Is Simpleology A Scam Or A Legit Productivity Tool?
Although the Simpleology brand has been around for well over two decades, many people still want to know Is Simpleology A Scam or is a legit way to help you get more done?
The truth is that it is NOT a scam but a legit personal development platform.
The fact that Simpleology has been functioning for well over 20 years would tell you that it isn’t a scam.
Simpleology is a web application operated by Mark Joyner that doubles your productivity (and your free time) by simplifying your life.
Simpleology is meant to help you eliminate distractions, realize your potential, and focus on your goals.
However, can it help you make money online?
Joyner is the author of over a dozen books translated into 25 languages, several of which were #1 best-sellers. Including:
- The Great Formula
- The Worst Case Scenario Business Survival Guide
- Integration Marketing
- The Irresistible Offer
Simpleology is a personal development technique and a self-help method designed to help you get rid of distractions, concentrate on your goals, and discover your potential.
There are also training courses on simpleology.com that can assist you in achieving your business goals.
The website also features a free membership program that kind of introduces you to the main content of the program.
After completing the free program, you can either pay $7 per month for the Simpleology Pro, which allows you to use other courses, or pay $47 per month for the Simpleology Elite that gives you access to all the courses and features on the website.
There are mixed reviews from the customers of simpleology.com.
Let me say at this point that I am not an affiliate of Simpleology.
Who Is Mark Joyner?
- Mark Joyner is the founder of 30+ startups
- Founder and CEO of Simpleology – a web app that simplifies your life
- Joyner is universally recognized as “the father of digital marketing“
- Started the first ebook publishing company
- the first online ad tracking company was started by Joyner
- Joyner started the second Pay Per Click search engine
- Invented the tracking pixel
- Mark is the author of over a dozen books in print in 25 languages, 4 of which were #1 bestsellers.
- Joyner is a Cold War veteran of military intelligence and former US Army Officer.
- Mark Joyner’s military service has been awarded for military service by the Defense Language Institute, the NSA, the Republic of Korea Army, the US Army, the Korean Consulate General, and the President of the United States.
Is Simpleology A Scam – Does It Really Offer Anything New?
By no means is Simpleology a scam.
It is a great productivity and goal-setting tool that can help you improve the results you’re getting in your life and work.
It appears that many people are very pleased with the motivation and self-help that the courses provide.
However, there are also many people who believe that the program doesn’t really provide anything new.
While some people find Joyner’s business advice unhelpful, others love it.
What Joyner is very good at doing is taking and simplifying other marketers’ ideas to make them interesting and appealing to people.
You feel like it’s your first time coming across the subject matter whenever you read Joyner’s writing, but the fact is that almost everything Joyner writes about has previously been discussed by others.
Old School Is The New School
Honestly speaking, Mark Joyner has achieved a lot of success as an internet marketer, as he has been able to produce numerous notable programs in the internet marketing domain in the previous years.
To say the least, Joyner is an interesting character and a very good writer that knows how to package other people’s ideas.
In his book, The Irresistible Offer, all Joyner does is to repackage what other authors have thoroughly written about in an easy, up-to-date and comprehensible format in an attempt to make his audience think that such ideas are his.
His principles are also strongly based on the marketing theories of people like Ted Nichols, Gary Halbert, Gary Bencivenga, Rosser Reeves, Robert B. Cialdini, and Joe Sugarman.
Joyner refers to these authors as “old school,” even though he apparently utilizes much of their material.
Probably, the simpleology.com courses would be more useful to you than to others if you have an interest in internet marketing, or the marketing domain in general.
Basically, like many motivational business models, it would work for some people and wouldn’t for others.
Here Come The Spam Constant Promotions
After subscribing to the Simpleology program, most people often complain that they start receiving a series of emails from Joyner and his partners that help to promote his other programs and products.
Taking this into consideration, it’s advisable you use a different email account for your registration with Simpleology, except you don’t mind receiving these promotions in your regular inbox.
When you sign up for Simpleology, you will get bombarded with constant offers in your inbox.
To learn how to create an online business, I would suggest that you take some time out to check my number-one recommendation.
The Experience I Had With Solomon’s Ark Ascension Plan
In the early part of 2020, a masterclass/webinar was presented by Mark Joyner in one of his courses known as Solomon’s Ark Ascension Plan.
Some things I really loved about the masterclass were the free downloads.
Nevertheless, from my own point of view, the masterclass was a huge letdown.
Besides, the webinar lasted for three and a half hours, which is just too long.
Remarkably, it was stated in the promotion emails that preceded the webinar that there would be “scholarships” for people who didn’t have the money to purchase the Solomon’s Ark Ascension Plan.
According to definition, a scholarship is a grant-in-aid given to a student by a foundation or college. In other words, a scholarship is a payment or grant awarded to a student, based on their academic or other achievement, to support their education.
Therefore, a scholarship is a FREE education.
To show that the COVID-19 lockdowns were going to put my business in a precarious financial condition, I had to provide some personal information, which I wouldn’t otherwise reveal, when I was completing my application.
This happened during the first “shutdowns,” where all non-essential businesses were asked to stop operation.
My source of income was all gone, thanks to the government. So, I decided to apply for the “scholarship,” since I didn’t know how long the lockdowns would last.
A Dissatisfying Phone Call
Likewise, when I got a phone call from a representative of Mr. Joyner, the call didn’t last more than 10 minutes the moment I said the price was beyond what I could afford.
Throughout this brief phone call, nothing was said or mentioned about any “scholarship.”
Could you believe that I was eagerly looking forward to this call for 3 days?
However, I think this experience was an eye-opener for me, because it will take me a very long time to sign up for any other “webinar” presented by another “guru.”
I have come to realize that the whole thing is just about the money.
A “webinar” is actually a refined sales funnel that can generate huge profits when properly organized.
In most cases, the main aim of the webinar is to promote the product.
To be honest, I see nothing wrong with Mark Joyner making as much money as he wants.
Notwithstanding, I dislike the fact that he used “scholarship” as a bait to lure people like me, who were looking for legitimate ways to get a discount on a very expensive program.
That was why I signed up for the webinar in the first place!
What Webinars Are Really About
Webinars/sales funnels like the Solomon’s Ark Ascension Plan are usually designed to get rid of those who don’t seem to be “action takers.”
What this means is that they are only looking for those who can afford what they’re selling.
I must commend the representative that spoke to me for 10 minutes; at least he tried to make me feel better by calling me an “action taker,” when he realized I was not going to shell out over $2,000 dollars.
These “webinars” are all virtually the same.
I have a different email account that’s full of webinar invites from “gurus” who are “truly interested in helping you succeed.”
Of course, all of these webinars are glorified sales funnels designed at various points of the funnel to elicit an emotional response designed to make you grab your credit card.
Many years ago, a wise ruler said, “That which has come to be, that is what will come to be; and that which has been done, that is what will be done; and so there is nothing new under the sun.”
Those were the words of King Solomon as contained in Ecclesiastes 1:9,10.
The signs would have been clearer to me if I really heeded to Solomon’s words.
Well, I guess I have to thank Mark Joyner for teaching me a very valuable lesson.
As a matter of fact, I’ve reviewed other online “gurus” on this blog and their impact on marketing such as:
The Psychological Tricks That Marketing “Gurus” Use On Webinars
After viewing the Solomon’s Ark Ascension Plan webinar, here are some persuasion tricks and mind games I found that these online “gurus” are using to get unsuspecting people to part with their money::
1. Engage Your Audience from the Outset:
Calling out the names of some participants would make the webinar more personal for everyone.
This is exactly what Joyner does on his webinar.
Magic shows also make use of this trick: asking any member of the audience to examine a prop will make everyone else feel like they’re well represented in terms of the actions they themselves would take.
In their minds, the audience will be saying, “We’re all doing this together.”
2. You Will Get Better Engagement by Asking People to Interact:
While presenting the webinar, Joyner frequently asks people to indicate their interest in his free gifts and information by typing in “Yes.”
Telling people to type in “Yes” several times not only builds engagement but also creates a behavioral pattern.
This same effect can be seen in stage hypnosis, where a participant gets small corrections from the hypnotist, producing a pattern of suggestions that is keenly followed by the participant.
I guess you know what happens when you ask for the sale? More money comes with better engagement!
More Psychological Tricks That Marketing “Gurus” Use On Webinars
3. Increase the Duration of the Webinar Because Lengthy Sales Presentations Reduce People’s Doubt:
The participants see the time they invest as valuable when you have a lengthy sales presentation filled with lots of proofs.
They start thinking that the product must be really worth it, and there was no way they could be wrong, if this webinar took much of their time.
4. Giving out Free Bonuses Helps People to Rationalize Their Purchases:
Once more, the mind is great!
People won’t care about the final cost of the product when they receive lots of “free” bonuses worth $300 each, since the mind sees the value of the bonuses as being equivalent to the cost of the product!
Your mind eventually tells you, “For sure, I want to have all those stuffs!”
5.It’s Easy to Get People’s Attention with Vague Promises:
Most internet marketers promise to give you a ”bonus” that offers ten times the value of the same amount of work you’re doing currently and even lots more!
They usually don’t give details about this supposed “bonus” and make a vague “promise” to arouse your curiosity in an attempt to convince you to make a purchase.
Such offers and promises can get you confused because they are neither absolutely incorrect nor are they really provable
By listing out other advantages you’ll get, they make you curious and feel like you have what it takes to do the work without actually telling you anything about what you need to do.
6. Open Loops Get People Engrossed:
You create an open loop by starting with a story or asking a few questions and then changing topics to keep people in suspense.
For example, Joyner used this open loop in his webinar: “I feel very excited to reveal to you King Solomon’s hidden secret to wealth creation, but before I do that, I want to tell you about….”
It took him 3 freaking hours to reveal that hidden secret!
Simpleology Is A Legit Productivity Tool
Simpleology is not a platform that teaches you how to make money online. It’s a application that helps you to become more productive with your time so you can make more money with what you’re already doing.
My point is this: If you want to create a life-changing income, you need to LEARN how to do it.
The platform that I use for this very blog, Wealthy Affiliate, actually teaches you how to become a proficient affiliate marketer so you can make money online.
What Simpleology can do is help you become more productive as you learn affiliate marketing.
However, to actually learn the fundamentals of how to make money online by means of affiliate marketing, you need a platform like Wealthy Affiliate.
My Final Remarks About Simpleology: More of the Same
No doubt, Simpleology is a brilliant concept and is NOT a scam.
However, I think who you ask would determine the answer to whether it really works or not.
In my opinion, webinars are all about making PROFITS; that’s what they’re designed to do.
Even when a webinar claims to be very much concerned over some personal subject presented, remember that it’s ALWAYS about the money.
All of these so-called high-tech webinars guaranteed to stimulate a certain response to increase sales are really just about SALES. Don’t get fooled with the insincere “personal interest” these “gurus” show through these sales videos.
Remember, these “gurus” often apply psychological manipulation in their webinars to make you buy their products.
Apparently, these sales tactics are working because there seems to be no shortage of webinars on every subject imaginable on the internet.
Don’t get me wrong, though – you can get happiness, wealth, and health from the message these “gurus” are trying to share with you…
All for the right price, or course!
Until your review, I had never heard of Simpleology and found this a comprehensive and interesting article to read.
It sounds as though Mark Joyner has been around forever and had his fingers into many pies.
Like yourself, I don’t begrudge him earning money this way but I really felt for you when you tried to apply for the scholarship and found out it was $2000.
Even waiting for the call and then finding out it was just an advanced sales funnel was hurtful.
I will be definitely be taking my time before I consider any of his courses.
Hello Lily,
Thank you for your comment.
Although Simpleology has been around for many years, I’m not surprised there are some people who are unfamiliar with the platform.
However, many of these “free webinars” are advanced sales funnels; there’s nothing free about them except you are investing your “free” time participating in the process.
It’s always has been, and always will be, about the money.
Talk Soon,
Howard
Every single time that a program offers a free webinar to explain and give valuable information to it’s for yours, I am mediately sketched out. I always remember that it is simply a sales funnel for them to get you into something that you probably don’t even need. I like the alternative you offered. Wealthy affiliate is definitely something I would love to get into
Thank You for taking the time to read this post, Misael.
Talk Soon,
Howard
What I liked about your review was that you didn’t just dismiss Joyner right off the bat, you used his pointers from a POSITIVE point of view.
You provided some additional helpful insight into Simpleology.
Thanks for providing additional into Simpleology…You’ve given me some other things to think about regarding whether I should join SImpleology.
Hello Admin,
Thank You for taking the time to read this post on Simpleology.
Your comments are appreciated.
Howard
I’ve actually just sat through almost 4 hours of this particular webinar! It’s why I went searching for anyone else who had. And found you!
What an insightful read! You have absolutely nailed my own thoughts on this last night. And also made a few points I had not considered but do agree totally with.
What I found most frustrating was them not providing the price. That just makes me doom-think that it will be crazy money. You say that it’s over $2000? Just how much over? Can you remember?
Many thanks again
Matt
Thank you, Matt, for taking the time to read this post. So many “programs” online promise spectacular results but at a price that most of us can’t afford. Unfortunately, the “big money online gurus” aren’t interested in lower-priced solutions, but only in making as much money as they possibly can. As they say in their “disclaimers”, what you do with the program after you purchase it is on YOU…They are not responsible for your success or failure, so think twice when forking out large sums of money for these programs!