Is Clickfunnels A Pyramid Scheme? My Brutally Honest Review

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is clickfunnels a pyramid scheme

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Chances are, if you’ve been in the online world for a while, you could’ve been exposed to tens of pyramid schemes or (MLM) multi-level marketing programs. I’ve personally been exposed to tens (if not hundreds) of them in the past 10 years!

So, what’s the truth about Clickfunnels? Is it any sort of a pyramid scheme? This is what I’m about to reveal to you!

No, Clickfunnels is not a pyramid scheme and it can’t be any sort of a Ponzi scam because it has a product being used by over 110k users, which is a marketing tool that helps people sell their products and services more effectively online! Pyramid schemes usually don’t have products and they aim to raise funds from new investors based on fake promises!

In this article, we are going to be discussing what a pyramid scheme actually is and why can’t Clickfunnels be one. So, if you’re interested in revealing the truth about Clickfunnels and how you can use it to grow your business, this quick guide could be of great help!

Remember, if you find this post inspiring and useful, share it with your friends, please! (Virtual high fives and awkward hugs to all my sharers out there!)

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What Is Clickfunnels?

Clickfunnels is a SAAS (software as a service) that helps people sell their products and services online more effectively by leveraging sales funnels.

It’s a premium landing page builder that allows you to create capture pages to collect emails and be strategic in your selling. Today, all veteran digital marketers leverage sales funnels for selling their products, whether it’s physical or digital, and that what really sets them apart from amateurs.

Aside from the awesome functionalities and features, the easy-to-use interface as well and the innovative drag-and-drop page builder, Clickfunnels offers a variety of pre-built sales funnels that you can copy, edit, and publish, with a click of a button!

we don't do websites, we do sales funnels - Clickfunnels

Is Clickfunnels Safe?

Clickfunnels is a safe software and it’s under a regulated company in the United States. They don’t share or sell your data, and there are no long-term contracts, which means you can cancel your subscription at your will!

Over 110K users use the software from all over the world. Could all of those people just be wrong?

I don’t think so!

What Is A Ponzi Or A Pyramid Scheme?

According to Investopedia, a Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam that aims to generate funds from later investors to pour into earlier backers. It simply promises people a high rate of return with little to zero risk involved!

Similar to the Ponzi scheme, a pyramid scheme is another unsustainable business model that’s based on recruiting new members to serve financial benefits for top-level members. In short, those members pay upfront costs up the chain to those who enrolled them! To make money, you need to get more people under your name, and this type of operation is becoming illegal in some countries!

The pyramid scheme (or scam) was started when a person called Charles Ponzi realized that the price of US stamps that were used in snails was cheaper if he bought them from another country.

The idea of raising funds from investors had popped up in his head and promised that he would pay 50% within three months! Like any other pyramid scheme, the money was only and only used for his own benefit. So, as you can see, he brought people to invest in something that doesn’t exist at all, just fake promises.

first pyramid scheme, charles ponzi
Image Source: Google Search

Is Clickfunnels A Pyramid Scheme?

Clickfunnels is not any sort of a Ponzi or pyramid scheme, and it can’t be because it does actually have a product, which is software that over 100,000 real humans are using at the moment to sell their products and services more effectively online!

Clickfunnels has one of the most solid and high-paying affiliate programs in the world, and the reason they are able to pay such a high percentage of commission to their affiliates is that it is an intangible product that involves no shipping or cost at their end!

There’s a huge difference between a pyramid scheme and affiliate marketing… and the latter model has a proven record, and one of the best quotes that I love for Robert Bennet:

“Affiliate marketing has made businesses millions and ordinary people millionaires!”

Robert Bennet

Today, almost all companies and well-established brands have their own affiliate program, (YES, including the giant Amazon) and they are willing to pay you for new customers you can bring into their pipelines.

Companies would need to pay for advertising to acquire new customers, and sometimes, the cost per lead or purchase could be higher than what they actually offer to their affiliates. By leveraging affiliate marketing, they only pay a certain percentage (that they decide) ONLY for guaranteed results!

So, this is the exact reason why companies like Shopify are happy to pay their affiliates up to 200% of a one-time commission, or 40% in recurring revenue, as long as they are using the software, which is the case with Clickfunnels.

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Why Do People Think Clickfunnels Is A Pyramid Scheme?

Let’s face it… there are still people who think or claim that making money online is shady stuff and impossible! From a complete beginner’s perspective who has never heard anything about internet marketing, affiliate marketing, or Clickfunnels before, this may sound ridiculous!

People think that Clickfunnels is a pyramid scheme because they simply are not knowledgeable about the difference between a pyramid scheme and the affiliate marketing business model! They are probably not aware of what Clickfunnels is or what is the right definition of a pyramid scheme.

Clickfunnels has one of the most rewarding affiliate programs around, and they compensate affiliates up to 40% for each new user that joins through their links. It may sound too good to be true and an easy peasy task that they can do with a few clicks a day, which is not the case with affiliate marketing!

In other words, if you bring someone to register for Clickfunnels, you’ll get paid. If you don’t get anyone to register and pay for Clickfunnels, you obviously won’t get paid! It’s clearly not a pyramid scheme because you are not promised fake things that sound too good to be true!

You can check out my other article that goes through the exact step-by-step process for becoming a Clickfunnels affiliate, and if you want to learn how entrepreneurs like Anthony have been making millions of dollars online in passive affiliate commissions, you’ve got to check this out and start thinking outside the box!

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Anthony Morrison is an internet entrepreneur who’s been doing affiliate marketing for the last 15 years. He’s made millions of dollars promoting SaaS companies like Clickfunnels, and today, he’s offering you the chance to join his 8-figure ecosystem and make money when he makes money! Join the Partner With Anthony program while it’s available!

Why Clickfunnels Can’t Be A Pyramid Scheme

There must be some reasons why Clickfunnels isn’t a pyramid scheme, and can’t be. Let’s discuss them to help you understand how legit and successful this company is:

  • A company that has been around since 2014– Clickfunnels was founded in 2014, and since then, it has helped individuals and businesses build or grow their businesses and sell more by leveraging its innovative software.
  • A fast-growing company – In just 3 short years, Clickfunnels grew by over 4,232% and hit #76 on the INC 500 list. It also hit the #10 highest gross revenues in the top 100, and #1 fastest-growing software company with gross revenue of over $50MM.
  • Legit parent company– Etison LLC is the parent company of Clickfunnels. It is located in the United States, is legit, and has 92 employees!
  • Authentic best-selling author and owner– The man behind Clickfunnels, who has founded and created this ultimate marketing tool is called Russell Brunson, and he’s a best-selling author of multiple network marketing books.
  • It’s backed up with a real product– Pyramid scams or schemes usually don’t have products that are useful for people. The main focus is to raise capital from new recruits. This is not the case with Clickfunnels. Clickfunnels has an actual product which is a proven software that is currently used by over 110K business owners at the moment!
  • No fake promises and BS – Unlike Ponzi schemes where a fake guru usually promises to make you rich and change your life drastically, Clickfunnels doesn’t offer or promise you that! It promises you to grow your business using an innovative online marketing tool, and that’s a real value proposition being sold.
  • Proven and verified – At the time of writing this blog post, Clickfunnels has 110,904 active users and this number has been continuously growing. Since its launch, over 11.1B has been processed through 8.57M funnels and 1.67 contacts have been generated
  • A Bunch of educational material– Russell has multiple best-selling books that he gives away for free to educate people on how to create funnels that work and how to flood them with clients. He also has a 30-day training called One Funnel Away Challenge that aims to teach you how to create your new or (next) converting funnel in a matter of 30 days!
  • It doesn’t earn money from recruiters– The only payment or fee that you would pay to the company is for the paid subscription plan, which is up to you whether to use the marketing tool or not. Also, whether you use the software or not, it’s up to you to promote it or recommend it and get compensated, at no additional cost to the customer.
  • The owner had shown up on Grant Cardone’s 10X Growth Con-In 2018 – Russell Brunson; The owner, and founder of Clickfunnels stood on the same stage that had hosted entrepreneurs like Tony Robbins, Gary V., Tai Lopez, and others, and sold over 3 million dollars in a matter of 90 minutes!

Here’s the complete virtual event video, I’m sure you’ll just love it!

Is ClickFunnels Good For Affiliate Marketing?

Clickfunnels allows you to create high-converting funnels, collect leads, and be strategic in approaching and selling people. Today, there are over 110k individuals and companies that use Clickfunnels to grow their business, and affiliate marketers account for a big percentage of them!

Therefore, indeed, Clickfunnels is a very good and useful marketing software that will help you approach affiliate marketing correctly by collecting leads effectively who can be converted into potential customers.

Best of all, Clickfunnels’ pricing plans are reasonable. Its basic plan allows you to create up to 20 funnels and 100 pages, which is more than enough if you’re just a digital marketer who’s just starting out. Those who run a marketing agency can upgrade to Clickfunnels Platinum and get the chance to create and import unlimited funnels into their accounts.

Did you actually know that you can get paid monthly referral payments for referring people to Clickfunnels? In fact, it has one of the most popular affiliate programs in the market. Check this article out to learn how you can become a Clickfunnels affiliate in 5 simple steps.

If you want to learn exactly how you can use Clickfunnels to raise a 6-figure online business, I highly recommend you take the time and watch this free presentation by my friend Anthony, who will explain to you how he was able to generate over 1 million dollars in online passive income using Clickfunnels.

My Personal Experience With Clickfunnels

When I first came across Clickfunnels, kid you not, I found it super expensive and did my best to avoid that extra monthly expense. I tried to replace it with other sales funnel builders, WordPress websites, or even free funnels offered by email marketing software like GetResponse.

Let’s face it, a WordPress website can get costly in the long run especially when some plugins or theme-related nightmares begin to show up! If you don’t have coding experience, you will end up hiring people on freelance marketplaces like Fiverr for as low as $100 to fix some bugs and errors on your site.

Let’s not forget that you will also need web hosting (that varies between $3-$25/month – The one that I use for my other WordPress sites is premium and called WPX) and a professional theme for your WordPress site, correct? Well, the average price of a quality and responsive WordPress theme is $99, and having different niches or offers might require having different standalone sites with a relevant theme.

That will all add up quickly to your overall expenses!

With that being said, after 2 years of trial and error and almost trying everything online, I couldn’t find a hassle-free alternative for Clickfunnels, especially for a non-tech guy like me.

2 years later, I realized exactly why Clickfunnels is an expensive all-in-one marketing solution but totally worth every penny, and I’ve been using it ever since for over 3 years now to grow my business and potentially earn more money online. 

What Value Did Clickfunnels Add to My Business?

That’s a very good question because I can’t imagine myself running my business without Clickfunnels! There are too many Clickfunnels alternatives, you may say, and you’re absolutely right! Among these useful software are Systeme, Builderall, and Kartra.

For me personally, it’s not just a marketing toolkit that I’m invested in, but rather a network marketing team and community. Aside from that, here are all the benefits 

  • The ability to meet successful people and public speakers – You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Jim Rohn once said! By joining Russell Brunson’s groups and inner circle, you will get the chance to meet successful people who can inspire you to do more, especially if you attend training like the One Funnel Away Challenge. The amount of value was just tremendous!
  • The dream, vision, and goal – As you probably know, Clickfunnels will pay for your dream car if you reach a certain level in their referral program. Also, it has a very well-known award among marketers and entrepreneurs, and it’s called the Two Comma Club Award. These goals are enough to get my ass moving, as a fancy car and a limited edition award would be hard work paid off very well!
  • The authority and trust – The Clickfunnels brand carries a strong association with successful online marketers, especially affiliate marketers. So while others don’t like that little Clickfunnels badge in the right corner, to me, it serves as a symbol for my visitors, signifying legitimacy and a significant investment in software that can cost up to $297 per month. In certain situations, this badge can foster greater trust and openness among potential collaborators or clients.
  • Pre-built templates – As an internet entrepreneur who’s involved in different things online, I usually need network marketing funnels for different niches and industries, that will help me collect leads effectively and convert them into paying customers using email. Luckily, Clickfunnels offers a wide variety of pre-made funnel templates that you can import, edit, and use with no hassle.
  • The ability to integrate external domains – Clickfunnels allowed me to create multi-page websites and high-converting sales funnels to replace the traditional website for some of my businesses. A recent membership-funnels site that I launched entirely on Clickfunnels to control my sales process is a micro animation advertising agency called Standout Clips. Everything you see on this site is created with Clickfunnels! 
  • Easy payment integrations – Clickfunnels allowed me to integrate my different payment gateways easily, including PayPal and Stripe, without having to hire someone to do it for me.
  • Seamless email integration with my favorite tool – As a loyal user of GetResponse for years, the integration between GetResponse and Clickfunnels was paramount for me. It has simplified the task of seamlessly connecting my automated email campaigns with the email addresses I collect!
  • Simple A/B testing – It allowed me to track my conversions effortlessly and tweak my funnels accordingly. Thanks to Clickfunnels’ unique and easy-to-use A/B testing feature.
  • Increased my overall bottom line – You don’t need to be a paying customer to promote Clickfunnels. However, promoting something that you personally use and are familiar with definitely matters since people buy from those whom they love and trust. 

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Conclusion – My Final Clickfunnels Review

Clickfunnels is a safe, solid, and legit company that has been around since 2014, and it’s been helping people create more opportunities and sell their products more effectively online by using the hidden power of its innovative drag-and-drop sales funnel builder!

The company is not a pyramid scheme and it can’t be one as the people behind it don’t promise you fake things or don’t incentivize you to use the software to make a ridiculous amount of money doing nothing!

Instead, they have educational products like the One Funnel Away Challenge that teaches you how to become a sales funnels expert in 30 days!

The real question is, why would you do it on your own if you can partner with a self-made multi-millionaire internet marketer who achieved what you’re looking to achieve and just be part of his 8-figure ecosystem?

In his membership area, not only you will learn about how to use Clickfunnels, but you will also be given proven done-for-you templates that you can import into your account with a click of a button, and a lot more! Best of all, the membership fee is $7/month and there’s LITERALLY no catch!

Thank you for reading my post all the way through. If you found it inspiring and useful, share it with your friends, please! (Virtual high fives and awkward hugs to all my sharers out there!)

Always in your corner,
Odeh Ahwal

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So behind every great blog is usually someone who runs it all. That would be me, Odeh Ahwal. I’ve created the eComDimes blog with a mission to help people provide well for their families by starting online businesses, share my experience, and just introduce you to different ways of making money online! At eComDimes, we help you turn your dimes into dollars!

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