Income School Review

by nick | Aug 5, 2021 | Income School

Are you an online business owner or someone who is just now looking to start a profitable online business? If you just answered “yes,” then Income School is a resource that you should check out!

Although we have found Income School to be valuable for our online ventures, we want you to decide what is best for your online business. The goal is to explain what it is and what they offer so you can make an informed decision about whether they have the tools and resources you need to help make your business successful! Continue reading to find my full Income School review.

What Is Income School?

The internet marketing company, Income School, was created by two high school friends, Jim Harmer and Ricky Kesler. Their website tells the story that it took years, slowly building Income School before Jim and Ricky really saw any growth. What sparked a change was these two men bringing their families together for weekly dinners, and they would sneak away to work on the site for an hour at a time.

That consistency and dedication are how they have built the site into what it is now—increased income, 166 thousand YouTube subscribers, hundreds of Project 24 members.

But you may be wondering, “What exactly is Income School?”

Essentially the premise of Income School is to teach people how to use passive income websites—think blogs, niche websites (a site that focuses on a more specific topic or theme common to a smaller group of people), and YouTube channels—to create, grow, and market an online business. In fact, on their site they put it like this: “We help people provide well for their families by creating online businesses.”

What Income School Offers

Most, if not all, of the resources Income School offers, are really valuable for beginners especially. What they teach is practical, step-by-step instructions on how to get an online business started without having to know all of the ins and outs of the advanced, complex technicalities,

The thing Income School is probably best known for is their YouTube channel, which is how we were introduced to them. Their channel covers topics such as internet marketing, passive income strategies, search engine optimization (SEO), WordPress tips, and monetizing websites, and the goal is to share their years of experience “to help you grow your small business.” And it’s true—properly applied, their knowledge, expertise, and experience give direction on how to start an online business and make it profitable. What we really appreciate about their YouTube page specifically is their approach to creating great content that targets some of the gaps that come with this type of business venture, like how to create content and how to make money from ads and affiliate income.

Income School has developed its own WordPress theme as well, called Acabado. “Acabado” is actually Portuguese for “finished,” because Income School wants to highlight how quickly you can redesign your website with speed and clean design. Some other features of the Acabado theme include built-in SEO so you don’t have to mess with plugins; a mobile-first mindset in building the theme since 65 percent of your audience will likely visit on their mobile device; and homepage customization so you can strategically place posts, categories, or your social media accounts.

The Cost

There are two payment plans to get Acabado: either $67 per year, billed annually, or a one-time purchase of $179 per century. Both plans allow you to use the theme on every site you personally own. But the yearly license only allows updates and compatibility for a year, while the 100-year license includes all the future updates for—you guessed it—100 years. Why this pricing? Income School says, “We wanted to offer a very low price point for getting started, and a VERY reasonable lifetime license for those ready to commit.” Sounds pretty reasonable to us!

They also offer a membership called Project 24, named after many peoples’ goal of creating a successful business in 24 months. Project 24 offers courses, communities, webinars, and other tools to help you start your own blog site or YouTube channel. But it’s not just one course or video here and there—it’s a library that is regularly (read: constantly) being updated and added to. There are resources for every level of the business owner: beginner, advanced, and those who have tried and failed.

Project 24 also offers a community site where you can create posts, comment on others’ posts, and ask questions. Because there are members with varying levels of knowledge and success, you have the opportunity to interact with and learn from them. We have found this community site to be one of the most valuable things the Project 24 membership offers.

There is also a members-only podcast, where Jim and Ricky talk about the newest marketing, SEO, and monetization strategies. The knowledge within these episodes is unmatched and if you are serious about growing your online business, you have to listen to this podcast. Honestly, I really have seen success with my niche sites through what I’ve learned with my membership. If you want to join Project 24 today and (hopefully!) have the same experience, use my affiliate link.

Their Unique Approach

Aside from the actual resources, you will find through Income School, you will find they have a unique approach to a couple of different things.

The first is they do not do any link building, nor do they encourage it. If you don’t know what that means, basically link building is the process of linking websites back to your site. Building links can help drive traffic to your site, signaling to search engines that it is a credible, quality site. This affects where your site ranks, and it is usually the sites with more backlinks that rank higher.

However, rather than build links, Income School encourages those of you who are creating passive income or niche sites to create content. They are all about creating unique, informative, well-researched content that is better than what is already out there. So, instead of focusing on guest posts, paying for links, and link exchanges to move your site up in the search engine rankings, Income School’s approach is simply to create great content and to create a lot of it.

Another unique approach they have is keyword research. In fact, Income School doesn’t even call it that, instead, calling it “search analysis.” To target what people are searching for, Income School does not depend on keyword research tools, since those are often inaccurate, but on the auto-suggest feature, Google uses and common sense.

The first thing they teach you is to create content—blogs, YouTube videos, etc.— about what people are actually searching for. Sometimes people write about their thoughts or opinions on a topic, but it’s unlikely that your specific view is what someone will search in the Google search bar, meaning they won’t find your post. On the other hand, if you create content geared toward a beginner in any realm, they won’t find it either. They don’t know to search for something they don’t know about.

So, what Income School teaches is to utilize Google’s auto-suggest feature to see what populates when you search for what you are writing or creating videos about. That way you can create the kind of content you know that users will find. Pair that with common sense, writing (or videoing) within the niches you are passionate and knowledgeable about, you can better understand your audience and what content they want.

The Exception

In this Income School review, we have discussed who this program is for. But, who is Income School not for?

For the most part, Income School probably is not for you if you think you are an expert in some of the more advanced tools and techniques of online businesses. They do offer resources for more advanced online business owners, especially within the Project 24 membership, like courses about affiliate income, SEO, monetization, and the like. The podcast and community groups also facilitate conversations and the exchange of ideas.

However, if you are advanced way beyond even what Income School can offer, or you are looking to compete with even bigger names (e.g., you are in the health niche and you want to compete with Men’s Health), then it may not be for you. You will likely need what they teach plus more, and there are some limits to what they currently have for users.

Final Thoughts for Income School Review

Whether you are new to the internet marketing game, you’ve been at it a few years, or just enjoy journeying and learning from other people, we highly recommend that you check out Income School!

Everything they offer, from their original courses to the tools they love to the community groups, is extremely valuable, and you won’t find it all in one place anywhere else. Use my affiliate link to check out Income School and see what they are about for yourself (and your blog, YouTube channel, or niche site) today!

Project 24 Review: Will I Renew My Income School Membership?

by nick | Jul 28, 2021 | Income School

If you’re an online business owner, entrepreneur, or marketer who is looking to create profitable niche sites, Income School’s membership Project 24 may be right for you. Named after some people’s goal of creating a successful business in 24 months, Project 24 offers courses, webinars, communities, and other resources to help you start your niche site—a site that focuses on a more specific topic or theme common to a smaller group of people—or YouTube channel.

I have seen success with making my niche sites profitable through what I have learned with my membership, and want to share my experience and perspective on what they offer to help you decide if Project 24 is right for your business, too.

What Project 24 Offers

Like I stated above, Project 24 is Income School’s membership program. But it’s not just one course or video or blog. It’s a library that is constantly being updated—courses, videos, a podcast, a community site, and more!—for every level.

The course dashboard is where you will see everything that Project 24 offers. Again, it’s a collection of courses broken up into two “tracks” depending on how you want to earn money: blogging on a niche website or starting a YouTube channel, or you can choose to do both! If you are looking for something specific in their 27 courses, there are four tags that can help narrow down and organize your course search: blogging, YouTube, marketing, monetization, and others.

Additionally, there is a community site on the forum hosting site, Discourse. It’s not unlike other community groups; you can create a post, comment on others’ posts, and ask questions. There are members who have varying levels of knowledge and success that you can interact with and learn from their experiences. This alone may prove to be one of the most valuable aspects of the Project 24 membership for you.

Income School has recently added “mastermind” calls to the membership. Like Zoom calls or other webinars, you can sign up to be a part of these calls. There are some events they choose to record so those who could not attend can watch later; however, most events are only live. That’s why you will want to sign up for a spot if possible—you don’t want to miss any of the information in these mastermind events!

As you can see, there really is something for every level, whether you are just starting out or you’ve been running a niche site for years.

Beginners will gain access to a 60-step process that walks them through, down to the smallest detail, everything they need to do to build their business. The timeline sets realistic expectations as beginners learn how to create WordPress sites, utilize plugins, and learn search engine optimization (SEO).

For the more advanced crowd, they can still learn important steps from the step-by-step process that will be new to them. The courses about SEO, affiliate income, and ads offer insight and direction. In the members-only Project 24 Podcast, founders Ricky Kesler and Jim Harmer share the newest internet marketing techniques. And other advanced marketers are a part of the Project 24 community groups and often share their knowledge and experience for you to learn from.

Then there is the intermediate group—those who have tried internet marketing in the past and failed. There’s plenty on Project 24 for you! On their site is the reminder that it’s a 60-step process, and “there are SO many tiny things you have to remember and do right if you want a site to succeed.” Other courses or membership programs often forget or skip over those details, but not Jim or Ricky. If they ever discover they missed something on their own site, that process is updated. For any business owner or entrepreneur who has tried and failed at internet marketing, there is potential to reach success through Project 24!

Project 24 Cost

The Project 24 membership cost is $449 for your first year, and then each year after that your membership is auto-renewed for $249.

That may seem like a lot of money, especially for people who are just starting out in the niche website or YouTube world, but the value of the information and expertise you get when you purchase the membership is way more than the actual cost.

I have spent about 10 years learning the ins and outs of online business, taking courses from leaders in the online business world that sometimes cost hundreds or thousands of dollars for just one course. They are helpful and I’ve learned a lot over the last decade, but the fact is, the cost of Project 24 gives you unlimited access to a library of resources—and new content is being added every single day. I can confidently say that what you get in just one Project 24 course is more than worth the cost.

As long as you implement the information you learn through these courses, it’s helpful to think of the cost as an investment into your business and thus your future. Income School charges per year because they are constantly updating and introducing new content for their members. Bonus: Jim and Ricky are also available to respond to questions and comments in the community site!

However, if you are not satisfied with one or more of their products, you can cancel your membership at any time. Although they don’t offer refunds, if you cancel your subscription before the renewal date, you can still access all of the content until the end of the payment term.

If you’re still unsure about whether you want to join Project 24, you can read member reviews and testimonials, plus view a sample video from the course before you make a final decision.

My Recommendation

If you are looking to start and monetize an online business, selling products like courses and memberships are great, but niche websites or YouTube channels are two of the best ways to do it. And if you choose to go that route, I would recommend Income School’s membership because you’re not going to get any better than what they offer.

Subscribing to Project 24 has so many benefits. There are the things we have already talked about like the regular updates. Just as the internet is always changing and business techniques are being introduced, the Project 24 team is committed to adding new content to their site meaning that the value of your membership increases over time. Sometimes that content may be a totally new course, while other times it might be as simple as a new WordPress theme—both of which are beneficial to your business!

The community might be one of the biggest reasons I will continue to be a member of Project 24. This community group is not static, but extremely active. No matter what level you are—beginner, intermediate, or advanced—you will be able to find encouragement and help. People post new topics every hour, a number of them are available to answer questions at any moment, and there are opportunities to motivate one another as you each build your business. Jim and Ricky are also active on the forum, answering members’ questions and sharing their own experiences and topics.

One con of this membership is that Project 24 cannot and does not guarantee success, and definitely not in a certain timeframe; however, they say this upfront. It’s up to you whether or not you will succeed. In fact, it says on their site, “Your business will succeed only based on your skill and effort in building your business. While we do our best to provide you with the best direction for your YouTube channel or blog, no business is guaranteed.” It will take time, effort, and persistence on your part if you want to see your niche site or YouTube channel succeed.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I appreciate the honesty and authenticity of the team. The support and positive interactions are never in short supply, and unfortunately, that is not the reality of some other membership programs. And the value of the content you will gain access to exceeds the actual cost of the membership. So, I highly recommend Income School’s Project 24 membership program, especially for those who are just starting out in the online business world and want to create and grow a niche site or YouTube channel.

I plan to keep renewing my membership, and I would encourage you to check it out. Project 24 offers amazing resources if you are serious about starting an online business and are committed to making it a success. If you want to sign up for a membership, use my affiliate link and see what you can do with your blog or YouTube channel in 24 months!