Tribe Writers: Review of Jeff Goins’ Tribe Writers Course

When you’re new to the world of self-publishing, it can be difficult to know exactly where to turn for help. 

Many individuals and organizations claim to provide the help you need to become a successful author. But should you trust them? And how do you choose which type of help to get?

One option that a lot of self-publishers select is a paid self-publishing course. Paid courses provide information that would be time-consuming to research on your own in a curated format. Some of the best courses also provide coaching and other support. 

If you’re considering taking the Tribe Writers course from Jeff Goins, you’ll want to read on. 

We’ve taken the time to find out exactly what you’ll learn from Tribe Writers, how much it will cost you, and if there are better alternatives out there. 

Here’s what we’ll cover in today’s review of Tribe Writers:

1. What is Tribe Writers?
2. Tribe Writers Programs and Prices
3. Should I Use Tribe Writers?
4. Pros and Cons
5. Other Tribe Writers Reviews
6. Alternatives to Tribe Writers
7. Final Rating

What is Tribe Writers?

If you’re a regular reader of our reviews here at SelfPublishing.com, you’ll know that there is a wide range of different teachers and courses on offer. 

Finding the right course requires you to ensure it contains the information you need to move your author career forward, taught in a way you will absorb and enjoy, and from a teacher or organization with a good reputation representing value for money.

So what does Tribe Writers offer in that regard?

Tribe Writers is a course from Jeff Goins. Goins is known as a bestselling author and blogger who provides positive and inspirational content for writers, both through his books and his website.

Tribe Writers is focused on helping writers create a platform through their writing which is then monetized. The format for the course is a series of four modules made up of short video lessons. There is an accompanying workbook as well.

Let’s take a closer look at the exact contents of Tribe Writers and how much it costs. 

Tribe Writers Programs and Prices

The first thing to know about Tribe Writers is the 12-step process underpinning the entire course 

The process advocated by Jeff Goins for gaining a platform from your writing consists of the following 12 steps:

1. Clarify your message with a worldview statement.
2. Pick your platform personality.
3. Launch a blog.
4. Publish one post per week.
5. Start an email list.
6. Publish a manifesto.
7. Get your first 100 subscribers.
8. Publish 10 guest posts.
9. Get 1000 subscribers.
10. Conduct a survey.
11. Launch a minimum viable product and make your first $1000.
12. Start making $10,000 a month. 

To teach you this process, Jeff Goins offers a standard and a premium version of the Tribe Writers course. Let's check out the core contents of the course before drilling down into the difference between the standard and premium versions of the course. 

Tribe Writers – Course Contents 

Tribe Writers is based around four main modules, each broken down further into short video lessons. 

These are the four modules you get regardless of which version of Tribe Writers you end up selecting:

1. Honing your voice. A module focused more on the craft of writing and how to adjust your voice and write for a specific audience. 

2. Establishing a platform. This second module is concerned with how to blog effectively and how to build an email list from your blog.

3. Expanding your reach. The third module of Tribe Writers explores how to expand your reach through guest blogging, getting published in traditional magazines, and networking with other writers with platforms.

4. Getting published. Guidance on using your platform as a springboard to getting published and help on how to decide whether to opt for traditional publishing or self-publishing. 

The four modules of Tribe Writers are entirely self-paced, but Jeff Goins has stated they are intended to be roughly two-weeks long each. 

In total, you get 34 video lessons of around five to ten minutes per video, coming in at roughly five hours of total video. 

So, what’s our take on four modules?

While the process described by Goins is one that works, it's not groundbreaking at all. There are plenty of blogs dedicated to everything he covers which provide more detailed information for free.

That's not to say that there isn't necessarily any value in having all the information in one course, written with an audience of writers and authors in mind. But just be aware that the same information is available elsewhere.  

In addition to the four modules, there is a range of extra content bundled in with the course, depending on the version you choose:

• Interviews. Video interviews exploring some of the contents in more detail, such as list-building and book launches. 

• Community. A forum and Facebook group where alumni and students can offer mutual support and discuss the contents of Tribe Writers.

• Conference calls. Group calls where the course contents can be discussed with other students as well as the course instructors.

• PDF workbook. A supplementary workbook containing exercises and action steps related to the video lessons. 

Now that you know what Tribe Writers teaches, let’s check out how much the two versions of the course cost and what the difference between them is. 

Tribe Writers – Standard Edition

This is the standard version of Tribe Writers, containing the four video modules and the workbook.

To access this version of Tribe Writers, students are required to make 12 monthly payments of $49, which works out at a total price of $588. 

Tribe Writers – Premium Edition

The premium edition of Tribe Writers contains the video modules found in the standard edition of the course, as well as the bonus materials mentioned above. 

To get access to this edition of Tribe Writers, students are required to make 12 monthly payments of $99, working out at a total of $1188. 

The price difference between the two versions of Tribe Writers works out at $600, which seems surprising. Is Jeff Goins honestly saying that the bonus materials are worth more than the core contents of the course?

While we can certainly see some value in the bonus materials, we don't see anything that would justify the much higher price point. The workshops and case studies may well be useful but aren't worth the extra outlay. 

Is Tribe Writers For You?

Now that you know exactly what you will get if you end up becoming a Tribe Writers student, let’s consider if the course is right for you.

In our opinion, the one major reason someone would consider taking Tribe Writers is if they’re already a big fan of Jeff Goins and want to learn platform-building from him in particular. The video lessons are taught by Jeff so if you like the way he describes things, and his general philosophy on creativity, Tribe Writers might be something you wish to opt for.

However, overall, we think Tribe Writers is probably the wrong option for the vast majority of people. This is for several reasons.

First, the course content is very limited. It focuses on platform building, which is useful, but only really a small piece of the puzzle. It's also far too generalized, as it aims to cater to people who haven't chosen between traditional publishing and self-publishing. 

Second, there is no real coaching to be found here. While there are conference calls and a Facebook group, this in no way takes the place of dedicated, supportive coaching. 

Third, even if you’re looking to learn how to build and expand an author platform, you can learn how to do that, in more detail, for free online. 

Based on all of the above, we feel that Tribe Writers is worth considering for existing fans of Jeff Goins who want to learn from him closely, but it’s probably the wrong choice for everyone else. 

The Pros and Cons

Here’s a succinct summary of the pros and cons of Tribe Writers.

Pros

• Jeff Goins. Jeff is a likable guy and has achieved some respectable success as an author. Learning from him is the major plus point to Tribe Writers.

• Facebook group. If you like to spend time on Facebook, you’ll get access to an exclusive group as part of this course.

Cons

• Length. There isn’t a whole lot covered here, and the short length of the videos means that the material doesn’t receive the depth it deserves.

• Not practical. The tone of the material is more inspirational than it is actionable and detailed.

• No coaching. The coaching and community groups featured in this course are no match for dedicated 1 to 1 coaching.

• Overpriced. We genuinely feel you can learn everything taught in Tribe Writers for free elsewhere online. The price difference between the Premium and Standard versions of the course is also really surprising. 

Other Tribe Writers Reviews

If you’re familiar with our other reviews, you’ll know we try to provide the most balanced picture possible. We don’t want you to just take our word for it! 

So, to save you the hassle of hunting far and wide, here is what other people are saying about Tribe Writers.

In their exploration of Tribe Writers, Prominent Offers also touch on how the course doesn’t really cover the practical steps from A to Z, and also note it lacks info on using SEO to make the most of your new writer platform. The lack of SEO info in particular is a huge oversight, as there’s no point in blogging without SEO in mind. 

Author Nicole Mackey, who received early access to Tribe Writers, reiterated the fact that the course content is hardly groundbreaking. It's not just that the information can be found elsewhere, it can be found elsewhere from Jeff Goins!

In a thorough breakdown of Tribe Writers, One More Cup of Coffee gives the course a fairly pitiful 55 out of 100 rating,

and also notes how the course is too fluffy and not actionable, and how the videos are just Jeff Goins talking without video capture or other useful material. 

After reading every review of Tribe Writers out there, the general feedback that emerges is:

• The course isn’t actionable enough.
• The material is available elsewhere and isn’t new. 
• The videos are very short and consist of Jeff Goins talking and nothing else.

Alternatives to Tribe Writers

As always, we like to propose some alternatives to the course we're reviewing. So if you've decided Tribe Writers is the wrong choice for you but would like some alternative options, read on!

The first thing you should consider is getting the information for free. Read through our blog here at SelfPublishing.com for a lot of in-depth guides, and also check out Seth Godin’s blog for ideas on book marketing and creating a specialized audience.

If you prefer video courses, check out what Udemy has to offer. You can get a similar number of video hours as found in Jeff Goins’ Tribe Writers for a small fraction of the cost.

You might also be interested in the Punchy Books Accelerator Course.

If a premium course intended for self-publishers appeals, check out our Self-Publishing Services page to find the right one for you.

Finally, we're part of the Self-Publishing School family and are proud to offer our Author Education programs to help authors launch their self-publishing career.

If you opt for Self-Publishing School, you get more value. Your results are guaranteed. You also get far more information. Best of all? Self-Publishing School courses involve coaching as well as an epic live event. Students genuinely feel like they are joining a supportive publishing family. 

In our opinion, if you want to experience success in self-publishing, don’t waste money on Jeff Goins’ lightweight course. Invest in something that will give you the most help and support. Why not get started for free?

Final Rating

Jeff Goins is a legitimate author and the course is trustworthy and honest. However, it just doesn’t contain anything close to justifying the price point. We therefore can’t recommend it to anyone other than diehard Jeff Goins fans. 

If you've enjoyed this review, check out our most read reviews below!

• Self-Publishing School Review
• Author Incubator
• Scribe Media Review
• Self Publishing Formula Review
• Zondervan Publishing
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• Your First 10K Readers

If you’ve taken Tribe Writers, we’d love to hear from you in the comments!