Product: Empower Network
Price: Initial $25 monthly fee, $19.95 monthly merchant fee, $100 monthly fee for Inner Circle, + $500 for the Costa Rica Intensive, + $1,000 for the $15K Formula
Owners: David Wood and David Sharp
Rank: 0/100
Website: www.empowernetwork.com
Have you witnessed any of the hype over Empower Network lately? Has someone tried to get you to join? With all the media attention you may be wondering, “Is Empower Network a scam?” Well I can assure you, it very much is.
They call themselves a viral blogging network. You don’t need to go through all the technical aspects of setting up a website, know how to do SEO, or any of that because it’s all taken care of for you with their viral blogging system. You just simply pay $25 a month to have one blog on their network. They claim you’ll be ranked easily within Google. All you have to do is blog every day!
Well, first off let me tell you that you’re going to have to spend a lot more than $25 per month if you even want to get paid, and you’re not really getting much in return since their blogging system isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be.
Let’s briefly compare Empower Network to the competition:
Hmm, so what is this really all about? What is Empower Network?!
They’re selling you a prepackaged pyramid scheme
It’s essentially like a multi-level-marketing sales model, only unlike most MLM companies that have products to sell others, the Empower Network isn’t selling anything! It’s just a pyramid scheme.
Here I drew a simplistic diagram of how Multi-level-Marketing is structered:
As you can see, it looks like a pyramid, which is why MLM is commonly referred to as pyramid selling, or sometimes just downright pyramid schemes (although not all MLM companies are bad). But here’s how it works–you recruit people to the company, so you can earn commission. But it doesn’t stop there, when those people recruit new members to join, you earn commission from those new members as well, and when those new members recruit new people, you earn money from them too, and so on and so forth. You’re essentially creating your own “pyramid” design. Now that’s assuming you were able to refer enough people, who then go on to refer more people, who go on to refer more people. However it’s quite difficult for most people to successfully achieve this type of success within a MLM program.
Empower Network is very similar in design to the traditional Multi Level Marketing structure, but it’s a little confusing. They claim you earn 100% commissions, but you don’t earn commissions for every new member you bring in. For every 2, 4, 6 and every 5th sale you make after that, the person who referred YOU to Empower Network gets the commission. So you’re doing a lot of hard recruiting work for the members above you in the pyramid to earn money. And guess who is at the top of that pyramid? David Sharp and David Wood!
Yes, they’re essentially genius scam artists.
They’re earning a crap ton of money while everyone is off doing all the dirty recruiting work for them in hopes of becoming rich too, but no one is ever going to be at the top of this pyramid except the owners! 99% of people won’t profit from the system. Yes, people may be earning money, but the majority of people will not actually profit from the EN, since they have to spend so much to just be a member!
The people at the top are making money at the expense of all the people at the bottom losing their money!
The thing about Empower Network that is different than most MLM companies, is that MLM companies are actually selling products. Think Amway, the original MLM company. People earn commissions from the products they sell, and they are encouraged to recruit new members to sell the products too, but at least they are selling something. Empower Network isn’t selling anything but Empower Network itself!
Here’s some advice from the US Federal Trade Commission on MLM companies:
“Not all multilevel marketing plans are legitimate. Some are pyramid schemes. It’s best not to get involved in plans where the money you make is based primarily on the number of distributors you recruit and your sales to them, rather than on your sales to people outside the plan who intend to use the products.”
….Sounds like Empower Network to me.
They pull bogus estimates out of thin air to make you think you’re getting a good deal
The thing I find laughable on their sales page is they go on and on about how hard and expensive it is to start up your own website. They claim it’s going to cost nearly $400 just to get your website up and running (which is completely untrue, a web domain costs around $10 a YEAR, and web hosting can be around $5 a month!), and how you need to hire a web designer that’ll cost you $5,000 just so your site is “usable” for the public. That is again, completely untrue. They have tons of professional and neat free templates within website builders such as WordPress, which require no professional web designer.
Then they go on to say this:
Guess what? That’s COMPLETELY false…
I started up 2 websites and it cost me $10 for each domain, plus I’m part of an amazing online business community that hosts websites, which I pay $29 per month. (Note: it’s much more than just a place to host websites, that’s a mere fraction of what it does. It taught me everything I need to know about how to SEO my site the PROPER way, without black hat techniques nor hiring an SEO professional. It also provides me all the training and support I could ever ask for.) I’ve been doing this for the past 6 months. So, let’s do that math– that’s $194. Yep. I’m at the top of Google, too. So this conservative estimate their pulling up is completely bogus.
This is simply to make unsuspecting folks think they’re getting a good deal when they buy into the $25 blogging system, and furthermore think upgrading once you join is still a good deal since it’s way less than $65,000!!
So what are the advantages to joining the Empower Network over starting your own website?
Well, I guess you could say it’s more simplistic. However, all your getting is a ONE blog. But, you don’t actually own that blog. In fact, if you ever quit the company, they have no obligation to take your content down since you do not own the rights. Yes, you are writing content that someone else owns, and that you have no control over. Why would you want to do that?
They claim your content will get ranked easily within Google, yet Google’s latest update de-ranked Empower’s blogs because they were seen as spammy. In fact, Facebook and Youtube won’t even allow you to post Empower Network content. It has been banned.
Look at what happened when I tried to post a link within Facebook:
When was the last time Facebook gave you that message when you were trying to post a link? Probably never! (Unless it was an Empower link!) Is that warning enough for you to stay away? I hope so!
Obviously the company is starting to be seen as spam on a wider level, as Facebook, Youtube, and Google are already catching on to this and taking action. So why would you want to pay all that money to be part of something that may very well, at any time, be banned from the internet?
You can start up your own website for WAY less money and have total control. That way, when the ship sinks, you won’t go down with it! If you don’t want to go through the hassle of getting your own domain, you can blog on a free blog–they have plenty of them all over the internet!
Who is the program intended for?
They say it’s for anyone and everyone! But you have to be a certain type of person for the Empower Network to work. It requires ruthless sales tactics in order for you to recruit others into joining the program with you, as they like to call others “wussies” to try and get them to go “all in” and buy the products.The majority of people may not feel comfortable with such sales techniques. And the thing is, again, you’re not selling anything but more products that teach you how to promote Empower Network!
Remember, this isn’t a traditional MLM company that pedals beauty or health products. The salespeople within those business don’t need to feel guilty because they’re actually selling real products that others want and can use. They’re getting something for their money. With EN, what are you really getting?
Pricing – so how much does it actually cost to join the Empower Network?
- On the surface, it’s $25 per month. But that only gets you a blog. You are not eligible to get paid if you only spend $25 a month.
- You have to shell out an additional $20 per month just to be eligible to be paid! (??)
- Then, you’re going to be pressured into joining the “inner circle” which is an additional $100 per month. The inner circle will give you access to video training modules, and make you eligible to earn 100% commissions. But that’s it, you’re paying $100 per month basically so you can earn higher commissions.
Now you’re up to a $144 monthly payment, and there’s still more upsells to come! (That’s nearly $2,000 PER YEAR!)
- The Costa Rica Incentive: This is a $500 one time payment and offers video training.
- The $15K Formula: A $1,000 one time payment which is a series of more video training.
This video training is just focused on building a successful business promoting Empower Network. If you ask me, $1,500 is a lot of money to shell out for additional training when you’re ALREADY paying $144 PER MONTH! Heck, even if you weren’t paying a $144 monthly fee, it’s still way overpriced in my opinion.
My Final Opinion
Empower Network is a scam. While some may be making money, it’s only at the expense of 99% of people losing money. The viral blogging system they offer is crap– it’s getting de-ranked from Google, banned from Facebook and Youtube, and gives you no rights to your own content. It may not be long before it’s banned from the internet completely.
You’re basically paying a lot of money for a blog which you could get for free elsewhere, and that wouldn’t be associated with a spammy company.
They’re already calling me a wussy!
I strongly advice you NOT to get started with this program. I want you to realize that while it is possible to make money online, you don’t need to join the Empower Network to do so. You will be faced with ruthless sales tactics (look above, they’re already calling you a wussy–and that’s just the beginning!) until you lose out on your money in the long run.
If you’re sick of scams like this and just want to start learning how to make money online without all the bull crap…
Read about my #1 recommendation here
It’s completely free to get started, offers way better support, tools and training than Empower Network, and once you do join premium, there are NO up-sells! It’s also a heck of a lot cheaper–only $29 monthly if you join on the yearly membership!
Do you have any questions, comments, or experiences with Empower Network? Post a comment down below, I’d be happy to hear what you have to say.
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