Level One Network Review. Is It Just Another Scam?

If you’re looking for a Level One Network review that is unbiased, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll tell you if it’s a scam.

Level One Network is a new MLM type company which has appeared onto the scenes in late 2004 but has recently resurfaced and become popular during 2013 (I am also reupdating this post for 2019).

It has been praised by many and actually considered to be an Empower Network copycat (which is not a compliment in my opinion because Empower Network WAS a scam), another hugely “successful” MLM company. That’s because most of it’s business methods are eerily similar to it. 

But if you took a look at my Empower Network review, you’d know I have nothing but disgust for it. I basically summarized them as a huge pyramid scheme which engages in unethical business practices with it’s members.

And since Level One Network has many similarities to Empower Network, does that automatically mean it’s just as bad?

I say no, but through this review you’ll find that this organization is not as safe or credible as it may appear. So if you are considering joining this new network, I first encourage you to read this review before making that decision. It may very well end up changing your mind.

Let’s start from the top…

If you’re still interested in seeing my original review of Level One Network (and correctly assuming it wouldn’t last as well as why), read on…

What Is Level One Network (LON)? 

It is (well was) a network that teaches it’s members to create content about any subject, but mainly promoting the LON program to others, and putting it up on the “free” blog LON provides which then is supposedly going to receive high page ranking from search engines like Google.

The high rankings will lead to high traffic numbers visiting the blog and potentially making the blogger from LON a lot of money in referrals. 

There is also optional training provided which costs $100’s that is supposed to teach you what’s known as Master Class marketing which is actually a training guide that helps you further promote LON to others and make 100% commissions on. 

How It Works (The Summary):

• Members of LON write blogs that are hosted by LON. The blogs could be about any subject/niche they want. 

• The blog is then published and put on the front page of LON’s main website where it’s supposed to get a lot of exposure. There is also a video section on the main website where members can post videos to promote Level One Network. 

• This exposure + the claim that LON get’s prestige from Google helps members who write blogs get high rankings on search engines such as Google. By LON’s claim this happens instantly. Some people claim hours, others days.

• High rankings attract visitors which then visit the blog, see the LON logo at the top and if they purchase membership to LON through that blog, the person who wrote the blog will receive 100% commissions on that sale. 

• The main goal is LON members (bloggers) is to write as much content as possible to gain as much exposure and thus traffic to their blog. By doing this they increase the chances that anyone looking at their blog will purchase a membership at LON, thus providing the blogger with a sale/s. 

What Level One Network Gives You: 

1. A Level One Network Blog for $19.99 a month. 

2. Level One Network Blogging System Licensing Fee for $29.00 a month: Supposedly you need this in order to make any money in the system. You’re looking at $50 a month at least on this system if you want to make any money off it. 

There is also a keyword tool you’re given where you can type in a keyword and find out if you can get 1st page rankings on it. If the keyword is too competitive, the keyword tool will help you choose a variation of the keyword that will meet the standards of reaching 1st page rankings. 

And just like other MLM companies, including Empower Network, once you get the basic things, you’ll be encouraged to get the other up-sells in this company. In LON’s case, you get 3: 

3. SEO Pro Connect Licensing Fee $99.00: A program which helps you create what they call gateways. These are nothing more than a fancy word for websites or landing pages (places where you send people to).

4. PDF Pro Express Licensing Fee  for $199.00: Helps you create PDF’s to sell to your leads (potential referrals to LON). I’ve also heard these PDF’s could be ranked on Google. Though I’m not sure about all the benefits of this program but from what I’ve heard, it’s nothing more than a regular PDF converter and if that’s true, then you can do this for free… 

5. Master Training Series Licensing Fee for $599.00: A 20 week training course giving providing you with tips and strategies to better promote Level One Network and some tips on how to promote in other niches.

It almost sounds like a full proof plan if you consider everything they claim. And to many people new to online marketing, it does. However, if something is too good to be true, it usually is. And with that in mind…

It’s time to start dissecting the truth from hype…

First off I’d like to point out that I am not a fan of ANY MLM company (want to know why?) because I feel their business structure is doomed to fail. I also feel Level One Network is a pyramid scheme as I am about to explain, but before I get to the large list of negatives I feel this company has, I will first list  the “pros”:

Pros:

1. You can make money from this program. The system and structure in this program does make it pretty easy to do so. How many people you get to this website is another question. And out of the people you do get there, it’s a whole other story about keeping them there. Most referrals from my experience don’t last longer than a month with sites like these. 

2. You can get quick rankings for your blogs initially and get traffic. Notice I said initially. This will soon become a con…

3. Unlike Empower Network blogs, the Level One Network bloggers seem to actually be posting good content. Empower Network bloggers tended to exaggerate their earning claims. Level One Network bloggers appear to be nicer and more honest about their earnings. 

4. You need only make 3 sales of any product in the LON network to keep it. Ex: If you made 3 sales on the Master Training series, you will be able to get that program for free. Empower Network required you first buy the product/membership before being able to promote it. Even though this is an advantage, I can promise you it will be difficult to sell the higher priced products of LON.

And that’s it for the truth…Now onto the cons…

Cons:

1. Not every blog you write will yield first page rankings. Even if you find a good keyword, you will not always get your blog/keyword you’re trying to rank under reach the 1st page. You also don’t need to pay $19.99 a month for a blog. You can get one for free. Here is one way.

2. Not every 1st page ranked blogs will remain on the 1st page rankings. I’ve noticed a number of blogs from Level One Network posted, few appeared on the 1st page of Google, but those that did, didn’t last very long. Level One Network’s prestige with Google will get initial results, but it’s not guaranteed to stay there. I’ve heard of people who have had blogs disappear as quickly as they appeared on Google through this network.

3. You do get your blogs put up on the home page of LON, but they won’t stay there long. Yes you will get initial exposure whenever you publish your blog/s, but if you look at their home page, there is only space for 7 blogs at a time and I’ll bet there is a HUGE line of blogs awaiting to be shown there.

Therefore if you put up a blog, don’t expect it to stay on the Level One Network’s home page for long because there are plenty of other’s looking to be in your spot. I’ve also noticed this has led many members to write multiple blogs to try and take up as much time/space on the home page. This will lead to a dog eat dog competition from which Level One Network will benefit most, not you. 

4. You will have to write about topics related to LON/make money online. If you choose to write about other subjects, don’t expect your visitors to be interested in Level One Network. Think about this for a second. You could write about dieting.

If someone whose interested in dieting lands on your page and sees the LON logo, odds are they won’t be interested in purchasing a membership because the subject which brought them there was not related to LON.

Critics may argue that “Well it doesn’t matter, if they see there’s a way to make money they’ll be interested…”. Not true. I’ve made this mistake in my online marketing career before. I wrote up a health book and tried to sell it through a highly trafficked blog which dealt with the subject of making money online. After 1,000’s of visitors came to the site from where my health book was advertised, only 1 person purchased my book. This was a MAJOR lesson I learned the hard way.

If you’re going to make money with this program, write about the subject with which it’s related to. Your blog has to be relevant to LON, otherwise you won’t make anything out of it. 

5. The blog/s you write on the LON network are NOT yours. You do not own the content you write. Even if you quit the program, the blog/s stay with LON so in the end, they own your hard work, not you. 

6. The commission breakdown is a pyramid scheme in my opinion:

It looks confusing, but the truth is this chart isn’t complicated. Here’s what you need to know:

• If you get 10 people referred to this company, you will make 100% commissions from 7 of them. The other 3 will flow upwards to your higher ups which could be people who referred you or if no one did, the money will go to the owner of the company.

• It’s basically a pyramid “scheme”. Money from every 2nd, 5th & 10th referral flows up towards the higher ups and in the end, the people who make the most money from this model are the higher ups, but more specifically the owner of the company. 

7. You can get the same training this place offers you for MUCH cheaper prices and even free. Some, no scratch that, ALL of the training and services they offer can be learned elsewhere and for much less:

You can make a free blog and get higher but more importantly more stable rankings than LON blogs.

You can make your own PDF documents without paying $200 for a….PDF licensing fee…what? Please someone explain this to me.

You can get better training at other places for less. Here is my #1 recommendation for which you can join for free.

8. They are a content farm. Their prestige with Google will not last. Content farms are sites which have a lot of writers write content for it, thus giving it prestige with Google. Sadly all content farms eventually lose their VIP pass with Google because their content is seen as spam. Here is the definition of a content farm.

A perfect example: Empower Network blogs once also had the same prestige with Google, until too many people started promoting it like spam which caused Google, Youtube & Facebook to ban promotions of it on their sites. This led to a HUGE loss of opportunity for Empower Network Affiliates.

Why am I mentioning this? Because Level One Marketing is following in the same footsteps as Empower Network and may very well end up in the same situation Empower Network is in now. Content farms never last long. 

9. The “licensing fees”: This is seriously one of the most BS terms I’ve ever heard. You don’t need a license to get training or “sell” to people unless it’s PLR which this program does NOT provide. All you’re doing is buying training and get the ability to sell it too. The licensing fee is a clever term to make you believe buying the program’s upsells gives you a legal right to use it. Total BS.

10. It’s already failed and here’s why…

Firstly, MLM programs like these could not last and the method of ranking their blogs high was doomed to fail. Basically Level One Network acted as an article directory, which Google de-ranked overtime, and when this happened, people who posted on Level One Network lost their rankings and thus this took down the program inevitably.

Over Rating Level One Network: 

3 Stars Out Of 10: You can make money through it, but it’s a VERY risky business model. See #1 recommendation.

Overall Conclusion: Should You Try Level One Network?

If you want to take anything from this review of Level One Network take this: I wouldn’t recommend it. I feel it’s a pyramid scheme and following in the same footsteps as Empower Network. Doing business through this company is in my opinion like trying to hold up a house of cards. The foundations of this business are flawed.

It’s blogs are ranking high right now but that doesn’t always last and sooner or later like I said Google will come around and slap down all of these blogs and this will greatly damage Level One Network’s blog system as well as all of it’s members. It’s a content farm.

All content farms get axed sooner or later. All of the hard work bloggers for this program went through will go down the drain. It’s a ticking time bomb and it will happen sooner or later, mark my words. 

Empower Network and a host of other MLM companies have tried similar things like this before and it will always fail. You can try to ride the train for now while it’s moving, but it’s headed for a broken bridge.

A much safer & better alternative: 

As I said earlier, you can get better training for MUCH less and for free and unlike Level One Network, you will never be required to purchase any expensive up-sells once you join.

The company in particular I am referring to is called Wealthy Affiliate. It is literally free to join and provides FAR more valuable training and services than Level One Network.

It is NOT a MLM company.

It is a school which teaches you the A-Z of internet marketing, the honest and most straight forward way. Their methods of marketing provide stable results and do NOT try to game the system.

Although through this program the odds of making money online aren’t fast or guaranteed (Level One Network isn’t either), it’s still the most honest and stable way to reach online marketing success. Try it for free and if you don’t like it, you’re not obligated in anyway so there’s no risk. Learn more about Wealthy Affiliate.

Do you have a Level One Network complaint or different opinion than this review? Please share your thoughts below. I will be more than happy to discuss this and will reply within 24 hours.