Empower Network: A Comprehensive Review

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What is the Empower Network?

The Empower Network was launched on Monday October 31, 2011. It was created by David Wood and David Sharpe.  Both of these men have interesting back stories:  In a few short years, David Wood went from living in a van to making millions online, and David Sharpe went from a construction worker fed up with 10 hour days to becoming one of the top copywriters in the industry.

Their goal was to develop a product where others could succeed using the same methods they used to make their online fortunes.  They wanted it accessible (i.e. inexpensive) and easy to implement for those without much experience.  The result of their brainstorming and testing became the Empower Network, a simple system with a $25.00 entry point.

Empower Network is a massive blogging site that is already created and set up for new members to start blogging.  They also offer marketing training so the blog and affiliate membership can be used effectively.  According to the company, with hundreds of people already blogging daily their Alexa traffic rankings in the first ten days had surpassed sites like Magnetic Sponsoring’s Better Networker and Tim Ferris’ Four Hour Work Week.

This is not another multi level marketing company, even though it looks a lot like one as you study the compensation plan and business model.  It is an affiliate program with recurring income and some pass-up sales.  100% of the revenues from this company are passed on to affiliates.  The owners make money the same way the rest of the community does, by making direct sales.  They also offer commissionable products to members, with 100% commissions attached ro resell those as well.  The company signed up over 4500 paid affiliates and paid out over $600,000.00 in sales during their first 10 days in business.

Empower Network Start-Up Problems

All new businesses, software programs or systems have bugs to fix.  Most of the problems the Empower Network are experiencing in these early stages, are due to  growing so fast and furious that their service providers can’t keep up with new members.

Rapid growth created some problems with the smooth working of their payment solutions.  Their business model involves merchant accounts that must be set up for all members, and their US providers couldn’t handle the volume without getting behind.  I guess suddenly processing 4000 new merchant applications in 10 days is a bit of a stretch even for the largest companies…

There were also issues with international merchant solutions.  After the main international provider they had arranged to use bailed on them, they had to work overtime to integrate a PayPal option as quickly as possible.  This is now live and ready for international members.

PayPal has enough market share that they can make whimsical decisions that affect thousands of people with out hurting their bottom line too much, so the Empower guys continue to work on an improved merchant solution for International members as I write this review.  PayPal also has a history of dislike for the internet marketing industry.  However, many online marketers use PayPal for all of their online business and never have any problems.

The Empower Network Sales Funnel

The sales funnel is worth taking a close look at just to learn how to write compelling sales copy and video scripts, shoot compelling video, and speak to an audience through a camera.  David Sharpe is a master copywriter and he and David Wood both are excellent communicators.

They didn’t do the usual sales pre-launch hoopla at the Empower Network.  They kept the details very secretive until launch time.  Low key meetings where all attendees were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement was their approach.  They made pre-orders this way before their site was even up and running.  A select few founding members took the same approach to build an affiliate team before launch.

(The online sales funnel can be accessed for review Here)

The points they focus on in the sales funnel are:

• 100% Commissions paid to affiliates.  The leaders make money the same way everyone else does.
• Payment directly to your bank account at time of sale…made possible by 100% commissions.  You do not have to wait for company to decide on the right time to pay you.  You control the payment gateway.
• Simplicity, so it is easy for the average beginner to get some results and see immediate income with simple marketing training and means to market included in the program. If a guy living in a van and a construction worker can do it…
• Recurring affiliate commissions with residual income based on passed-up sales.
• The ability to use this as a lucrative front end lead capture product for another opportunity if you want.  Use it to market any other business you see on this site as a back-end.
• …and of course,  like all money-making or lead generation opportunities you see, they do a great job triggering your desire for the time freedom and money freedom you can get if you run your own successful business online.

Cost and Compensation Plan for the Empower Network

You can get started at $25.00.  Full 100% commissions are paid on all products.  If an affiliate buys something that the person who recruited them does not own, the commisison is passed up to the first affiliate in the chain who does own it. About 20 percent of sales are also passed up to the person who recruited you…and to you from the work of the affiliates who you recruit.  There is a monthly recurring income where 100% of the cost of products are collected each month as long as your subscribers stay in the program and you keep your own monthly account up to date at whatevver level you want to get paid on..

There is an elite ’Inner Circle’ level that includes marketing training, audio, video, webinars, and updates that regular blog owners do not have.  The cost is an additional $100.00 per month, with the same 100% commissions as the $25.00 product (total cost of blog network and Inner Circle is $125.00).  The inner circle offers a lot more training and more income…approximately five times more income.

At the time of this writing, almost 50% of members have already upgraded to the Inner Circle.  They also offer additional one-time payment products and will continue to offer more over time.  The latest offering is a $500.00 training product.  About 25% of the people who are in the inner circle are buying this product so far.  Like with the memberships, if someone buys a product you do not own, the commission is passed up the line of recruiters to the first one who owns that product.

Basically, according to their model, you can get started for just $25.00 and you should be able to start earning money right away.  If you want to make more money, they suggest upgrading at least to the $100.00 product, and any other productss that are available as well.  This helps, but is not necessary.  Given the conversion numbers they show, it makes a lot of sense to take the upgrades.  If you go through their sales funnel for yourself you can see more graphic and easy to understand detail. The Sales Funnel Can Be Seen Here.

Recommendation Re: Empower network

PROS:

• The leadership (David Wood and David Sharpe) are solid, genuine, and experienced, and have proven in other businesses that they can make money online.
• The entry point of $25.00, or even $125.00, is minimal for what is being offered.  If you can’t afford to stretch your budget enough to get $25.00, you should probably be looking at trading your time for money until you can afford the $25.00…then get your butt in gear and make just one sale to cover your investment cost.
• You can start making money right away, and control your own payment gateway so you don’t have to depend on the company to hold and dole out your money.
• The blogging platform and training is worth far more than $25.00 per month on its own, even without the potential to build a lucrative income.
• It can also be used to capture email addresses and/or as a front end product for another opportunity…
• It’s relatively new.  It is a unique, potentially very effective low cost option with huge promise and I have heard several predictions that the membership could eventually grow into the hundreds of thousands.

CONS:

• The downside I see with this company are the growing pains they are having and the issues with international memberships.  They report that they are tirelessly working to iron out all the details, and personally, I believe them.  They appear to be very genuine in their efforts and truly are payin gout 100% commissions when they could have launched this by keeping a part of all the profits for themselves rather than being part of the system and earning like other affiliates do.
• Experienced marketers will have an advantage, but inexperienced marketers can follow the training and succeed as well, it just may not happen as quickly as the more experienced members.

Recommendation: If you can afford to lose $25.00, make sure you take a look at the Empower Network.

This Author and The Empower Network

I have personally “put my money where my mouth is” and signed in at the Inner Circle level with plans to purchase all upgrades once they smooth out the wrinkles in their payment systems.  I have experience as the owner and primary marketing strategist at Freedom Ability Marketing and I have three years in more traditional internet marketing.  I was an entrepreneur for 10 years before that.  In all of that time I have never seen anything that has close to the same potential this program has.

I plan to work on this in a big way.  I will be offering some of my proprietary tools and access to high ranking optimized websites to those who want to work with me to do the same.

There is money to be made and paid leads to gain…that’s leads that pay you $25.00 to 100 or more rather than you paying for them!  Depending on your work ethic and experience, this is potentially a lot of both of these things.  If you have any interest in online marketing, want an effective front end product to backend sell your current business, or just want to take a look at a very compelling sales message to see what this is all about, you can find more information on the Empower Network here.

Based on their initial numbers, the Empower Network has potential to break out at unbelievable levels around the world and help a lot of internet marketers make their first real money online.