When I first arrived at Bruce Kelly’s Commission Breakthrough website, I was annoyed that I had to sit and watch a video for a few minutes before I could purchase the product. But since I have to read through the entire sales pitch to give a fair review on this website anyways, I got over that pretty quickly. As I listened to/watched the sales pitch there were so many red flags going up in my head.
This man claimed to be a millionaire yet he couldn’t pay a couple thousand dollars to have a better sales pitch developed? And what’s with making internet marketing millionaires sound like some sort of mob? You wanted so desperately to give away your money making secret so others could join you but the internet millionaire club came and stopped you? I’m going to take a wild guess and say that never actually happened.
The Promises Were So Perfect…
Despite the red flags, I was intrigued by his sales pitch. The product he described definitely sounded mysterious and like nothing I had ever seen or reviewed before. Given the mixture of red flags and mystery/intrigue, I found myself hating and loving this product before I ever purchased it for review.
I hated it because I was pretty confident it was going to be a bogus product once I got it, but I loved it because if it was all true, this would prove to be a very worthwhile investment. Even after all these years of buying products and making money in this industry, even a skeptic like myself can become excited over a product like what Bruce Kelly was promising Commission Breakthrough to be.
I Bought ALL of the Upsells
After sitting through the sales pitch, I finally was able to checkout and I couldn’t wait to dig into this product. After I bought the $34 product, I was offered a $97 upsell on the back end. I thought, “Why not?” and justified spending the money by telling myself it would give my readers (you) a better, well-rounded view of the product. After I sprang for that, I was offered yet ANOTHER upsell, this time for $197. I was already this deep, so I figured I might as well double down. I poured myself a glass of red wine and got to work.
Really Bad Sign #1
The first step Bruce Kelly takes you through is getting setup with hosting and makes a pretty hard push for Brainhost, the web hosting service he is an affiliate for. Uh oh, things were starting to look bad. I’ve just started and Bruce Kelly is making me feel like Commission Breakthrough is going to be significantly more effective if I make him more money by signing up for a service through his affiliate link. I know enough about hosting to get a site setup myself, so I passed. His Brainhost push is just a way to make another few bucks off of whoever buys the Commission Breakthrough program.
Commission Breakthrough Success = Random Numbers
After that, he took me to the part of the program where I pick my niche. I’m very experienced in niche research (been doing it for years) so I was interested to see his take on this. His “software” is a webpage where you put in a keyword and it throws out a seemingly baseless, arbitrary number (Bruce doesn’t really explain how these numbers are calculated) that will justify whether or not you should go into a niche.
There’s nothing in here about competition, which is VERY important in niche research. Bruce’s software basically looks at search volume and popularity with no other justification, so this was time for “uh oh” #2. Still, I picked the niche “money” because it checked out with all of the criteria he specified in the Commission Breakthrough program.
It Was Just Disappointment After Disappointment…
As I continued through my review and my hopes died step by step while going through Bruce Kelly’s Commission Breakthrough program, I downloaded the template he recommended using for my niche site. I got to download the spectacular “Ninja Tweak” template because I had paid the extra $97. Expecting some sort of ninja bad-assery (as one would expect based on the title), I was disappointed to find this.
The template was lacking in about every way imaginable, but I continued through the program expecting the Ninja bad-assery to catch up with me when he started talking about traffic generation. Would Bruce have to be a magician to make this template convert? Absolutely. But it wouldn’t be fair to my readers if I just gave up here.
Traffic Generation is a Joke
After I filled in all relevant information and affiliate links for my niche, I continued on to traffic generation. I’m expecting this to be the point that Bruce Kelly’s “software” he spoke so much about in the sales pitch to kick in, but it’s not. He has you download some other software (which I’m pretty confident was an affiliate link as well) which basically spams your message to 50 users unless you pay for the upsell.
I didn’t spring for that one as I was pretty ripped off and pissed off at this point. I typed up my message and sent it to the 50 users I could access for free (feeling very bad for spreading SPAM mail into anyone’s inbox) and continued down the page hoping for some traffic generation miracle. It would be the only thing that could save Commission Breakthrough from a searing review at this point.
Did I find a traffic generation miracle? Hardly. I found another upsell to a product that would “Get me top 10 Google rankings in 7 minutes or less” (Please! Steal more of my money!). At this point I was pretty furious. Bruce Kelly offered a few other half-baked, ineffective traffic generation techniques and sent me on my way.
The Upsells Saved the Day! NOT.
But what about the $97 and $197 software upsells you purchased Ian? Oh, well let me tell you about those. The $97 software upsell was a ripped off version of Brad Callen’s “Niche Finder” that I use regularly and highly recommend, but I already had that installed on my computer from over a year ago when I purchased it at launch. Worse yet, I couldn’t even get Bruce Kelly’s version to activate properly. It said “invalid email” every time I tried to register. Thanks for nothing, Bruce.
The $197 software was only better in the sense that it wasn’t a ripoff, bootlegged software (as far as I know). The really bad part is: versions of this software are available all over the internet for free, but I had just paid $197 for a dumbed down, crappier version from Bruce Kelly. The worst part was knowing he had grown just a tiny bit richer by ripping me off. I can’t imagine how many well-intentioned, good-hearted people have purchased this product and any of its upsells just to feel completely let down. If you’re one of them, I’m sorry I didn’t write this review for you sooner.
The Final Verdict
Should you purchase Commission Breakthrough by Bruce Kelly? I answer that question with a resounding “NO!” You should run for the hills if you ever see Bruce Kelly’s name on any other product in this industry. As a matter of fact, if you know anybody named Bruce Kelly, you should probably punch them in the face in one final, desperate attempt to balance the universe.
This product was so bad. There was no new information, the creator of this product hardly knew what he was doing as he taught the lessons, and he never fulfills the promises he makes on the sales page. He just attempts to make another dime off of you at every turn, along the way giving you horrible directions that you could never make money with.
Anyone with a half-developed knowledge of affiliate marketing or internet marketing would know the methods taught within this program will never make money in this industry. Don’t buy it. If you’ve bought the Commission Breakthrough program within the past 60 days and are now reading this review, get a refund from Clickbank.
Details at a Glance
Product: Commission Breakthrough
Sales Page: http://www.commissionbreakthrough.com/
Publisher: Bruce Kelly
Score: 12/100 points
Original Rubric: Commission Breakthrough Review
View my receipt for Commission Breakthrough
Have questions about anything I’ve said in this article? Feel free to call me or send me an email so I can point you in the direction of resources that will actually help you get started in this industry as long as you’re willing to do some legwork.
Summary: Outdated information taught by someone that seems to be very confused
Description: Commission Breakthrough by Bruce Kelly is one of the worst products I’ve ever reviewed. Read why in this review.
Rating: 1 out of 5.
Hello Ian:
I am amazed that your reviews on the warrior forum haven’t been banned yet or removed. So many negative reviews have been because the mods make so much money.
Heard stories about those who have left negative reviews of WSO and then been asked to remove the reviews or have been banned altogether–warriorforumsucks.com.
It is refreshing to read reviews there from someone not in the good old boy network of affiliates who post a right on, I know this guy and his work is great and they never even bought the damn thing.
Keep up the good work and maybe make some youtube videos to help all of us.
Hello Blue, I’m glad you found your way to my blog after all 🙂 I think the main reason my reviews haven’t been removed is because I give a lot of details and follow the WF rules. You can’t bash people or call people names, but if you buy the product you’re allowed to give honest, insightful details. I’m always a little worried that I’ll get in trouble someday, but as long as I keep following the rules hopefully I won’t get in too much trouble.
Anyways, thank you for stopping by and leaving the nice words. I’d be happy to help if you ever need help with anything, so don’t hesitate to stop by again somewhere down the line and reach out.
Hey Ian,
Can I just say your page is pretty awesome and I had to laugh to myself cause as I scrolled through some of your reviews and thought “oops I’ve brought that one and that one to lol”.
But hey you get that and I just laughed at how you slam these guys for the crap they produce for some of us poor suckers *cough like me for instants lol but hey I started checking the warrior forum and it’s only today I came across your review page.
Thanks a bunch mate will be using it to check out more reviews and all I can say it beat the snot out of their products so we are able to more well informed mate cheers Ian.
Nephi
Hey Nephi, thanks for stopping by and leaving such kind words! I hope you’ll check in next time you’re about to buy a product to see if I’ve exposed it as a scam 😉 Feel free to reach out anytime.
LMFAO OK You are absolutely hilarious…”There not some kind of gang that runs around and keeps people from giving away information.” I’m glad I found you. I thought I was the only one trying to save people from BULL COCKY 😉 Great Job IAN
Thank you Mya! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂 It’s always nice to know the fruits of your labor aren’t going to waste and that people are actually benefiting from and enjoying them. Please feel free to let me know if you need anything at all.
Reference your p.s. – Funny as F**K Ian
What’s weird is I’ve been to lots of BBQ’s, never seen any shrimps on the BBQ. Go Figure?
Well, now I know not to expect barbequed shrimp whenever I get around to visiting the Land Down Under!
G’day Ian (from the Land Down Under)
I too received the link to check out Commission Breakthrough and had red flags going off for me (must be the years of Direct Response Copywriting I’ve been well versed in) as I went through the Sales Video… and yes Bruce Kelly is quite convincing if you let him (even for us seasoned guys).
The biggest things that got me was:
He never really explained why he was so compelled to help,
The vagueness and in-congruency of his word choices (like using exclusivity when the sales page, and product, was open to ANYONE to view and buy),
And the blazing obvious fact that if he REALLY was ‘silenced’ by the IM Mobsters so he wouldn’t interfere with them making millions off misguided people buying their ‘scams’, wouldn’t they be just as pissed at him by making people a whole ton of money, even if he’s “doing it for them”? If he tells you how he does it or does it for you, either way the IM Mobsters aren’t getting you to buy from them any more, as you’ve made your money elsewhere, so they’d be just as upset (and out to destroy Bruce Kelly apparently – though why these IM Mobsters aren’t trying to take out Investment, Property and Business Gurus as well I’ll never know – they’re helping people make millions as well, preventing them from purchasing scams on the internet… having said that Ian, your life may be in danger mate :O)
In all, I like what you’re doing Ian (as I thought of something similar as I was going through this sales pitch), and it’s refreshing to come across someone being authentic.
I’ll keep in touch mate.
Judd
G’day Judd! Thanks for reaching out from such a far away land! That’s one of my favorite things about running this site so far. I’m genuinely making a difference and meeting some great people from all around the world at the same time. It’s been a great ride so far, even though it’s been a ton of work 🙂
Someone with your background in direct response copywriting could definitely fare well in this industry! I hope your experiences in this industry haven’t been too bad so far.
Feel free to reach out if you need help with anything else Judd. And of course thanks for your support!
P.S. I saw this online the other day. Being from the land down under, I thought you might enjoy it 😉
Hi there Ian!! Have any strangers told you lately how much they love you. I sure do. As I was about to “click” the download button on Bruce Kellys offer something told me to do some more research. He sure is very convincing, must admit, but the feeling of “too good to be true” , and the question ” why is it so important to him to se me succeed” were overwhelming. As I write this Bruce Kelly’s “download ” button is still open on another page. So I came across your review. Thank you thank you so much. I feel so bad for the people who get ripped off like this. t could have been me.I totally felt your frustration of getting nowhere, and I am so grateful for not plunging into this. I guess most of us feel and know that there is money to be made on internet, but there are also sharks who swallow it and us too. I was wondering why was I getting so much spam re: internet marketing lately, but now I know. Another one of those is ZNZ one and ZNZ big cash. How much do you know about this one? Maybe you already gave a review and I missed it.. Thanks again, you saved my day. Much respect. Ms. Dana
Hello Ms. Dana – first off, I just want to say you’re awesome. Thank you for such enthusiastic feedback. Comments like this are what keep me motivated to keep running this blog. I’m very happy to know that I helped give you the information necessary to not purchase Commission Breakthrough. It was one of the absolute worst products I’ve ever seen and ridiculously ineffective.
As far as your question about ZNZ, I had never heard of them until now but I spent about half an hour looking into this for you. ZNZ is simply an affiliate network from what I found, similar to CommissionJunction.com, Clickbooth.com, QwikMedia.com, NeverblueAds.com, and many others. You sign up for an account with these networks and promote their offers to receive commissions.
So to address your question directly, ZNZ does not look like a scam. It looks like a legitimate affiliate network as far as I could see. As long as they don’t charge anything to become an affiliate for their network, I would say go for it! Google even has an affiliate network, but many of the bigger, more established affiliate networks are somewhat picky about who they accept (you have to be an experienced internet marketer with some of them). You never know for sure until you apply though!
If you have any other questions, please let me know. And thank you once again for such incredible feedback!
Hey there Ian, your video is informative and just reaffirms my predictions of this site as well, of course yours being more educated ha. But I did have a question. I’m 24 years old, live in Las Vegas and I’m an ex-gymnast from Penn State University, and now a performer. When I was in college I was trying to understand these online money making scams but fortunately only fell into one, which help me learn to never fall into one again ha. I was wondering , since you have a business in the online world I presume , is there any advice you can give me for starting my own, or where to start even ?
Hey Jason! I’m glad you found my post before purchasing Commission Breakthrough. I’m also glad you’ve only purchased one bad product in the past, as many people I speak with have been burned several times and lost a pretty good amount of money.
Concerning your question, I actually created a post about this on my website just last night because I’ve been getting some requests for this. Here is a link to the post: Getting Started in Affiliate Marketing. This is how I would approach internet marketing if I had to start all over from scratch. As I warn in the beginning, there are affiliate links in that post but I promise those are resources I have used myself and I believe are well worth the money. If not, all of them have money-back guarantees and if you’re unsatisfied with any of the products and have trouble canceling I would be happy to walk you through the process.
You don’t have to pay a whole lot of money to get all of the information and tools necessary to get started in this industry, and I’d say all-in-all the things I recommend to get started only run about $200 to start. Considering how much you will learn and the powerful tools you will have at your fingertips it’s a very fair price. On top of that, you wouldn’t have to spring for it all at once. You can spend the first few dollars this week and move on to the next step as you are comfortable.
Take a look at that page and feel free to come back to me with any questions you have! Thanks for reaching out and don’t hesitate to reach out again if you need anything else.
Ian,
HELP! I signed up for Commissin breakthrough and STOPPED before I spent more moeny than the first 39 and 99 dollars, BUT they contacted me and up sold me the whole hog 3000.00 level special coaching. I gave them my debit card number and they promptly took 1000 from me.
After that they RE billed me the thousand bouncing several other charges in my personal account. I called the bank and rversed the charges, BUT the original 1000 came out again and I had to flag my account for fraud. I am in the process of negotiating with the bank to make sure they do not Re charge me AGAIN for this scam.
luckily, I used my debit card and have closed it out, BUT I fear the bank is going to re take the money from me again. I need to know how to proceed so that my bank does not re take the thousand AGAIN. I plan to send them a link to your web site where there is your review here.
After I called the people at the bank I called the people at the support place for his big scam website and they assured me that the salesman would call me back within 24 hours. No call came. I then sent an email to the mainsupport web site and it bounced as non deliverable. In the conversation I had with the person about this double billing I told the guy I wanted out and was not interested in participating any longer and I wanted to OUT and my money refunded.
I realize that worst case scenario SHOULD be I loose the 120 bucks and the first thousand they took, but I plan to fight this tooth and nail. I would apprecite it if you could call me and help me with this. Or even just give me a few pointers on how to pursue this with my bank.
My number is ###-###-#### and My name is Tom P******. I CAN afford to take this hit for my own stupidity, but I plan to do everything in my power to stop this from happening. I have no credit cards and do not use credit for anything….EVER. So if I HAVE to I will let them go ahead and try to bash my credit score over it…makes no difference to me. i will NEVER give the lying theives another penny PERIOD!
ANY advice you give me would be DEEPLY appreciated.
Thanks and HAPPY EASTER!
T
Hey Tom! It was great speaking with you earlier today and I’m glad I could help reaffirm that you were on the right track in canceling your bank account and opening a new one just to ensure they can’t charge your account ever again. I don’t even know how they were able to draft your account again after you canceled the debit card they had on file! Anyways, like I said on the phone feel free to contact me in the future if you have any other questions. I’m sorry you had to experience this but thank you for sharing your experience with the community! And concerning the other $120, just contact Clickbank support and they’ll refund that within 1 business day.
Happy Easter Tom! Thanks again for your support.