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GoHighLevel - Legit or Pyramid Scheme?

Marketing, social media, advertising
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Deleted88861

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Wondering what you guys think of this company as I am skeptical to start using them for my marketing agency and currently looking at alternatives such as Zapier, Hubspot and intergrating them together.

My concerns:
- Clearly marketed towards being MLM (simple YouTube searches show this)

- One of their main keynote speakers is/was Billy Gene (he's famous for running scams in the online marketing space, see Coffeezillas videos on him if you want to)

- The price ends in a 7. I know thats a broad way of judging a company but lets face, it when it comes to the online marketing space and companies working with shady characters, that is a red flag also (Mike Winnets YouTube series "contrepreneur bingo" goes more into this and its quite funny to watch him make a game out of it all)

It all points towards a Pyramid scheme being disguised as a MLM , their keynotes appear very cult-like too and a bit strange.


Curious to hear peoples thoughts on this, maybe I'm wrong but the Billy Gene part definitely set off alarm bells for me.
 
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KiwiEC

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Hi,

You should have a look on this thread (page 3) where some members recently discussed about GoHighLevel:

 
D

Deleted88861

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Hi,

You should have a look on this thread (page 3) where some members recently discussed about GoHighLevel:

Yep I have read this already, thanks for sharing it though. Definitely going to avoid GHL as it's too shady.

Looking into Zapier, Hubspot & Funnelbolt - They can all be integrated to some degree and are significantly cheaper.

Cheers
 

KiwiEC

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Yep I have read this already, thanks for sharing it though. Definitely going to avoid GHL as it's too shady.

Looking into Zapier, Hubspot & Funnelbolt - They can all be integrated to some degree and are significantly cheaper.

Cheers

Agreed on this.

+ Zapier is a really powerful tool which can serve many purposes. Getting knowledge and experience on it would be useful in all cases.
 
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Deleted88861

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Agreed on this.

+ Zapier is a really powerful tool which can serve many purposes. Getting knowledge and experience on it would be useful in all cases.
Thats interesting.

Regarding Zapier, would you recommend pairing it with any other company or is Zapier alone enough for what you do? If you run an agency as I probably should have asked this first, ha.
 

KiwiEC

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Thats interesting. Regarding Zapier, would you recommend pairing it with any other company or is Zapier alone enough for what you do? If you run an agency as I probably should have asked this first, ha.
To me the true potential of Zapier is to connect all those great tools to create powerful automated processes.

I'm not running a marketing agency like you (currently building an ecom website) so my use of Zapier and the connections between other tools would be different.

Maybe did you already do it, but have a look on the Zapier apps list, search for one marketing tool you're used too (eg. MailCheat(Chimp), get to the App page and scroll down to get an idea of the potential.


Scaling up any business will usually require more flexibility and tools. I see Zapier as a good way to connect them together.

Some people even built a SaaS "only" with Zapier connecting several other apps.
 
D

Deleted88861

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To me the true potential of Zapier is to connect all those great tools to create powerful automated processes.

I'm not running a marketing agency like you (currently building an ecom website) so my use of Zapier and the connections between other tools would be different.

Maybe did you already do it, but have a look on the Zapier apps list, search for one marketing tool you're used too (eg. MailCheat(Chimp), get to the App page and scroll down to get an idea of the potential.


Scaling up any business will usually require more flexibility and tools. I see Zapier as a good way to connect them together.

Some people even built a SaaS "only" with Zapier connecting several other apps.
Brilliant. Will look into this, thanks for the insight.
 
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ZackerySprague

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It was a software created to help digital agencies, not sure how it would be an MLM. I've seen people use it on YouTube and other big agencies that had no problems with it.

Plenty of people I've known in the past used it before and had no issues.
 
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Deleted88861

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It was a software created to help digital agencies, not sure how it would be an MLM. I've seen people use it on YouTube and other big agencies that had no problems with it.

Plenty of people I've known in the past used it before and had no issues.
They are literally recruiting people through their affiliate program and offering very decent returns and there are YouTube videos actively teaching people how to use them to leverage their MLM businesses, just simply YouTube search you will see, of course MLM isn't illegal but this is mad shady.

Yes, they're offering a service but underneath that is very much MLM and borderline pyramid scheme, though this is hard to know as we don't know how much of their revenue comes from their affiliate recruitment compared to service sales coming from elsewhere. It's shady and the price is astronomical compared to places like Hubspot or Zapier. But seeing as this forum is filled with agency owners and people trying to create quick passive income, maybe it suits them.

I genuinely do not understand why people are willing to risk their businesses long-term reputation if this company decides to up and leave one day after they make their money from their affiliates. Even the fact that they use one of the lowest scums of the online marketing space who literally stole millions from his fans and went off the grid is cause for concern in and of itself, why would you want to support a company like that who does business with a guy like this?

Its not worth the risk despite everything being integrated on the one platform. It would make a lot more sense to pay less money overall for two or three agency automation tools, integrate them together and at least that way there is a hell of a lot more safeguarding going on from companies that charge significantly less and don't do shady stuff around their marketing/business model. People constantly looking for the quickest solution and shortcut baffles me, especially in this forum around the online marketing agency space.

I'm playing devils advocat here because there seems to be this hype around GHL and very little questions being asked of them on this forum compared to other online spaces. Maybe @MJ DeMarco could keep an eye on the amount of endoresement going on for this company, especially considering their shady activities and especially when he's apparently not keen on these types of companies himself. Something to think about. People are using this company because its another shortcut and thats always very risky in a bad way. GHL is simply covering up what seems to be a pyramid scheme (definitely MLM) by offering a bog-standard product that sells agency owners on the fact that everything is all on the one platform for them, yet the price is absolutely mad compared to other companies, but these companies can take a little bit longer to setup despite being more credible and cheaper.

Not arguing with you by the way mate, I'm just getting so sick of people hyping up this company without batting an eye as to what they're up to behind the scenes.
 
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ZackerySprague

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They are literally recruiting people through their affiliate program and offering very decent returns, so yes they're offering a service but underneath that is very much MLM and borderline pyramid scheme, though this is hard to know as we don't know how much of their revenue comes from their affiliate recruitment compared to service sales coming from elsewhere. It's shady and the price is astronomical compared to places like Hubspot or Zapier. But seeing as this forum is filled with agency owners and people trying to create quick passive income, maybe it suits them.
Well is GoHighLevel solving a problem? Their helping agencies by creating a centralized software no? Be the driver that creates MLMs.

It’s not the Softwares fault for selling itself through an Army of Affiliates.

It’s the peoples fault for believing in quick passive income through creating Digital Marketing Agencies.

It could take years to beat the Commandment of Entry, Josh Nelson created Plumberseo.net but it took him 4 years to get to 7-Figures run rate through intentional iteration. He uses GoHighLevel and runs a real digital marketing business.

It’s not easy to get to that level.
 
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Deleted88861

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Well is GoHighLevel solving a problem? Their helping agencies by creating a centralized software no? Be the driver that creates MLMs.

It’s not the Softwares fault for selling itself through an Army of Affiliates.

It’s the peoples fault for believing in quick passive income through creating Digital Marketing Agencies.

It could take years to beat the Commandment of Entry, Josh Nelson created Plumberseo.net but it took him 4 years to get to 7-Figures run rate through intentional iteration. He uses GoHighLevel and runs a real digital marketing business.

It’s not easy to get to that level.
I understand that some people are having success through their platform, but my point is that it's shady all-round and its somwhat important that one of us plays devils advocate here to let people know that there are cheaper alternatives doing exactly the same thing and that these guys (GHL) are associated with a high-end con artist in Billy Gene. It's important that this side of things is highlighted and awareness is raised around this and THEN people can decide what they want to do, at least they will know both ends of things. GHL is massively hyped up online, even in this forum and so it is important that people know the not-so-nice side of things and they can then base their decisions on this.
 

ZackerySprague

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I understand that some people are having success through their platform, but my point is that it's shady all-round and its somwhat important that one of us plays devils advocate here to let people know that there are cheaper alternatives doing exactly the same thing and that these guys (GHL) are associated with a high-end con artist in Billy Gene. It's important that this side of things is highlighted and awareness is raised around this and THEN people can decide what they want to do, at least they will know both ends of things. GHL is massively hyped up online, even in this forum and so it is important that people know the not-so-nice side of things and they can then base their decisions on this.
Tools are tools, I think what matters is how you get the job done. The tools are there for the purpose of getting it done.

There are Alternatives yes. Plenty of them.
 

MJ DeMarco

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I have no clue who these guys are, but it sounds super-shady ... like those aholes who white labeled the FREE ChatGPT and tried to get users to pay for it.
 
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Deleted88861

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I have no clue who these guys are, but it sounds super-shady ... like those aholes who white labeled the FREE ChatGPT and tried to get users to pay for it.
I have no clue who these guys are, but it sounds super-shady ... like those aholes who white labeled the FREE ChatGPT and tried to get users to pay for it.
Hi MJ.

I went into more detail on this company over on this thread, my comment should be at the very bottom of it. There is a lot of endorsing going on in this forum for this company and it needs to at least be kept an eye on, that's all I'm saying, simply trying to raise awareness and play devils advocate. People should be made aware (not saying by you) of both the good and the bad of this company, especially when 99% of the talk around them is all hyped and positive.

- GOLD! - MINDSET - EXECUTION - Earning $5.5K/mo at 16: I'm doing it.

Cheers.
 

Spenny

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if it smells like crap, it likely is! :shit:
 

ZackerySprague

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I understand that some people are having success through their platform, but my point is that it's shady all-round and its somwhat important that one of us plays devils advocate here to let people know that there are cheaper alternatives doing exactly the same thing and that these guys (GHL) are associated with a high-end con artist in Billy Gene. It's important that this side of things is highlighted and awareness is raised around this and THEN people can decide what they want to do, at least they will know both ends of things. GHL is massively hyped up online, even in this forum and so it is important that people know the not-so-nice side of things and they can then base their decisions on this.

Oh Billy Gene is apart of GoHighLevel? I'm sorry I guess I quickly skimmed that. Hmm... Yeah I don't trust Billy Gene.

Well here is a list of tools I would use to run a Digital Marketing Agency otherwise.

1. CRM: Pipedrive.io
2. Email Marketing/Sales Engagement: Outplayhq.com
3. Domain Names: Google Domains or Namecheap.
4. Web Hosting: Hostgator.com
5. Video/Calling Communication: Skype or Google Voice for Phone Calls, Zoom for One to One meetings.
6. WordPress Themes: Theme forest or a dedicated Website Builder.
7. Advertising: Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.
8. Contracts: HelloDesign, PandaDoc, or DocuSign.
9. Payment Processing: Stripe

ClickFunnels does something similar. They have an affiliate program to promote their software as well.
 
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Deleted88861

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Oh Billy Gene is apart of GoHighLevel? I'm sorry I guess I quickly skimmed that. Hmm... Yeah I don't trust Billy Gene.

Well here is a list of tools I would use to run a Digital Marketing Agency otherwise.

1. CRM: Pipedrive.io
2. Email Marketing/Sales Engagement: Outplayhq.com
3. Domain Names: Google Domains or Namecheap.
4. Web Hosting: Hostgator.com
5. Video/Calling Communication: Skype or Google Voice for Phone Calls, Zoom for One to One meetings.
6. WordPress Themes: Theme forest or a dedicated Website Builder.
7. Advertising: Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.
8. Contracts: HelloDesign, PandaDoc, or DocuSign.
9. Payment Processing: Stripe

ClickFunnels does something similar. They have an affiliate program to promote their software as well.
really interesting, thanks for this. And yeah, Billy Gene of all people... Grrr. Lol
 

ZackerySprague

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I'm not arguing with you either, honestly I didn't see GHL as a MLM... that's just what threw me off.
 

ZackerySprague

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really interesting, thanks for this. And yeah, Billy Gene of all people... Grrr. Lol
He doesn't bother me, I just don't pay attention to him and his business doings. I stick to my own thing.
 
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BigRomeDawg

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HighLevel is an amazing product. If you really want to know, give the free trial a shot. I've used Wordpress, Active Campaign, Clickfunnels, Leadpages, and probably a few others. So far, it's my favorite all-in-one sales/marketing platform. I've run my business on it for six months. Robust, reliable, and I consolidated from 5+ apps to just 1. TBH I didn't know it appeared scammy to people.
 
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BigRomeDawg

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I just remembered; The guy who founded HighLevel previously founded InvoiceSherpa, a SaaS I used probably 3-4 years ago at our previous business. It helped us reduce our A/R by like 80%. It only cost like $20/month, absolutely insane. It really saved our butts.
 

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Not sure why OP deleted his account.
 
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Maidtoclean

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I have a commercial cleaning business "Maid to Clean Music City" and I was wondering if it's worth paying for high level if you own one website and have some knowledge in SEO & Marketing.

<link removed by mod>
 
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Michael Ankrah

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I have a commercial cleaning business "Maid to Clean Music City" and I was wondering if it's worth paying for high level if you own one website and have some knowledge in SEO & Marketing.

<link removed by mod>
I don't want to sound too some kinda way but I will just say this, I'm trying to get into web design and I saw your website and I'm not saying that it's bad cause I guess that it's doing what you wanted for it to do, but do you mind if I build/revamp your website for you for absolutely free and just get testimonial/referrals in return. And even if you don't reply, I will still do it just to get something to practice on.
 
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GHL is great, one of my clients runs most of his business on it (6 figures monthly, 10s of thousands of customers annually). We don't build websites on it, we have a ton of integrations, but it really is a powerhouse for managing thousands of leads and customers.

- Their website builder sucks, use WordPress instead.
- Their email & SMS marketing is great.
- Their automations are great.
- Their lead & customer management is great.
- They integrate with every tool you could ever need.

If I started a business with a ton of leads and customers who need to be regularly managed, communicated with, etc., I'd go for GHL as the only other tool I'd need be WordPress and maybe Zapier.
 

aaronK888

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I come from the sales world, GHL uses an MLM/affiliate marketing program to promote the product but the product itself is the farthest thing from a scheme or scam it's just a CRM/SEP like HubSpot or Pipedrive, Zoho, Salesloft, etc.

I'm a bit late to this but not sure where that came from
 
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