Is Viridian Energy a Scam? – the Truth Revealed!
Name: Viridian Energy
Website: www.viridian.com
Founder: Micharl Fallquist
Income Opportunity rating: 2.5 / 5 Stars
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Viridian Energy is a company within the green-energy niche with a multi-level marketing affiliate system. The products are designed to decrease our carbon footprint on the planet and improve the environment. The main reason the company is controversial is due to its business opportunity.
Like most multi-level marketing businesses, it promises a steady stream of passive income that allows members to work from home and travel the world. Chances are you want to know if this company delivers on the promises and if it can really be used to generate consistent income.
In this review, we’ll take a look at the facts, and you can decide if this business is a good fit for you.
Viridian Energy has been active for over 10 years, and the CEOs seem to have a lot of combined experience in the field.
Their products span three categories; Home, Business, and Travel.
The products in the Home category are designed to reduce electricity consumption. For example, solar panels, natural gas, thermostats, and more.
In the business category, the products are similar, but more targeted towards office buildings and technical systems.
The travel products provide you with discounts on various deals (hotels, flights, etc.).
The Viridian Business Opportunity
Chances are you’re here because you want to know more about the Viridian Energy business opportunity. In short, the company’s products are not bad, but the business opportunity is what attracts most of the attention.
The opportunity works much like other multi-level marketing businesses. Members enrol as independent distributors or Associates, and then earn cash by selling the products and recruiting new members. Ranks will determine your commission rate as well as your bonuses.
To get started, a one-time fee of $199 is required.
That fee will provide you with a starter kit, some promotional material, and access to the member’s only section of the website.
Viridian Energy claims you can become a successful business owner promoting their products and live the life of your dreams. There’s a lot of hype on their website about this business opportunity.
Is that true?
Unfortunately the facts do not support that claim. In fact, it seems the vast majority of people who sign-up fail to make a single cent and actually lose cash. This isn’t a secret either, and I’m not trying to bash the company; this is taken directly from the company’s very own income report.
Their income disclaimer hasn’t been updated for a couple of years, but in the last version it says 57% of members were active while the rest were inactive. This means some people made cash while the rest did not. In other words, 42% of the people who paid to become members failed to make a single cent.
Considering these members paid to sign-up, that’s a lot of money down the drain!
What about the active members? Surely they’re making cash?
There are six levels in the first leadership ladder:
- Enrolled
- Associate
- Senior Associate
- Consultant
- Lead Consultant
- Senior Consultant
To increase your rank you’ll either need to make a certain number of sales or pay a direct fee to advance.
42.8% of the members are in the Enrolled rank. This rank earns an average of 0$ a month. Once again, this is data taken directly from Viridian’s Income Reports.
What about the next rank?
In the Associate rank, the monthly income average is five dollars.
In the Senior Associate rank, the monthly income average is $25.
That’s quite low.
Most of the members fall within these three ranks, the next rank, Consultant, consists of only 4% of Viridian Members, and the monthly income average is 80$.
Granted, some people in these ranks probably earn more than the average, but the other members bring the average down. I don’t doubt if you have superior marketing skills you can make cash with this program, but most people don’t have those skills.
In short, if most people are not making any cash with this business, chances are it’s not a good investment on your part.
On Yelp, the company received a 2.9/5 rate. Most of the complaints were regarding pushy salesmen. It’s never pleasant to have a salesman follow you around and push you to sign-up non-stop.
Other negative reviews mentioned hidden fees. In fact, class-action law suits were filed against the company several times. The allegations related to deceptive business practices. In one of the lawsuits the plaintiff claimed the company promises savings on electricity but clients end up paying 50% more than usual rates.
Though the company did have some run-ins with the law, it still remains today and it seems like the business is legal. It’s not a scam.
But that doesn’t mean it’s the best opportunity for you.
Reasons Viridian Energy Members Don’t Make Cash
You’re probably a little surprised that most Viridian Energy members don’t make cash.
There are a few reasons for this and I’ll explain them in this section.
For starters, most people don’t really know how to market these businesses. They’ll advertise the business the only way they know how; contacting their friends and family-members.
The problem is there’s a limit. We only have so many friends and family-members. Most multi-level marketers will fail because they run out of people to market to. It’s better to figure out where your sales will come from before you join a program.
Another reason people fail is the company they choose. Some opportunities are structured in a way that makes it difficult for members to earn. If an opportunity is overly complicated, and you don’t understand how it works, how are you going to convince other people to join?
If you’re thinking about joining an opportunity, research the company and the business model first and make sure you know how to market the business. You’ll save a lot more cash in the long run.
Is Viridian Energy a Scam?
Viridian Energy does receive a lot of complaints on a daily basis, and I had a hard time finding any positive reviews about this business.
But that doesn’t mean it’s a scam.
To avoid misunderstandings, it’s best to think of the company as an electricity broker, and ignore their business promises. As an electricity broker, their rates are competitive, but they’re not necessarily the cheapest option out there.
Still, they do deliver, and some people use their services on a regular basis. Viridian Energy has been around since 2009 and if it was a scam, it would have been shut down a long time ago. Therefore, I can’t say it’s a scam. It does provide a legitimate service.
What’s an Alternative?
If you want to make money online but you are not comfortable with multi-level marketing I recommend learning how to promote products as an affiliate.
Create a website and use it to promote affiliate products or your own products. It takes time. But affiliate websites have a lot of potential, and they can bring in a consistent stream of cash, even when you’re offline.
If you want to learn more about how to build a successful website (and more) there’s a product I recommend called Wealthy Affiliate. It’s a bustling online community and training center with an abundance of training material and tools. I owe most of my online success to this one product. Check it out.