I don’t “hate” Empower Network, nor do I think it is a bad business opportunity or a scam. I also don’t think it is a “bad” business. It’s just not for me. I’ve been approached to join Empower Network about a 1,000 times now. Ok, maybe not 1,000 times, but it sure does feel like it.
If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you already know what Empower Network is. And if you don’t know what it is, you can do a quick internet search to learn more about it. If I had to describe it in one sentence I would describe it as a “network marketing or affiliate marketing blogging platform with high ticket up-sells.”
Once again, the purpose of this article is not to cover every single detail about how Empower Network works.
Instead, I want to focus on why I didn’t think Empower Network was the right fit for me.
Why didn’t I join Empower Network?
While the “big ticket commissions” are definitely very lucrative, I see a few problems with the business that make my spider senses tingle.
First and foremost, when you start your own blog with Empower Network, you don’t own your own blog. You don’t own the domain. Your blog is a “sub-domain” not a domain itself.
To me that is a big red flag. I would never invest months or years of my life building a blog on a sub domain, or a domain that I didn’t even own. From a business person’s perspective, that would be foolish.
Even if there are benefits of blogging on a popular domain or sub-domain, I like to own my own blogs. I like to have control of my own blogs. I like to be able to format and modify my blogs any way I see fit.
In addition, I DEFINITELY wouldn’t tell a new person interested in blogging to blog on a sub-domain.
The next reason I didn’t join Empower Network is that I believe the 100% commissions they talk about aren’t completely honest. To be quite frank, you do not earn 100% commissions.
You only earn commissions on products you’ve bought yourself. So, if you just buy the $25 per month basic package, and you sponsor someone who goes “all in” for more than $3,000, you don’t get a penny of that. Well, you get the $25 commission, but that’s it.
I don’t have a problem with that. But I do have a problem with it being advertised as 100% commissions, when it really isn’t.
Also, some of your commissions are “passed up” to your sponsor or upline, so even though you might have personally sponsored someone you went “all in” you might not get any of that money.
Once again, I’m not knocking pass ups. I just think that using the term 100% commissions is a bit deceptive.
In addition, you have to pay $19.95 per month as a “membership fee” just to be eligible for commissions. You rarely, if ever, hear about that when people promote Empower Network.
Another reason I didn’t join Empower Network is because there’s a crazy amount of online competition. Go to YouTube and you will find tens of thousands of videos about Empower Network. Check the Google or Bing search results and it’s even worse.
I don’t think competition is a bad thing, in and of itself, but you do need to be able to find a way to differentiate yourself and stand out in the marketplace. That’s very hard to do with Empower Network.
People are already trying to do that by creating workaround pages, and using deceptive marketing practices, by calling it other things (other than Empower Network).
In addition to that, there are literally thousands of people blasting out emails every day to promote their Empower Network business.
After all, how many emails do you get a day from someone in Empower Network?
I’d bet I get about 15 to 20 emails a day. And to be quite frank with you, it gets annoying. REALLY ANNOYING.
So there you have it. These are the reasons I didn’t join Empower Network.
Don’t let me fool you and tell you I haven’t been TEMPTED to join the company. I ALMOST joined Empower Network on two different occasions. But, I always backed out at the last moment.
Of course, lots of people have achieved success with the company. And I admire that.
I also know that lots of people have lost their shirt. I’d bet the success rate with Empower Network is about the same as any other MLM Company. The problem is when you fail with Empower Network, you lose thousands (if you went all in)!
At the end of the day, I just decided it wasn’t the right business for me. I’m happier owning my own blog and having complete control over it. I’m happier promoting a traditional, reputable MLM Company with products you can actually touch.
What you decide to do is totally up to you. I will tell you what I tell anyone thinking about starting a business of their own. Do your homework first. Study the good and bad. Ask a lot of questions. Don’t let greed control your decisions. And whatever you do, trust your instincts!
If you decide to do it, then sell out to the business model and go all out! Don’t tinker with it. Don’t think you will get rich and make money just because you signed up. Like any business, you have to work hard, be persistent, and master MARKETING.
What are your thoughts? What do you like or dislike about Empower Network? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.
Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
P.S. Learn how to grow a successful network marketing business. Secret tips, training, and practical ideas. Free training delivered by email.
Daily, I am sending Emails from people pushing the Empower network to my spam folder. Many of them are obnoxious and perturbing. If you don’t answer them, some actually get sarcastic and hateful. I have even had a couple say I was an idiot not to join. This is not a way to do business. I will never forget it and there is no way I will ever join that system, even if my Mother asked me to.
It is some of these people that give a bad name to MLMs in general. Personally, I don’t like the Empower network.
Chuck:
I too joined Empower Network, by accident. I was trying to buy an affiliate product from a guy whose name I won’t mention, and got redirected to the sign in, then “wallet activation”, thinking EN was his private branding of the product I wanted. Later, I realized what I’d done. First sign of trouble was when emails from the founders went to spam, and clicking on their links triggered my security program.
I was able to get a hold of a “Badass service rep” and cancel my membership easily enough. About this time, I read your article about top-tier companies. I finally looked at the BBB complaint log, and the frequency of complaints was increasing, with most classed as deceptive sales practices. I agree with Ivan about the “fast kill” mentality at EN, and you about the 100% commissions not being real.
I’ve tried to unsubscribe from some of the emails, and the unsubscribe links have triggered my security as well. Then there’s the vulgarity thing, as Dee mentioned. Thanks Chuck, for your candor on this issue.
Tony,
Thanks for the comment. Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Empower Network.
I’m glad you learned something from the process and were able to cancel your membership promptly.
I hope you find whatever it is you are looking for in your next business opportunity.
Thanks for visiting my website and leaving several comments. I really appreciate it.
Chuck
I was a member of Empower Network for a very short time and even got a sign up in my first week. However, the more I delved into the training and watched the training videos, it became more and more apparent that it was a culture that I did not want my name to be associated with.
In addition to all the reasons you named Chuck, I just could not see me promoting a company whose owners are so fouled mouth that I could not play the recordings around my children. Even when I got on the hangouts with the women empowerment groups, I no longer felt I was among women who respected themselves.
They were so foul mouthed I could hardly stand to listen. Plus I could not in good conscious share the blogging platform that was branded with the words “badass” with cross skulls. That was not part of my brand nor did I want to be a part of it.
I told the one person I signed up to get out as quickly as she could. These days you don’t need to blog on someone else’s platform to be successful. All you have to do is be willing to put in the hard work and the rest will come.
Good points, Dee. I never even considered the vulgarity issue, but I could see that as a huge turn-off for a lot of people.
The thing that really hangs me up with Empower Network is teaching people to blog on a sub-domain that they don’t even own. That is just a horrible business decision.
Thanks for the comment.
Chuck
I have learned it can be bad to put your hard work of writing on a sub-domain. The many things that Empower Network has been accused of tells me that you probably would lose your copyright on the material you write too.
I have a very difficult time with so many network marketing companies including Empower using the same exact websites. This falls back to duplicate content which looks bad to search engines.
It seems that many of the emails and all have slowed down from Empower. I wonder if it has went down. Do you know?
I would never put my content on a sub domain, EVER.
Chuck,I wish I have read your comments about Empower Network much earlier,if I did I would not lost a couple thousands of dollars being member,when I need help my sponsor said it is not his job to “baby sit” anyone,all is so clearly explained on the EN site,etc,etc…it was obvious to me AFTER I joined that first; I joined a program I did not have clear idea what it is all about…and second; even before I joined I try to ask additional questions and I should listen to my intuition [which I did not] and just based on my sponsor attitude alone, I should not have joined….Chuck,I just hope some new people will read reason’s you decide NOT to join Empower Network program,so they will save themselves thousands of dollars,for NOT joining a program which in my opinion is not for most people…there is a LOT hype there,and most of top earners there are just for “fast kill”,and after you join,you are more or less on your own…unless you are online expert,which most people are not.
I’m sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Empower Network, Ivan. Hopefully, you learned something from the experience that you can take with you and benefit from. I’ve found that most successful entrepreneurs fail a few times before they become successful, so look at it as part of paying your dues and becoming who you need to become, so you can achieve the success you desire. All the best to you.
Chuck
Yes I agree. I find the Empower Network videos and emails very spammy. I also got WAY too many of them. You are essentially buying membership to a blog, tech stuff, & auto responder series you don’t own. The blogs are also very generic. They also lack warmth and personality.
Thanks for the comment, Angela.
Chuck
These are the same exact reasons why I decided it wasn’t for me. And yea, I get about 5-10 emails a day also.
Glad to hear that I am not the only one.