Empower Network BBB – Complaints or just Sour Grapes?

Empower Network BBB brings up a negative image.  This is a daunting task so let me get straight to it.  This is the difficult part about getting people interested in Empower Network, because if they research it they come across all of these complaints out there from ex affiliates and others.  Some are legit complaints insofar as they FEEL they were duped.

This is totally explainable when you investigate the complaints.  I’ll get to that in a sec.

Then there are the various haters and competitors who are just trying to capitalize on these issues for their own benefit.  Let’s face it, controversy can mean website traffic and if there is any buzz to be had then people are going to use that to their advantage.

Even me to an extent.  People search this topic out, so I figure hey let me get in there and try to explain these things rationally so that not everyone is at the mercy of the complainers and the ones who are just trying to profit (in a negative way) from that.

People Submitting Empower Network BBB Reports

Okay, so yes, I know, there are people who are unhappy with their Empower Network experience.  That didn’t stop me from taking the plunge, and it shouldn’t stop you either.  That is my main reason for posting this article. I hate it when only one side of a story gets told.

If you go to the Empower Network BBB section of the BBB site and look up the complaints, the reasons usually range from people who feel that they were wrongly charged after they cancelled, which happens across the board with many companies using automated systems, and those who didn’t realize that there were charges and fees beyond the $15/month viral blogging system.

I read through several of these and what I gleaned from them was that many of these people are just above illiterate.  They can’t express themselves in writing very well AT ALL and it’s no wonder they failed.  They were probably people who have a “get rich quick” or “cheap or free” mindset that will get them nowhere.  When they fail, they blame others, the system, the company… everyone but themselves.  They also are probably into the whole notion that we are little children and government must keep us safe from all the nasty people out there trying to con us.

It’s really pathetic.

Let’s look at one of these, and I really only have the stomach to post one:

So aside from the basic illiterate note that that person wrote, I could see no reason for it.  Many of these people are those who really don’t want to spend a dime or invest in their own online business education and when they see any sort of product cost or affiliate fee they flip out.  Sure, the blogging system is what it is.  If you use the Empower Network blog, it is laced with ads that take visitors to the blog into the Empower Network sales funnel and if enough people visit the blog and visit the ads and opt in, and some join, you get commissions.  If you fail to blog daily (one of the 8 core commitments) and don’t learn how to blog or anything about keyword research or SEO then SHAME ON YOU!

I saw all the same ads that these people saw but I have a brain and realize that there is a fair amount of marketing flair and then yo have the real opportunity.  Going into ANY sort of business is a risk, and you have to be committed to success and keep at it and eventually you will see success, but not if yo quit and cry scam after a few days or weeks.  Is it fair what this dummy up there did?  I say no.  but that is our society today.  Cry scam and ask for a bailout.  Don’t read the print or investigate or use logic at all.  No, that’s too difficult for these bred on TV barely literate losers out there.

Do I think all opportunity seekers are losers?  Of course not.  When I say things like that I think it’s pretty clear who I mean.

If for whatever reason my Empower Network business goes bust, I will not be filing any reports or blaming the company.  That’s just silly and childish.

Dave Wood, co-founder of Empower Network, speaks about this in one of the audios.  As part of a long talk about his adventures in network marketing and the many abject failures that he himself had over the years long before he and Dave Sharpe formed Empower Network, he speaks to this very phenomenon, and comes clean that he used to do the same thing.  It’s a very human thing to not want to take responsibility for one’s own shortcomings and failures.  To make a long story short, he speaks about how he was having a hard time in various companies and when he would hit a stall or couldn’t make it work, he would blame the products, the company, the compensation plan – anything but himself.  Then he goes on to say that’s what people who fail are still doing.  He’s right.  I’ve seen it all over and with ex-affiliates from MANY network marketing and MLM companies. Primerica, Amway, Arbonne, you name it.

What’s worse, many of these people out there, and I am talking about the impressionable uneducated ones of which there are many, THEN (not before they join), go out searching for dirt on Empower Network and are surprised by what they find, buy into it because it takes the blame from them, and then wring their hands and say, “Oh my God how could I be taken advantage of?” and then go on to file reports with the BBB and other online complaint driven outlets. (nice business model but it is a business model – supply a complaint forum)  These people fail at it for whatever reason – too much work, they don’t grasp the concept, they have a poor mindset and are negative, they whine to prospects and wonder why no one signs up under them – the reasons are endless.

So, Dave Wood went on to say that he was in one company and noticed that even though it wasn’t working for him he saw evidence all around him that it was working great for others.  So, logically he determined that it was HIM.  HE was the reason he was failing.  It wasn’t the company or the products or the compensation plan.

I’m sorry, but I do not believe that we should act like children or that we need the government to go and close down companies just to coddle our own fragile egos.  Sometimes people fail. Move on, folks, there’s nothing more to see here.

Failure is disappointing.  I know that it sucks when you pin your hopes on something and then come to the realization that you, for whatever reason, can’t make it work.  It’s heartbreaking.  If you look around and see many others making it with the company, and you know that the company really pays out commissions (I’ve gotten commissions, the DO pay out), then it is not a scam, pyramid, or any other ripoff.

People just need to differentiate marketing from reality, and Empower Network goes out of their way to post the income disclaimer everywhere, so if these people didn’t do their due diligence, then who’s problem is that?

I also would like to put some shame on the BBB for ranking Empower Network based on these ridiculous complaints, when they address them all and refund where they can.  Everything they do is above board.  There is nothing illegal here because you are made aware of EVERYTHING before handing over any fees or payments.

Am  I biased?  Of course I am and I admit it.  Do some people probably have legitimate billing complaints.  Surely they may.  Are the majority of the ones that I have read the result of poorly informed or educated non critical thinking people with “get rich quick” mentalities looking for vindication after they’ve fucked up?  You bet!

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but all I know is that many people, myself included, are making commissions or have made commissions from Empower Network, and we would give Empower Network BBB a great rating if they had anything but a place to lodge complaints.  Perhaps then they’d get a true picture of the company and the opportunity.

The Sneaky “Crusaders” who take advantage of the Empower Network BBB complaints…

A few words about the so called lynch mob of crusader marketers who are out to educate people about the evils of EN and oh wait, we have our own opportunity and sales funnel to push you into since of course those EN guys are scam artists but we’re all on the level.

Do people really fall for this stuff?

Looking at the comments on some of these jokers’ blogs, they do indeed.

I’m not going to link to them because I want nothing to do with these snake oil salesmen, but they’re out there.  They are following a real dirty formula for success.  Karma will get them though. You can’t be a total success while tearing other people down. It just doesn’t work long term.

These same guys engage in some behavior that is borderline illegal online.  They harass other marketers in ways that I would rather not say outright, but I have witnessed it myself from other marketers who I am friends with.  This is a low class of parasite marketer who takes matters into their own hands and they use slander, libel, and other tactics that are not illegal only because of the complexity in actually charging what they do as a crime and because the websites they do this on have very immature policies about it – and you can’t always prove it.  Welcome to the seedy underbelly of internet marketing. It’s there.

So Be Careful and Use Your Brain

So beware.  Beware of everyone.  Beware of me too if you want.  At least I said up front that I am pro Empower Network and I am an affiliate.  I searched out the Empower Network BBB page and read through the complaints holding my breath, but I came out laughing thinking is this the BEST they can do?  If any serious business entrepreneur or opportunity seeker falls for that stuff, then to be totally honest, I don’t want em in my organization.

I am not going to beg dodgy people to join my organization.  They’re too much work and they just wear you down.  They complain, don’t take action, don’t learn, don’t invest in their business or their own personal development, and they’ll just find a reason to quit and to yell “Scam!” to anyone who will listen, and that is not limited to complaint logging sites or the Empower Network BBB page.

When evaluating any opportunity, look around.  See how many people are making money with it.  Try to find out how much the company has paid out and if they pay out to those who do business on their behalf.

As of not too long ago Empower Network had paid out over $60 million in commissions to affiliates in only two years of operation.  That number has gone up significantly since then, and keeps growing.  Maybe that ought to also be printed on the Empower Network BBB page.

Just sayin’…

Your friend,

Tom Connelly