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Fred Lam, iPro Academy Reviews 2023: Scam or Legit?
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By: Scam Risk - Expert Reviewer
If you’re looking for a place to go in order to build and online business, then iPro Academy might just be the right pick for you. This course teaches you the skill set to be a professional media buying strategist and marketing bad ass.
Let’s face it…
The world of digital marketing is an ever-changing realm of possibilities, and the courses taught in iPro Academy if a good place to your to continually learn new strategies and techniques to stay ahead of your competition.
I know it sounds like I’m putting iPro Academy on a high horse…
But as Fred Lam says…
“At iPro Academy, we work hard to show you how to be a success in your professional career, especially if it means that you want something more than what your were taught in school, which is to get a degree and have a high paying 9-5 job. But if you have a different definition of success, then I believe that with some simple education and process automation, no matter what your background is, you can take control of your path in life.”
There are 17 courses in the iPro Academy program, which include:
- AdTrics Academy
- Zero Up
- Facebook Playbook
I believe that you will certainly learn a lot with iPro Academy given all the courses that it offers.
The question to ask yourself should be, “Will the system work for me?”
So, we’re going to review iPro Academy to decide if it really is the best eCommerce course out there.
We’ll talk about whether eCommerce is the right online business for you, as well as some struggles that people have in ecommerce.
At the end, I’ll answer some of the most frequently asked questions regarding iPro Academy and eCommerce in general.
And most importantly, I’ll show you the exact system I used to build my own internet marketing business to over $40,000 a month in mostly passive income.
This system made me swear off eCommerce for good, because it uses some of the same skills in a much more powerful and profitable way!
So, let’s gets started…
Table of Contents
Who Is Fred Lam?
In the world of digital marketing (and marketing in general), Fred Lam is pretty well-known and has received praises from many others in the industry like:
- Sam Ovens (owner of Consulting Accelerator)
- Anthony Morrison
- Franklin Hatchett (owner of eCom Elites)
Taking into consideration all of his business interests, Fred labels himself as a Media Buyer, Digital Marketer, Content Creator, Visionary, Goal Getter and Business Mentor. In addition to all these, he’s also an author with 2 books on his mantle:
- Starting from Zero
- The Traffic Trilogy
On top of iPro Academy, the other things that keep him busy are:
- The Zero Up Course
- Charity:Water
- Trees For The Future
- Water Liberty
He also has a thriving Youtube Channel with over 90k subscribers and almost 4 millions views.
What Do You Get With iPro Academy?
To start off with, there is a free membership option for iPro Academy that has an array of different introductory courses to choose from. Just know, that you won’t get much out of courses like Print Profits Bootcamp and Zero Up Lite. If you really want to dig in a learn about eCommerce, then you should just jump into the paid membership as the other courses simple give you cursory overview.
Here’s a list of what you get in the Premium Membership (Price: $197/ month or $1,970 annually)
- You get access to all 17 courses and programs plus future new releases
- Access to weekly live Q&A sessions where you can have your questions answered
- Access to a 1 hour live coaching call with Fred Lam himself
- You get discounts on an events that are sponsored by iPro Academy
- Third party deals on any software programs that you’ll need to run your business
Now let’s take a more hard-hitting look at the iPro Academy program and see exactly what’s offered in the courses.
Breakdown of iPro Academy
There are 17 courses in the iPro Academy eCommerce trainings and each of them have their own training videos and even more content. Another one of Fred’s trainings that we’ll look is the 21 Day eCommerce Challenge (aka, eCom Challenge, which is a course that is separate from iPro Academy.
All in all, you’ll get over 80+ hours of training with iPro Academy.
Zero Up
Zero up is more than just a dropshipping course, it’s a dropshipping course on steroids.
Along with learning all the nuts and bolts in the dropshipping world, you also get access to proprietary software that you can use to set up you Shopify store. To summarize, Zero Up shown you how to create and launch an eCommerce business starting from scratch by utilizing the 5-step Software System that Fred Lam created for himself.
- This includes:
- A total of 75 hours of training videos
- Automation Tool for eCommerce
- The Zero Up Weekly Bootcamp
- Access to a Private Facebook Community
- Bonus Training Modules
- Bonus Tools: Zero Up POD, Zero Up Jewels, Pixel Bay
Altogether, the course has a total of 7 Modules containing 75 different lessons. The total length of the course is over 45 hours when you include the Bonus trainings (the main course is about 16 hours)
The one-time price of this course when purchased separately is $1,497 or $597 for 3 monthly payments
Print Profits
This course gives you the opportunity to do your own apparel design work (i.e., t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs) and sell without the need to stocking your own inventory.
By using some of the additional techniques taught in the course (such as Print On Demand) you can develop your own brand.
With Print Profits, you get:
- Nearly 80 training videos
- Access to their private Facebook Community
- Weekly live Facebook events
- 2 Live Coaching webinars every week
- Bonus Training
- Free Design Mockups daily
The Print Profits course includes:
- 8 training modules and 78 lessons.
- Course length is 7 hours and 47 minutes.
The price of the course:
- One-time payment: $997
- 3 monthly payments: $397
Ad Trics Academy
In this course, Fred teaches you everything you need to know about the one thing that every business has to have to thrive, Media Buying.
In Fred’s opinion, the skill-set of media buying that you’ll learn in this course is something that you can apply to any business model and get buyer intent traffic.
Inside Adtrics you’ll receive:
- Training Videos (77)
- Live mentoship with Fred Lam for 8 weeks
- Access to Media Buyer Facebook Group
- Copywriting Course (4 weeks)
- Free admission to the Marketers in Black event
- The chance to work with Fred Lam
The course includes:
- 4 modules: 77 separate lessons.
- Length of the course: 7 hours, 55 minutes.
The Price of the course:
- One-time Payment: $2,495
- 3 monthly payments: $997
Influencer Masterclass
Have you ever heard of word-of-mouth advertising?
Well, if you haven’t heard the phrase, I’m sure that you have either used, been influenced by it, or both. WOM advertising has been around for centuries, more than the era of digital marketing. This class, Connor James will teach you everything he knows about promoting any product on platforms like Instagram and send highly-targeted traffic your way without losing your shirt.
Included in the Influencer Masterclass:
- Training Videos (47)
- Researching Tools
- Access to the private Facebook Community
- Weekly Coaching with Connor James
- Free access to Tiny.ie (30 days)
- Email Support
The course has:
- 7 Modules, 47 individual lessons
- Course Length: 12 hours, 20 minutes
Purchasing the course separately:
- One-time payment: $497
- 3 monthly payments: $197
Ecompreneur
The eCompreneur course teaches you everything you need to know about building your eCommerce business, the products you should sell, and what to do after you get your first sale.
The 3 conerstones of the course are:
AUTOMATION: Starting an eCommerce store is relatively, but keeping it running smoothly without any issues can be more of a headache with lots of sleepless hours as a result. Using automation can help save you time thus being able to make more sales.
TRAFFIC: Fred takes you by the hand and shows you multiple advertising platforms that you can use to generate more sales for you store.
ANALYZING DATA: Advertising costs money, and the best way to lower your costs is to know where your money is best spent. To do this, you need to be able to analyze your advertising data so that you can increase your sales and find secret opportunities in order to grow your business.
Included in eCompreneur:
- 2 Training Modules
- 17 Training Videos
- Coaching session with Fred Lam (12 weeks)
- Course Length: 3 hours, 4 minutes
- Course Price: $49 One-time payment
Disclaimer: This is an introductory course covering only the basics. Seasoned veterans may not find it beneficial.
FB Playbook
Over the years, running Facebook Ads has become more of a hassle than a help when it comes to generating traffic. But Fred Lam is worked to make process of running Facebook Ads easier with with his templates.
Just keep in mind that the this course is in no way exhaustive when it comes to Facebook Ads.
The Facebook Playbook includes:
- 7 Training Videos: Targeting Methods, Ad Strategies, The Best Templates
- Lifetime Access
The course includes:
- 7 modules: 7 total videos, 1 video each
- Course Length: 2 hours, 25 minutes
- Course Price: $7 or $47 FB Playbook & Masterclass
FB Playbook Advanced
In the Facebook Playbook you’ll learn more specialized strategies and techniques to grow your Facebook Ads than what you learned in the last course.
Facebook Playbook Advanced includes:
- 10 Training Videos: True ROAS, Advanced Data Analysis, Retargeting, Advanced Scaling, Lookalike Audiences
- Lifetime Access
The course includes:
- 10 modules, 1 video each module
- Course Price: $97
6 B.S. Framework
Ironically, the BS stands for “Badass Strategies”. These media buying strategies that you’ll learn will help your business grow by showing you how to get more targeted traffic in a much more efficient way. Honestly, all this is just a “sales-y” way of showing how multiple online business models operate and really isn’t about “media buying”.
6 BS Framework includes:
- 7 Training Videos: Covering online business models like Affiliate Marketing, dropshipping, and email marketing.
- Email Support
- Lifetime Access
The course includes:
- 7 modules, 1 video each module: The lessons are a basic run-down of each business model
- Course Length: 1 hour, 47 minutes
- Course Price: $47
ECOM Studio
In this course you’ll what you need to do to create video ads that sell like hotcakes without being a video genius. Fred and Ryan Shin took a road trip to Facebook Headquarters where they learned about Video Ads. They also share some dirty little secret tips.
eCom Studio includes:
- Lifetime Access
- 7 Training Videos: FB Video Ad Formula, Cheap video creating tips, Ad Research, Outsourcing, The Thumbstopping Strategy
- BONUS: Funnel Template
Course includes:
- 7 Modules, 1 video lesson each
Course Price: $7
Google Playbook Basics
This is a relatively brief course in which Fred shows you his low-level basic training about using Google Ads.
It’s really just an introductory course about Google Ads that’s really just about the inner workings of Google Ads.
Google Ads Playbook includes:
- Lifetime Access
- 10 Training Videos: The Network in the Network, How to set it up, Ad Search Basics, Display, Gmail Sponsored Ads, an more…
The Course includes:
- 10 Modules, 1 video lesson for each module
- Course Price: $47
BING Ads Playbook
Bing is kind of like the red-headed stepchild as a marketing platform, but it is responsible for more the 33% of the searches in the United States with more than 6 Billion every month. You won’t find too many other courses that teach about Bing for running ads, and most of the content is also covered in the Zero Up courses too. However, you’ll get more in-depth details in the MasterClass, so you might as well do that one.
Bing Ads Playbook includes:
- Lifetime Access
- 11 Training Videos: Covering what you should and shouldn’t do, Insider Secrets, Precise Data Tracking, and more…
- Live Coaching: 8 weeks
The course includes:
- 11 Modules, 1 video lesson per module
Course Price:
- Bing Ads Playbook – $47
- Bing Ads Playbook & Masterclass – $97
CODING FOR PROFIT
In this course, Chris Burgess will show you how to go through your Shopify website and customize without the need to outsource the work to high-priced programmers. You’ll basically be able to make money online from simple little lines of codes even if you’ve never looked at it in your life.
This course will the pull back the curtains on eCommerce the dropshipping and most eCommerce courses neglect.
Coding For Profit includes:
- Lifetime Access
- 10 Training Videos: Coding Basics, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, The Shopify Language, and more
The course indludes:
- 11 Modules, 1 video lesson each
Course Price: $27
FB LEADS FORMULA
In this course you’ll learn how to create an email list using a simple 3-step process very quickly without using overpriced software all the while turning it into passive income.
FB Leads Formula Includes:
- 8 Training Modules: Finding a good niche, Email Marketing, Lead Magnets, FB Lead Ads, and more…
- Bonus #1: Access to LeadsTunnel (30 days)
- Bonus #2: Facebook Community (Private Invitation)
- Bonus #3: Passive Income Checklist
- Lifetime Access
The course includes:
- 8 Modules, 1 video lesson for each
Course Price: $497
Profit Jewels
Have you ever wondered how people make money giving away free stuff online? Well, in this course, Ryan Shin will show you exactly how it’s done (hint: The real money is made on the back end with the shipping).
The nice thing about this is that you can do it without dropshipping products from China. By purchasing this course, you get access to cheap jewelry through a U.S. based manufacturer of cheap jewelry that you can purchase and give away from free.
This is possible without:
- Products
- Stocking inventory
- Previous Experience
Profit Jewels includes:
- 21 Training Videos: Finding a Good Niche, Email Marketing, Lead Magnets, FB Lead Ads, and more
- Lifetime Access
The Course includes:
- 21 Modules, 1 video lesson per module
Course Price:
- One-Time Payment: $297
- 3 Monthly Payments: $129
ECOM CHALLENGE
Fred wants to see his students be successful with their eCommerce store, and with that in mind he developed this 21 day challenge to give you the kick in the pants that you need.
What he has done is taken the 3 common factors for eCommerce succss and segmented them into 3 specific parts of the training. You get a full one week of training that is designed to get your closer to your eCommerce success.
In the course, you will be given an assignment over the 21 days so you have to be on the ball with what you need to do to accomplish each assignment. With each one-week assignment you’ll have specific instructions and training
eCom Challenge includes:
- eCommerce Challenge (21 days)
- Live Coaching from Ryan Shin (6-figure Success Coach)
- The workbook for eCom Challenge
- The Checklist for winning products
- The workbook for Facebook Ads
- Masterclass Graduation
eCom Challenge Cost: $97
Is iPro Academy Really Worth The Money?
This question is a really a double-edged sword. On one hand, if you opt to buy all the courses separately, then the total costs of the iPro Academy courses could end up costing you nearly $7,000. When you also factor in that some of the course are really just introductions to the subject matter at hand, then it it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to buy the courses individually.
But on the other hand, when you look at the 21 Day eCom Challenge (which lights a fire under your ass) and other courses like:
- Bing Ads Playbook
- Ecom Studio
- Coding For Profit
You get a chance to peek behind the curtain and see ALL the inner workings of a successful eCommerce Business.
So the question really comes down to whether or not you want to buy iPro Academy for the for annuall fee of $1,970?
If you’re totally wet behind the ears, then I would say that it could be in your best interest to purchase the entire course, especially given that it’s cheaper than some of the other courses out there like:
That being sad, if you have tried these course (or courses similar) and have some experience running your own eCommerce store.
Of course, each course has the Author’s own tips and tricks when it comes to the subject matter, but this only happens every once in a blue moon so I doubt it would be worth the $1,970
On top of that, I’m not really a big fan of the eCommerce business model, so I would have to take a hard pass on spending that kind of money on it. Now, don’t get me wrong, you can definitely make good money with eCommerce, but not as much as my #1 pick for making money online.
My Final Thoughts
When you take a really good look at what you get in the course, I’d have to say that you certainly get quite a bit for your money.
The only thing that gets me about iPro Academy is that Fred doesn’t really go into showing you how to start your own business. Instead, what he does is give you a specific business template to follow that centers around his products.
Now this may sound like it takes a lot of the guess work out the process, but the problem is that anyone else who purchases the course will have the same template (with the same products) competing against you.
I do like the fact that they offer an exam in the course to certify that you have taken the course. Now, if you are working for yourself, then I can see that it would a nice thing to have in your closet, but if you’re gonna try to get a job somewhere, I doubt if it will carry much weight.
When you watch some of the videos in the course, the coach will stand in front of a whiteboard like it’s a lecture, but they presenting only theory.
For the most part, the course content is pretty good just not as thorough as one should be especially given the other course available.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Is There Too Much Competition in eCommerce?
Yep, there is just so much competition in ecommerce it isn’t even funny.
Have you heard of that one platform called Shopify?
Of course you have!
It has over 500,000 active stores hosted on it now.
We could make you even feel more gut wrenched and talk about how many other ecommerce stores there are that aren’t on Shopify…
But we have a feeling you get the point.
Let’s just do some quick math…
We’ve already established that there are only 10 spots on the first page of Google, and that nobody really buys stuff that isn’t on page one.
So what are your odds for any given niche?
Well considering that most stores all offer the same products…all we have to do is take 10/500,000
That means there is only a .002% chance for you to land on page 1.
With the digital real estate model we’ll talk about later…you’ll only have maybe 20 competitors in a given area…but more on that later.
The point is that because the barrier of entry is so low, that means a lot of people can get started.
When you see all those others involved right at the same point you are…it gets discouraging, and a lot of people quit because of how hard it is to break the proverbial glass ceiling.
And that leads us to our next point and why most people can’t ever break through the ecommerce glass ceiling…
Capital.
Do I Have Enough Capital?
Yep, this is quite possibly the biggest reason why ecommerce businesses fail.
Ecommerce businesses require a huge upfront cost. In most cases we’re talking at least $10,000 and that’s just for inventory…not including marketing or shipping.
Beyond that most courses that teach you will also cost a couple thousand dollars themselves.
To be frank, not a lot of people will be able to front all that dough.
We’re sorry if you weren’t expecting all those upfront costs, but that’s the reality. Gone are the days of starting a profitable ecom business with $500.
But we don’t blame you for thinking you could start an ecom business for super cheap…
No instead we blame all those flaunty youtube ads and youtube videos that mislead you into thinking you can start an ecom biz without a hefty investment.
You can find them if you look hard enough, but very few ecommerce youtubers will confront this start up capital issue…they all kinda just gloss over it.
And for good reason…
If a lot of people understood just how much money you’d have to front to get started in ecommerce, people likely wouldn’t even join the course they’re probably selling!
Sad but true.
Did I Get Involved With eCommerce At The Wrong Time?
Ecommerce requires a lot of research. You want to make sure that you pick the right product to buy and start selling.
Unfortunately, sometimes you can have the right product, but sell it at the wrong time.
When this happens the sales won’t be coming through and you’ll have lots of inventory left over that you’ll have to either keep…or sell at a loss.
Most often times people sell at a loss so they can just move on. At least, that’s what the big retailers do…
If you’re just getting started, a mistake like this could be what cripples your whole operation!
And that’s the reality for most people.
They take everything they have and throw it all into one product.
When it doesn’t hit, they sell for a loss and exit the business altogether.
Poor Customer Service
The last big reason ecommerce businesses fail is because of poor customer service.
When you’re a one man show and you’re trying to ship and acquire products all over the world, it can get busy pretty quick.
Because you’re not personally delivering these products to your customers doors there are a lot of issues that can arise in that process.
Unfortunately, smaller, brand new, ecommerce businesses are notorious for poor customer service when these issues occur.
This usually occurs because it can be difficult to get in touch with foreign suppliers, especially during Covid-19, and that hurts with communication to the end customer.
As you can imagine, a customer will only give a seller so much time before they ask for a refund and leave a bad review.
And reviews are everything!
The first couple people might buy when there’s no reviews, and that’s fine…but when real reviews start rolling in, if they’re not positive, then you’ll not be making many sales.
That’s just the reality of the situation.
Conclusion
Again, we didn’t want to rain on your parade, but we also didn’t want you to be misinformed and dig yourself into a hole.
And we didn’t even mention about just how bad the shipping issues can get during the pandemic.
But we’ll save that one for another time.
Oh yeah, but what you’re probably wondering…
What’s this online business model that just absolutely destroys ecommerce?
What's Our Top Recommendation for Making Money Online In 2023?
It’s pretty much exactly as it sounds. You get the equivalent of rent payments for websites.
Here’s how it works.
Find a local owned service based business and decide to build a website and rank for it.
When the leads start coming in, pass them off to a business owner and start collecting the checks.
Is it really that simple?
Yessir!
You see compared to ecommerce, you don’t have to run any paid ads to a site. So, you’re only out of pocket like $8 a month for hosting and $11.99 a year for your domain.
And if you can’t afford that, well maybe we have other issues we need to talk about.
But seriously, pay per lead generation sites make bank and they’re extremely passive.
Once you have them ranked, you don’t have to touch them again because they run on autopilot.
But what about the competition you ask?
Virtually nonexistent compared to ecom.
With ecommerce you’re competing with literally millions of people globally.
With lead generation we’re talking maybe 20 of the same type of business in an area. Most of which don’t know anything about ranking a site.
It legitimately couldn’t be any easier.
The best part?
These sites are worth $500-$1,000 on average a month!
If you had just 10 of these sites, you’d be making $5,000-$10,000 a month from passive income!
And your margins are literally 90-100%!
But that’s enough of that… for more information about this model that crushes ecommerce, check it out here!
copyright 2021
Share This Article:
We will be happy to hear your thoughts
Things We Liked:
- The program content starts you off in the right direction
- This course covers a lot more information than other courses
- Not a bad price for the course
Things We Didn't Like:
- Fred only shows you how to run an eCommerce business with his tools
- The course price doesn't include the extras you'll need
- There are better models for online business in 2021
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