INTRODUCTION

You may be wondering what the Empower Network Review is about, well I will try to spell it out for you. So what is the Empower Network? Empower Network was started in 2011 by David Wood in St. Petersburg, Florida. Its goal is to teach home-based and small business owners tips on how to market better on the internet.

It includes a viral blogging program with a blog publishing network for the active affiliates, and a web-based course system that teaches marketing skills and content creation techniques. Instead of paying a website developer for a site, you get the one designed by Empower Network. There are 30,000 people in the affiliate program portion of Empower Network, and approximately 120,000 others have taken the courses.

PROS/CONS

Pros –

There are users who rave about Empower Network and are pleased with the things they have been able to learn as a result of taking the courses. They feel that they have gained valuable experience that they can use in their business, be it an online shop or a real estate company.

Cons –

• It is not clear on the site how much you have to spend in order to be successful, particularly for newcomers, and the business model is not well explained nor is it easy to find.

• Many estimates are that as many as 95% of people will fail at an MLM venture.

• You have to bring in referrals and generate sales in order to receive any income. While Empower Network does pay any commissions earned, the effort and cost that goes into generating those commissions is not necessarily worth it.

You’re doing a lot of selling of Empower Network for them, with a lot of up-selling to others involved. You also have to pay a monthly membership fee in order to earn any commissions, which gets progressively higher if you wish to earn more income.

• Affiliate marketers are given nearly unfettered freedom to market, so much so that Facebook has banned any direct linking due to excessive postings.

• You do not own your blog – Empower Network does, if you leave you have lost all your work and website.

• On some of the products sold, you receive a 100% commission, but you must give up any commission on the second and fourth sales of that product.

• Yes you could use their blog and have their template at your disposal. Alternatively, you could use a free WordPress site or a Free Wealthy Affiliate website.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Once you have completed the initial phase, you’ll be in the affiliate program where you earn commissions based on your postings and what people purchase from you, all while working at home.

You will only earn commissions based on the level of membership you have, so if you have a basic membership, and someone buys something at a higher level from you, you will not realize any commissions for that sale. Instead, that commission goes to someone up the network who is at the correct level.

The other half of the business is the marketing course program. Does it contain potentially valuable information for learning marketing? Yes. However, a cursory look at a community college shows a 6-week course on Principles of Marketing will cost about $400 for a four credit course.

Empower Network is really for those who have money to invest, and are looking to get more in return as well as learn techniques for marketing. You get the tools you need to help you get started, but all of the income you earn is based on how much you are willing to put in in  of effort, time, and monthly dues. Be very careful when investing in this company as it gets very expensive, you need to invest heavily to maybe bring in a modest income.

TRAINING/TOOLS OVERVIEW

Empower Network will sell you all of the tools you need to be successful. When you make your initial purchase of $25, you receive your blogging platform, the core checklist, and the quick training course. There is a mobile app that you can use as well. Beyond that, there are increasing levels of membership detailed below under Price.

SUPPORT

You receive marketing training, a blogging website platform, and other assistance to help you be successful while starting your own home-based business. There is also the Monday Night Empower Hour to help motivate you at the start of your week. Some of the networks within EN are very large, however, and it is harder to get support through them from those above you in the program. Compare this to instant support from Wealthy Affiliate owners and the thousands of supporters in the online community plus the instant chat line 24/7, hands down no comparison.

PRICE

• It costs $25 a month to get started, and then you will have to pay $19.95 a month to join the affiliate program meaning you will be promoting Empower Network’s products. It also enables you to start earning commissions for sales done at that level or below. There is no trial period to examine the tools and see if Empower Network is for you.

• The “Inner Circle” level will cost you $100 per month and you will be able then to sign up for an automatic e-mail service to send out replies and otherwise manage your e-mail. With the Inner Circle level, you now have access to a large library of podcasts and audio files with information about the founders and other team members, plus motivational topics.

• Next up is a fee of $995 for the $15k formula course which is based on teaching you how to market yourself online. This covers topics like “Dynasty Team Building Formula”, “7 Figure Email Secrets”, “SEO Jedi Blog Traffic”, and “Syndication Strategies”. Empower Network touts this course as having evergreen content, or information that will always be relevant, since they update it regularly when new information becomes available.

• Then they have the $500 Costa Rica program, which is an 11 video program detailing topics covered during a three-day retreat founder David Wood went on in Costa Rica. It covers a range of topics like how to engage your online leads, and it teaches you some additional marketing techniques.

• Then there is the Masters Retreat, which costs $3,500. You are given a workbook to go along with forty courses that cover the “science of marketing”.

At the end of the initial process, you will have spent about $5,000 for all of the courses. It is expensive, and while some say they feel it is like a masters’ degree program, there are also many marketing courses available that cost much less, available at a community college or on various websites.

Consider joining Wealthy Affiliate for Free, check it all out and if you would like to upgrade an offer of $19.00 for the first month and $49.00 per month thereafter or you will be given an offer to join for $495.00 per year which works out to 2 free months per year.

Absolutely No Up-sells with more training, instant 24/7 live chat help and a lot less money, seems like a no brainer to me.

CONCLUSION

There is value in nearly every multi-level marketing concept, but how much value you can realize is dependent on your risk level, and how much money you are willing to spend. Empower Network is honest in that it does pay out any commissions earned, but it is one of the more expensive MLM companies to buy into.

As described above, many people have gotten some valuable insights and information from the courses, but there is nothing Earth-shatteringly important and unique that cannot be learned any other way. Is it worth joining? For many, the answer is no. Ultimately, the decision rests in your hands, but be sure you have a full understanding of what it is you are doing if you decide to join.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky

Would like to hear your comments on this review, if you belong to Empower Network let us know your thought on this.