Empowr Review – Legit or Scam

Empowr is a company that pays you to post photos, videos, blogs, and status updates online. The site is a social site much like Facebook, Google+ and a few others. Once you join the site you’re given the title of “Citizen”. The company has a marketplace where the citizens can buy or sell their products and services. Furthermore, if you’d like to help the company grow it’s possible to become a teacher or “Success Coach”. The success coaches help other members in the community with investing, selling products and services, or just understanding the site.

How To Join the Site:

1. It is basically simple to join the site. You’ll need to fill in your information and submit this to the site.
2. Afterward, the site needs to you link your PayPal account in order to activate your account.
3. Once you link your PayPal account to the site, it will withdraw $1 from your account. The site doesn’t ask your permission to withdraw the money.
4. However, after withdrawing the money from your account, the site will pay it back.

Warning: Word of caution. When linking a PayPal account to any site will give them full access to your account. You should only link your PayPal account to your banking instruction and not a website you’re joining. If you actually decided to join this site, I’d contact PayPal first. Ask PayPal if you can open a second PayPal account to link to this site. If you have any issues with the site, it can’t have access to your bank account and use the funds in your account.

About This Company:

1. According to the website, the founders are Brandie Williams and Michael Pousti.
2. The company first registered their domain name on June 11, 2006. However, the site wasn’t active online until 2014.
3. Before the site changed its name in 2014 it was called Fanbox.com
4. The first site name for this company was Project Uplift. Afterward, they changed the name to Fanbox.com.
5. Since 2003 the site has changed its name 3 times.
6. However, the info structure of the site has remained the same.

How to Earn Money From the Site:

1. You can earn money on the site through a multitude of knowledge-based roles. When a person views your photos, videos and blog posts, you’ll earn money on the site.
2. Furthermore, you can sell products and services in the site’s marketplace. The money you earn is from the promotion and distribution of products and services in the marketplace. You’ll also have a chance to earn money from the marketplace as a distributor.
3. According to the site you’ll earn on all of your photos, videos, blog posts and status update for the first 24 hours after they’re posted.
4. The money you earn from people viewing your account is from the ads displayed on the sidebar. You can’t earn anything on your posts unless a person actually clicks on one of these ads and purchases the product.

Is There a Post Limitation?

1. The site doesn’t have a post limitation and you’re free to post as many blogs posts, photos, or videos to your account each day.
2. However, for the site to create a fair level playing field, there is a limit to the number of posts you can earn money from each day.
3. The site has 4 levels for earning. The Basic level is the free level. You’ll earn 7% on only 2 posts in the 24 hour period. The 7% you earn is only from the ads on your sidebar that another member clicked on and purchased the item. You won’t earn for people viewing, liking or commenting on your 2 posts.
4. The second paid level on the site is the First Degree. If you’ve paid to upgrade your account, you’ll earn 14% on 3 of your posts in the 24 hour period. Now keep in mind the only way to earn on these 3 posts is through your sidebar ads and people purchasing the items listed.
5. The third level is the Second Degree. You will earn 21% on 4 posts in the 24 hour period.
6. The last level is the Star Level. There you’ll earn 28% on 5 posts in the 24 hour period.

How Does The Earning System Work?

1. You’ll earn money daily on the site. However, the money you earn on the site must go through a maturation period. This ensures that the site has funds which you can use to buy and sell products.
2. The funds in your account can immediately be used to help widen your distributions of products and services you offer in the marketplace. You’ll need to use your funds to purchase a Power User subscription.
3. The Power User subscription allows you to gain more benefits. With the subscription you can reach a larger audience that sees your posts, you’ll be notified first of all new software releases, receive higher earning for shares and purchases, and can use your non-matured earning to pay for your Ad Platform fees.
4. When you upgrade to the different Power User levels, the money will automatically be deducted out of your account balance each month to pay for this service. There is no choice and you can’t get out of paying this upgrade each month.
5. Furthermore, the money in your account can be used to purchase products and services from the marketplace. The percentage that you use for these purchases will grow monthly in your account.
6. You need to wait 60 days for your money to mature so that you can purchase ads from the site. What does this actually mean? The money in your account that was earned in January will need to mature for 60 days. Therefore, in April the funds from January can be used to purchases ads from the site.
7. In order to cash out the money in your account, it must first mature for 90 days. At this time you can request a cash out through PayPal or a bank check. What does this actually mean? The money you’ve earned in January needs to mature for 90 days. Therefore, you can’t cash out this money until May.
8. Otherwise, you can use the money in your account that has fully matured to purchase Ad Credits.

What Are Ad Credits?

1. You can create and pay for ad campaigns on the site.
2. You have the choice of creating your own ad campaigns or paying for ads from another member whose allocated daily ad budget has run out.
3. Your ads can easily be shown on the site and each time a person clicks on one of your ads, you’ll earn money. However, if you’ve paid another person for their ads, the money earned from the ads each day is split between you and the other person.
4. You’ll need to purchase ad credits to run your ad campaigns. In your account the ad credits are deducted daily, however, you’ll also see how much money you’ve earned from the number of credits that were deducted from your account.
5. In order to earn more money on the site, you’ll need to create your own ads. These ads can be for your blog, listing in the marketplace, promoting your own business online, your affiliate programs, or even ads for another member’s blog or marketplace.
6. When creating and placing ads on the site, you’ll need to determine the cost per click that you’re willing to pay. This can easily be determined by your budget and how much money you have earned or are willing to invest in your own ad campaigns. Furthermore, you’ll need to allocate a time limit on each ad. This determines how long another member on the site must stay on your blog post or stay on the ad they’ve clicked on. Once the time limit has expired the person that has clicked on your ad earns the credits. Afterward, the credits are deducted from your account.

How To Pay Your Ad Platform Fees:

1. You can pay your ad platform fees with the money that is fully matured in your account. This can only take place if the money in your account exceeds the ad platform fees that you own.
2. You can use your PayPal account or your credit card to pay your ad platform fees.
3. If you enable Automatic Account Protection on your ad platform the fees will automatically be deducted from your account each month. Otherwise, they will be paid by your PayPal account or charged to your credit card.
4. If you have upgraded your account on the site and have increased your Power Level, you can use the money in your account to pay your ad platform fees. The money in your account doesn’t have to be matured to use it.

How Does the Company Pay?

1. The money in your account must mature for 90 days before it can be paid.
2. In order to request payment from the company, your account must be upgraded. The company won’t pay you if you are using the free or basic account.
3. However, before you can be paid, you must pay the services charges first.
4. Once the services charges are paid, you can receive payment of your funds.
5. Unfortunately, the company won’t immediately pay these funds. They must be held for another 90 days.
6. Once the second 90 days waiting period has been completed the company sends your money to your PayPal account. Otherwise, you can request a bank check of your funds.

Conclusion:

The site has been in business under 3 different names since 2003. The previous two businesses closed up because of the complaints, and a bad name the company had. The business model or info structure of the site hasn’t changed, only the name. The company continues to use the social media platform, upgrades to the account, marketplace, and ad platform on the site. The site has many gray areas it operates under and most people who join this site end up losing a lot of money investing in their ad platform. The company continues to say that it is necessary for the money in your account to mature for 90 days before you can withdraw the funds or use them to purchase ad campaigns.

This isn’t a trustworthy site and I wouldn’t recommend joining this site. People end up paying the site more money than they could possibly earn or make on the site. It appears that the money that is fully invested in your account will slowly disappear over the next 90 days to pay for ad campaigns and upgrades on the site. You’ll never be paid from this site and all of your earning is taken from you by the site for the shady way they do business.

My Thoughts About This Site:

1. No earning site requires you to link your PayPal account to the site.
2. Furthermore, no site has the right to deduct funds from your PayPal account without your authorization. I don’t care if they pay them back or not.
3. This is the first site I have ever heard of that makes your hold your earning in your account for 90 days. I have never heard of earning needing to mature in an account before they are paid out.
4. The reports you receive in your email box daily are not your actual earning on the site. They are credits the site gives you to spend or reinvest in the site.
5. No earning sites make you pay services charges upfront to a company and then holds your funds for another 90 days.
6. All online company’s that pay a person to work on their site either pay the services charges or have them deducted from your earning.
7. The company makes you wait 90 days before you can withdraw funds from your account. Therefore, the money you earn in January can’t be paid until May. But before this money is paid, you must send the company the service charge fee first.
8. After the company receives your payment for services charges, they won’t release your funds. They hold onto your funds for another 90 days. Therefore, your funds won’t arrive until September. Keep in mind; you’ve earned this money in January.
9. Unfortunately, by the time September comes around your funds are gone. The company has deducted ad platform and upgrade fees from your earning. These deductions are made automatically to your account.
10. This is a vicious cycle and each time you want to cash out your earning this happens. There isn’t any way to cash out your earning unless you upgrade your account.
11. This site has used their lawyers in the past to send out letters to other websites that speak out against them. These sites have been forced to remove the posts and either write a new revised post or not post again.
12. Furthermore, the site will continue to send you emails claiming that you’ve earned money from your blog post. They demand that you give them a statement of earning and they are entitled to the money you’ve earned by writing the post.
13. The company has changed their name 3 times since 2003. Each time they change their name they keep the same info structure and just continue doing business like before. The site just has a new name, but the way the site operates is the same as the previous site.

Personally, I don’t trust this company and I don’t recommend that you join the site. Any site that wants me to link my PayPal account so that I can work, isn’t a site to be trusted. I would advise anyone who wants to join this site to think carefully before joining.