’ll gain and how you apply them to run a sustainable work-from-home business online.
Spark by ClickBank Review | ||
Product Name: | Spark | |
Website URL: | sparkbyclickbank.com/main | |
Type: | Online marketing training | |
Owner: | ClickBank | |
Price: | $47 per month | |
Rating: | ||
What Is Spark By ClickBank?
To simply put, Spark is a hybrid video training program that teaches you how to make money with ClickBank, by promoting products sold via ClickBank as an affiliate or selling your own products. The program has dramatically simplified its predecessor, ClickBank University, more comprehensive and straightforward. The price has come down to $47 per month, making it more accessible by beginners.
The program consists of 17 courses. The majority of the basic sales funnel creation techniques is covered - what kind of platforms should be used, how to design your landing pages, how you can build a list of subscribers and how you leverage the buyer’s psychology, all of which you can implement with your campaigns whether you promote ClickBank products or not.
On the other hand, to sell other people’s products as an affiliate and to become a product vendor are two different things, I personally think they require a different type of mindset. Not everyone’s ready to create their own product from day one, you see. I've been in affiliate marketing for 6+ years myself and still don't see myself becoming a product seller - too much fuss, I personally think. Having said that, you’ll learn the importance of branding and building trusts with your audience which is vital for a seller and also definitely useful for an affiliate, so it’s not a bad thing.
Why ClickBank?
Most of the products sold via ClickBank are in digital format, so there's no shipping involved. The buyer will be given access via email confirmation as soon as their payment is completed.
- Vendors are individuals, you never find brand products.
- Some are inferior, you have to find good ones.
- High commission rates
- Compliance conscious - good for buyers, sellers & affiliates
The Course Contents
The Spark by ClickBank training course consists of 17 courses. Here's a summary of each one.
- Course 1: First Steps - The introduction video. Head instructor Kacey Duncan explains what's covered and the ClickBank overview.
- Course 2: Internet Marketing 101 - How to set a solid foundation in online marketing concepts, terminology (e.g. CTR, funnels, open rates), ideas, and a variety of channels used by digital marketers (e.g. paid traffic, organic traffic, email marketing.)
- Course 3: How ClickBank Fits In - How the tools and services provided by ClickBank can help both the product creators and how the affiliates can find the right products to promote.
- Course 4: Product Owners - Overview of how you can sell your own products. Difference between digital, physical, or hybrid products, pros, and cons.
- Course 5: Affiliate Marketing - Addressing the basics of affiliate marketing.
- Course 6: Direct Response Psychology - How to create compelling storylines to turn a possible customer into a buying customer. The tactics include "PAS" (problem+agitate+solution method).
- Course 7: Compliance - How to keep your products and business to stay compliant to avoid issues with federal agencies. ClickBank especially performs compliance checks when you submit your product.
- Course 8: What Makes an Online Offer - The course explains the necessary tools you'll need to create a successful offer and different types of content. The tools include; sales funnels (landing page, thank you page), ad copy, email follow-up sequence. The techniques include; optimize your order form to maximize sales, find good ad writing samples, how to re-engage with customers who didn't buy the first time.
- Course 9: Content Types - Most buyers want to see some types of content before deciding to make a purchase. Content hack types include; blogs, e-books, white papers, case studies, video, infographics, long-form content.
- Course 10: The Tools of Digital Marketing - The course shows you how to actually create a landing page using a drag & drop editor Convertri, plus various different tools that digital marketers use, e.g. autoresponder, click-tracking tool, graphic software.
- Course 11: Outsourcing - About hiring experts to create content instead of trying to create everything on your own to save time.
- Course 12: Understanding Memberships - All about breaking down subscription service/monthly membership program offers, the benefits, and how to create your own.
- Course 13: Affiliate Quickstart Guide Part 1 - How to actually use ClickBank, help you navigate categories, choose the products that sell, and how to promote them.
- Course 14: Affiliate Quickstart Guide Part 2 - How to create a high-converting "lead magnet" with an opt-in form, build a list using an email marketing service, e.g. AWeber, and how to drive traffic to your offer including free traffic tips.
- Course 15: Creating Your First Ad - How to create a visually engaging and attention-grabbing ad from scratch, which platform to use to target a particular audience, how to optimize to get people to click, and how to analyze.
- Course 16: Digital Product Quickstart Guide Part 1 - How to create your own product and sell it via ClickBank as an affiliate network.
- Course 17: Digital Product Quickstart Guide Part 2 - As a product seller, how to create your sales funnels and use upsells to increase revenue.
WHY Spark By ClickBank and Who's It For?
The training is primarily targeted at those who have already signed up with ClickBank, and what it teaches is essential but very basic. So I guess it's ideal for beginners or those who have yet to make any sales since they started working online.
My answer to the "why" you should choose Spark is because you're already in the right place (one of the most popular affiliate marketing networks), it only makes sense if you learn the principles from the network itself and take advantage of your ClickBank position (as a seller or an affiliate) by applying the steps you learned within the network.
Benefits of Create Your Own Products
So, half of the course content is about finding out what kind of digital product you can create and becoming a seller, the idea of which I earlier said I wasn't interested myself. At least not just yet, it's just my personal opinion.
But here's the thing - the hardest part in affiliate marketing is to drive traffic. No matter how hard you work on your website content, it will take time before you start appearing at the top of the organic search. So you'll be likely to have to use paid ads, and you need to work on the most effective ad campaign techniques, which you'll learn from Spark by ClickBank. In other words, it takes either time, or money, or both to make your affiliate marketing success.
Whereas once you've created your own product and have it listed in the ClickBank marketplace, affiliates will promote it for you and make sales for you, so you won't have to worry about running campaigns continuously as much as affiliate marketers do. Instead, you can shift your focus to improving the product and making closer contact with your affiliates.
Month-To-Month Activities
For $47 per month, you'll receive extra courses such as webinars by industry experts, live Q&As, weekly insights, and trend reports. Plus there's a private community where your questions can be answered. But the monthly fee is wholly and exclusively for training purposes and no tool is included in the price. Once you've gone through the generic training and gain your knowledge, which you can within the first month, the fee from the 2nd month onwards may come as quite pricey to you.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
If you're not happy with Spark for any reason after making your initial payment, you're covered by its "no question asked, no BS" money-back guarantee. ClickBank is renowned for protecting its buyers by making a full refund swiftly (usually within the same day, often within minutes). So this will give you peace of mind.
Spark by ClickBank Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Spark by ClickBank Review - Conclusion:
Spark is a training course created by ClickBank for a ClickBank user, to sell products from ClickBank. And it's a trustworthy marketplace in terms of customer support, compliance issues as well as providing high commission rates for affiliates. So if you've just started affiliate marketing or consider starting it, this can be a handy place to start, and the training can become useful to you.
How I "Finally" Make Over $6,000 Monthly Income
"The most valuable thing I've ever done!"
Thanks for sharing this review, Ray! I would say that Spark By ClickBank is too basic. I've gone through all the lessons and realized that even a beginner will be left with a lot of questionmarks above the head. In other words, the course is pretty general and doesn't go into the meat and bones of affiliate marketing. The good thing is that you can try it for free, and even get a refund in case you dive into the paid membership. But in my experience, your recommendation is a much better choice!
Hi Ivan, thanks for sharing your opinion. Yes it is a little too basic, isn’t it. As you say, one of the best things about ClickBank is a generous refund policy (generous as in, quick & no trouble). Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it!
Hey, great review. I remember I was disappointed when I saw Clickbank university first time, I didn't want to learn to become a seller just wanted to sell more Clickbank products in various niches as an affiliate.
I’m disappointed again that Spark course also contains how to become a seller. How can you become a seller when you don’t have anything or any skills to sell? I mean it’s not like a freelance community At least it’s cheaper.
Hi Syed, thanks for sharing your thoughts. You’re learning about how you can maximize the conversion when you drive traffic to your sales funnel, and you’ll also be learning about how you can sell a PLR product, so you’ll earn your own sales as well as affiliate commissions. You’ll gain good knowledge though. Thanks for your comment.