Ippei Lead Gen Review (2023): Scam or Legit? Exposed!

If you’re interested in online business, you might have come across Ippei’s blog which is dedicated to writing online course reviews. While Ippei does know a thing or two about digital marketing, it doesn’t mean that his lead gen program can help you make a lot of money.

As someone who has tried to make money using the “rank and rent” method, I’m in a good position to share with you everything I know about Ippei’s course.   

According to my research, he’s a student of Dan Klein who has a bad reputation in online marketing. Many students are calling Dan’s program Job Killing a scam on Better Business Bureau. Of course, it doesn’t mean that Ippei is a con artist. In fact, I really appreciate his knowledge of sales and marketing. 

But before we dive into this review, I’d like to make it clear that I’m not affiliated with Ippei. In other words, I’m not paid to endorse him. So you can be sure that my words are unbiased.

At the end of this review, I’ll also tell you the best alternative to Ippei’s Lead Gen Course that has enabled me to make a full-time passive income online.

Key Takeaway: Ippei Lead Gen Review

• Product Name: Ippei Lead Gen Course (i.e. Job Killing)
• Owners: Ippei & Dan
• Price: $4,860-$8,778
• Rating: 2/5
• Pros: Legit business model; various business skills; private community 
• Cons: Very expensive; hard to get a refund; lots of outdated video tutorials; lack of support 
• Verdict: An overpriced lead gen course that promises passive income but doesn’t deliver.

In this review, I’m going to cover the following topics:

What is Ippei’s Lead Gen Course?

As you can see in most of his posts, Ippei Kanehara promotes a lead generation course developed by his mentor Dan. The course was actually Job Killing. However, because Job Killing has received too many complaints, Ippei doesn’t reveal the name of the program he recommends in his articles. I’d say this is a big red flag!

Having said that, Ippi’s course is legitimate. It is a coaching and training program on how to generate leads for local businesses.  

Ippei’s lead generation course is a coaching and training program on how to generate leads for local businesses.  

The company was founded by Dan Klein and Brad Campbell. I haven’t been able to find an exact start date, but people joined in 2014. 

The reason for Brad’s departure (or his taking a back seat behind the scenes) is unknown, and he has not responded to emails since then.

To learn more about Ippei’s Lead Gen Course, check out Dan’s 2-minute video below.

The course teaches you the ranking and renting method for monetizing your online business by partnering with local businesses.

In local lead generation, there are three parties involved: an affiliate company (referrer), the consumer who needs help, and the merchant (company offering service).

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

How Does Ippei’s Lead Gen Model Work?

Lead generation is the focus of Ippei’s training program.

There are basically 3 steps in the lead gen model:

1. Make sure you find a good niche by doing your research
2. Create a website
3. Rent your leads by ranking on Google page 1

Put simply, the idea is to generate leads for local businesses by ranking websites on Google page 1 of search results. 

By doing so, you can get leads “on tap” without spending additional time or money on ads (like you do with SEO clients) or improving someone else’s website.

When a person wants to cut down a tree in Grand Rapids, they search things like “tree  service Grand Rapids”

The possibility of ranking on Google page one exists if you create a website called treeservicegrandrapids.com and put helpful content on it.

• Your site is found and the person calls your number for help
• You direct the call to a local tree service company.
• You can strike a deal with the owner that works for both of you. 

Ippei said he found someone who was willing to pay him $2000 for the leads. But it seems likely that if that business owner was real, he would have no knowledge about Google ads. 

Google ads allow you to rank your website on the first page and generate leads for your company. There is no competition for city names in remote cities, so the cost per click is much cheaper!

Who Are Ippei & Dan?

The Ippei story is very intriguing. He was born in Japan, moved to the US at the age of seven, and was taught the more traditional method of going to school, getting a college degree, and getting a job. 

Having learned that there wasn’t much room to grow his income, he pursued other methods of earning a living.

In addition to blogging and affiliate marketing, he also tried several other options for making money online before coming across his mentor Dan. 

According to Ippei, he has built a successful business based on Dan’s local lead generation program, and today he earns $50,000 per month providing lead generation services to local businesses.

However, Ippei doesn’t seem to be enjoying his life at all. He is now advertising his coaching program heavily on his website, which dominates many other alternatives.

Dan Klein is one of the co-founders of the lead gen course and a born salesman. Any video you watch of him is likely to make you form an opinion of him after about 30 seconds.

You can probably guess what I thought when I saw him in a live video on Facebook. I’m sure you’re thinking he’s just trying to sell something.

Still, 150 minutes later, this guy had me captivated. Not many people would do or say what he did.

One newbie sent leads to a local business (as taught in the course), but the owner didn’t pay him for those leads. Dan called the guy on Facebook lives, once he got his number, it became a bit like an overprotective parent confronting a bully.

As far as Dan is concerned, he is business savvy.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

What’s Inside The Training Program?

1. Step-by-step video guide. There’s a lot to learn about the local lead generation industry, and it’s all explained step-by-step in 30+ hours of video lessons.
2. Facebook group for members only. Ippei and Dan’s Facebook group has over 7,000 members, making it a wonderful resource for you if you have a question. The group has coaches who are former students and will answer any questions you have. They have been coaching their students since 2014 so they know everything there is to know about the Rank and Rent system.
3. There will be two weekly coaching program calls. They have been holding coaching calls twice a week since 2014, which is incredible. You will not find that level of commitment anywhere else.
4. The services are outsourced. Ippei and Dan offer pre-packaged services so you can outsource the entire process if you wish.
5. Backlinks groups. Ippei and Dan have developed a mechanism that allows you to get backlinks from their network, which makes it easier to rank in Google.
6. Live Events. Ippei and Dan host mastermind events where you can network and build lasting relationships with other program participants. There are regional meetings as well as a large annual event in Las Vegas each year.

Who is Ippei’s Lead Gen Course For?

Ippei doesn’t specify who is suitable to join their lead gen course. He only claims that his mentor Dan charges tens of thousands per hour for private consulting, which means his course must be valuable?!

They make it seem as if all you need is a strong will to be your own boss and a willingness to learn about lead generation.

The following is what they say about their course:

Can You Make Money With Ippei’s Lead Gen Model?

It’s possible to earn some money using the rank and rent method, but it’ll take a long time for your website to rank on the first page and you’ll need to close a deal with someone who prefers to rent your website over Google Adwords.

Furthermore, you might want to avoid some of the practices he explains in his blogs, such as: Creating private blog networks or engaging in intentional backlink building.

Google’s guidelines state that this is a violation of their terms of service and it is a total waste of time and energy.

When Google updates its algorithm as they do periodically, you could lose all of your traffic and money in an instant if you follow Ippei and Dan’s teachings and pursue PBNs and intentional backlinking.

Google has penalized those who have done things against its terms of service, but when it catches on, it can be devastating to your bottom line.

Building genuine relationships and solving problems should be your priority instead of practicing stuff like that. 

It doesn’t matter what platform or update you use, when you gain the trust and loyalty of others, you will have a strong long-term business.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

How Much Does It Cost?

Depending on how much you pay in one go, it costs between $4,860-$8,778. 

However, this price cannot be found on their website. To find out the pricing details, you have to book a call and get ready for their sales pitch. 

Apart from paying for the program, there’re also other costs involved……

• Website hosting and domains from Weebly- $25 per month each (needed)
• Call tracker i.e. Callrail $44-$145 monthly or Callsling $498 on a one-time basis (needed- but you get one included- but it doesn’t work everywhere).
• Tracking leads with autoresponders – $15 per month or more
• The cost of a PO Box (for setting up your business address) is $19-$75 for six months (required)
• AHREFs (keyword research) – $99 / SpyFu (competitor keyword research) – $33-$199
• PPC ads – $200+ per month (not necessary but can improve speed)
• It’s not needed, but a great way to scale in the future to outsource (some people pay someone else to build their website or do some of the tasks).

The more websites you have, the higher the cost will be. You should budget around $50 per month per website.

Therefore, if you build 10 websites, you need to pay $500 per month.

Any Discount?

I looked everywhere for official information on discounts for Ippei’s course but came up empty.

But since you have to talk to a sales representative on the phone before you can sign up for the program, you can always try to haggle with them about the cost.

Refund Policy

We could not confirm the rumors that the course does not offer refunds.

Be sure to inquire about the return policy when speaking with a sales representative.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Is Ippei’s Lead Gen Course a Scam?

Ippei’s Lead Gen Course is not a scam. 

It teaches local businesses how to “rank and rent” a website. You can also find support in the Facebook Group.

That said, I don’t recommend Ippei’s Lead Gen course in any way.

The course is too expensive. As mentioned earlier, it costs between $4,860-$8,778 to join the program, depending on how much you pay in one go.

Ippei implies that you can get your money back by renting a lead gen site at $2K a month.

However, lead generation sites require a lot of time and effort to rank, and the competition is fierce in big cities. This is due to the fact that, unlike a blog, there will be no regularly updated content.

Sure, you can target some small towns, but you’ll have a hard time finding clients who will pay a substantial fee.

Even if you rank your website on the first page, most business owners will not be willing to pay you $1000 for your services because they can always use Google ads to generate leads.

That is to say, the local lead gen model is directly competing with Google.

Worse still, the private blog network that Ippei used to build backlinks for lead gen sites goes against Google’s policy. 

Once Google’s algorithm catches your website, it will be removed from its search results.

I think this is why most of the online marketers I know never use the local lead gen model to make money.  

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Praise for Ippei’s Lead Gen Course

1. Unique business model for building assets

Training programs for lead generation are plentiful, such as:

• Dino Gomez
• Dan Henry
• Billy Gene  
• Christian Martin
• Adam Davies

These methods, however, all focus on using Facebook ads to generate leads. You will cease to generate income once you stop creating ads. 

I have seen only 2 programs demonstrating how to actually build assets you own, and Ippei’s Lead Gen course is one of them.

2.  Potential for passive income

Theoretically, you do not need to do anything to your website if it is at the top of Google.

This knowledge can be learned by anyone and can mean that you automatically get paid every month for generating leads without having to do anything.

However, you should be aware that it is extremely difficult to rank a local lead generation website, especially if you are targeting large cities where the competition is very high.

Also, you need to find business owners who are willing to opt for your lead generation website instead of using Google ads for lead generation.

3.  Facebook group & weekly “Lives”

In the private Facebook group you can search over 5,000 members and questions from 4 years’.

You even get access to the group about 24 hours before the call for proposals in the application process. The group seems to be helpful. It is possible to sometimes find motivational mumbo jumbo in FB groups.

Dan also offers a live three-hour session where newcomers can ask questions.

4.  Learn other business skills

There is more to this than meets the eye. It’s not just about the ranking of a website on Google.

Among the topics covered in the course are technical aspects such as SEO, tracking leads, prospecting for new clients, etc. 

Criticism of Ippei’s Lead Gen Course

1. Hidden costs

As said earlier, Ippei doesn’t reveal the price of his lead gen program. You have to book a consultation call to find out the details.

In addition to paying $5-$8k for the course, there are other costs involved……

For example, a website host and domain are a must (it costs $25/month on Weebly per website… and this is what the training recommends). A keyword search tool (like SpyFU, probably for $33+) is also required. 

At the end of the day, you could have easily spent $10k before making a penny from their “rent and rent” method. 

2. Rank and rent will take a long time

There are so many people who want “fast money” that they jump into Ippe’s lead gen course. 

Most FB ads training shows you how to find clients within a few days or weeks. This is another aspect of Ippei’s lead gen course, and I noticed in the FB group that if you need quick money, you have to do more cold calling. 

It will take time, however, if you use the “rank and rent” method, which I believe is unique to this course. 

This is especially true for a lead generation site where you won’t keep writing blog posts for it.

But Google prefers to rank websites that regularly update their content.

In addition, even when your lead gen site begins to rank, it won’t be rosy in the skies.

You need to keep cold-calling to find a business owner who doesn’t know about Google ads.

3. Bad debt

You may get leads, but you may not get paid. That’s one of the drawbacks of the “rank and rent” model. You have to follow up on your leads and “chase the money”, especially in the early days of your relationship with a customer.

4. Beginners have a lot to learn

If you have never tried to become an entrepreneur or have no online experience, then this will not be easy.

Nor will there be an easy business model. But with a course like this, where you’ve just spent a few thousand dollars, there’s more at stake.

You should not be surprised if you feel paralyzed, overwhelmed, and overwhelmed by the analysis… Very much so, in fact, at first!

5. Link Building is time-consuming and risky

After you sign up for the expensive course, Ippei says they will use private blog networks to help your site build links proactively. 

Though Ippei teaches the white hat technique to build links, it might still breach Google’s rules in the future. 

Google changes its algorithm or rules from time to time, so techniques that seem legit today might become a violation.

Once Google penalizes your lead generation site, all your time and efforts invested in the website will be wasted. It’s really a disaster.

Moreover, as Google’s algorithm becomes smarter because of artificial intelligence, the importance of backlinks is reducing. Google understands that backlinks are easy to manipulate.

Google is trying to focus on the relevancy and quality of content when deciding which one to rank higher.

So I personally think that Ippei’s backlink approach is against the trend. It might not work at all a few years later.

6. Sites being sold by members

I found out that there are tons of Ippeis students selling websites.

This may seem positive as it is an opportunity for people to sell websites they have built and no longer maintain.

However, this proves that there are many people who invest their time, money, and effort into building websites that just don’t work.

They may not be generating leads, or they may not be able to sell the leads.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Should You Join Ippe’s Lead Gen Course?

Lead generation may sound like an easy way to make passive income, but the reality is that it takes a lot of time and dedication to achieve success. While Ippei’s training is good, it’s important to understand that there’s no shortcut to success in this business.

The course offers a variety of methods, including Google My Business, sponsored ads, and LinkedIn prospecting. Additionally, you’ll learn about website creation, search engine optimization, and negotiating with local businesses.

However, since the program has received a lot of complaints, I’d hesitate to enroll. If you don’t trust my words, you can check out this Job Killing review which includes real customer feedback on the program.  

Having said that, if you’re a big fan of Ippei Kanehara and/or Dan Klein and are looking to learn lead generation specifically from them, then this course may be worthwhile for you. The training and exclusive community are likely to provide useful advice, methods, and guidance.

However, if you’re not a fan of Ippei and Dan but still want to make money online, I have a better recommendation for you.

Is There A Better Alternative?

My #1 recommended platform is called Wealthy Affiliate.

Wealthy Affiliate is an all-in-one platform for building your affiliate marketing business from scratch.

When you join Wealthy Affiliate, you can get access to the first-class web hosting service, keyword research tools, community support, comprehensive training, writing tools, and other software to help you build an online business step-by-step.

You can register a free account with Wealthy Affiliate, which enables you to get started with affiliate marketing right away without paying a penny.

If you like the platform, you can then upgrade to the premium membership to get access to everything on the platform. There are no upsells afterward.

But How Much Can You Earn with Wealthy Affiliate?

A 21-year-old student from Wealthy Affiliate was able to earn $7,395 in just 1 week, which means he made more than $1k a day…all while applying what is taught inside Wealthy Affiliate.

To give you more examples, here are some of the other inspiring success stories of Wealthy Affiliate members.

Where to Join Wealthy Affiliate?

Wealthy Affiliate has a very simple pricing scheme. It has a free and premium membership. The premium membership only costs $49/month or $395/year.

If you want to feel about Wealthy Affiliate, you can sign up for the free starter membership here (no credit card required). You can select to be a free member with no time limit.

And as a starter member, you can get instant access to the community, live chat, over 500 training modules, 2 classrooms, networking, commenting, 1 free website, and access to the keyword tool.

You can enjoy all these values without paying a penny.

So I strongly recommend you register a free account and see it yourself.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative