My NON-Affiliate Review of B-School Plus a List of Affiliate Bonuses
Feb 13, 2020
It's B-School launch time!! That means you're likely being inundated with emails and social media posts from former B-School students enticing you to join the Marie Forleo program. There's a big reason for that: the B-School affiliate program.
Unless someone (like me) comes out and says they are NOT a B-School affiliate, you can assume they likely are one, especially if they're offering bonuses or special programs if you sign up through their specific B-School link.
What's in it for them? Keep reading ...
The Story Behind B-School Affiliates
Marie has hand-selected B School alums to be her affiliates which means they promote B School and she pays them a (cough cough pretty hefty cough cough) commission for each sale. Okay, let's be real: They get 50% of the $1,999 sign-up fee.
For the record, I have absolutely no problem with this because I'm an affiliate for people and companies that I believe in. It's a business model I fully support so I'm not trashin' on it at all.
I HIGHLY suggest you sign up through a B-School affiliate! There's no reason NOT to take advantage of the special offerings they can add to your B-School experience. However, his B-School affiliate situation does lead to a Pro vs Con.
PRO:
Since they're getting such a nice commission, B School affiliates go all out to entice you to sign up through them. They offer tons of incentives worth some pretty good money in the form of their own products, coaching, workshops, books, Q&A sessions, Facebook support groups, etc.
CON:
One of the challenges I ran into when deciding to sign up back in 2015 was finding UNBIASED reviews of B-School, ones that weren't shared by someone who was going to make almost $1k if they convinced me to sign up.
That's Why I'm Providing This Non-Affiliate Review
I don't want you to be in the same boat so I'm going to give MY review of and experience with B-School. At the very end of this post (go ahead, scroll on down there if you don't care about my review, lol), I'll provide a list of all the 2020 B-School Affiliates I could find so you can see what they have on offer.
If you do skip my review, here's the TL;DR: I wholeheartedly recommend B-School for most online entrepreneurs. And I'm not being paid a cent to say that ;)
So Let's Take a Step Back
First, some background about B-School, in case it's brand new to you or you don't know much about it. I'll do the classic "who, what, when, where, why" to fill you in.
WHO:
From MarieForleo.com:
B-School is led by Marie Forleo, the #1 New York Times bestselling author and creator of the award-winning show MarieTV. Named by Oprah as a thought leader for the next generation and one of Inc.’s 500 fastest growing companies, Marie's mission is to help you realize your greatest potential and use your gifts to change the world.
Here's her bestselling book:
Marie started her online business with nothing and now runs one of the most profitable online empires around. She's been recognized by people like Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey*, and Sir Richard Branson. In other words, she's teaching what she knows because she's accomplished it herself.
*Yes, I'm now a big Marie fan and got to see her AND Oprah (!) when I attended the Super Soul Sessions in Los Angeles in 2016.
WHAT:
From the "B-School Program Tour" page:
B-School is an 8-week online learning program for big-hearted creatives who want to build a meaningful, profitable business.
Getting your business up and running requires clarity, vision and the ability to execute consistently on the right strategies.
Without a roadmap or guidance, the process can be overwhelming.B-School can fast-track your growth and save you years of expensive trial and error. We’ve already helped tens of thousands of entrepreneurs across 609+ industries and 148 countries and territories (and counting) and we’d be honored to work with you too.
WHEN:
Registration for the current B-School session is February 13th - February 28th, 2020.
The live program is 8 weeks and runs March 2nd - April 24th, 2020.
They encourage you to join as soon as possible because there is some pre-work you can do to get clear on your business idea and get focused before B-School begins. (But I urge you to sign up through your favorite affiliate so you get those bonuses I've eluded to. Keep reading!).
WHERE:
Everything takes place online. Marie and co. are based in New York City so times are EST-based but they really try to accommodate others, at least in the U.S., as much as possible. Students come from all over the world and, of course, it's impossible to be perfectly-timed for everyone. However, everything is fully available to anyone, no matter their location.
Saving the WHY for Last
WHY:
This seems like the perfect place for my review and recommendation - why i took B-School, what my experience was, and why you should or should not take it.
Why I Did B-School
Oh, all us B-School Alums have our origin stories, ha! Here's mine, in a much-shortened version. In early 2015, I'd been a transcriptionist for 8 years, after working outside the home in various jobs for many years - retail, clerical, police dispatcher, budget and program analyst, ... and then I had kids.
We needed my income but the 45-minute each way commute and having my kids in daycare from 7am to 6pm every day was killing me. So I found a way to work from home which was transcribing.
However, by around 2013-14, the industry was dying, thanks to things like Electronic Medical Records, insanely low-cost overseas competition, and more. I could read the writing on the wall and had slowly started a virtual assistant side to my home business and knew that the time had come to expand that.
Over time, I read tons of online business books, listened to podcasts, read blogs, and watched every free webinar I could get my hands on, taking loads of notes. Early in 2015 was when I first heard of B-School, and it was from not one but THREE different friends who had attended. They happened to be three women I admire greatly and when they said it was awesome and I should do it, I took their recommendations very seriously.
Right away, there was a stumbling block for me: THE PRICE. I was getting by with my transcription/VA business but there was no way in God's green earth I could layout $2K at once! So B School went on my "Someday" list.
Then something awesome happened: A friend and pending client for my virtual assistant business offered to pay for me to go to B School in exchange for 100 VA hours helping her business! Well, duh. No brainer. I said yes.
Is YES Your Final Answer?
Once it became a real possibility, I started looking into B School like the over-researcher that I am. I checked out the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY (not calling anyone ugly! just acknowledging that not everyone loves Marie or B School, k?).
And then I decided to forget all the bad because I think largely what you put into things is what you get out of them. And all the women I'd spoken to who LOVED their B School experience had chosen to get a lot out of it.
Their collective advice for me was that, while I already knew most of the nuts and bolts information about online entrepreneurship, they thought I'd get a lot out of the structure, inspiration, aspiration, group support, and business connections.
Sounds good to me! So, sure, nothing's perfect and $2,000 is still a boat-load of money. Sometimes I thought, "WOW that's a lot!" and other times I'd think, "What better to invest my money in than ME?"
I loved being a virtual assistant. It was the best job I'd ever had to that point because not only did I get to be home with my kids but I ADORE helping people and watching their dreams come true.
Fast forward to 2020, and now I have even bigger dreams for myself, too. I'm no longer a virtual assistant. I'm taking the knowledge I've gained all these years about two of my favorite things - authentic marketing and the Kajabi software platform - and I'm now building my own content marketing and courses business!
This latest move is just one of the many things that my B-School experience has given me the courage to do. I always say that the hands-down 2 best things I've ever done for my business have been 1. joining B-School and 2. using Kajabi.
My Actual Review (Thank You for Your Patience)
Marie and the Materials
So my friends were right; I did already know about 60-70% of the information that B-School taught. But it wasn't about JUST the curriculum. For one thing, I really like Marie Forleo, how she teaches, and what she stands for. I felt like she was talking directly to me with each .pdf, video, and call.
She's very straightforward, knowledgeable, self-deprecating, and funny. She tells great stories to illustrate her points in a way that makes sense to my creative yet somewhat techie, multi-passionate mind.
I've followed many other heavy-hitters and I don't connect with them in the same way, so I know it's something special. If you want a feel for what I'm talking about, watch some Marie.TV; make sure and stay for the end of each episode ;)
You may NOT connect with her in the same way and, if that's the case, I'd have second thoughts about taking B-School. While she's not like a 1:1 coach in this environment, B-School is definitely full-tilt Marie Forleo.
If you don't groove with her voice and message, this isn't for you. But I suspect that if you're taking the time to read this extensive review, it's because you do like Marie Forleo :)
Another highlight for me was that the way she presents the information in workbooks, videos, the online portal, etc. is SUPER well-organized and just plain pretty to look at! Hey, I'm a visual person. It really did make a difference in how I absorbed the information.
So if you like a plain-text, straightforward, "just the facts, ma'am" type of presentation, maybe all the pretty colors and design will be distracting for you? It's something to consider ...
The Information
Like I said, a lot of the info I'd already heard or knew from starting to expand my VA business, running my social accounts, having been a blogger since 2006, etc.
The difference was, instead of this information/reference materials being scattered all over the internet and in my computer files, it was all beautifully organized in the B-School portal, available to access 24/7 from any device, and available for download to access offline as well.
Also, the information came from someone who, by then, I trusted and admired, not some random blog post or person I didn't know that much about. Marie presents the information in several formats and also has live calls where YOU can ask a question to her directly or just listen to those from other students - who have the same types of questions you do.
I didn't have to piecemeal information together anymore; it was all there, A to Z. If I got stuck or needed motivation or encouragement, I had (and still have) one place to go.
The Learning and Implementation
B-School is an 8-week course with 6 modules and 2 weeks to implement what you're learning. There's an oft-repeated saying, "There's no behind in B-School" because they don't want you to beat yourself up or get discouraged when life inevitably gets in the way of your studies and you can't keep up with every lesson, every task, every week.
It's a LOT of information and a lot of hard work. If you're starting from scratch, it can be overwhelming. Also, sometimes you need to contemplate and decision-make or prep before you can move forward and that's okay.
The information is always there for you to access because you've downloaded it and you have access to the portal. B-School materials are updated for each new session and the portal does close down for (I want to say) about a month every Jan/Feb.
But they notify students via email any time something will be inaccessible or deleted so you have plenty of time to download it before then. Then when the next round starts in early March, every alumni has full access and can "take" B-School again.
In fact, the alumni Facebook group is full of people excited about doing B-School again, mainly for these 3 reasons:
- Something came up and they never completed it in the past,
- They've changed or added businesses and want to apply the B-School tenets to a different business, or
- Now that another year or two has gone by from their first B-School run-through, they want to put the same biz through it again and make improvements and refinements.
I think the ability to take B-School over and over is one of its best (and most cost-effective) selling points.
The Biggie: Networking
The ability to network in B-School is UH-MAZE-ing. I can tell you this: I've made WAY MORE than $2,000 just from the networking in B-School alone.
For one thing, in the B-School portal, you can create a listing by name, business, and contact info and you also participate in discussions under each lesson. So your name is out there and available to other B-Schoolers if you want to be found, to network, to make friends in similar businesses, etc.
For another (and more importantly in my opinion), there are the now-massive B-School Facebook Groups where you can network like crazy.
I don't mean blatantly plug your business because we know that's super-bad form and not allowed in most Facebook groups anyway. {And the group moderators on Team Forleo do not mess around. They delete inappropriate posts pronto}.
I do mean that you can make authentic connections with like-minded folks who are in the same place with their businesses, facing the same challenges, and asking the same questions you are.
When you join B-School, you go into a Facebook group just for that year's B-School class. (I'm sorry, I can remember how many were in my 2015 group but maybe 2-3K?).
Then when the current B-School session is over, they close that group and you're invited to join the huge alumni group (as of this writing, it has 28,000 members!). With a group that large, it can be easy to feel lost in the crowd but it's what you make it and I've had a great experience.
I've made a consistent effort to take part in the discussions and, over time, have bonded with specific people who I really feel connected to. We've gotten to know each other, our businesses, and work ethics; we love to support and recommend each other; and we often DM or call each other.
I can't recommend B-School enough for making this kind of connection possible. The bottom line about the networking is that B-Schoolers love to support other B-Schoolers. Just by being a student of Marie's, you know you're on the same wavelength with most everyone in this group.
Because you each spent $2,000, you're most likely pretty dang serious about your business. And you've watched each other grow and succeed - it's exciting and fun! People post their successes and milestones in the group and we cheer each other on!
People also post their hardships; not only do the B's support each other but Marie's team shows such kindness as well, even sending cards and gifts to these students 💗
Who Might NOT Want to Take B-School
I read in another non-affiliate review from a several years ago that unless you're a coach or someone who serves coaches, you shouldn't take B-School and also that product-sellers shouldn't take B-School.
I couldn't disagree more with that advice. Maybe it has changed since that attendee went to B-School several years ago. There's actually an entire bonus just for product-sellers, Marie answered many live questions from product-sellers, and I've seen sooo many product-sellers in the Facebook group achieving great success.
If you're a guy in B-School you're going to feel outnumbered although very welcome. But there's not that masculine, hardcore, hurt and hustle mentality you might see in male-taught courses.
B-School definitely attracts coaches, or brings out coaching biz ideas in people who've attained expert level in their fields and now want to share their vast knowledge.
But B-School also has artists, photographers, writers, bloggers, visibility experts, social media managers, and much, much more. I can't think of any one business group or type that would feel excluded in B-School or wouldn't benefit from it.
It's definitely geared toward online business over brick and mortar! But if you're a brick and mortar, you're crazy if you aren't also trying to maximize your online presence, sales, and marketing. There are also MLM'ers, teachers, and athletes in B-School.
There are B-School subgroups on Facebook where like-minded students - Woo-Woo Crew, want to give TED Talks, Kajabi users (<- heh, I run that one), etc. - and those from similar professions (coders, coaches, veterinary, etc.) can "talk amongst themselves."
There are also subgroups by geography so you can arrange meet-ups in your own area! Pretty dang cool, I tell ya'. They're all on a handy-dandy list in the Facebook Group files section; 6 pages of groups by similar interest/profession and 4 pages worth by location.
The other thing I read in a negative review was that there was a lack of networking beyond meeting up with local B-Schoolers. As you can see, I completely disagree with that as well.
If you can't network, make friends, and establish a referral network in a group of 28K people who took the same extensive business course you did, that's not B-School's fault, LOL. And then all the sub-groups too! Yikes. With approval, you can even start your own like I did.
In Summary ... Do I Recommend B-School?
Without hesitation, I recommend Marie Forleo's B-School for most online entrepreneurs who want to start, build on, or refine their business. There are negative reviews out there, too, and you should read them before you sign up. I sure did.
Honestly, even before I took B-School in 2015, the things that stood out about the negative reviews was that they were older (perhaps the program has improved over time, eh?) and their experience seemed more self-directed than anything.
I go back to something I heard when I was trying to make this big decision: B-School or no B-School? And that's that B-School is like anything in life. If you approach it with a positive attitude, willing to learn, eager and open to what's being offered to you, you'll have a good experience.
The opposite is true as well: Those who look for fault usually find it. So approach B-School positively and I can't see any way you won't get your time and money's worth.
Did I go to B-School and become the most super-amazing, 6-figure virtual assistant?! Nope. But that was never my goal. For me, being a mom comes first and I just wanted to improve and refine the VA biz I already had going, work about 30 hours a week, and be at home for my family.
B-School helped me in so many ways, the main one being networking with like-minded online business owners. I learned how to figure out my ideal customer, how to market to them, what services they most needed, and how to communicate with them.
Marie herself gave me the confidence to charge what I'm worth and to obtain the clients I deserve. After B-School, I rarely had to "hustle" for VA clients and was usually fully booked. When I wasn't, I didn't panic because I also learned how to see the big picture and a little woo-woo to get me through, too ;)
I learned how to ask for help from my B's and that I'm not alone in my entrepreneurial ideas, dreams, and struggles. If this all sounds good to you, definitely give some good thought to attending B-School.
However, if the money is too much of a hardship or Marie doesn't ring your bell, don't feel badly about it. B-School isn't for you, at least not right now. Keep looking for the program that DOES resonate most fully with you and is within your budget.
And now that you've an unbiased review and decided to sign up, here - yeah, I get the irony - is a list of B-School Affiliates :D
B-School Affiliates with Sign-Up Bonuses
***NOTE: Please be very careful when clicking on where these links take you. I’ve linked you to each person's information page for their B School bonuses.
But if you go beyond that and click on links within their sites/pages and then sign up for B School, you may be giving affiliate credit where you don’t mean to. So be careful!
The way affiliate links usually work is that if you click on one, it “tags” you as that person’s sale and then perhaps the person you want to give the commission to won’t get it.
Also, to qualify for their bonuses, they’ll likely need to verify that they got credit for your B School purchase. So, again, just be careful what you click until you're sure which affiliate you want to get credit for your B-School signup.
Okay, finally, here we go ....
B-School 2020 Affiliates List
Another disclaimer: B-School itself does not release a list of current program affiliates (I asked). This list was compiled by me via Mr. Google, reading Facebook posts, etc. I don't vouch for any of them nor do I know anything about their bonuses. The affiliate I signed up through in 2015 is no longer active so I can't refer you to anyone either. My only advice is to use your best judgement and find the best fit!
Andreea Ayers, Launch Grow Joy
Hilary Rushford, Dean Street Society
Michelle Martello, Minima Designs
Natalie McNeil, She Takes On The World
Quite a list, don't you think!?! I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the success of the B School alumni above. There's such a variety of expertise, I hope that you're able to find a great match for YOU.
If you want to learn more about Marie Forleo's B-School or go straight to the sign-up with no affiliate, here's the B-School program page.
I wish you so much luck and love in your online business journey! If you have ANY questions about Marie Forleo's B-School, online business, Kajabi, authentic marketing, etc., don't hesitate to ask. Helping is what I love to do.
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT and let me know which B-School affiliate you chose!! I'm so curious 🐱.
xo,
