Have you ever tried to make a quick buck on something that sounded way too good or easy to be true? Getting paid to shop, getting paid to travel, getting paid to play games?
Or maybe, getting paid to watch videos?
You know what they say about things that sound too good to be true…But that’s exactly what THW Global is going after.
Does this mean I’m involved?
This video explains everything:
Make sense? Either way, here’s the full review on THW Global.
Overview
You probably heard about this company through the insane amounts of buzz they created, building up a contact list of almost half a million interested people before they even formally launched their platform.
(And then they finally did launch last fall with a nasty surprise for all involved, more on that later…)
Watch videos and ads, make money. Sounds fantastic.
A lot of their buzz came from the ridiculous claim they made about being “Bigger and better than YouTube”. Well, YouTube has 1 billion users and $4 billion in revenue so they’ve got some catching up to do. [1]
There’s basically no legit info to be found on this company, even months after launch. Their website now tells me “Viewing from within your country has been temporarily suspended while improvements to the system are in process, please check back later.”
Sketchy much?
It takes a LOT of digging to find any information on where this company is located or who founded or owns it (the domain is private). However, a LinkedIn page for Steve & Vicky Bruce shows that they might be the founders of THW Global, or at least executive positions within the company. Their entire profile is a long, cheesy ad for the company.
Aside from the ad, their profile shows little relevant experience other than a year as independent marketing consultants. And nearly 30 years of experience as…a Pipefitter at General Motors?
It does, at least, lead to one viewable page on their company’s website, but over half the page is an ad for 888TravelForLess.com, a travel savings membership program. Basically, these people are spam central. Svbruce.thwglobal.com
The page does show that over 1,600,000 members have been registered to date. Not sure if I believe that or not, but either way, no one’s made any money yet because their platform has been in beta testing since last August.
How much does THW Global cost?
Here’s where they dropped the bomb on users.
When they first started signing people up for the platform, they claimed it was free. When they finally launched beta testing, they turned around and announced it would cost users $39.95 a month in membership fees, and, wait for it…
$995 for a certification to qualify for a coded bonus.
$995 to get certified to watch videos, no joke. Their monthly membership fee of $39.95 alone is excessive, but a $995 certification? This dwarfs just about any other MLM’s fees, and it’s pretty obvious where their revenue is coming from. Hint: it’s not advertisers. It’s you.
Products
Their product is a video platform that they claim will be bigger and better than YouTube by paying viewers to watch their videos rather than paying content-creators to make the videos. Basically, flips the YouTube model on its head.
This sounds great at first glance if you’re looking for some fast, easy money.
But if you start to think about it, you realize it has got some major flaws.
First of all, YouTube pays its members to make videos rather than watch them, because content is king. Without their content, YouTube would be nothing. If THW Global isn’t paying for their video content, they’re either not going to have any (would explain why they’ve been in beta mode for way too long), or they’re going to have terrible content, which is not going to drive traffic.
But okay, they’re going to reel in advertisers to use the platform to air their content, and presumably those advertisers will pay the company to broadcast through their platform because they’ve got so many viewers.
The problem here is that these viewers are paid viewers. Advertisers are not going to whip out their wallets in a frenzy for paid viewers, because paid viewers aren’t going to be engaged, they aren’t going to interact, and they aren’t going to buy. They’re going to click play, tune out, and let their paycheck roll in.
In the end, advertisers aren’t paying for clicks and views. They’re paying for customers. THW Global users would not be likely customers.
Opportunity
So, you might have already guessed that there’s not much of anything out there in the way of a detailed compensation plan.
But they do claim you make $5 watching a video and can make up to $25 an hour. Seems a little unlikely, as no advertiser is going to pay $5 per view, but I digress.
You’re also only allowed to watch up to 10 hours of video a week. Still, an extra $1,000 a month for watching online videos is not bad. One executive even touts that an extra $1,000 a week for American families could have prevented the entire housing crisis by helping people meet their mortgage payments (the company clearly doesn’t shy away from grandiose statements).
Then there’s the MLM structure, which allows you to supposedly make money off the views of people you refer to the platform as well. No details on that yet.
Regardless, all of this seems highly unlikely. My guess is it’s going to be nearly impossible to even make the $39.95 you spend on your monthly membership back, let alone profit. That is, if they ever launch…
Recap
So the idea behind this platform is inherently flawed, and I think they’re well aware of that. In reality, they’re just trying to cash in on membership fees before they tank, like so many other MLMs.
They’ve been putting off their launch forever, and despite almost a year’s worth of buzz, a single person has yet to make any money off the company. I’m starting to wonder if they’re not just collecting mass email lists to sell to companies and spammers.
Either way, go ahead and give them a throwaway email if you want, but I wouldn’t spend a single dime with this MLM.
But if you like automated ways to build passive income, there are better ways.
(and you can trash those old MLM habits, too)
via http://mlmcompanies.org/thw-global/
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