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If you’re looking for new opportunities to make money online, you need to be extra careful. For every one legitimate MLM out there, there are a thousand of them masquerading as ways to make money quick.
You’ve probably heard of Fortress Network, an MLM that allegedly came to be in 2017. If you haven’t, here’s a great opportunity to differentiate between MLMs and pyramid schemes. In this review, we’re going to take a close look at this company to answer the question, “Is Fortress Network a scam?”
What Is Fortress Network?
- Name: Fortress Network
- Website: fortressnetworkllc.com
- Owner: Dorian Akili Omari
- Cost to Join: Free as a customer, $10 monthly as a member
- Rating: 3/10
Fortress Network claims to be an MLM company that provides its affiliates with the opportunity to live a better life. How, you ask? By selling products and recruiting members. Nothing too out of the ordinary here.
Upon visiting its website for the first time, we couldn’t help but notice just how crude it looks. As for its content, it’s clear that it’s trying to establish itself as a competitive e-retail platform akin to Amazon and eBay by sourcing its products from third-party manufacturers.
There’s really only one person who is traceable back to the company: Dorian Akili Omar. He’s the acting CEO and allegedly the founder of Fortress Network, and he’s released several videos that explain how his business works. You can find such videos on the company’s YouTube channel, Fortress Networks.
What Does Fortress Network Have to Offer?
The website’s Shop will display a dropdown menu that contains dozens of different product categories, many of which have a long list of products. There are far too many products to list individually, but the categories are as follows:
- Jewelry
- Health and Wellness
- Gadgets
- Books
- Apparel
- Beauty
- Art
- Security
- Services
- Automobiles and Motorcycles
As for where the products come from, this is where Fortress Network really shines as an MLM company. Instead of manufacturing its own goods, it relies on its vast pool of affiliate members to promote their products.
What Does It Cost to Join Fortress Network?
You can join Fortress Network as a customer or as an affiliate member.
Customer
Customers do not have to pay a registration fee or monthly fee. They can purchase products on the company’s website, in which purchase orders are sent directly to the supplier (one of the affiliate members).
Affiliate Member
To join as an affiliate member, you have to speak with your referrer to provide you with a registration link. Upon registering, you need to pay $10 for your membership card and pay $10 every month to retain your membership status. As an affiliate member, you’ll gain access to the Classified section, which allows you to promote your products on the company’s website.
How Do You Make Money with Fortress Network?
There are three ways to make money with Fortress Network: selling your own products, selling other people’s products, and recruiting new members.
Selling Your Own Products
Remember how you can advertise your own products by using the Classified option on the website? After your product has been approved, they’ll list it in the appropriate category for customers and other members to purchase. What’s neat is that you keep 100% of the money you get from your sales.
Selling Other People’s Products
In the Shop section, you’ll find a long list of products for sale by other members. You can sell these products by referring them to non-member customers and earn a commission.
Recruiting New Members
If you decide to get involved in the MLM-y side of Fortress Networks, you can recruit new members and earn a tiny bonus every time you increase your downline.
The compensation plan isn’t unlike those in other MLMs. It uses a 3×9 matrix where you sit at the top and have three legs. Each leg has three legs and so on until reaching the final, most recent generation. Your bonus for recruiting new members only extends to the ninth generation, which can consist of a maximum of 19.683 people.
Depending on how many subsequent generations have filled spots, you can earn between $3 a month all the way up to $19,683 a month. Remember that each member has to maintain their membership by paying the $10 monthly fee, otherwise you’ll lose out on that level.
Depending on how many subsequent generations have filled spots, you can earn between $3 a month all the way up to $19,683 a month. Remember that each member has to maintain their membership by paying the $10 monthly fee, otherwise you’ll lose out on that level.
Things I Like About Fortress Network (Pros)
It’s not very often that we have something positive to say about an MLM company, but Fortress Network has surprised us quite a bit. Allow us to quickly go over the company’s positives.
No Guaranteed Earnings Promises
Fortress Networks has changed quite a bit since it first opened. In the beginning, it appeared to look exactly as any pyramid scheme would, where the only source of revenue for each member originated from the newest recruits. However, with the current e-retailing platform, you can earn as much as you’d like, depending on how much effort you put into selling and recruiting.
Known CEO and Owner
You won’t find information about the owner by looking at the website. However, Dorian Akili Omari has taken to the company’s YouTube channel and openly stated that apart from his CEO duties, he founded the company. So, if the company ever goes belly-up, you know who to blame.
Low Membership Costs
Unlike other MLMs, Fortress Network doesn’t require you to choose between a million different high-priced packages. Instead, all you need to do to get started is pay a $10 monthly fee and begin advertising, selling, and recruiting.
Things I Dislike About Fortress Network (Cons)
Now, there are a couple of things we’d like to stress about Fortress Network that you should know beforehand.
Horrible Website UI
As soon as you open up the website, you’ll notice immediately that it looks pretty rough around the edges. Also, many of the categories listed on the site are completely empty. Although there are tons of products available, your choices are, honestly speaking, quite limited.
Higher Listed Prices than on Other E-Retail Sites
For whatever reason, the products you find on Fortress Network’s website are usually 10% higher than what you’d find on more popular e-retail platforms. The markup is most likely the result of paying a $10 monthly fee to remain a part of the company.
Few to No Reviews
Every product listed on the website’s shop will show its rating and how many people left reviews. Most of these products are unrated and unreviewed, which makes us question this company’s potential to create an attractive marketplace for those in search of alternatives to Amazon and eBay.
Verdict: Unique MLM, but Not a Safe Investment
First of all, let’s get this out of the way: Fortress Network is not a scam. It doesn’t dangle promises of high income in front of its affiliates’ noses. However, despite being roughly three years old, it appears that their recruitment efforts are virtually nonexistent. And if people are joining, they’re not purchasing anything from the shop.
If you’re interested in the idea of marketing other people’s products and earning a commission from sales, there’s one legitimate option that has helped thousands of people around the world: affiliate marketing.
This has nothing to do with MLMs; instead, you sign up as an affiliate marketer with any huge e-retail platform (free of charge) and begin promoting products on your website, blog, or social media. If anyone purchases a product through your affiliate link, you’re entitled to a cut of the profits
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Hey, it’s Kenny here. I’m a single dad, freelance writer, an affiliate marketer. I have been making a living online since 2016, after quitting a 10-years engineering profession. When I’m not on the laptop, I’ll be in the kitchen experimenting with new cuisines.