Potentially a 'exclusivity in exchange for reduced fees' or 'reduce per-visit fees as the number of calls increases.'

What are the chances that someone would search this online forum, find this thread, and create an account just to make a positive comment on this thread about this company?

I wouldn't say you're going to learn as much going through an online course as you would an in-person one, but it is a lot more convenient. 

Find ways to consistently and systematically add more people to your database each week - i.e. cold calling, networking, online marketing4.

I could not find any details that confirm that online. 

Sometimes these types of deals require that you purchase a software to help search for lots,so we'll see.Most of the time,established people in industry are not going to come online and scam people,why would they ruin their own business in the offline arena?

You can also check their reviews online at Google, Facebook, or Yelp.

Each town is a little different, some require you to do a landlord registration and/or will want to do an inspection before you put a tenant in (calling the town would probably be the easiest, or they may have the info right online).

You'll need good contact info for them to be able to collect, and ideally the new address for the tenant however which if you don't have can probably be found easily with some online sleuthing/ contacting their employer, skip tracing software, etc. 

A friend advised me to check reviews online and look for someone local with experience in single-family homes.