Chelsea Ouimet has over 1 million followers between her two Instagram accounts, “Chelsea the Affiliate” and “Hustle with Chelsea.” The self-proclaimed stay-at-home mom of three children is all smiles and shows off her beautiful home in a video post promoting a way to make quick money through her model, a business called Affiliate Marketing. doing.
“All you need is a phone, laptop, Wi-Fi, and 1-3 hours a day,” she says in one of dozens of videos posted to her page. In one post, she states that the average annual salary for affiliate marketers without experience is $177,566. “I earned that salary in my first 11 weeks with her,” she says.
Affiliate marketing is not new, but social media has sparked an explosion of interest and concerns. The market for online learning courses has boomed in recent years, ranging from professional development platforms to online influencers selling lessons on everything from gig work to the timeless art of seduction.
Dozens of companies offer courses online that teach you how to do affiliate marketing. Affiliates typically receive a commission for sales of products they recommend. The internet is full of videos of people becoming millionaires through affiliate marketing. Part of the appeal is that these jobs can be marketed as “side hustles” that don't require as much time and effort as a full-time job.
During this time of high inflation, side jobs have become increasingly common, especially among young people. A study released in February by financial services firm LendingTree found that more than half of Millennials and Gen Z supplement their primary source of income with other money-making activities.
Ouimet and many other companies are promoting a $7 course from a company called Legendary Marketer. According to her, with that small investment, she can learn how to make thousands of dollars working from home for just a few hours a day. The company says its $7 15-Day Business Builder Challenge has “over 800 success stories.”
But not everyone has a success story. Dana Gunning, Loretta Lynn and Stasha Woessner, who took the course separately, told NBC News they signed up after seeing videos like Ouimet's on social media.
“When I joined, I thought I was really just taking a $7 course. I was shocked to find out it was so much more than that,” Gunning said. Ta.
The women said they were shocked when a “business advisor” met with them on Zoom a few days after taking the online course and told them they needed to purchase the “Uplevel Blueprint” course for $2,500 to really make money. Ta.
Ms. Wesner said her advisor told her: “If you have to, sell your car, sign up for credit cards, borrow money from friends and family. Her $2,500 will change your life forever.”
All three women spent $2,500 each and said the experience was beneficial. But what will be their biggest takeaway? The quickest way to make real money, they said, was to resell the same courses to other people. They added that for every $2,500 course sold, they will earn a $1,000 commission.
Lin said this is not the kind of affiliate marketing promoted by legendary marketers on social media. According to her, the video taught her that she could potentially become an affiliate for brands like Nike and Lululemon.
“But that's not what they're doing,” she said. “They just want the courses to be resold.”
“I went from completely broke to living the life of my dreams,” legendary marketer CEO Dave Sharp tells potential clients in an online video. The company says on its website that it has “$250 million in carrier sales,” with “more than half of that going to affiliate partners.”
But the fine print on Legendary's website says, “This is not a get-rich-quick program,” and “the average person” should not expect “little or no results.”
“Overhyped marketing is one of the biggest flaws of legendary marketers,” says Niall Doherty, who ranks affiliate marketing courses on his website eBiz Facts and often earns commissions from courses he recommends. says Mr. He researched and reviewed the legendary marketer's 15-day platform.
Realistically, Doherty says affiliate marketers should expect to put in a lot of effort and temper their expectations about how much they can actually make.
“If you work hard for a year to build your affiliate marketing business, rather than just a side hustle, the best-case scenario is that you’ll be making $1,000 a month after 12 months.”
Lin said she earned thousands of dollars in commissions after taking the Legendary Marketer course, but quit after a few weeks because she felt uneasy about selling expensive products to people.
Gunning had a similar experience. “I sold one, and I was very disappointed that I was promoting a $7 course when that wasn't the purpose,” she said.
Wesner said he was not making any money and quit after a few months.
After NBC News contacted the Better Business Bureau to ask about customer complaints, the organization stripped Legendary Marketer of its A rating and launched an investigation. The agency also posted a warning on the legendary marketer's page, citing a “pattern of customer complaints” about the company's advertising and upselling.
Sharp declined to be interviewed for this article, but said in a statement that he takes “all feedback seriously” and is working with the BBB to address its concerns. He added that the $7 course will provide people with value and knowledge about digital marketing, “just like all Legend Marketer courses.”
Sharp also said it is working with affiliates such as Oimet to “ensure appropriate compliance” in marketing and disclosing to customers that there are products for sale beyond the $7 course. Ta.
Ouimet did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Meanwhile, Gunning, Linn, and Woessner are currently working with legendary competitors to earn commissions. They said they also sell other courses, but their main revenue comes from selling digital products, building websites, and recommending products from various companies.
They advise anyone interested in becoming an affiliate marketer to read reviews and research multiple courses. Lin said she is currently making a good living through affiliate marketing and digital marketing, but it is by no means a side hustle. It took her a long time to build her business, and she still works long hours, she said.
“There's money to be made in affiliate marketing,” Lin says. “But you have to learn how to do it the right way.”
