Internet Income University Review

Yes, the basic membership and training site is free. It's decent, pretty good actually in that it includes introductions to all of the basic components of a successful e-commerce business. If your primary objective with Internet Income University is simply to learn about internet marketing by taking advantage of their free training programs, the training itself is very good.

However, before earning money in the IIU system, you will need to invest in many programs that are far from free. You won't earn a dime until you invest in membership with their chosen programs and then market them like crazy. Of course you can skip paying to join some of the programs if you like, however the advertizing will remain on your IIU website even if you opt out. You cannot choose on this... unless of course you take the time to learn their cPanel system so that you can then redesign the website yourself. If a person has the skills to build websites using cPanel, then why would that person even need IIU? Affiliate marketing is free and you can get web hosting for less than their fee easily.

So unless you learn to operate and maintain websites using cPanel, your website will market the entire IIU package whether you chose those programs or not and this is important - that means if a visitor to your site does choose to purchase one of the programs that you didn't pay to join - then that commission goes to someone else, even though they came to YOUR website. You OK with that? Not me.

IIU says it is your website, that you own it. Yes, but what you own is what is often referred to as a 'cookie cutter' or replicated website. It's a website that's been carbon copied and duplicated over and over again for whatever number of members they have at any given point. It's a website that not only is a carbon copy but one that doesn't often change in content, if ever. Search engines like Google and others frown on these replicated, cookie cutter type of websites, so getting organic traffic is nearly impossible.

The Internet Income University marketing will tell you that it is YOUR website, that you OWN it. You will certainly PAY for it, but if you actually owned it, then wouldn't you expect to have some control over what appears on your website? I would.

Consider this analogy... What if you bought a car, paid for it and paid regularly for the gas to make it move, yet never even sat in the drivers seat? You didn't pick the color or the style and there are a gazillion other cars out there just like it. It gets driven by others and makes money for others while you continue paying each month. Some of your dollars might trickle back to you, but the only control you have is the decision of how much more money to throw at the car. With an Internet Income University website, you pay for their marketing system to drive for you. IIU controls what appears on 'your' website.

Now if you WANT to control this you can do so IF you decide to learn to build and maintain a cPanel system. Do you? I suspect that most people who join IIU did so primarily to get the pre-built website, given they are new to internet marketing and there's SO much to learn. Very true. Yet if the only way to have control over the site is to learn the cPanel system, then what is the point of the IIU membership? Those who have those skills can build their own websites and choose their own affiliates for free.

There are several excellent sources of training to build cPanel websites, and ones that do so in a way that leaves the door wide open to YOUR choices rather than those of their system. I know of two right now that include step-by-step cPanel instruction with video, screenshots and personal interaction to take members through the process. I didn't write this review to suggest a 'better' program but rather to point out that systems such as IIU tend to take advantage of newbies by steering them toward their own affiliates with a heavy hand.

Bottom line, either learn cPanel or leave the site as it is. If you opt out of learning how to operate cPanel, then your only choice is to decide how much money to give IIU for more marketing on every link on the site which makes money for lots of people, but not you unless you bought into all of their programs. OK with you? Not me.

The IIU marketing machines are very slick and well-developed, and so even though your replicated IIU website won't likely get much search engine traffic, they know how to get traffic anyway using leads. You'll need those leads to get traffic, and they are not cheap. Your website might get some clicks and even conversions/sales, however here's the thing... Unless you invest in the entire IIU package, then this website that you own might just be earning $$$ for someone else, some other IIU member, most likely a person you've never met. Meanwhile even if your IIU website does manage to attract buyers, they will be caught inside the same very expensive replicated system that you are. You OK with that? Not me.

Let's assume you're on a budget (who isn't?) and need to start small, skip the big dollar items for now ( ex. travel club, high-end marketing, protege training).

* The $14.95 per month for hosting is a given, required for your website.

* Add to that $19.95/month for their online shopping discount club

* Add $97/month minimum for their 'scalable' advertizing to market your website.

* Add another $19.95/month for the autoresponder system (aweber) you'll need for advertizing

Just the very basics so far and we're up to ... at least $150 every month! And the amount above would pay for only TWO of their many income streams (chosen by IIU and NOT you!), so that's all you have the potential to earn from no matter how much marketing you do. You OK with that? Not me.

When you become a member of the Internet Marketing University, you will begin to receive a hoard of e-mail messages daily that are cleverly designed to get you to enroll in their programs, such as this...

" IT'S TIME. When you first visited our website, we told you to put your wallet away, and just check out the power of our system and our incredible products while we PROVE to you that ANYONE can achieve results with this business. Well, guess what? WE DID IT. Since you toured the system, we have been placing people in YOUR TEAM that YOU have the opportunity to earn on EVERY MONTH. IN FACT, if you login to your site and click on GENEALOGY, you will see that people who were positioned in YOUR TEAM have already become FULL MEMBERS. That means, YOU HAVE ALREADY EARNED A COMMISSION by locking in your position. Just go to... but HURRY, do not delay! YOU NEED TO LOCK IN YOUR SPOT TONIGHT TO SECURE YOUR COMMISSION...otherwise ALL those members below you will jump ABOVE you and you will lose out on them forever."

Words like 'hurry, don't delay, lock in now or lose out' are red flags. Take your time, THINK about whether you really want to buy and then recommend this product by buying expensive leads to go to replicated websites.

Groups like IIU are sometimes referred to as feeder systems since they get large numbers of people to feed into their own interests and affiliate income systems. Your IIU website will be the same as thousands of others, not personal in any way and the content remains the same. IIU could easily have created the system so that only the programs chosen by YOU appeared on your web page. They know very well that most people will opt out of the top dollar programs, (for example the high-end travel club called Resorts 360) and yet that advertizing will appear anyway on each IIU member website. IIU does use a very slick marketing system, but do you want to pay money to market for some other website? Unless you can afford to invest in every single one of their programs (and few people can), or else learn to re-build the site, then sales to any programs you did not buy into will quietly be 'given' to someone else. You OK with that? Not me.

It's not that the system won't work (it likely works quite well those who invest a ton of cash into it) or that it wasn't created by brilliant minds who DO know internet marketing. The creators know how the industry works all right, and have created a system in such a way to benefit from those who have little to invest. Since any website is worthless without traffic, members will likely make great effort to get traffic only to lose sales to their 'team' for any of the memberships they didn't personally pay for. Yet outside of IIU, becoming an affiliate is free AND you can affiliate with companies whether you bought their product or not. You get the traffic and convert it, you get the sale. Not with IIU!

In this economy, more and more people are looking for opportunities, and the chance to make money online is wildly popular. While the guys who created IIU (the 'Blues Brothers') are obviously quite internet savvy and know the internet marketing industry well, I think they've created a system that mostly will take advantage of innocent consumers who are new to internet marketing and how to make money online..

Credible affiliate marketers recommend only products they've bought and used personally enough to know them well. They describe the features and benefits in detail and without hype. Their words are direct and to the point. They might even discussing possible shortcomings and how they overcame them, add value by describing things like how to install X product or similar tips.

Affiliate marketing with integrity and credibility will be brutally honest. These marketers want no surprises down the road, for they care... about your experience and about their own reputation. They are active in quality online networks and value them and their fellow members. Credibility is about truth and mutual respect, for at the end of the day, what else matters?

I've been an active member in the Internet Marketing Report Card (IMRC) online community since 2009. I've come to rely on that community a lot and refer to to it regularly before buying into anything related to internet marketing (person, product, service, bizop, etc). The community has grown considerably over the years. I read about the Internet Income University there, and the reviews were good. However, there was not much detail in any of the reviews about exactly how this system works (potential red flag), so I did my own investigation. Though I value Internet Marketing Report Card in general, I think the reviews were swayed on this one. I expect that in time the Internet Income University will lose steam as members add reviews with more specific facts and other programs of higher credibility rise to the top.



Many of the reviews about Internet Income University at from brand new IIU members who have had very little experience in making money online. Given that these people are brand new to internet marketing, they have really nothing to compare IIU to, no way to really know how to rate them. The bells and whistles and fancy systems are bound to impress newbies, they're designed to do so. More comments from veteran online marketers would make a more realistic review. New members are given the link and encouraged to post positive comments about IIU over at IM Report Card. So I see IIU members thwarting the system, yet IM Report Card is still more reliable than most for reviews of any product, service or person related to making money online.