Let’s talk about e-courses for a minute. In fact, let’s use a really specific example because you’re seeing everyone and their cat’s affiliate links for it.
Let’s talk about the ultra-hyped, ultra-sexy B-School.
For the uninitiated, B-School is a basic, 101-level marketing and branding course offered annually by Marie Forleo. So if it is so basic, why is it so popular? And why are so many people talking about it?
Why B-School is So Successful
1. Anything For Beginners Always Has A Market
The thing with beginners is that there are always people who are beginners. It’s a hot market to be in because the buyers are always going to be there. This is also why it is such a competitive space.
2. Marie is Hot and Successful
Photos with Oprah, Richard Branson, and a killer breakthrough story? Don’t feel bad for wanting to be this woman. From outside appearances, she has it going on and has an envy-worthy platform. She’s also built a million-dollar company from the ground up – she’s clearly got the chops to run a business program.
3. The Marketing is Absolutely Fucking Brilliant
Highly produced videos, celebrity, and making you feel like her new best friend? Marie knows exactly how to get you to crack open your wallet.
4. Tons of Women Have Already Done This Course… And No One Wants To Look/Feel Like An Idiot.
$2000 is some serious cash for most people. Losing $2000 on something I didn’t believe in and get tons of value out of would hurt my pride. (Like, for instance, most of my college classes. Ouch.) More than that, if I didn’t feel like it was worth it, it would be hard for me to talk about.
Because I don’t want you to think I’m stupid.
But according to Mixergy, I wouldn’t have been alone, since a 1/5 of B-School buyers asked for a refund back in 2011. At the risk of sounding a little salty droid here, I think is B-School capitalizing on making women feel like they don’t know what they are doing. I think it is the female equivalent of the hundreds of male-dominated internet marketing thousand dollar products.
And whether it’s intentional or not, and I think it is, it’s selling popularity. It’s the cool kids club. It’s the same reason people keep buying e-products from A-listers when really it’s a lot of fluff and regurgitated content.
Here’s the big huge disclaimer
I have not taken B-School. It’s not a brand I resonate with anymore. It’s very 101-level material, and I’d rather read HBR. B-School might be the best business 101 course on the planet for all I know.
But even if it were, that’s not why people are buying it.
Now, there are amazing e-courses out there. Randi’s courses? Incredible value. They also solve very specific problems. There are so many wonderful things to learn while we’re on the planet, and it is a huge blessing that we can learn them from a computer now. It’s amazing that teaching is a more level playing field now, and some piece of paper that says you showed up to class and crammed and all that isn’t the only qualifier for a teacher.
I’m not saying e-products don’t provide value. Especially if you actually need to learn something in them. But most of the time you don’t. You buy it because you want to feel a certain way. And it might make you feel that way for a little while.
But I guarantee nothing you buy will make you feel that way sustainably.
How many of these courses and books that are supposed to change your life have you bought? How many actually have?
Okay, now stop arguing for a second. Stop trying to justify all of the money you’ve wasted on these programs.
What do you think you’re going to get by spending all of this money? Is it a pat on the back? Is it the glory of being one of those women in “the club” now?
Is this your inner, rejected, high-school self trying to get outside validation? If it is, take a step back and reconsider before you drop any more money.
Do you you honestly need another product about basic branding, marketing, and tone? Or are you trying to buy a quick fix? An answer to all your problems?
And before I get trolled for this post, which I doubtlessly will, this isn’t actually about Marie or any other A-lister. This is about you. Are you in business for the long haul or the quick buck? Are you letting yourself get taken advantage of because you think there is an easy way? (There’s not.)
But this is also about expert marketing.
Are you feeding the machine or blazing your own path and getting the help you need along the way? Because I will venture a guess that if you’re reading this, you probably have enough free resources available to you to make serious headway.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way – I’ve never spent 2k on a course, the most I’ve spent is $700 and that left me feeling violated and to this day I don’t why I didn’t ask for my money back. But that’s not what I want to talk about in this comment.
There reaches a point in your business when you have to get on an do something, where you have to take massive action. One way to get that action is to invest in something that you cannot afford to fail. I’ve heard of people taking a Frank Kern course not to learn, but the action of spending meant the person gets on and “does the work”.
Marie is a very engaging woman, she posts weekly videos and talks directly to her community and answers their needs. There will be some in that community that need her help and B-school will do the trick. There are some who will pay for the discipline and order that it brings to their lives and a small amount, perhaps that 1 in 5 will buy believing it to be the magic bullet.
I say good luck to her and her students, it’s not for me. It’s not something I’d promote but then again, I doubt I’m her target market. WE all have to make a living somehow, I’m not sure Marie Forleo is one of the bad guys though.
I’m not trying to make Marie out to be a bad guy at all. That’s not my intention.
What I’m interested in is making sure people are aware of the marketing tactics at work that make them interested in something. I agree with you – I’m not the target market, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong in making a living. I think having the balls to charge in the thousands for a product is totes badass. I’ve got mad respect for Marie’s skills.
This is about creating awareness and making sure everyone can see through the hype.
So good, Dusti.
This is what I try my hardest to avoid. I want the people who take my courses to actually get results, because if they don’t, I feel bad.
I listen to their problems, and I provide solutions, then I listen for more.
Rock!
Totally Henri! And as someone who went through some of yours early on, I’m happy to vouch that you’re doing a great job.
Glad to hear that, Dusti!
Nice work, doll! Yes, I think it’s safe to say the shine is off the penny for many with MF. I certainly got a taste of just how much a few months back, when the critique I wrote of her business practices got more comments than anything I have ever written. (If you want the link, just ask… didn’t want to co-opt Dusti’s thunder for yesterday’s news.)
“Are you in business for the long haul or the quick buck? Are you letting yourself get taken advantage of because you think there is an easy way? (There’s not.)”
SO freaking true. I don’t need high production value. I need ACTUAL value. I have never, ever been on board with anyone who says they want to help the new kid by charging more than the cost of a first website, and then delivering content that you can easily find for free. It feels predatory. There are no short cuts, no matter how shiny and expensive.
I’ve taken Marie’s B-School course. And that was a few years ago when I had never heard the term ‘opt-in’. I have learned a great deal about marketing which was never anything I was remotely interested in. I have yet to implement everything I learned in B-School but I can say that every year since my income has doubled.
Once you take her course you can take it again and again for FREE. To my mind you really can’t beat that. Anywhere. She adds new things each year to keep up with changes in the market place. She gives away tons of free information via her blog. Personally, I see no reason to go anywhere else.
I got my money back in spades and continue to reap the rewards. That pretty much says it.
I can honestly say that B-School was the best $2000 I’ve ever spent. I wasn’t a beginner, I already had a business (plus worked in marketing and had a marketing degree). Marie puts things together in a way that makes it easy to follow.
To be honest, the network and connections you get are more than worth the $2k. That’s what Marie really brings to the table.
One thing I can always agree to though – no course will ever be the silver bullet. You have to work your butt off to be successful in business. I don’t think everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur.
xx Denise DT
I took B-school last May. I didn’t do it because I wanted to be ‘the cool kid,’ or because I wanted to be ‘in a club’ and I’m not trying to overcome a ‘rejected kid’ from high school complex.
I have a Bachelor of Commerce, specializing in Marketing, and in my opinion, what I learned in Bschool was far more practical and a whole lot cheaper (plus, it had a money-back guarantee)
I absolutely agree with you when you say the woman knows how to market and sell.
And that, is EXACTLY what I wanted to learn (and, what I expect most people who sign up are needing to learn too!). And really, what better way than to see it in action? I was also able to see exactly how someone executed her online program and create a culture of incredibly positive and supportive women who truly want to see you succeed.
Our company is hit 6 figures in 5 months and I directly can attribute that to what I learned in B-school and through the community she has created.
Honestly, for many people, the community alone would be worth $2k. It creates connection. Business is about creating connections. Finding others you can work with, or help promote (if it serves your audience).
Is B-school for everyone. Absolutely not.
But I for one, am extremely grateful for her slick marketing…or I never would have discovered it.
I completely agree with your points about “Are you letting yourself get taken advantage of because you think there is an easy way? (There’s not.)”
There isn’t an easy way. I’ve spent way more than $2000 on programs that provided less than B-school (and felt super foolish) but I believe that any course / program / investment in your business should be made consciously. Will eyes wide open. This program & any other isn’t going to be the magic bullet.
I registered in Bschool in the spring of 2011. Not to be a cool kid – frankly if anything I felt less cool after starting the program than I did before. Instead I enrolled because I wanted to throw myself 150% into switching my business from location dependent to location independent. And that’s what I managed to do. It’s not even what the program is about. But I was able to make amazing connections with other student who helped me dig deep & step into my dream life. It’s also been an amazing environment for testing new products / programs & getting feedback before bringing things to the general marketplace.
But that’s me. My approach isn’t necessarily going to work for others. And like any school (university, college or online product) , not everything is going to work for everyone. Whether they’re in Marie’s target market or not (in my humble opinion) . It’s always going to be about your desire & drive to get to the next level (wherever that might be for you)
I’m grateful for the community in bschool & I’m happy about the investment I made. Could I have spent that $2000 elsewhere and made as much progress. Absolutely. But it’s about making the investment (monetary & psychological)
Great post! The more people talk & are aware of their purchasing decisions, the better!
Marie charges premium prices because she can, and the fact that she’s polarizing is part of the reason why: she’s developed a fascinating brand. The more fascinating you are, the more polarizing; every compelling brand needs its unbelievers. Your post serves her just as much as if it was singing her praises.
People buy into that brand because they trust it — they trust that her information will be solid and comprehensive — and because she embodies what they want to be. Like any cult brand, she’s selling trust, identity, community, empowerment – and *fun*. She’s selling an experience. And she’s brilliant at it. Does that mean the women who buy into it are schmucks? Not so much. It just means that the ability to provide what Marie provides for the group of people she provides it for is actually pretty scarce, even if the information is not.
I really like Justine’s comment, above. It’s not what Marie is delivering but how she delivers it that is important. I really like Marie, she is one of several business gurus I follow. I have rarely signed up for any of their intensive courses, however, precisely because they are so expensive, and I would have to put it right on a credit card, which I am very reluctant to do. I suppose at my core, I don’t feel I need an outside source to hold my feet to the fire, I am pretty self motivated. Also as an independent musician, I don’t know that the community would serve me as afar as networking goes. However, I wonder sometimes if I should just splurge and take one of these courses, ad I am not yet making the money I want to be making, and wonder if I am missing something. In these moments, I appreciate the reminder that I could go into debt and still there isn’t going to be a quick fix, other than just doing the work.
I actually signed up for her course. And yes you are spot-on about points 1, 2,3. Point 4 isn’t something that I thought of – though I admit NOW I feel like a fool.
I have to give it to her that she is absolutely brilliant in her marketing – that’s something we can all learn from. She creates an experience and it does work (why, it did pique my interest and I did sign up for it after all!).
Her course is positioned as premium with a premium price tag too (at least I consider it a premium price tag). Naturally, I expected premium customer service. I admit I wasn’t paying too much attention when I signed up for her installment payment plan (currency e/x rate was on my mind). In their faqs, they mentioned 4 separate payments…but did not state anything about the amount/payment – so I assumed it was for the same total payment.
So I happily went to checkout, and I didn’t realize pay attention that during checkout – it stated 4 payments for $547 and THAT did not equal to $1,999! Yes, I was strangely ‘dumbed out’ at that time and did not process that inadvertently I agreed to pay $197 more!!
I was mad with myself for not doing my usual diligence (what can i say ….no one to blame but myself. Admittedly i was also in a ‘hyped’ state of mind, hence not thinking …i’m only human. Now we all know this is also a marketing strategy!).
I was also not happy that it was not explicitly clear on their site that it costs more than the single payment (talk about transparency). Maybe somewhere subtly hidden on their website they did state 4 payments of $547 – but I don’t recall and isn’t ‘make it easy for your customers’ something they preach?!? In this case, they could have made it easy for customers to make an INFORMED decision.
So I wrote to their customer service and informed them that I would like to pay upfront and the remaining balance w/o the extra costs….and guess what? I DID receive premium service – PREMIUM LIP SERVICE! Yes, a very nicely worded email. But does absolutely nothing to solve the issue. Gosh. Customers DO know when you are being insincere. There are customers who do want issues to be solved, not just receive nice fluffy comforting words.
I tried again, even suggesting what i could possibly do on my end – to prevent the extra $197 and in essence they said THEY COULDN’T DO ANYTHING about it. So I had to continue with the payment plan.
I was mad – cos’ it was a technical issue with the payment plan which i truly believe could easily be addressed and for the premium they are charging, I’m sure they can make more effort. A call to their service provider, sending me a request for the balance payment, etc. . so many possibilities.
One of their mottos ‘Everything is figureoutable’, in their Support Section’we are here to support you and no matter what the trouble is, we’ll find a solution’, MarieTV even had a video on how to approach unhappy customers. All i can say is that from my experience – they sure don’t do what they preach. Easy to say, hard to do.
I gave feedback about being clearer on the payment plans since international students do make assumptions on payment plans based on what they are used to, and all they said was “Again, I’m sorry for any confusion and like I mentioned, we do our best to be as clear and transparent as possible with our customers to help avoid any confusion about the program or the payment plan.”
Probably the harsh truth i realized – is that a single customer like me is not worth their time / effort to go through the trouble. they have hundreds / thousands of customers – so one less is not going to hurt at all.
Right. 2 emails and I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere and decided not to spend more time and emotions. I always remember that I have a choice. A choice to decide to stay on the course and pay $197 more or the one I eventually chose – to stop b-school.
I cancelled my card and just emailed them that I am withdrawing from b-school.
Silly some may say – but this is a decision I am happier with. They can have my first payment, but no more.
My apologies – I had to vent and needed to release it to feel better and to move on. Lesson learnt.