My Online Startup Review – EEC “Upgrade” or Scam Reboot?

“Earn passive multiple income streams on autopilot,” they say.

A proven formula that will work for you even if:

• “You’ve never made a single cent online.”
• “You’ve got no experience, whatsoever.”
• “And even if you’ll only work for a few hours per week.”

These are the hooks that reel you in and get you all excited about My Online Startup.

But before anything else, I will tell you that I’ve seen these familiar phrases before.

These are the same lines used by another make money online program called Earn Easy Commissions (EEC), a predecessor of My Online Startup created by none other than Chuck Nguyen.

But as the old reliable saying goes, if something is too good to be true…

As evident with EEC, this kind of business model doesn’t last long (most of the time) due to various reasons which includes its legitimacy.

Good examples of similar programs that uses the same business model are Digital Altitude, 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle and Turbo Wealth Solutions.

It’s also intriguing that My Online Startup is said to be an “upgrade” of Earn Easy Commissions yet Chuck changed the name of the program entirely. Why?

Despite these red flags, many people still have high hopes for My Online Startup, and that is probably why you’re here.

You might be thinking, what do you have to lose?

After all, it’s “free” to join My Online Startup, right?

Well, if there’s one thing I learned through joining similar programs like My Online Startup, it’s to stop taking something at face value…

My Online Startup Business Summary

Product Quality

The free training course you get after joining My Online Startup is nothing out of ordinary.

While its convenient that Chuck has compiled the basic things you need to know about making money online, the course doesn’t really dive deep on how you can succeed on building your own business. Instead, most of them teaches about how to promote Chuck’s business program (MOS) to other people so you can earn commissions.

Again, the training is not completely useless but it provides little to no value because these info can easily be found online anyway.

Business Legitimacy

The truth is, you can make money with My Online Startup, BUT that’s only if you already have the knowledge and skill of online marketing. Otherwise, you’ll end up paying $147 to be an “Insider member” to learn how to promote My Online Startup. It is weird, right? You are paying money to learn how to promote a program that supposedly makes you money. In my opinion, My Online Startup resembles a recruitment scheme, because it has no real products and you get paid directly from other people’s membership fees. This is a practice that is frowned upon by the authorities, especially by the FTC. Many similar programs have already been shut down.

Cost to Join

You can indeed make money with MOS even as a free member. However, if you want to take this business seriously, it only makes sense that you’ll upgrade to Insider by paying $147 because then, your commissions will be 5x and you will also become eligible for other income streams unavailable for free members. You will also have to pay monthly subscription fees for tools and plugins e.g., GetResponse and ClickMagick.

Nevertheless, you can choose to remain as a free member, not pay any monthly fees and still get full access on the free course – just don’t expect to earn a decent income.

Overall rating :  1.5 / 5

The first thing you have to understand before joining this program is that the “multiple passive income stream” that Chuck is talking about will actually come from you promoting My Online Startup to other people; almost like a chain-recruitment scheme.

Your passive income from MOS will rely on how many people you can convince to join with the paid membership, aka Insider. Otherwise, you cannot earn a decent money with this program.

Furthermore, the free online course Chuck claims to be worth thousands of dollars ain’t any better from the free training courses you can find elsewhere on the Internet.

I’m guessing that much like Earn Easy Commissions, Chuck Nguyen’s previous program, My Online Startup won’t last long because the business lacks sustainability and it dangerously resembles a Ponzi scheme.

And if its a long-term online business you’re looking for, stop promoting other people’s business. Why not start your own based on your passion and interests?

Pros

• You can join for free.
• Free online course on Internet Marketing. (View courses)

Cons

• False claims and advertisements. (Learn more)
• You have to convince people to join the paid membership so you can make money. (Read this section)
• Low quality training courses. (View training)
• Hidden costs and fees. (Learn about the fees)
• Low income potential for Free members. (Read this section)

What is My Online Startup

Much like its predecessor (EEC), My Online Startup (MOS) is a “free” online business training program created by Chuck Nguyen.

MOS is also supposed to be a Done-For-You system that will help you earn money using the Internet even if you’re a complete beginner.

Chuck claims that the training courses included in My Online Startup (which you can get for free) are worth $1,000,000!

I don’t know what kind of calculator he uses, but that seems too high a price.

And like I mentioned earlier, MOS isn’t exactly as advertised.

How does My Online Startup Work?

Aside from being a free training program that teaches you how to succeed in your online business, My Online Startup presents itself as an Affiliate Marketing program.

However, it operates dangerously like a Ponzi scheme.

When you join as a free member, you will be given your own My Online Startup affiliate link. You will also get access to the back-office, free courses, resources, tools, and systems.

And in Chuck’s own words, “your only job as an affiliate is to simply share the free course to other people.”

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You can earn $20 as a free member for every person you recruit to the program, more if you join as an Insider (paid) member.

But aren’t you suppose to make a lot of money with your “own” online business as advertised?

Well, what Chuck might have “forgotten” to mention in his sales videos is that you won’t be making money with your own online business.

Instead, you will help Chuck promote his online business program (MOS), drive traffic to his site, and help him make money.

Not the other way around.

In all fairness, the free online course may provide some useful information (a little) for new Internet marketers.

But I dare say they aren’t even worth 100’s of dollars. Much more thousands, or a million.

Most of them only teach you how to promote My Online Startup.

What Exactly is My Online Startup Free Online Course?

The free online course Chuck talks about contains 9 different modules (minus the Getting Started), spread in a total of 51 videos.

Here’s what you can expect to learn when you join MOS:

• Getting Started – A 21-minute video that covers what you can expect to learn from the entire course and the benefits of becoming a My Online Startup affiliate.
• 1. The Game Plan – This is a 35-minute video where Chuck discusses how he became a successful Internet marketer from a Casino BlackJack dealer. He also talks about how My Online Startup works and what you can expect after you finish the entire course.
• 2. Success Mindset – This module discusses mindset, goal-setting, winner attitude, and personal development.
• 3. Affiliate Marketing – The whole module is about the advantages of affiliate marketing compared to other make money online opportunities. Chuck also provides training on the basics, including what are the most profitable niches, how to find the right affiliate products, and how to pick your ONE product. Hint- that ONE product is My Online Startup.
• 4. Lead Generation – In here, Chuck shows how to create quality lead magnets, capture pages, set up follow-ups, and how to integrate everything into one system.
• 5. Authority Platform – The entire module is about the importance of having a blog, how to build and set-up your own website, tips and tricks of writing an excellent article, and how to rank on search engines.
• 6. YouTube Marketing – Chuck talks about the importance of having a YouTube channel. He then shows you how to set up your account, how to shoot your videos, how to rank your videos on specific keywords, and what are the tools to use, e.g., Camtasia or Screenflow.
• 7. Forum Marketing – This module talks about how to take advantage of the Warrior Forum to get leads and sales.
• 8. Targeted Solo Ads – Contains three videos that discuss using paid traffic and email marketing to promote your business.
• 9. Traffic Networks – Chuck shares three sites where you can get more leads – Leased Ad Space, Infinity Traffic Boost, and Leads Leap.

Some videos are over the shoulder training while others are in info-graphics. On average, each training session is 10-20 minutes long, but a few went for almost an hour.

On some training sessions, Chuck recommends various tools and apps that might be helpful for you.

I’ve completed the entire free training course while I was writing this My Online Startup review.  But more often than not, I find each training session lacking in substance.

Is the free training worth your time?

Despite how much Chuck talks about providing value for other people, the My Online Startup free training doesn’t really offer you that much.

For example in the YouTube Marketing module, instead of showing you exactly how to create and edit your videos himself, he recommends other people’s training for you to check out.

The training on affiliate marketing barely scratch the surface and the others are just plain weird, especially the two sessions on module #9 that talks about Traffic Networks that you need to pay in Bitcoin.

Does it mean that now I have to create a crypto-wallet as well?

While I was watching the videos, I can’t shake the feeling that the entire course is created so that I will be enticed to start promoting My Online Startup rather than starting my own business.

Worse, there’s a lot of fluff on most training videos, and most of the time, Chuck is just repeating himself.

If I get a dollar every time Chuck says any of these words, “I promise you,” “I guarantee,” “No-brainer,” “To be honest,” and  “Literally”…

I’d already have at least $999 just for watching all those videos (Yes, I did count them).

Nevertheless, Chuck introduces you to plenty of lead generation and traffic strategies. However…

The Truth… You Don’t Need Plenty of Traffic Generation Strategies to Succeed

Do you know what it takes to become successful with any traffic strategy? Let me give you a hint… 

Successful online marketers don’t use all the traffic strategies, they use only ONE or TWO of those traffic sources to be successful.

It shows you how much time and dedication you need to be successful in any one of these strategies.If I can describe what MOS is in one sentence, at least for the “free” part of it…

I would say that it is a program that gives you small little nuggets about Internet marketing but you’ll have to figure everything out yourself.

But hey, its FREE, so you get what you paid for (or didn’t pay for), right?

Okay, I don’t want to be that super cynical person, so to be fair, there are some information that newbies can use.

For starters, Chuck did indeed discussed how to start your own online business and why it is crucial that you build your email list as soon as possible.

Then again, Chuck also teaches you to rely too much on paid traffic for lead generation.

Paid traffic strategy is very costly and risky for new Internet Marketers who don’t truly understand how it works.

Cost To Join My Online Startup (Not exactly FREE)

Contrary to what Chuck might had you believed, you won’t earn a lot of money with My Online Startup if you remain as a free member.

During this time, there are two membership options in joining MOS – as a Free member and as an Insider by paying $147.

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I would also like to mention that a few weeks back, there are two other upgrades aside from the $147. One is for $497, and the other is for $1,997.

But for now, it seems that Chuck scrapped all the other upgrades and is only offering the Insider.

It may change again in the coming days, and if it does, I will update this My Online Startup review as soon as I can, or you could let me know in the comment sections below.

But wait!

Regardless if you are a Free or an Insider member, you will need to set up a membership plan for GetResponse (an email marketing tool), and Click Magick (a traffic link tracking tool), which will cost you approximately $30 per month.

Interesting enough, same thing is required in Earn Easy Commissions. (Is this really an upgrade?)

Don’t forget that you also have to pay for leads, and those aren’t cheap by any means unless, of course, you learn how to generate free leads online.

That’s a lot of fees for a program “advertised” as “earn money for free!”

How Much Can You Earn with My Online Startup?

Free members can only make money once the people they refer to MOS become an Insider.

Meaning, if you are a free member and you recruit another free member, you won’t earn a dime.

You’ll have to pray and hope that the person who joins My Online Startup using your affiliate link upgrades as an Insider by paying $147. 

When your recruit becomes an Insider, you earn $20, and the rest ($127) goes to Chuck.

MOS also has a “Learn To Earn” program where you can earn $10 every time you acquired 500 MOS Points.

You can earn MOS points by completing each training lesson, leaving a comment on videos, and posting a topic on forums and communities.

Not bad, considering you joined for free.

Perks of an Insider

1. More Commission

Insiders will earn $100 (instead of $20) for every Insider member they recruit to MOS.

But what happens to the $47?

Yes, straight to Chuck’s wallet (for teaching you how to promote MOS).

Worry not; you can earn more money by getting 500 MOS points, but it could take you weeks (if not months) to accumulate.

The good thing is that as an Insider, you’ll earn $20 per 500 MOS points instead of just $10.

You can also earn a $10 up to $20 commissions from My Online Startup Done-For-You (DFY) systems, one of which is the DFY Premium Blog.

It’s supposed to have all the plugins you need to build a successful blog, including premium themes and a page builder to create professional pages.

I don’t know about you, but I am not overly optimistic about DFY blogs because those blogs never ever generate any free (organic) traffic.

Google frowns upon this kind of content creation strategy because they are mostly duplicate or spinned content that doesn’t give value to readers.

If a few people uses the DFY blog, I guess that is fine.

But of course, Chuck would do his best to promote the DFY Blog service so he can earn more money. There’s really nothing really with that and that’s just how this business goes.

However, when hundreds or thousands use the same DFY blog service, you can expect lots of duplicate content.

So in the end, you’ll still have to rely on paid traffic.

And though I’m not certain, this must be the reason why on his trainings, Chuck is heavily promoting the use of paid traffic.

2. Personalized Kickstart Game Plan

Insider members are also said to get a “personalized kickstart game plan, a set of training and strategy tailored to your preference, abilities, and budget.”

And as a super-bonus, you’ll also get 100 days priority support service.

3. Unlock Additional Income Streams

Basically, My Online Startup is merely an “Automated Sales Funnel”.

When you recommend someone to join My Online Startup, they will go through a process…

Through that process, they will be introduced to other 3rd party products and tools, like Click Funnels, Wealthy Affiliate, Udimi, Leads Leap, and all of which are legitimate products and tools which I am familiar with.

And, if someone buys or joins any of these 3rd party products through the process, you’ll earn money.

However, these are extra cost to you. Some of these programs requires you to be a customer before you can earn from them. For example:

• ClickFunnels (Sales Funnel Builder) – $97 per month (cheapest membership)
• Wealthy Affiliate (Affiliate Marketing Training Program + Web Hosting service) – $49 per month
• Leads Leap (Traffic Exchange Site) – $27 per month
• Udimi (Solo Ads Marketplace) – Price varies from different vendor

And, you’ll probably be buying redundant services. Like, Click Funnels is best suited for people who use paid traffic generation methods, while Wealthy Affiliate is all about blogging and meant for free traffic generation methods.

Generally, if you are focused on free traffic generation methods, you won’t have the time to do paid traffic stuff (this is coming from personal experience), and vice versa.

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So, there’s no point in buying these 2 services together.

Anyway, as an Insider Member of MOS, you’ll have the opportunity to earn from the said programs above.

You will also be given “exclusive access to Chuck’s previous affiliate programs,” all of which you can promote to make more money. 

This is what Chuck means when he said “multiple income passive streams on autopilot”.

Well, as much as I hate to be “that” guy, do you think it is worth paying $147 for the mentioned perks?

Frankly, the only reason I think why someone would become an Insider is to leverage on the multiple streams of income, get 5x more recruitment commissions and double their earnings of the MOS points.

There is no real value to this program.

Well, these are just my educated opinion, and of course, I’ll respect yours. I would love to hear what you think in the comments section below (but please be polite).

Is My Online Startup a Scam?

I wouldn’t say that My Online Startup is an outright scam, but it tiptoes around the Ponzi Scheme territory.

The Federal Trade Commission clearly states that if a program that involves recruiting people don’t have any products to sell where members can earn profits from, it could be a Ponzi scheme. (Source)

The thing to note here is that while the training and services that come with the Free and Insider upgrade could be considered as a “product” itself… 

They all teach you how to drive traffic to My Online Startup, which makes it a self-recruitment platform.

For argument’s sake, let’s assume that effective today, MOS will stop accepting new members.

Will this program have other means to generate revenue? Will the members continue to make money online?

Food for thought.

My Two Cents

To be honest, if you have read my Earn Easy Commissions review, you’ll notice that I am merely reiterating the same concerns I have about My Online Startup.

Most training videos are more fluff than actual valuable content.

And unless you can convince many people to become an Insider member, I see no way for this “proven formula” to make you a lot of money – maybe not even at all.

Again, I’m not saying that this program is an outright scam because its also possible to make money with it, even as a free member.

Just not the life-changing income that Chuck has led you to believe, and not as easy as “advertised.”

If My Online Startup is not the business opportunity you’re looking for…

Though there’s plenty of sketchy online programs that prey on unsuspecting individuals, there are also many that are actually true to their words.

You just have to do your due diligence and get as much information as you can before investing anything.

If you’d like me to recommend a legitimate program that truly teaches you something of value…

It’s the program that taught me everything I know about Internet Marketing and allowed me to earn a full-time passive income from home, even as a complete beginner.

Thank you for taking the time to read this My Online Startup Review.

I do hope that this information is useful to you.

And if you have any questions or thoughts to share, let me know in the comment section below.

Until here, I wish you all the best in the future.

Your friend,

Jack