Empower Network – A Scam for the Ages?
Name: Empower Network
Website: www.empowernetwork.com
Price: $25/mth basic, $100/mth inner circle, $19 payment, $500 Costa Rica Intensive, $1,000 15K Formula, $3,500 Master’s Retreat
Owners: David Wood & David Sharpe
Overall Rank: 30 out of 100 points
**UPDATE: Empower Network Collapsed. The Company and Domain No Longer Exist.
The Product
Empower Network (EN) has been often times confused as being a REAL opportunity because of the relentless marketing taking place by the people pushing the product. However, there are many folks with real experience with Empower Network that are not happy and I am going to uncover some of the reasons why within. In this review I am going to be walking you through what EN is and help you decide whether or not it might be your path to Internet success.
Before I get started though I just want to clarify one thing. Empower Network is one of the lowest ranked products that I have ever reviewed and you are going to get a good idea why. If you are reading this, chances are you have been subject to someone “shamelessly” promoting EN to you and that is a normalcy. They can be very slimy, they promote slimy promotions, and if you become a member you are going to unfortunately be required to pass on the “slimy” tradition.
To put things into perspective, take a look at how Empower Network compares (or doesn’t) to other programs in the industry, you can get free websites (the foundation of your business) online. This can be accomplished through platforms like wordpress.com as well as many other hosts. There is a low price point to get started and a low price point to keep going, you won’t be subject to high ticket purchases in the same way that you are going to be within Empower Network. Plain and simple, you do not have to spend $1,000’s + monthly fees to create and grow a business online.
Pros vs. Cons
There are few pros and a lot of cons with Empower Network. The problem is that there is no real product behind the program, rather YOU are the product. The goal of the program is getting you to promote the very same scheme to other people and building a downline. Unlike other MLM products where there is actually a product that you are selling to customers (ex. Avon, Melaluca, etc), Empower completely lacks this element.
Here is a breakdown of the Pros & Cons of the Empower Network program:
Pros:
- Get your own empowernetwork.com blog
Cons:
- Has all of the common attributes of a PYRAMID Scheme
- No clear description of what the business is about, what you will be doing or what kind of interests you need for success.
- If you join, you have to become a ruthless sales person promoting Empower Network to others
- Riddled with “upsells”
- If you want to succeed, you are going to want to invest minimum $140/mth
- You have to PAY $20 per month just so you can get paid
- Widespread COMPLAINTS online about Empower Network
- No free trial
Who is Empower Network Intended for?
They claim everyone is going to earn money, with little money, with little work, on autopilot! Sounds like the DREAM we are all envisioning doesn’t it. However, that is not the reality of this program. Although anyone can join this product, it is intended for people that are willing to work very hard to build a downline and in many cases, do so in an unethical way because you are not actually “selling” anything to people, you are selling the fact that they will be able to sell what you are selling.
Here is a breakdown of how the compensation model works:
Confused? Well, that is because the more you dig into this apparent product, the more confusing it becomes as to what it actually is. It is reminiscent of “pen mail” where you send 5 people, they send another 5 people…and then so on and so forth. The person at the top of the pyramid (or triangle) gets paid the most, just like any other ponzi-like scheme the Empower has unlimited levels and payouts are always going to be “passed up” to the people at the top.
Guess who is not at the top. YOU. Guess who is at the top? The owners and the first few folks that got in at the starting point.
If you are not good at aggressive recruitment and hard selling people on the idea of a scheme like the one above, Empower Network is not going to be for you.
Tired of Ruthless Schemes Like Empower? Get REAL Help.
Empower Network Tools & Training
There are several different layers to the training offered at Empower, each have an additional price point. The training provided is really dependent on “whom” you sign-up through in this scheme. Some “upline” affiliates will offer you wonderful support and help (in attempt to build more success by having a successful downline). The actual materials within Empower very weak in nature because they are centered entirely around “how to promote empower network to others”.
There is also A LOT of emphasis on upgrading once you get into the system. This is called going “All In” and your sponsors will likely encourage you to go all in by calling you a “wussy” and other derogatory terms. Why? Because if you don’t buy all the training modules within Empower, then you are not going to be making others money.
That is what it is all about. You buy all the stuff (over $5,000 in total, which I will get to) and this money is going directly to your uplines and their uplines. If you don’t buy, then nobody is going to make money off of you and you can expect to be shunned by those “above” you.
If you are looking to earn money online and do it in a way that is ethical and can be applied to any niche, Empower will not be the community for you. Their primary focus is going to be training you how to promote Empower to other people. You have to look no further than the top affiliates, they are showcased within the program…but they are promoting the program itself versus earning money through other affiliate programs/niches.
Does Empower Network Offer ANY Support?
If you want a personal support system, EN is not going to be your program. There is no training or support offered without an extra cost (Inner Circle which is $100 per month for videos), and even at that, it is not personal training it a series of audios and videos. I never recommend any program that does not offer personal support and in which you do not have direct access or help from the owners. You will likely never have any meaningful contact with the owners directly. The owners are active in the promotion of their product and motivating the “crowd” to promote EN, but you will not see them selflessly helping folks within the bottom tiers.
Also, many folks complain that they are belittled within Empower Network by their so called “team leaders” if they don’t go all in. Going all in means that you buy all of their low grade products (which make your team leaders money) and if you don’t buy into the up to $5,000+ in products over the course of a year, be prepared to be called some really vulgar names (Read REAL customer comments below this review if you don’t believe me).
**In comparison, you can get started and get full support for completely FREE from experts…this includes FULL 1-on-1 mentoring and support and the owners are actively involved.
There are weekly calls from the David’s which is more of a “rah rah” session than anything else, aiming to recruit more people into their scheme.
How Much Does it Cost to Join Empower Network?
The pricing of Empower is complex and much more than it initially appears.
Blog Beast – Blogging System ($25 per month) / ENV2 – The fee just to take part of empower and to get your own blog (that every other member gets). There is nothing unique about this blog and you are tied to the EmpowerNetwork.com domain which is starting to get caught as SPAM by many search engines (not good!). And you can get much better blogs, in fact, your own FREE WordPress blogs where you are not tied into promote EN (you can promote your own niche).
You also do not own the content you create on your blog. I have received many complaints from folks that have quit Empower and have not been able to delete their websites because when you join, you sign a disclaimer stating that you don’t own any of the content you create. In essence, you basically get nothing for this $25 per month fee other than fact that you are creating content for someone else on a blog that looks the same as everyone else.
Important Update: These “paid” blogs have recently lost a lot of their “mojo” within the search engines (late May, 2013). In fact, EN no longer holds the #1 ranking under their own keywords (you can check for yourself if you like). This is because Google has deemed a good portion of the website as SPAM within their latest Penguin update. You can get much superior blogs for free elsewhere, so if you are buying into this program just for the blog, then I would suggest you save your money.
Also, if want to get the full scoop on Empower Network 2.0 (ENV2), you can get that here.
See a full comparison of Empower Networks PAID blogs vs. free websites here.
e-wallet ($19.99 per month) – In order to get paid, you need to pay for their payment processor. This is unheard of and the only reason that Empower Network has to do this is because they are working on the fringes of what is legal. There is absolutely no way a company like this would ever get approved by a reputable credit card processing company. Paypal or a normal Merchant account (Mastercard, Visa, Amex) would never allow payments to a company like Empower because they deem it as ILLEGAL or too high risk!
Inner Circle ($100 per month ) – This is hardly an inner circle. Other than giving you access to a some inner circle audios, becoming part of this program allows you to get paid even higher commissions ($100 residuals). So again, you are not paying for an actual product, you are paying to further promote the product that doesn’t really exist. It is like having a bag of air that you are selling for $25 and then paying $100 more to be able to sell you bag of air for more. But the EN pricing structure gets even more ridiculous than this!
Costa Rica Intensive ($500 one time payment) – This is a video sequence that focuses on building a business for the longer term…a business that again revolves around promoting Empower Network to others. I think you are probably getting the hint by now that the EN product is promoting the same product to others
The $15K Formula ($1,000 one time payment) – This is another video series that includes 9 videos in total, each video being a couple of hours in length. This covers a variety of topics outlining how to promote Empower network online. An example of this is using Youtube or Facebook…HOWEVER, Empower Network can no longer be promoted via these channels. This should throw up the red flags for you, the fact that Empower has been completely banned from Facebook and Youtube!!! This is the first product or service I have ever heard of that has been banned.
The Masters Retreat ($3,500 one time payment) – This is a series of 41 videos (mostly motivation) that were recorded at the Empower Network masters retreat. To me, spending $3,500 on motivational videos seems absolutely outrageous considering that most of this information has little to do with creating your own business and more to do with motivation (plus you could get a 10 YEAR membership at an all inclusive online business platform for the same price as well as get access to any of my other recommended top services (see The Good within the top menu)!). This is a high ticket product and the only reason you will see others attempting to get you to buy this product within the EN system is because they earn commissions off of you when they do.
So in totality, you are looking at $5,000+ $140 per month if you want the full suite of products offered within Empower Network. That is a far cry from the $25 price point that everyone seems to be promoting out there. Be forewarned, Empower Network is expensive, is overpriced, and you are looking at $1,000’s if you want all of their included training (going all in).
My Final Word on Empower Network (EN)
The product is YOU promoting the product to others. There surely are different things you can purchase within Empower after you buy into the initial blog, but that is there to drive the compensation model. You are shamed into buying it because your “sponsors” will not give you any additional help if you are not active within Empower and if you ever say anything negative about this network, be prepared to be jumped on.
The product is based around YOU promoting the Empower Network system to other folks (ahem…can you say pyramid scheme?). Need I say more? There are VERY few folks that are part of this program that have their own website, understand the proper way of creating a business online, or that are promoting different products other than EN itself.
You will see a lot of people “excitedly” promoting Empower Network to you and that is ONLY because they are going to earn money if you sign-up through them, not because they believe in the product itself (although they think they do).
I would stay as far away as you can from Empower Network and don’t look back if you are looking to create a real niche, business. One that you are passionate about and one that doesn’t require you to sell the very same system to others to recoup your costs. It may be convincing and people may be “begging” you to join underneath them, but it is not a real opportunity and the promotional module naturally encourages you to promote the very sam program to others. The system is centered around you selling it to others and around you going be forcefully pushed towards going “all in”…which means spending well over $5,000 and going into debt in many cases. Not exactly a $25 product after all.
Again, MY Overview…
Name: Empower Network
Website: www.empowernetwork.com
Price: $25/mth basic, $100/mth inner circle, $19.99/mth e-wallet, $500 Costa Rica Intensive, $1,000 $15K formula
Owners: David Wood & David Sharpe
Overall Rank: 30 out of 100 points (YES, 30…read the comments below to see real user feedback)
Just a Few (of the many) Empower Network Complaints Found Online…
Empower Network Complaint #1: Empower Network – A Not So Favorable Review
Empower Network Warning #2: Empower Network Review…Scratch That…WARNING!
Empower Network Bullying Complaint #3: Empower Network Bullies!
VERDICT: Pyramid-style scheme, VERY expensive, no support if you aren’t willing to SPEND
** Get the TRUTH About Building a Business Online! **
Do you have a personal review or complaint that you would like to share about Empower Network? If you do, I would appreciate it if you could leave your comments/experiences below! Thanks!
Kyle
Owner, WaysToAvoidScamsOnline.com
Kyle,
you a snotty little liar….
get your facts straight….
people like you are what has
taken the greatness out of America.
I’ll comfortably point out one of your
biggest lies…
“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Bernie madoff paid out BILLIONS of dollars. Zeek Rewards, which was shut down recently by the SEC and most of the major promoters have moved to EN,”
I was in the biggest Zeek Team in the world..
and I know personally… the top 5 that were
making large 6 figures a month in Zeek…. NOT
ONE OF THEM IS DOING ANY THING BUT TALKING TO THEIR
ATTORNEY AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IS NEXT IN THE SEC
THING….
NONE OF THEM ARE IN EMPOWER…. LIAR!!
You are a wussy just like all the other losers out there that don’t go all in. If you want money, you have to pay money. Simple as that.
Wow, you use very similar language as the rest of the folks at EN. Obviously they are not teaching you etiquette nor are they teaching you much about marketing (as I can see you haven’t a clue from your website). I don’t think you are a bad person by any means, but I do think you have been brainwashed into thinking that you are actually creating a business with Empower, you are not. You are part of a scheme and you are part of a system that relies on new people joining into the scheme in order for it to work, yes, this is known as a ponzi by definition.
One thing that you have said really has struck a cord with me and I know it will also with other people that read this:
Perhaps if you could augment a few sentences and explain exactly what you mean, that would be “great”. If taking money from your neighbour and putting it into your own pocket is what America is about, then perhaps you belong on Wall St. and perhaps you deserve to be exactly where you are. Within a modern day ponzi scheme, where people have one goal, to make money at any cost. If that is how you view America, then you are the problem not the solution.
And I know of many folks that have not only lost a ton of money with the Zeek scandal, but have moved their entire operations over the next closest thing. You should do a little research for yourself and you will quickly figure this out.
You like everyone else that tries to make an argument for Empower has nothing constructive to say and has no ground to stand on to defend the actual scheme you are apart of. You resort to name calling as it appears that as a community, this is the behavior that is taught over at EN. “If you are not one of us, you don’t deserve any respect”. I don’t live my life this way and I hope for the sake of America (and humanity) that others will really take offense to your approach and the approach EN takes to business and success. There is nothing ethical about it.
I will continue being a wussy and helping my fellow “wussies” succeed online, I can tell you that we are the majority.
My biggest issue with EN, just like Scientology, is that you can “buy” your way into the inner circle. That alone should show to people that it is a complete farse. Most decent companies that involve sales (of a product, not the company), reward their top salespeople by giving them increased commissions, access to more leadership training, and better rewards all around, they don’t say “Well you can get all this for XXX money”
Well said Dom…and that is exactly what the program is based off. Buy your way into the system so you can sell the system to other people. The cycle continues and in the end you end up with a bunch of people that are selling the idea of success and earning money not through the help they offer or through a tangible business, but the distribution of money through “newcomers” into the program and folks being pressured into going all in.
Hi Kyle,
I joined Empire Network today and I just wanted to ask you one question… do you think that a website that ranks 468 is a scam? Are you telling me that they are making millions and millions of people scam? My own friend earns 50000 USD every month from Empire Network. There is one thing everyone should understand about MLM marketing…over 70 percent people will never succeed. That’s why you need a good course for getting great knowledge. What EA teaches in 3-4 weeks with their courses took you and me atleast 3-4 years struggling online here and there..learning bits and pieces..etc. I feel that EA ranking went down because of the newbie users who simply started copy pasting articles from other sites. It’s still the best marketing program out there on the web. I am a YouTube Partner, Technorati Featured Writer and I have given great thought before joining the network.
Thanks,
Rahul
First off, it is called Empower Network not “Empire”. I am sure you will get the hang of this when you start getting the t-shirt and invited to their brainwashing conferences that will tell you that you are not to be negative, you are to call others wussy, and that what you are doing is no different than how real companies out there operate.
But when you are done that, hopefully you can come back to reality. Here are a few things that I find to be strange arguments, especially considering it is your very first day…
Alexa rank has nothing to do with legitimacy and you would know this if you have knew how Alexa works (or were an internet marketer). It also does not reflect a true sense of traffic that a site gets and it absolutely has nothing to do with the SEO benefit of the blogs, which is one of the main arguments that many of the “I don’t have a clue” folks are preaching over at EN. Alexa is meaningless and I am not sure why anyone would attempt to boast that.
Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Bernie madoff paid out BILLIONS of dollars. Zeek Rewards, which was shut down recently by the SEC and most of the major promoters have moved to EN, was making $100’s of millions. So just because a program is making millions does not mean that it is legit. That is like saying that just because you are earning money you are doing something that is ethical or legit. If this was true robbing old ladies out of money (which is actually taking place within EN) would be ethical because yes, you would be earning money.
Well you can’t expect to get that within EN. You are getting audios which will run you $100 per month, a blog that doesn’t rank and that forces you to promote EN itself, a payment process you have to pay for because of no merchant company would mothership an operation like this, and high ticket courses that might contain some interesting material, but they total $5,000 if you go all in, money that could be spent elsewhere with much better returns. But the system works on the principle that you have to “force” people to join these programs, because if you don’t you will not earn money.
So why did you join EN then? It seems as though you have chose this network just so you can “promote” the dream to others. You are not going to get an education that will help you further your existing operations. I can tell you by looking at your site that you are doing MANY things wrong when it comes to SEO and that your site does not have any rankings in Google as a result. Is EN going to help you turn this around? Let us know how things work out for you…
Hey Kyle. How do you cancel the $25 monthly membership if you’ve just signed up? Can you get a refund of the initial, upfront $25 paid? Thanks.
That is something that you will have to do within your Empower Network login to your back office area (where you an manage your membership). If not, call their support. Many complain that they are unable to cancel and sometimes unable to get a refund and that is something that you would have to deal with in respect to your credit card company if you cannot get any help within the membership.
They are trying to sell this nothingness up here in Vancouver not very tangible. If it was edible maybe?
Yeah, unfortunate. Their product is promoting their product to other people. Unfortunately there is nothing edible within their offering nor is there a way to sell the product to the outside public, you are simply building a downline of folks and taking money from them. Glad you could see through the facad David.
Wow, almost the opposite of what I was told to get into the program. So, do you have any comments on UOIS, universityofinternetscience.com. one of the benefits of being an EN member; also, are you getting all of your information from angry EN failures, or did you actually obtain your resources from the inside as a legitimately disgruntled member, apparently with marketing experience? That would be like asking 10 people what they thought about the 23 flavors in Dr. Pepper that also didn’t like Dr. Pepper.
In order to learn one must search for the materials, but in a language community clouded by so many scams and bloodthirsty marketing front-men, it is difficult to obtain proper knowledge; if the language community is hard to understand anyway, than how would one learn what to look for in the first place. This is the fundamental breakdown of any beginning to building a lesson plan; and being a student of many degrees, I have spent over $90,000 on the education system alone to understand that after the fact, you still have to fill out applications and go to interviews to get the job anyway; a scourge in the capitalistic rat race to working until your back gives out always saying to yourself, “I wish I had gone to school for something else”.
So, for $125 a month, I would say the massive amounts of marketing materials and education I gained from EN was fair, it helped me outside of The actual EN to market my other products and websites. UOIS is something that my EN team is a part of and there is always new material to learn from.
In just 3 days from starting the program I was able to take from the language community, salted heavily with misunderstandings and overwhelming procedures, the ability to generate and capture prime leads, generate massive mailings, and gain opt-ins. These materials are education intensive, it takes some time, but everyone should benefit in some way if they really had the patience to learn properly. That is the real product; sure you get a blog, and it is an affiliate, referral based MLM… But, in reality the product provided from EN is A real lesson plan minus all of the garbage found on the internet; anyone in any business can use this to benefit their growth whether it be selling clickbank, dropshipping, proper social media advertising, marketing strategies, marketing resources, and many many many more things.
Sorry for all the ones who opted out of the program, I guess one can say that they are like the college dropouts that were close to graduation but never finished; now they are stuck between the worlds of going to interviews next to graduates, and paying off debts.
Good luck with my refute, Cheers.
Actually it is too much to pay and I will tell you exactly why. There are MUCH better services out there for MUCH cheaper, and often times free. That is my first argument.
Your $25 blog is no good. It doesn’t get ranked, it is unusable to promote anything other than EN and frankly, you are paying $25 per month for a website that you don’t own, that is poorly designed for rankings, and that is riddled with EN promotions. You can get much superior blogs to this for NO COST, blogs that give you full control of the content and that allow you to promote any niche you want, right from the get go (no cheesy scam branding included).
You only have to read so far within my comments to understand that the only purpose of the audios/videos in the Inner Circle are to allow people to earn more money off of folks. YOU ARE PART OF A SCHEME. You are not creating a business and the only reason you would ever recommend the inner circle to someone is because you are making money off of them or you were told you are not allowed to be negative within the community (also known as brainwashing).
Based on the website you have included, I can tell you have NO IDEA what you are doing in terms of marketing, just like every other person that comes here raving about how good the EN blogs and training is. THe only thing you are trying to do is continue the promotion of this scheme, if you can’t find any suckers to join under you, then your business is gone…well, if you want to call it a business.
If you can show me a website that you have created that showcases your business and that your sole intention is NOT to suck other folks into the Empower Network scheme, I will give you an ounce of credibility. If you are promoting EN, then don’t bother…you really should spend some time reflecting on what you are actually doing, because it is not creating a business.
Before clicking on your website I thought this guy is one from the EN zombies that tries to promote EN. LOL. I want to say thank you for writing such a helpful, insightful review on EN since it is very hard to find some honest reviews on EN like yours. Because everybody out there is promoting EN and I and others like me are fed up to see desperate people who are pleading you to join under them. I don’t understand why people can’t see that there are many alternatives out there to get a FREE BLOG. You have to pay monthly $25 for a WordPress and on top of that $20 to be an affiliate. This is truly a rip off! My expierience with the EN was okey even though i lost $45 in the first month but i dont regret that because mistakes and failures makes you a better person. I didnt make a cent in the EN and decided to cancel my membership. As a matter of fact, I was promised to get free training stuff if I joined from my sponser who actually tempted me to join the EN. Anyways, I do have a different standpoint from the people that posted their review here. To sum up the whole, inorder to have success with the EN scam you have to be…
1. A good sales person preferably a ruthless one who asks people to buy into what he has bought to which are the non-existing products.
2. You need to have MLM experiences or know how to advertise your blog or your capture pages.
If you don’t belong to the above mentioned types of people then you will fail, 100% guaranteed, period!
Joe, you have laid out the principles for success within EN accurately. You need to be willing to promote something that you ONLY believe in because you are making money with it, not because it is actually helping others create a business. I have yet to see anyone within EN making money doing anything other than promoting EN to other unsuspecting folks that are falling into the scheme.
Their paid blogs should be free and there are much better WordPress sites available for free, their payment processor should be free, and the other training is either “motivational hype” or training on how to build out your downline within the EN program.
DAMMIT! Where was this site before I joined! I should have listened to my better half. She called it, I fell for it and got NOTHING in return but a hype full of BULL$h!% and throwing away money I dont have! Moral of the story: listen to my wife, now I gotta hear it for daaaaayyyyyyyzzzzz!..LOL
The wife is always right (well, almost always)!
since this is so bad and i think you may be right about the brain washing… is there anything good , worth spending time and money .
Mary, there absolutely are legit ways to make money online and there is a good deal of quality training out there showing you how to accomplish it. I do suggest if you have a moment, you read the following post as it will walk you through the process.
What I love about Empower Network.
Lots of complaints here. 🙂
I am making my comment and then moving along. I am not open to a debate. Just offering a side to the story.
Before EN I spent 10k on some dude who said he could teach me how to be an internet marketer. Bye Bye money. Then I found EN and learned a TON! I listen to all the training in all the levels. Then if I don’t get something I go out and Google it or Youtube it.
I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
On my blog I share practical knowledge on internet marketing. I also share personal stories and whatever else I like.
I firmly and strongly believe in a positive approach to life and giving back. You are all welcome to read the blog and NOT join EN but use it for any bits of knowledge that might be useful. Just because you got mugged by a _________ doesn’t make all _________ evil and bad. 🙂
I would appreciate it if you would refrain from spamming or blasting me out of the water! LOL I
Just offering some balance to the conversation. 🙂
Best wishes to all of you in your future endeavors!
And I would have to say, you don’t know what you don’t know. It sounds like you are enjoying your experience and that is likely because you are comparing what you are experiencing right now to being ripped off for $10,000. I can tell you that if you invest into the $5,000 in one time upsells, you are wasting your hard earned money. In fact, you could get a real education in the Internet business world, full access to build unlimited websites w/ hosting, expert mentoring and support, keyword research, weekly video lessons, and 1,000’s of training modules for FIFTEEN YEARS for the same price with other services. Just saying.
But as you said, you only know what you know and that is where you are at in the business world. I can tell you that the scheme are you in and that you are trying to promote to others is not a business. You don’t even own the website you put content on or even the content that you are creating!! That is not how you create a business and I hope at some point you will come to your sense as to what you are involved with.
I know you are a good person, but through association you are not getting the best experience that you could online and to be frank, you are not even close to creating a business online. That is not a business, it is a level scheme.
EN is full of crap!!!! I’m witness to this scheme. And yes the guy that recruited me in named Mack to a back channel of recruiting. I was instructed to join his team and sign up with all of the affiliate programs he recommended.
After days of being harassed thru emails, I joined and it sounded promising. After joining I noticed that nothing seemed right so I gave it a month. I even joined the inner circle. After seeing proof that this program was honestly a scam, I unsubscribed from the program.
Well here I am a month later and I checked my bank acct and noticed I’m a $145 short. Yea, even after I unsubscribed to these bastards, they still took money out of my acct. so they received a lovely phone call today and I’m getting a full refund. Do NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS BS!!!!
You are not the first person that has had an experience like this Rhonda and I am sure you will not be the last. I have heard many people say terms like “harassed” “bullied”, “ridiculed”, and “belittled” when using terms of how they were treated in Empower, in particular when they did not decide to go all in and upgrade to their over $5,000 worth of infoproducts they try to upsell you and the $145 per month in ongoing charges.
Their argument is that this is affordable for doing business, but I have several problems with this. First, you are not creating a business. You are promoting a scheme to other unsuspecting folks and in order for the money to come in, you have to harass them into going all in. Then they need to do the same and the cycle continues.
Secondly, creating an online business does not need to cost this much. In fact, the PAID blogs that people are paying for at EN are inferior to websites that you can get for free elsewhere.
I am glad it didn’t take you long to wake up to what was going on in this program and thank you for offering your insights. I know this is going to help other folks make a much more educated decision before getting involved (and investing their hard earned money).
I ended up signing into empower network through the continuous emails in my inbox,I had a connection with the person that was sending the emails and allowed myself to be dragged in and signed up into the inner circle.
I was closing my account within two weeks I could not stand the hype and the loud almost vulgar speech.I could not handle the Google hangouts for it was like listening to four drunks squabbling in a bar, everyone talking and no one listening. I actually felt great to be rid of empower out of my system.
When I look back on that two weeks the person I was signed under had nothing to give except introduce me into the Facebook prosperity group where I thought the majority seemed to be really needy.
Thanks for your feedback and insights into your experience with EN. Your story sounds all to familiar and the problem that I have heard with the “hangouts” and events is that if you put enough people that don’t understand what they are doing in a room, they all start to make sense to each other. To be honest, I have yet to have a meaningful or intellectual conversation with ONE person from EN about the internet business world. They simply do not get it.
Yes i think you are right. I bought empowernetwork and no one every helped me .I stayed in there for a year nothing happened . I know a lot is me because I do not know what I am doing .I never went all in . I did not have the money .but still yet i never got any one to join me so i was told. I had a friend who joined she said she joined under me but i never got crediet for her.But yes I think you are right it is a scam.
Don’t ever feel that it is YOUR fault that you don’t know what to do. If you have no help and you don’t have access to proper training, then you are not going to know what you are doing. That is what is happening within EN, most folks don’t know what to do..even the sponsors. How are they supposed to show you what to do if they don’t know themselves. They only thing they know is that if you don’t buy all the products by going “all in” they are not going to make money off of you…that is all they really care about.
Funny thing that i am also close to go into EN but this post gives me to think about it again and makes me even more uncomfortable with it.
The ugly thing from the World is everyone can say what ever he wants it’s an actual problem! I could promote EN now or WA and still i can say both suck or what ever. No one can proof you a working system i dont even trust in history since mostly its just theoreticaly.
So yeah i wont give up EN immediatly but before i try out WA for the easy reason there is a free signup to actually start with.
Now to my questions when and how do i actually retrieve money from WA? Since that is the main thing from sites like EN and WA.
I think that’s what most people wanna know and what they are interested into that what are people like me actually doing on this site to retrieve money. Like a why do i get money from what?
Thanks for the post
Best Regards
eXon2
I know you are really going to enjoy WA Artur and I do recommend that you start with the Starter Membership. In response to your questions about collecting money, this is how it works.
Almost every product/service online has an “affiliate program”. People like you and I can sign up to these programs and we can promote their products/services in exchange for a kickback. When your traffic you send them converts into a sale, you earn money. This money is then paid out to you in a variety of ways, most companies offer both check payment or paypal along with bank wiring. The affiliate program at Wealthy Affiliate (which you are not required to promote) does pay out via Paypal on the 1st of every month.
I also have a thread on how the make money process works online that I recommend you check out.
Hope this clarifies. 😉
I was in EN and to all the people here that do not get it.BE SMART GET OUT.
They promote you to get in it for the system of BLOGGING.
Now understand this and follow me here for a minute.
No one in EN will ever answer one dam QUESTION other then its about BLOGGING system and you need to BLOG everyday…
1- EN- So your paying for the blogging system $25 OK. Ok so there is one PRODUCT ( lol ).
Now you can go get hosting for $10 a month and one time say $14 for a domain or get it from GoDaddy. They also gives you wordpress blogging FREE. Conference room FREE,video suite FREE,templates so you can do your websites and landing pages FREE.
Ok Hope your following me so far?
2- Now you have to get E-Wallet for payment for $19.95 a month for processing to collect your money…
Because they said Paypal FEES were to high( don’t really matter on answers to that true or not)
So your get to use their processing service they say.
Now your paying for a processing fee which is the $19 that goes thru them and they doing all the selling for you. Your just getting the people there. Now why cant they send you your money after they collect it like any other online company does less the charges on the process.
Paypal is FREE but:(small fee to collect money). Checks are totally FREE. Same with a Money Orders.
3- Ok now this was really where I got confused and figured it out.The Only product they are really selling you is the blogging and a Common Sense tips on doing business… But now they have to up sell you to the $100 which is nothing but the same BS videos. It’s all hype videos and about them and their EGO. They do give some good information. But still not worth $100 a month more. Let alone they keep telling you about the PRODUCTS (still don’t know what it is)
Now the Up Sell is $500…..
That’s when I knew. TIME to leave this BULL.
There is no product.They keep telling you about this super product but they can’t tell you what it is till you get to each level. They when you get there is them dumb ass videos. Which if you watch really close you catch the lies because the first one to get in tell you something different from the next and it was the same topic… So the videos will prove it if your in EN.
Now I like to know a product name that you sell in EN…..other then wordpress. or basically what it does.
Why would someone buy a product that you wont even tell a free person what it basically does or is.you claim these products cost money. Well if you have to pay to get it. They why you hiding what it does or called.All you talk about is blogging. Whats the dam product your talking about?
Sorry at work so I couldn’t proof read this for corrections…
You share the exact sentiment as many folks that have used EN that have “woken” to what they are actually paying for. They are not paying for any real quality product, yes there are products there, but rather they are paying so they can promote those same products to others. They are overpriced and in many cases, they should be FREE.
I also want to add to some of the things that you have said and some of the things that you have brought up in respect to Empower Network.
And there are much better services for FREE, blogs that actually rank and that you can use to promote whatever you like. I know there is the argument that you can promote whatever you like on the EN blog, but the reality is that you can’t. There has never been anyone out there that has succeeded promoting “dog training” products along side a EN branded site. Either your promote EN or you fail with their program, not much flexibility there.
I also did a comparison between Empower Blogs and other websites out there that I think anyone reading this should check out.
Yep, no other “legit” program does this.
The real selling point is not these audios/videos, it is the fact that if you buy you are going to be able to get full commissions and push these products off on other people. That is how the cycle works and you don’t get paid by the information you learn within the training, you get paid by FORCING your downline to buy it. You wussy!
I am glad this is where you exited, because the additional ONE TIME payment upsells were just getting started. The $500 is followed by another $1000 training package and then a $3500 one! All this because you tried to get a blog for $25…and you ended up getting sucked into the scheme and pushed around within it until you would be guilted into spending $5,000 for digital products (a complete joke) and another $145 per month for the inner circle and your blog.
That is close to $7,000 per year for a system that is promoted as $25 per month…if people only knew this before signing up!
Those guys Lawrence Tam, Black, and so forth promoting heavily on Empower Network are pure frauds. They did a live google hangout on ranking keywords in under 30 minutes which was bogus and very amateur internet marketing which gets no results.
sure, its easy to rank for keywords nobody searches for. Try ranking for something with a bit of search volume and competition. They can’t.
I’ve seen all of their stuff and I’ve been inside EN thinking I can learn some advanced internet marketing – which turned out to be utter garbage and useless. You have to pay an insane amount of fees to quality for things that makes no sense. You also need to hustle a ton of people to get your fair share of payments, otherwise you won’t be earning a dime.
Tens of thousands of people have not earned a dime and are brainwashed dimwits.
How do I know? well – you can check on anybody these days and there are those that claim to be making a fortune and if you google enough details about them you’d find them living in a dump. They even call me out for not trying enough. The FTC seriously need to crack down on this organization to save tens of thousands more from being ripped off and passing money to their “upliners” – scam artists.
As convincing as they sound beware!
Ryan, you are right on with your thoughts. It is absolutely easy to rank for keywords that have no competition…and there are many slight of hand tricks that folks plan on to think that they are getting rankings with their EN blogs. The fact of the matter is they DO NOT rank, Google in fact severely punished them with the latest Penguin update.
And there is one sound reason for this. When you have 10,000’s of people that don’t know what they are doing in terms of content creation and SEO putting content on the EXACT same site, you are going to be marked as spam to Google. Folks will argue this point because their “masters” are showing them they still rank, but anyone with half a brain can quickly uncover the truth.
The model is based on promoting EN to other unsuspecting folks. It is not about educating people on how to create a business online, I don’t see anyone promoting “other products” online…the entire herd is promoting EN and this because that is what every sponsor is promoting. Why? Because if the pyramid does not keep building, their profits will dwindle so they rely on more and more folks joining into the scheme.
Thanks for your insights Ryan, I know many folks are going to benefit from them.
I happened to find this website when I googled “Empower Network Scam”. I knew from day 1 this was just another “Shiny Object Syndrome” get rich blah blah blah. Fortunately for me, I’m wise enough to not become hypnotized and victimized from this cult. I call it as I see it. It’s another cult. I’ve read a lot of bad reviews on Empower Network, but unfortunately,there a lot of people drinking the koolaid and supporting it and defending it like it’s the next coming of Christ.
Here’s the problem I have with the Internet Marketing industry. It’s garbage tactics used by these gurus that tell you’re broke, or worse, call you a “wussy” and degrade you if you don’t go all in or join regardless. That is the most unethical, unprofessional tactics used in business whether it’s online or offline. Seriously, do you think I would want to associate myself with asshats who use those tactics?
If you read the comments on here or on other blogs, the ones who are defending their such awesome company, look at the mentality of these people. Do you really want to do involve yourself with people who use improper vocabulary and thug mentality? There is no way on Gods green earth I would associate with holier than though fake people like Dave and Dave and the rest of his cronies.
I’ll guarantee you, 95% are making little to no money. The top few are raking it in. And you know what? You think they care about anyone who joins and are struggling? Think again. If you tell your sponsor that you’re struggling and ask for help, they will degrade you and accuse you of being “negative”. Oh, but they love you when you’re conning other people to join. These marketers are so brainwashed it’s not even funny. Dave and Dave are slick sleazy snake oil salesman who are also very clever. They use the “Crybaby Marketing” to prey on your emotions. Meaning the sob stories they tell..I lived in a van and had $50.00 to my name or I was a drug addict blah blah blah. They train you to use sob stories to recruit others. Can we say unethical?
Another thing I want to clarify. If anyone tells you Internet Marketing is easy? It’s not by a long shot. It’s VERY hard and it takes a lot of skills. ALOT more than just following 3 or 4 simple steps. It makes me sick to see the hard working struggling people getting sucked in by these con artists, who are very clever and very smart. They have a gift of gab that most people don’t. It’s just a shame they don’t use that cleverness in a more positive light. Unfortunately, this is the new generation we live in. Fake attracts fake, drama attracts drama, unethical tactics attract unethical people.
I would not recommend anyone joining this worthless scam. Especially if you’re a beginner, intermediate or a flat out newbie. You will lose your hard earned money, your sanity, your mental state and your soul. Empower Network will only complicate your life. The top Gurus will not give you their secrets to making millions. Most of all, they don’t give a damn about you.
Avoid Empower Network like the plague!
I share a lot of the same concerns about the Internet Marketing industry Pat, I always have. People tend to look for anything that “sounds” like a good opportunity, by nature we want success and many of us hope that this is going to happen quick. That is where an industry of scammers is derived from, the fact that there is such a large audience that believes they can create a business overnight and that they can pay to access shortcuts.
However, anyone that has created any level of success knows this is not true. Empower Network feeds off of this audience and it works in a viral fashion because one person that is looking for quick success tells another person looking for quick success that they need to buy in under them in order to achieve this. Then when this happens, they are told to buy more. Then they are told to do the same to other folks…and then this happens over and over and as you said, the cult is formed.
As you said, the ones defending this program have no ground to stand on and there arguments are all the same ones that have been brainwashed into them. That is why EN has enforced rules like “no negativity” to curb those folks that see through the scheme and want to speak up…they are shut down quickly within the community. You don’t have to read too far within the comments here or online to realize that there are many people out there uncovering what this program is about and the gray area of ethics that this entire community is hanging out within.
You are called a crybaby if you aren’t succeeding and complain about it (in other words, if you are not good at hustling people into a program like EN), and if you don’t buy their $5,000 in overpriced products, you are called a wussy. I don’t know how people actually defend this program with a straight face. Actually I do, they have to defend their “purchase” that they have made and the $5,000 they have spent or they will look ridiculous to the rest of the world. However, they end up looking more ridiculous!
One thing that has become accepted is that their “top” affiliate is a well known criminal and was charged for grand theft insurance fraud. That is OK somehow??! That is the ambassador of the program and who people want to put their name and their business beside?! I know people are going to start waking up, it is just a matter of time and based on the feedback I have received, there is hope.
Lucky all these people found your blog Kyle; it seems like you run the only genuine and trustworthy opportunity online.
Well done its about time there was something that everyone who joined would be successful with.
I do sense your sarcasm, but I can tell you that there are some really legitimate opportunities out there for those that are looking to create an actual business versus being involved in a scheme. EN is the latter.
How can you say there is nothing to sell, no product!!!! The Internet Market training in EN which you can apply to any online business is second to none!! Yes you have to invest in yourself and do as they say. No you will not blog toa fortune and NOBODY says that. Maybe thats what you want to hear. From what Ive read here most people are in COMPLETELY the wrong frame of mind, and think that you pay $25 a month and it will all come to you. Wake up its a business oportunity NOT A GET RICH QUICK SCHEME.
There are many splinter groups now built onto the EN model BIM with Vick St is phenomenal. Join A Mentor is another wonderful support group. The FREE advice and suggestions on how to make money online coming out of the facebook groups is unbelievable. Its not hypey its motivatiuonal and inspiring instead of looking at the downside of things for goodness sake, take a positive view, GET IN THE RIGHT MINDSET work at it and you will be successful. Noone is getting ripped off!!!! They are being given an opportunity to change their lives. If people dont take action, or only take action once and for a few days they only have themselves to blame.
Ive been in internet marketing for 6-7 years, done a bit here and there, but the training (THE PRODUCTS) is top class. Why should you be educated enough to sell/advise on a product if you havent experienced it yourself.
Well thats my 2p but from my experience, and from positive stories of success that I read everyday THIS IS NOT A SCAM!
Hey Rhys,
It sounds like you are enthralled in the program over at EN and hopefully I can help shed some light on the program for you if you are willing to listen. The thing is that I find most folks within the network are so immersed that they have reached the point that they don’t realize what they are doing, also known as brainwashing. I have noticed this to be taking place more and more because the following as a whole all are starting to spout the EXACT SAME ideologies, which are for the most part inaccuracies that have been drilled into your way of thinking.
Here is the definition of brainwashing: Make (someone) adopt radically different beliefs by using systematic and often forcible pressure.
I fully believe what this is happening and I will show you why within my refutes to your arguments.
OK, so what are you selling? You are selling the idea of EN and success online to others. You are not selling a product to someone else, in order to get the product they have to join EN. Don’t you see anything wrong with this? If it is not immediately apparent to you, I will move on here because chances are you will never understand.
What’s the purpose of paying for a blog then, $25 per month + $19.95 per month just so you can get paid. Before you leave the gates, you are already spending $45 per month and you have a blog that is basically useless. How is that fair to the consumer and what are you really selling people into. Is the only reason you are selling people into this system so you can make money? If so, then that is very unethical.
And yes, anyone with knowledge of how REAL online business works, you can absolutely create a full time business online with a website…and this can be done within any niche. If you weren’t forced to be so close minded within this ponzi-like system, you would realize that there are real, ethical ways to create a business online and it does not involve you forcing others to join under you and paying YOU money to get a useless blog.
I find it incomprehensible that someone would think it is OK to sell others on the idea of a blogging system that you are directly telling me won’t make a fortune when in fact, Empower Network’s main headline on their website clearly indicates that the viral blogging system is a “lucrative solution”.
If you define “making money” as a business opportunity, then I suggest that this may fall into a category. If you define “creating a business” (which makes a lot more sense) as a business opportunity, then EN definitely does not accomplish this. Robbing banks and stealing purses is also a way to making money and for those that define the principles of business as making money, will also probably think those are business opportunities as well.
Let me tell you exactly what you are doing within your “scheme”…again, it is NOT a business.
(1) You are selling people a blog for $25 per month (it doesn’t get ranked, and you said that it is NOT the way to be successful online).
(2) In order to receive any money from EN, you have to pay $19.95 per month. No other company does this (that I am aware of) and somehow this has become acceptable wit the EN folks…because they don’t know any better. If you did your research, you would realize the reason this has to be done is because no “merchant” like Paypal would touch the EN business because it is a scheme, not a business.
(3) You then try to get the people that join under you to go “all in”. Why? Because it is more money in your pocket. Yes there may be some training in there, but the only reason you are trying to get people to go all in is because you want to earn more money off of the people you sponsor. Sick.
(4) Then you try to get folks to join the other “high ticket” programs. This can cost several $1,000’s. The reason. You make more money if you do.
(5) If the people you sponsor don’t go “all in” you call them a wussy. Your are supposed to “guilt” them into paying more money and if they don’t, often times they are belittled.
Nowhere along the way are you creating a business and nowhere are you actually helping people. You are trying to get them to buy MORE stuff in attempt to make YOU more money. Then you try to tell them to do the same thing to other unsuspecting customers.
You mean the fellow with a criminal record for insurance grand theft fraud. That is your role model and whom everyone is looking up to within Empower Network. It is common knowledge out there (on forums and such), that the leader and top affiliate of EN has a history of fraud. When a companies top leader is involved in this sort of activity and is one that has been showcased by Empower Network, what does that say about the entire business itself?
You are probably so “into” this system that you don’t care who you get your information from…which in itself is pretty pathetic.
Is this for the better or the worse? First, they are paying money for a blog that does nothing for them. So immediately they are going to be out money. They are going to be forced into the sales cycle and be out $1,000’s if the commit to going “all in”. I have heard many people selling their vehicles or spending their child’s college fund money to do this. You are right, this is changing lives…
If you call taking money out of one persons pocket and putting it in yours changing lives, then I am not sure you are going to have too many friends for too long.
What about your own positive stories. Sure, they will get the people on stage with the big checks while 10,000’s are suffering in the audience hoping to be those people holding the big checks. And the way they are making money, getting more people like yourself to join “under” them. You become on of the lemmings following behind them, getting a weak education, while never really creating a business. You are part of a pyramid structure that will continue to crumble if you cannot hustle more folks under you into the program. When that stops, so does all your revenue.
That is the part that really frustrates those that understand business and how it operates. What you are creating is not a business. You are part of a system, one in which has blinded you from the real opportunities that lie out there. I do hope that one day you wake up to your senses, but that will ultimately be up to you and the decisions you make. There are real ways to make money online and ways you can get rewarded for helping others in an ethical way, rather than taking money from them.
Hey Kyle, gained a real insight into what EN and what this Big Idea Mastermind thing is all about. Doesn’t sound like my kind of thing even though Vick or Vitaly is very convincing. Just want to know your thoughts on his Easy Landing Page Pro software, its free seems pretty legit. Would appreciate your thoughts. Cheers
I would stay clear of anything that is a “landing page generator”. While these may have been a decent idea back in 2009, creating a landing page is easy within any framework like WordPress or Joomla and you should be using these types of sites. Also, automation of anything these days in terms of pages and content is not a very good idea. I discuss this within my automation thread and you may want to check it out.
What would you suggest instead?!?
Hey Dean,
I suggest you check out how the process of earning money online really works, in respect to creating an actual business. This is a good read and one that will give you some direction.
If you have any further questions, just let me know!
A lot of what they teach is also just plain wrong and misleading. They tell you that because EN has a high Alexa ranking, your blog will rank high in the search engines. A site’s Alexa ranking has nothing to do with how an individual will rank in the search engines. They also tell you to “blog about anything” and you’ll make money. You can’t just blog about anything to make money in this industry. I’m getting emails and voicemails from my “sponsor” almost daily since I quit. It’s funny how I never heard from him when I was in EN. When he saw he lost me, he contacts me. What a sleaze.
You are absolutely correct Matthew, Alexa is meaningless and has nothing to do with rankings nor does it have much to do with the actual traffic a site gets. Alexa has no idea how much traffic a site gets, they don’t have access to this information. It is laughable to hear all the folks at EN bragging about Alexa and how well their sites rank, because fact of matter is they don’t rank…they have been heavily penalized by Google.
I am sorry to hear you have had to deal with this and you have had to deal with a sleazy sponsor. It sounds like this is becoming more and more prevalent as they only care about earning money off of you, not about your actual success. This is obvious based on your experience (they only help when you are ready to quit).
All hope is not lost, I would love to help you out. I do suggest you check out my Getting Started page.
They are harassing me on my cell phone. I would like them to please stop calling me. I have tried to tell them that in their harassing phone calls but to no avail. I think I am going to report them to the BBB and the FTC if you don’t stop calling me.
Sorry to hear this is going on. This is the technique that is “taught” within the Empower Network, calling folks until they “give in” and join. You are not the first that has complained to me about harassing calls and I am sure not the last. If you need to report someone, I would go ahead and do it. There are many ways you can file complaints out there Elaine and I suggest you do what you feel is write.
So sorry to hear that anyone could treat you in this way and this should be a red flag for anyone that is looking to get into this program as they are likely going to be working with folks just like the one that is harassing you.
You should report them!
It is a shame that Empower Network is not run like a franchise and just let anybody in….
….Think MacDonalds. Even if you have the minimum $2,000.000 to buy a franchise, Macdonalds can pick their franchisees!
And to think that Empower Network allows anyone to join who has just $25.
Michael Alvanos
http://www.empowernetwork.com/michaelalvanos
You are comparing a scheme to one of the most successful businesses in the world. At McDonalds you don’t have to suck other franchisees into McDonalds, you are dealing with customers that are buying a product they have come to know and love. Big difference, but apparently you have been brainwashed to think the two are even somewhat comparable.
Thanks for putting this information out to the public… I went through all the videos and actually considered buying into EN… the thing is I was told it was FREE for days and days just to be led to the finale where I was asked for money and my lil red flag went off.. .and I still almost fell for it, because let’s face it.. if you don’t research Vick.. he’s kind of convincing.. ,then I noticed i would have to pay another 20 a month to get paid… that’s when I thought for sure something was up… punched in “what is EN” and came across your article.. thank you, thank you, thank you!!! So effin ticked at *ssholes’ pretending you want you to succeed while they rip you off! #smarterthanthescamsinglemom
Joanne, they are very convincing but that is how “sales” works within the Empower Network community. They are not selling the service, they are selling the idea of being able to earn a “fortune”…however, their services are weak in nature, very expensive, and you can get much better options out there for much less.
The short and long of it is, the $25 per month is just the start of the sales cycle they put you in. This is followed by a required $20 per month to receive payment, $100 per month for their inner circle, following by $1,500 in other high ticket programs and then having to attend the expensive conferences to hear their “rah rah” brainwashing sessions that someone convince everyone into thinking a program like this is ethical. The prep them all with some real baseless arguments.
If you ever need a hand with getting a business up and running, I can absolutely help (and get you up and running for no cost). 🙂
EN never says anywhere that their system is free. If someone told you this, it is them that lied – not Empower Network.
I never said it was free, but absolutely the websites you are trying to “sell people on” should be free. Here is why. I see from your own personal website that you have been taught to do a redirect from a domain to your EN blog. That is unfortunate that you are being taught techniques will actually do more harm than good and I hope that one day that you do decide to get some real training on how Internet business works.
I do believe that you have the best intentions at heart Kurt, but you are being lead astray by trying to promote this program to others instead of working to create your own business and brand online. You don’t own your EN blog and you have taken an entity you don’t own, and linked it directly to a site that doesn’t rank (the en.com recently got hit bad by Google Penguin for spam reasons).
The content that you have paid for and that you are trying to get other people to pay for should also be free. It is unfortunate that you are letting the cycle of this scheme continue, but it is ultimately up to you what you define as an opportunity and ethical. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
This post is a joke! Interesting that after this review the author promotes another opportunity…unbiased review right?
People find fault when they can’t or are unwilling to do what is necessary to succeed. It’s the 99% syndrome and this attitude is pathetic at best.
Everyone is entitled to there own opinion though 🙂
The EN products are real – it’s information and education on how to build a business online as well as a lot personal development.
A INC 500 education company sells information products for real estate investors that costs 25k or more. They teach you information on how to rehab and invest in real estate!
People label things a scam when they refuse to take responsibility for their own failure. If they don’t have immediate success at something, don’t fully understand the value or if they don’t fully have all the facts they label it a scam and write up some BS BIASED review!
The inner circle is priceless. The 15k formula should be 10 times what they charge. I could go on and on.
I’ve used the lessons, trainings and education inside Empower Network to help me become a better person, grow my primary business and surround myself with like minded success driven professionals.
If educational products on how to build ANY business online and to improve yourself are a scam then I would label our entire college education system a scam too.
It is an unbiased discussion, absolutely David. If you would like, read the comment thread below and yo will see how many folks really “understand” what EN stands for, not just those that have been brainwashed into becoming part of the herd of lemmings.
And I have good reason to point people in the direction of the “service” that I can offer them, this is because I want to HELP people get rolling. In fact, what I am offering people for FREE is more than you are trying to “CHARGE” people for. I make many recommendations on my website to products/services that people can trust and that are highly valuable.
I am sorry to hear that you are so “ethical” that you are:
(1) Trying to get people to pay for a $25 blog that won’t rank (and that they have no ownership of). I am offering people 2 superior blogs for free.
(2) Trying to charge people $19.99 so they can receive payment online. I can offer the same thing for free.
(3) Trying to get people to go “all in” and get some additional training at $100 per month. I am offering people over 1,000 training modules & discussion (video, text, and courses for free), along with TWO walk-through training courses.
(4) You are trying to get people to buy two additional programs at a cost of $1,500. I am giving more value away for free within the WA starter membership. If someone decides to upgrade to our Premium membership (includes EVERYTHING one needs to run a business), they could get 5 YEARS (yes, years) full access to the community, the training, the websites, the support, the tools, and private mentoring (owners included) for this price.
So before you get into me being unethical, just realize that you are selling a bunch of “stuff” to people that not only should be free, I am offering it to people for free. I am simply acknowledging that there is MUCH BETTER out there than EN and if you take off the blinders, you will quickly realize this.
PS. I also think our college/university education system is a scam, so no arguments there.
David: Thanks for your spot on comments. I agree. I am a happy EN blogger. My business has increased over 100% in the past year–in a down market… Thanks to EN and DAVE and DAVE.
Good stuff Kyle..
I’ve avoided EN and even though I may have missed out on making a few dollars by selling the dream to a bunch of people who know no better, I’m more than happy with my decision.
If you want to build your own online business start by building your own website, finding and defining your own USP and creating a great offer to sell over and over again to your customer base. Develop the skills to do this and you won’t need to keep chasing dreams and dreamers all over the internet!
Keep up the great work Kyle!
Thank you Neil, on behalf of all the people that you would have “displaced” from their hard earned money. Selling the dream to folks in efforts to many is a no brainer. Many people don’t care about others, their story or what their financial situation is. They just want to make money and the EN scheme is catering to this. Make money at any cost…get as many people to sign-up under you at any cost…and teach them to do the EXACT SAME THING!
There is mass opportunity in actually helping people and solving problems. I am an advocate of any program that teaches this, unfortunately the program at EN is not one of them.
Thanks Kyle. Just recently signed up to EN for the 25 but knew there was something I was feeling uncomfortable with. Empowerment and calling people Wussies doesnt go hand in hand for me. Definitely want to learn to make money online but want to retain my integrity along the way. Need to rethink my next step. Cheers.
No problem Lou, one thing that has remained a constant from what I have seen in the online world, is those that retain their integrity and those that create their business with the goal of helping others (not just making money), will end up with a much longer term business. I think you have made the right move to reconsider, but ultimately this is up to you. 🙂
kyle,
Ok, sounds like you may have something worth looking into but i have to say you would be better served if you eliminate the negative attacks on others. Anyone who claims to be perfect is just lying. Not sure if I can get past being called a hustler but I will try.
Call it what you will Ken.
You are “hustling” people into your program. You get them to join, you get paid. They get nothing more than a blog that doesn’t rank that they don’t own and one that is centric around promoting the very same program, and in order for them to “get paid” they have to pay another $20 per month. So $45 per month later, they have a blog that doesn’t rank, and you get to earn 1 out of every 5 months that they stick around (not sure how 20% commission is fair to you either, since you did the hard work).
Then if you are part of an upline, you get some training tools and resources (which I can see you are leveraging) that will help you hustle more folks into the program and build your upline. From your website, I can see that you are involved with a guy by the name of Vick. If you want more information on the sort of folks that you are “rolling” with.
Here are some resources that you may want to use for your own personal investigation before you get too involved.
http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/insurance-agent-sentenced-on-grand-theft/?id=89083
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/7-Figure-Marketing-School-By-Vick-Strizheus/internet/7-Figure-Marketing-School-Vick-Strizheus-Fraud-Run-Away-Scam-Internet-558059
This is common knowledge as it is currently being free discussed within many forums and online boards. You can do your own research and see what you come up with (and I suggest you do).
Also, when you are ready to learn how to create an ACTUAL business, I will help you out. But until then, I do wish you all the best and I hope you do take a bit of time to do some own due diligence into the program you are promoting and the people you are associating with. Look past the hype…
it’s sad to see the only way that you build your company up is by tearing down another company. there is a reason Empower Network is as big as it is, how big is your company? your negativity towards empower network is ultimately going to hurt you in the end but good luck my friend
It actually has nothing to do with this, I was tired of people coming to me that had been “scammed”. I have been in the industry long enough to see just about everything, and there has definitely been a new wave in the last 2 years of some of the most unethical programs I have ever seen. You can only reach a certain point where you have a duty to help others realize that air they are breathing is polluted. Unfortunately you cannot see this because you obviously have the blinders on, but I can only hope one day you will come to your senses Michael.
It is not just my negativity, it is 1,000’s of people who truly understand business…and instead of asking one how big their company is, you should ask them how reputable, how trustworthy, and how ethical their company is. If everything to you is MONEY AT ANY COST, I can assure you that yes, you will have some money, no brand, and you will always be sitting in the grey area of ethics. I guess we all choose our own path, but the one I take and teach others is one of ethics…and I will call out any program that does otherwise.
You don’t own a business Michael, you are part of a scheme. Big difference.
Kyle,
If I understand correctly you don’t have a product and you charge $59 a month for advice. Sounds pretty much like you are in the same boat as EN to me.
You are actually wrong. We have a product and we don’t charge you to check it out Ken. And if you want our Premium service, which is more than you will get ANYWHERE in the world, it is only $29 per month (if you buy yearly). This includes everything you need to create and grow an online business. 1,000’s of training modules, unlimited websites of your own and free websites, state of the art hosting and monitoring, personal expert mentoring, 12 classrooms, live weekly video training, keyword and research tools, writing tools…
If you really want to understand what is offered, you can check it out via my review. I can assure you what I can offer folks for free is way more than you are trying to “hustle” people for within your network. Also, I hope you realize the very person you are promoting on your website (yes, I checked it out) has a criminal history with insurance grand theft fraud. If you are proud to put your name and your word on something like that, then you cannot be trusted yourself.
most of us out here have a past, just because you don’t doesn’t make you any smarter..in fact it’s probably the exact thing that is clouding your judgement
I have never heard this argument. Is having a criminal history now a selling feature in the world of ethics? That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard, if I am not smarter because I don’t get charged for grand theft, then I am not sure what your definition of smart is.
I think that this is going to shed a lot of light on the type of people that are involved with Empower Network. “We don’t care about criminal records, in fact, if you don’t have one you have a clouded perspective on life.” I am sure that your statements are going to send ALL ethical folks running in the other direction, thanks for that. 🙂
Yeah they SUCK ! They Bait and switch all the way through to just to suck more money from you ! It’s a Huge pyramid Scheme !!! May they All Rot! If I see either one of them on the street , I’m going to kick thier little sissy asses…
Kent, sorry to hear about your negative experiences. Perhaps you could have a better approach with your choice of words, but I do understand that you feel jaded and I have had many, many, many stories from folks that are saying the same things. I wish you all the best going forward and if you every need a hand setting up an online business (I promise, no bait and switch..just help), let me know.
Fantastic information, Kyle.
I appreciate your helpful insights on EN. I was seriously thinking of joining due to the sense of community they presented. But, now that I have read your review of what is really going on, I am going a different direction.
THanks for saving me the hassle!
Community or cult. It is only a community if you agree with everything the community says. Obey or be shunned. It doesn’t take much research to realize that if you are negative within the community, you will receive a lot of backlash. That is because in order for a model like this to work, the downlines need to keep coming. It was like Bernie Madoff and his system, nobody questioned it while they were making money, but as soon as the inflow of new members stopped, people woke up to what the hell was going on.
Same thing here. People have no idea what they are doing, they are just doing it. They are signing their friends up at the expense to their friend. Then they are getting their friends to do the same. This is not a new strategy and it is definitely not an ethical MLM. It is one that is based on the same principles that a ponzi is based on. Exact same.
If it was “so good”, should they not be giving people acccess to it for free to check it out. I know that when I want to buy a phone, I get to check it out and use it within the Apple store before I buy it. The problem is, what they are selling you should be free and the only reason it is being sold is because people are told that the way to make money online is selling it.
Thanks Kyle for being an honest and critical person; a couple of these people starting following my blog and contacted me with it. I started searching and glad I came across your review as there are few out there yet (thanks to it being so new and some of this generation being gullible). I, myself, am sick of unethical money making (and I agree with your idea about Costa Rica); we already have bad people on Wall Street and Congress, we don’t need this generation to continue contributing to it.
Lots of companies do leverage tax havens such as Costa Rica and you cannot fault a company for using them if they are in a jurisdiction that has unusually high tax rates. I think it should be clear of motives other than “it’s a beautiful place” because there is good business reasons to create a start-up from a region like this.
Anyways, I digress and don’t want to get into a big tax debate, but I do agree there are bad people everywhere in the world and I know there are a lot of good/great people within EN that have just been pressured into thinking a certain way. With some good orchestration, a few folks can lead sheep over a cliff whilst them all thinking it is a wonderful idea.
Kyle and one more thing the company is not based in Costa Rica. It is located in Florida. Make sure you have your facts straight.
I state that one of the owners lives in Costa Rica, which by all measures is a tax haven. If you understand tax laws, you would also understand the benefits of living in a tax free country and some of the tax efficient strategies you can implement. Anyone is entitled to live wherever the like.
EN is the most unprofessional “business opportunity i have ever seen, the owners are very disrespectful and just seem to be distant from the reality behind the business scheme. DO NOT JOIN EMPOWER NETWORK…if you want to earn money online create your own site and sell goods/merchandise…you can also make good money trading forex and securities….at least this way your not going around begging and harassing people flooding sites with posts of undesirable and empty ads
There are 101 ways to earn a living online that are above the board and that are actual “businesses” by definition. I would agree with you in your approach and that is one of the main strategies that I recommend to folks that are looking to create an actual business. Promoting something does not mean you have a business, creating something of substance does.
I am from Empower and YOU ARE A WUSSY! I make money taking money from others and I don’t even care. You are a loser and so are all you folks that care about your “ethics” and stuff. It’s all about the benjamins baby.
You have just validated a lot about the program you are involved with Sean. Thanks, I am sure the “ethical” folks out there are going to really appreciate reading that. 🙂
People that can’t rationalize their thoughts make me sick. People that take others money with the sole effort of making them more money makes me sick. That is the reason for this review.
Well Kyle I to am an affiliate with EN, but can see the writing on the wall. It’s a bunch of hype and the leaders are on the top and all the money is flowing from the bottom up. I’m sick of the wussies calling everyone else one. Been in for two months and will be canceling by the end of June. Lost 90 bucks not bad for a lesson learned.
Glad you were able to see through it Rocco, because frankly most people don’t. A lot of people are scarred to be negative because it is one of the main EN rules that you cannot be negative within the community. I am sure glad you came to your senses and beyond the hype, realized that there was nothing more than a baseless MLM program where you had to make people join under you in order to see any results, with no opportunity to earn revenue in any particular niche or with any product other than promoting EN itself.
I would be more than happy to help you out as well and get you moving in the right direction (if you like). If you are interested, I suggest you check out the following “Getting Started Online” page as it will clear up a bunch of stuff for you. Hope this helps buddy.
“Cheap” fame for blog writing wannabes. It’s like Herbalife – if you believe in it – it works, even if it doesn’t do a shit.
Exactly my point. Just because you are making money doing something, doesn’t mean that you are actually doing something productive or ethical. Bank robbers make money do they not? Fraudsters make money don’t they. You cannot classify someones success by how much money they are making alone, or you are going to put the unethical in the same category as the ethical (and the ethical do not appreciate this).
Hi what do you recommend that works to make honest money from home
The starting point is a website, but a website that you have ownership of in a niche of your choice. I would not suggest becoming part of a program that is based on you promoting that exact program and provides no outside opportunities.
You can earn revenue within any niche when you have a website and a foundation of knowledge to get rankings, traffic and understand the process of converting that website. I would suggest that you check out my Getting Started page here as this will walk you through the process of getting up and running and how to do so WITHOUT any investment.
Hope this helps you out Rooman and if you do have any further questions, just hit me up.
Hey guys
Yeah I research en for about three months late last year. I decided to sign up for the 25, then 100 inner circle. It sounded so good. Then they say you pay 500, then 1000 etc.
Any way I payed for all of that. I sold my car to do it.
Then i was that broke that I couldnt afford the 150 a month.
So I had to quit. Of course no refunds. Guess what? I cant even listen to the information even though i paid 1500 bucks for it.
Do I think it works? Yes, put the effort in, it will. But I honestly do get lazy, dont wana blog all the time etc. I think they are good people, its just more effort than you think if you wana make 10 thousand a month.
Yes I do see what there doing, make out its just 25, but then if you sell a 500 dollar product/info your downline gets it not you. That sucks. But i understand their side and yours. 🙂
So let me get this straight. You invested $140 per month plus another $1,500 one time, sold your car and you still didn’t have a business to show for it. You didn’t even have your own website.
This is really what frustrates me about programs like this. People spend their their hard earned money, often times selling their vehicle and their children’s future in attempt to make some quick cash. When all is said and done you are left with nothing…absolutely nothing.
(1) You don’t have a website that you own (by the way, you could have had a network of 50 websites and completely training for the next 2 years for this amount of money)
(2) You don’t have an specific knowledge on how to run a business online (other than maybe some rudimentary knowledge on how to “push” EN)
(3) You are left with no network, no friends, and no car
(4) You didn’t get the 100% commissions that were claimed, because you only are getting every 5th commission and you have to pay $100 per month to receive any of the $100 commissions
(5) Unfortunately, you were taken for.
There is hope Mandy, I can honestly say this. I would be more than happy to help you turn things around and show you how businesses are created online within ANY niche that you are interested in and show you how you accomplish success through helping people versus having to push people into your downline. In other words, earning money the ethical way.
I would like you first to read how the process of making money online works and then take action on that process.
If you need help going forward, there are people that care about you (without you having to sell your car).
Cheers,
Kyle
It’s funny that you type this big long article about ways to scam people and throw around a big name company like Empower Network just to funnel them into your other business… And you tell them, hey you can get started for $0. But wait, there is an upsell for $47 a month.
You sit here and clown on Empower Network for having different products that people can choose to own. People actually get VALUE out of the information. You are not buying a $25, $100, $500, or $1000 piece of paper. It is real training, real marketing, and people have having real results. Whether they are promoting Empower Network or they are promoting one of their other businesses. With 150,000 paid members and over $50,000,000 paid out to affiliates.. Yeah, sure seems like scam. Get out of here with that nonsense.
You simply made this post so that you could try and tear down a bigger and better program so that people would not join it.. and it would join you. I don’t see you mentioning in your article that they are clicking on your affiliate link. Get real. I’m guessing you won’t even allow this comment to be published because you don’t want people to see the truth.
Hey Mark,
Thanks for stopping by. Let me first say that based on your website URL, I can honestly say that you need to brush up on your “online business” skills. I can tell instantly that you have an elementary knoweldge and all of these “paid products” that are buying may be feeding your ego and motivating you to find more unaware folks to bring into your scheme, but they are by no means making you a better marketer online. So first, before you jump out of your seat to criticize my logic, you should perhaps get a more astute knowledge of how online business works.
I will get back to your statements in order.
Yes, there is an upsell and yes, I am explicitly clear about this within my review. One thing that I do want to mention is that within the FREE membership, folks get far more than they do within Empower Networks PAID component. You get TWO free websites (which you have full control over, unlike EN), you get Getting Started training (10 lessons, video training, niche and website help), you get access to REAL experts, you get access to a classroom with 100’s of training modules, you get access to a keyword research tool, and you get access to 24/7 live support. FOR FREE. Glad we got that out of the way.
We also do have a Premium version yes, that offers a ton more. In fact, for $359 per year you can completely run any size of business, yes….million dollar businesses. No extra expenses, no forced “all in’s”, no upsells or expensive conferences, and no pressure. And folks can promote within any niche that they like, they are not forced into a downline hustle as they are at EN.
Since when did “money” dictate whether or not something was a scam. I am not sure if you understand the story of Bernie Madoff, but people were making BILLIONS within that ponzi, but it was a scam. Just because there is a lot of people doing something and a lot of money being exchanged does not mean something is ethical. You may want to “step outside the bubble” and look inside and look at what people are doing to each other.
You sign-up someone. Then you try to teach them to sign-up more people. Then they try to sign-up more people. The cycle continues, with you on top of your own little sub “triangle” (I will refer to it as that, but you know what I mean). Everyone is buying into the system itself, nobody is selling anything other than the system, and this is the classic definition of a ponzi. Again here it is if you want to read about a Ponzi, because you should probably understand what you are selling to others (shouldn’t you).
Quite the contrary, I created this because I was tired of (a) people coming to me and crying poor because they had been ripped off by empower (b) people getting shameless promoted to from folks within the network. I have nothing against you nor others involved, we all make choices in life. However, I do have a duty to make sure people are ethically being promoted to online and are ethical in the nature in which they promote products.
Why do I care in the first place? Because when people get scammed from companies like EN they make the assumption that the entire “online business world” is a complete fraud, and that is not the case. There are some ethical companies out there still that really do care about people’s success and this does not just equal money. It means creating a business in a way where it is an “actual business” (like we teach at WA) and doing so in a way that will serve the benefit of others.
What you are doing only serves the benefit of others if they “buy a bunch of stuff” and then go on to get other people to “buy a bunch of stuff”. It is a selfish, self-centered way of “Trying” to make a living and you have been fooled into thinking what you are doing is creating a business.
Glad people like you exist Kyle, I just watched a YouTube video that led me to EN, they had me going for a while but I smelt a rat and Google came to the rescue. I’m glad I found you because I’ve been trying to make money online for ages now,just lost $2200 to betonmarkets.com. I’ll appreciate if you could email me actual steps to make money online because I’m presently just worth $100 and in debt.Thanks!
I am glad you stopped by. I am also glad you did your due diligence before buying into any program online, it is always a good idea. Too many people just “trust” what others are promoting without asking questions. Some of these common questions should be:
(1) Why am I paying $25 per month for a blog I do not own, one in which I don’t even on the content? It doesn’t make sense and advocates of EN will spin it in a number of ways. They will say it has a high Alexa rank. This has nothing to do with rankings in Google, in fact, Alexa isn’t even a real “traffic” gauge. You can get much superior blogs elsewhere and ones that are not forcing you to promote the same program you buy into.
(2) Why am I paying $20 per month just so I can get paid? Many advocates of Empower will tell you that you don’t have to pay this if you don’t want, but in order to receive any payments for your work within EN (which is solely based on promoting EN), you have to pay a monthly fee to a 3rd party company that allows you to receive payments. Another reason this is done because no ethical merchant account would ever allow a company like this to handle their own payments because it is too close to being a pyramid or a ponzi.
(3) Why am I being forced to go “all in” (another $100 per month, $500 on time payment, $1000 one time payment)? Because the people “above” you only make money when you spend all of your hard earned money on senseless training courses, videos and audios.
I can absolutely help you out Caleb and I want to do so for no cost, just check out the following on Getting Started and you will be pointed in the right direction. Hope this helps you out and I hope that your journey going forward is a scam free one.
As an actual network marketer, I came across “Empower Network” by an advertisement that stated that how I can make 5 figures a week in less than 6 months in MY company… So obviously I checked it out. Not much to my surprise, I came across this scheme. I was so confused on what were the products or service. I couldn’t find it anywhere. How interesting…
You can earn this much money if you can “convince” enough other people to get into this program and do the same thing as you, convince even more people to join it. Then you have to shame them into buying more products (going “all in”) in order to earn more money from them…and you have to go “all in” yourself and spend $140 per month plus the an extra $1,500 for the two training programs.
If that sounds like something you are interested in, then I would say go for it. I think it sounds like you were able to quickly understand that it is not your typical MLM in that it does not have products you are selling to others, all of the money is generated from recruiting your downline and hoping (or shaming through name calling) into buying products themselves. You may be saying that this is a strange MLM model and that is because it is not one, it is a ponzi that is reliant on a constant downline to survive.
I joined for a while, but left because of something that Dave Wood said. This is not an exact quote,but he said that he was always fascinated by how certain people appeared attractive and he remembers waiting in line at a seminar to talk some high earner and there was a huge que and people just couldn’t wait and he suddenly realized that the excitement and impatience was nothing to with what the guy had to offer,but the very fact that there was a huge line of people.
What?
So he basically admitted that the stuff was crap, but it was curiosity that attracted people and that’s what made stuff sell. An empower network guy told me recently that in one of his latest videos on the ‘INSIDE’ he actually tries to HYPNOTIZE people in the video to buy the products. He even says that he will walk them through a trance like state to buy and he also mentions how famous he is and how people surround him at events like he is a prophet or a god. That was enough for me to turn the other way especially being a devote Christian.
Thanks for your feedback and insights into Empower James, I think it will be helpful to others to see what some of the leadership folks within this community are really like.
Everyone within this network almost appear brainwashed. They don’t really know what they are promoting or why, they just know that if they do it they will earn money. They have been convinced through the motivational seminars and their “sponsor” that they need to do this and if they ever speak up and ask “why”, they tend to be ridiculed.
I have spoken directly with many folks that have had to deal with abusive behaviour from those within the community at EN because they questioned the ethics. Instead of them rebutting with an explanation of how the system is ethical (which it of course is not), they folks within EN lowered themselves to name calling and one way shouting matches. Pretty typical stuff.
I know that you are better off for your decision and there are real opportunities out there and I would be more than happy to help you out if you ever need it James.
Hi Kyle.
Do you think Pure Leverage is the same as Empower Network?
Pure leverage is very much the same Luke and they have sell their program with the 100% commission (which is a complete lie like it is at Empower, it works out to be less than 20% commissions when you take the recurring sales)….and they have the same pyramid style hierarchy. Very similar product most definitely and one I would suggest you stay clear of (I have a review coming).
So probably GVO itself is also very much the same?
Similar yes. If you are looking for a real, tangible opportunity and you want to start an online business, go here Luke. 🙂
Huge ponzi why would anybody want a sub-domain that belonged to another company for your blog can you say bye bye traffic
Anything with ANY knowledege of how the Internet operates and how search engines work simply wouldn’t. I have said over and over again, these blogs are limited, there are MUCH better alternatives for free, and they simply do not rank any longer.
Yes, for those that argue this point and see that they are still “found” in the search engines, this does not mean they rank. Under their very own “branded” keywords, empower has been deemed as spam by Google. There are many other sites that they have also been banned from, either completely or to a limited degree. These include:
-Twitter (very recent)
-Facebook (though you still find shameless promotions there)
-Youtube
-Google (with further de-ranking coming)
The problem here is that anyone that has a working knowledge of how affiliate marketing works and how ethical Internet business is conducted can quickly and easily determine that EN is a ponzi and a pyramid. If not completely illegal, they are sitting right on the border.
I never could get anyone to explain to me what the PRODUCT is or a clear description on what exactly the company makes money off of. Seems to me they are taking honest hardworking money from people. Because I have yet to see anyone post the description of this business and the product!!!!
To be honest with you, most of them haven’t a clue as to what they are doing. They are selling you on the idea that what they are doing works, but it only works if you pay them money (and then it really works). I have never gotten more uneducated responses from an audience than the folks have been spewing out and it is quite evident their momentum is based on “this is the best, rah rah rah” and not them really learning how to build business.
And it is not different than any other ponzi out there, I have posted the definition several times now and I have yet to see a calculated refute to that very definition.
Many thanks for the very informative post, Kyle. They are advertising on Facebook and I thought I’d check it out, although already quite aware that if it sounds too good to be, it almost invariably IS!
That logic is correct most of the time and in this case, it definitely is.
Kyle,
I like the way you pointed out some “common sense” facts about internet blogging and marketing. Well, at least common sense to those who are familiar with these concepts.
You see I’ve blog before. On the free sites. Even blog a 365 project everyday for an entire year. I also sell actual “products” online through various online markets and learned to use my blog to advertise these products. depending on the time of year or what I sell, I do quite well. Not a millionaire. But I’m happy and can pay bills. I also have a clean conscience and love giving customer support and keeping my buyers happy.
But I’m not going to lie. I tried this EN BS for one month. I had a reliable source convince me that it was a great opportunity. I trusted this source, so..I did it. What a load of crap.
The people promoting EN have no clue what they are selling, which is nothing. “EVERYTHING” you learn from just the $25 buy-in can be found anywhere on the internet for free. You just have to look for it.
It’s really hard to explain my experience for that month. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Idiocracy” where they talk about electrolytes and it’s what plants crave….it’s kinda like that. They are so brain washed and don’t even realize it themselves.
I even joined an EN FB group for support. People just kept posting videos of themselves and making no sense.
I realize these are hard times, but this is not the way to do it. By the time most of these people figure it out, they will be out months worth of money and NOTHING to show for it.
Oh yeah. And for the guy who mentioned that one Dave lives in Costa Rica and another one lives in Florida. That’s most likely due to resident laws for America citizens. You just can’t go and move to Costa Rica and live, you have to establish resident citizenship ( which requires back and forth to the states). Learned that from family moving to Costa Rica.
I realize and even En members pointed out your underlying promotion of your products,(which I will look at). What I say to that…
Well…… a little healthy competition just makes you would harder for what you believe in.
Thanks again, Deb
Hey Deb,
It sounds like you grasp the process of “earning money” online the ethical way. It does not involved a tiered downline and it does not involve pressuring people into buying stuff so you can earn more money. I condone you for this and I think that it is folks like you that make the Internet a quality place. I have been in the same line of business as you for some time, ethical marketing and building a business through a customer/product relationship without the requirement for ponzi like constructs.
Unfortunately, not everyone falls into this category and there are MANY people out there doing things that are not only unethical, but illegal in nature. I am glad that you realized what EN was before you started in their concentration camp that harbours motivation, but does not offer any real substance. It has gotten to the point where EN members don’t even know what they are doing and if you ask them, they fail to be able to explain they just say “don’t hate me because I am making money”.
The blog that people are paying for is sold on the premise that it has a high Alexa ranking. Anyone with half a brain in the SEO world knows that Alexa means squat, it is an arbitrary traffic number pulled out of thin air (actually it is based on people’s activity that have the alexa toolbar installed). It has nothing to do with rankings and it is no indicator of success just because you can use an extension of this domain. It is in fact a detrement to your business using this EN.com domain and this is for several reasons.
(1) Google has recently flagged this entire domain as spam. EN.com is not even ranked under their own search terms any longer. That should set off some serious alarms.
(2) Other people’s content can adversely affect yours. It happens and it is HAPPENING.
(3) You don’t own any of the content you create. Many people have come to me in regards to this as EN will not remove your content after you quit. Some folks have even gone as far as contacting lawyers in this regard to get their content taken down.
(4) There are high quality websites you can get for FREE. Yes, you can get better for free. Just don’t tell this to the folks at EN because they would rather sell you something that should be free, so they can put money in their pocket.
So that gets the website aspect out of the way…
Then you stated:
That is a fundamental problem. When you put a bunch of people in a room that all make no sense, guess what their conversation leads to. Motivational speaking…because there is no room for a common sense discussion about the actual business model. Money is the only focus. Success is the only focus. And this is done at any cost, including shaming others into joining and promoting just to get someone into your downline.
And yes, I agree it is hard times out there for many folks. I would never argue that and I would never discourage someone creating an ethical stream of income or trying out new things. I also don’t discredit those who have been part of EN or are currently part of in. I do hold out hope they will find their way one day as I know the opportunity that lies out there. An opportunity that I have innate knowledge of and have been helping people uncover for the last 10 years.
But I digress before I get all sappy on you…lol. I do appreciate your feedback Deb and if you do get a chance, check out WA…I know I promote it, own it…yes, but that is because I believe in it and I know nothing can come close to offering what we offer out there. Try out even the starter membership (no pressure to upgrade) and I think you will love it. I would also love to help you scale your existing business, it sounds like you are on the right track.
All the best Deb!
Hi, one of my previous MLM company leaders invited me to attend tomorrow the launching ceremony in a hotel of EN in Dubai U.A.E.
Despite knowing the fact that all MLM companies will be banned in U.A.E after 90 days expect those are registered with DSA office in U.A.E but there is no DSA office in U.A.E so for.
The legitimate companies like, FLP, DXN and PMI are worried about that and struggling to bring the DSA office in U.A.E.
I don’t think EN could be registered with DSA in USA.
Check it out if you like, but really question them on the business model. I can assure you that it is all going to be about money and mindset, not the actual product you are promoting. And yeah, there is absolutely no way this would ever be declared a legit MLM as there is no underlying product that people are selling, they are selling the next level of people into the idea of the ponzi and they are required for a stream of downline and them to BUY in order to keep the cycle of insanity going.
Does this kind of stuff go the same as network marketing? Companies such as Amway, Avon etc. Are they a little more legitimate or is it the same kind of bs?
Network marketing is absolutely legitimate, there are many companies out there that are built of ethics and creating a quality product that actually helps people succeed online. The difference between companies like Amyway, Avon and Mary K is that they all have products that you are selling to outside customers. These are people that do not have to be involved within the actual system.
With Empower Network you have to be involved in the system to buy the products and the products are what drive your revenue. So you build your downline and hope that folks buy more products, if they don’t, it is commonplace to shame them or motivate them to buy the products.
There are ethical network marketing programs out there, unfortunately EN is not one of these because of the nature of the business heirarchy and the requirement to be part of the program to buy the products.
Hi.
Just thought I’d throw out some knowledge on this. I sold Mary Kay, Pampered Chef and Maleluca.
You DO buy their product first to sell it. Why would ya want to sell something you have no idea about. That’s silly.
So, with that being said… you do need to be involved in their system. I’m guessing you’ve never seen the tacky pink caddies huh? Yup. Those ladies have sold their asses off to clients for a long time. BUT they’ve also made a lot of their money by signing up new “consultants” and “helping” them sell their products.
Take a look into any of their business models, or any business model for that matter and you will find that more experienced people get paid more… with anything.
Yeah, this is very true. I know people that are involved with all of those companies. There is a big difference with these though, yes your downline is important, but so is selling the actual “product” to the public. In order to buy the product, you don’t have to be a consultant (unlike that of EN), very BIG difference.
Do I agree with the MLM model? Yes, I think it is fine to a certain degree. I do think the end user is overcharged because the consultants have to get paid, the same reason companies like Mona Vie flourish is because there is money to be earned, but you can buy the exact same quality juice form any company that produces out and that is outside the MLM world.
Thanks for your feedback Glenna and I would never argue the fact that there are some real ethical MLM companies out there. There are many that are not as well.
Well Kyle as I said earlier I was involved when AMWAY started and it was pretty much the same as EN. We sold products that were a lot cheaper in stores, we promoted harrasing family and neighbors, there was very little education about the products other than from your sponsor, yet look at them today still alive and kicking. You have no idea what EN may evolve into or your own program for that fact. The consumer is fickle and always chases the latest opportunity, and I am quite sure you are already aware of this. Most industry leaders have been involved in six or seven companies. Why? because all MLM’s and affiliate markets soon fizzle and burn with more lucrative opportunities always on the horizon.
And how did you feel about promoting products that were more expensive and for no reason? Did you feel good at the end of the day? Probably not, but you were making money right. I guess you didn’t really care as much about the customer as your own revenue. Unfortunately that is the state of the world we are living in, one that is based off a greed.
There is nothing wrong with earning money or building a vastly successful business, but doing something that you can be proud of. Hustling folks to get into a scheme that is charging $25 for a blog that doesn’t rank and one that you don’t even own should set off red flags. But if you are just in it for the money, then I guess you can go about making money based on other people’s weaknesses or lack of knowledge.
Perhaps you should consider building yourself a business instead of jumping from scheme to scheme. It can be done with the “proper” training and knowledge and it can allow you to follow your passion. If MONEY is your passion, then you are always going to be doing “whatever it takes” to get it, which usually throws you into the grey area of ethics.
Look at the Pro’s & Con’s of his product he is suckering you into buying after reading about what a “scam” empower network is:
Pros
All levels of training
Video training, Tutorial training, and Courses
10,000′s of community members
13+ Full, Interactive Classrooms
Live & Interactive Help
2 Free Websites
State of the Art Hosting
Access to Industry Experts
A strict spam free environent.
$0 Membership. Yes, FREE!
Cons
Have too much stuff! (ie. can be overwhelming for some)
Even better, look at his ranking:
Owners: Kyle & Carson <- (Yeah he's an owner & wants your money! LOL)
Overall Rank: 98 out of 100
Good job Kyle 🙂
Thanks for your feedback Chris, even though you are coming from a place of anger (it appears) I appreciate all feedback. I will take a second to respond to your comment:
First of, I am not suckering anyone into anything. In fact, quite the contrary. If I was doing this, I would be involved in a scheme where I make money online by promoting that scheme to others. If you can honestly tell me you are in EN and make money without promoting EN to others (as your business model), I will have some respect for what you are doing. However, you are likely just like everyone else within the next and you just promote EN to others, a common form of currency displacement. Out of their pocket and into yours…and in order for them to get any tangible benefit from the purchase, they are forced to do the same to others.
The only thing worse than one dishonest person is a dishonest person teaching others how to be dishonest.
I know you don’t think this is what you are doing, but I have never heard an even remote defense from someone within the Empower Network that this is not the case.
First, you are selling people the idea that a blog with a high Alexa is a good thing. This doesn’t mean a thing. Charging people for a blog that they don’t own, that no longer rank in Google, and where you are sharing space with 10,000’s of other people (many of which are posting content that adversely affect your blog) is not a good thing. Yet that is your first pitch to people. I can tell you where to get superior blogs for free, but I am sure you are not willing to listen because it would undermine the exact thing you are promoting.
Secondly, yes. I am making a recommendation that people at least try the FREE (100% Free, no CC required) aspect of our community. It offers more than the entire EN “all in” offers people, but we are offering it for free. So to say that we want your money would be your current mindset. We want to help people and if they believe in our service, then they decide to pay us for an even more awesome service. We don’t force anyone into anything, we don’t pressure anyone, we don’t call people wussies, and we don’t shame anyone.
AND we teach people how to promote products and services online, that is, how to create a real business. We teach local marketing (you likely are unaware of what this is), we provide folks with a slough of training, support, expert access, live video classes, all for one price (but only if they are interested).
If they aren’t, then they don’t pay us a dime. You might ask, “how do you make money from that”. We don’t and that is our business model. We put our best foot forward knowing that people will truly understand the value in what we offer, knowing that not everyone has money to join and some people just aren’t willing to do it. That is fine with us.
So next time you go to make assumptions that everyone is into everything for a buck, come back to this thread and you will realize that there are some honest people out there. Unfortunately what you call a business is not what I define as a business because I have been around long enough to know that it simply is not. I do hold my hopes out for you Chris and wish you all the success in the world, I just hope that going forward you accomplish this in a way that is ethical and that benefits the end user of any offer that you have…not just you.
I am really surprised the way Kyle has commented here regarding Empower network. I don’t think he has understood the concept.
That is the problem with most folks is that I do understand what the offer is…and many other folks are starting to comprehend it. Behind the “rah rah” sessions getting folks excited about the opportunity, there is very little substance. I will help you “understand” this if you need a jump start before you get too involved with this offer.
(1) You join for $25, you get a blog that doesn’t rank in Google. You don’t even own the content. You can get MUCH BETTER websites for free elsewhere. In fact, here is an offer that will get you two superior sites that can be used within any niche and are not riddled with Empower Network branding all over them (which is a huge drawback)
(2) In order to be part of their affiliate program, you have to pay. Yes, in order to receive payment, there is a requirement that you pay a 3rd party company $19.99 per month to receive funds. You may question why (if you were intelligent), and the reason is because EN cannot get a merchant account with any legitimate company like Paypal, Beanstream or direct merchant accounts with CC companies because of the nature of their business (ponzi).
(3) Unless you go “all in” after this point, you are going to be shamed by your upline and other folks that have gone “all in”. Why you ask (people ask questions when they want answers BTW)? Because if you don’t buy this stuff, they don’t make money. These costs are as follow. Inner circle, $100 per month. $500 Costa Rica (one time). $1000 $15K formula (one time). So one month in and you are looking at a recurring bill of $145 per month in recurring expenses (for a blog that is useless and training that is also useless in respect to “online business”)….along with $1500 in other fees.
(4) And then your goal being part of empower is to force others into this exact same business. People that are shamed into buying the “all in” products and spending money flying to motivational conferences, but yet, you still don’t have a business. You are promoting people into the same thing in efforts to get them to get newcomers in so you can continue making money. That is a loose definition of a ponzi…feel free to look this up if you want.
Hope this offers some insight into what YOU are doing if you are part of this system. If you think you are doing something for the better of society, you are fooling yourself.