Four Percent Review: Vik Strizheus Scam?

Four Percent offers a variety of courses aimed at teaching you valuable online business skills. It emphasizes how these skills can be used to promote Four Percent itself.

However, there are some downsides to consider when investing in Four Percent Group’s courses. None of the available business models provide a consistent, passive monthly income. They require significant investments in paid traffic because of market saturation, demanding more of your time and resources than other options. This may limit your ability to achieve financial and time freedom.

In this article, we’ll explore the pros and cons of Four Percent, uncover any hidden costs, and assess its overall effectiveness.

By the end of this review, you’ll also discover an alternative to Four Percent that has enabled me to establish a sustainable full-time passive income online.

How Does Four Percent Help You Make Money?

In simple terms, Four Percent teaches you how to become a commission-based salesperson for their company. The more new customers you bring to the training, the more money you can earn.

The platform offers a wide range of online business courses. When you become a Four Percent Gold Member, you gain access to courses like:

1. Communication & Copywriting Mastery
2. Affiliate Marketing Academy
3. SEO Mastery
4. Facebook PPC Secrets
5. Ecom Entrepreneur

However, many people who join Four Percent are particularly interested in the affiliate marketing training. This interest often starts with an invitation from Vick, the founder, to attend a webinar on affiliate marketing shortly after joining Four Percent. Vick describes affiliate marketing as “the fastest way to make money right now.”

Affiliate marketing involves promoting other people’s products or services and earning a commission for each successful referral. What sets Four Percent’s affiliate marketing training apart is its primary focus on promoting Four Percent itself. You’ll notice this emphasis when you hear success stories from Four Percent students and interact with the private Facebook community.

To better understand Vick’s approach and affiliate marketing philosophy, you can watch his videos on his YouTube channel, where he discusses concepts like the “hub” model.

Lear more: How to Make Money with Affiliate Marketing

Who is Four Percent for?

Four Percent is primarily designed for people who are new to working online and want help to progress quickly. If you’re just starting out in the online business world, Four Percent can be a helpful resource for you.

It’s important to know that the founder, Vick Strizheus, has experience in Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), and this influence is evident in the training at Four Percent. If you are interested in MLM or have succeeded in it before, you might find Four Percent suitable for your goals.

However, it’s essential to be cautious of Vick’s claims about his affiliate marketing training. He suggests that by following his training, you can make $10k, $100k & even as much as $1 million dollars quickly, even if you’re entirely new to it.

This is a bold claim, especially considering that you need to pay upfront to access the program, which might make you skeptical.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Who is Vick Strizheus?

Let’s get to know Vick Strizheus, the person behind the program. You might be curious about who he is and whether you can trust him. 

First and foremost, Vick is a real person, and his claims of success are genuine. This is important to clarify because some scams use fake names and actors. So, you can be confident that Vick is the real deal.

He isn’t just a real person; he’s also highly successful in the world of online business, as he claims. Vick has earned a substantial income online and has been part of the online marketing industry for a considerable time.

However, it’s worth noting that he has been associated with some controversial multi-level marketing programs like Empower Network in the past. Empower Network was labeled as a pyramid scheme that pretended to be a legitimate work-from-home opportunity. Thousands of people worldwide were deceived into believing in Empower Network.

Apart from that, Vick has also been linked to MOBE, a well-known scam notorious for its outrageously expensive upsells of training courses.

What’s Inside Four Percent Program?

Once you’re logged into the Four Percent program, here’s how it’s structured:

For the free membership, you’ll be limited to a couple of basic courses. 

If you sign up for their Gold Membership, you can get access to all their courses and coaching programs:

• Success Challenge for Affiliate Marketing 3.0
• Success Challenge for 7K Metals
• 7 Steps to Freedom Mastery
• Internet Traffic Mastery
• List Building Mastery
• Communication & Copywriting Mastery
• Conversion Mastery
• Tribe Building Mastery
• Affiliate Marketing Academy
• ESTAGE U
• Mindset of a Champion
• Business Launch Blueprint
• SEO Mastery
• Insta Traffic Mastery
• Facebook PPC Secrets (Taught by Anthony Morrison)
• Facebook Fan Page Domination (Taught by Anthony Morrison)
• Ecom Entrepreneur
• Irresistible Influence & Persuasion
• Taxes & Business Structures
• Irresistible Offer Blueprint
• Beyond Results
• Instagram Secrets
• Ecom Secrets (Priced at $297)

Note: Not all courses are taught by Vick Strizheus. For instance, the two Facebook courses are instructed by Anthony Morrison.

The content primarily consists of video lessons, and there is also a weekly live coaching call conducted by Vick.

Within the Four Percent dashboard, you’ll also find a wide array of tools and resources to support different aspects of your business. These resources can assist you in various areas, including accounting, AI copywriting, autoresponders, cloud storage, CRM, e-commerce, email verification, hub & community building, live streaming, webinars, and funnel creation, etc.

Both free and paid members can have access to their private FourPercent Facebook group, which boasts over 27,000 active members.

What is Four Percent Affiliate Program?

The Four Percent Affiliate Program is a way for students to earn money by promoting Four Percent’s digital products. It’s officially known as the Four Percent Promotional Partner program.

To become a Four Percent Affiliate, you need to apply through the Dashboard, specifically under the ‘Earnings and Payouts’ section. 

As a promotional partner, you can earn a 30% commission on any digital product that costs more than $100 when someone makes a purchase through your referral link.

You’ll receive your commissions 45 days after Four Percent Group receives payment for the digital product you helped sell.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Are Four Percent Students Achieving Results?

After spending several hours researching Four Percent, including delving into its private community and examining online reviews, here’s what I discovered:

I found 16 people in the Four Percent Facebook group who reported recent commissions in one session. However, a closer look at these commissions revealed the following:

• 13 of them earned commissions by recruiting others to join Four Percent.
• The remaining 3 made commissions through a product called WebinarFuel.

Upon inspection, it became clear that WebinarFuel is a product promoted within the Four Percent training.

Essentially, all 16 reported “success stories” boiled down to Four Percent students earning commissions from other Four Percent students.

It would be more reassuring to see success stories where students earn affiliate commissions from various sources rather than heavily relying on recruiting others to join Four Percent.

Unfortunately, this pattern resembles another program, Partner With Anthony, owned by Anthony Morrison. In this program, students primarily earn income by referring others to the same training.

However, this approach may not be as profitable as it appears. For example, one student disclosed that it cost $200 to generate $229 in revenue, resulting in a mere $29 profit. Despite being a Four Percent member for 5 years, this student reported this one-time income.

Considering Four Percent’s apparent popularity with over 24,000 students in the private Facebook group and over 300,000 members from 130 countries, according to Vick, the absence of genuine success stories is surprising.

Especially when Vick promotes his affiliate marketing training as a way to “make a minimum $5,000” in just 30 days. The reality is that profiting from The Four Percent Challenge requires a substantial amount of effort, primarily focused on recruitment.

While it’s possible to earn money with Four Percent, it’s far from the easy venture it’s often presented as.

In fact, you’re more likely to spend more money than you earn unless you invest significant effort or already have a strong background in online marketing.

This financial commitment includes spending $200 per month (or possibly more) on fees to maintain access to the training and essential tools.

How Much Does Four Percent Cost?

When you sign up for Four Percent, you get access to some free courses like “7 Steps to Freedom” and “Mass Traffic Blueprint.” You also get to join their private Facebook group for free.

To access all the courses that Four Percent offers, you’ll need to upgrade your membership. Unfortunately, the Silver plan is no longer available, and you’ll be directed to start with the Gold Membership.

Here’s the cost of Four Percent’s Gold Membership:

• One-time payment of $1997, or
• 12 monthly payments of $297, totaling $3564

With the Gold Membership, you get:

• Access to all premium Four Percent courses.
• Weekly live coaching calls with Vick.
• 12 months of access to the ESTAGE Website Builder.
• 12 months of access to the ChickyBoom affiliate network.

After 12 months, you’ll likely need to pay the regular monthly fees to continue accessing ESTAGE ($97/month) and ChickyBoom ($97/month). So, if you stick with Four Percent for more than a year, you may end up paying $196 in monthly fees to keep full access.

While becoming an affiliate for Four Percent doesn’t seem to require extra payments beyond the Gold Membership, there’s an upsell called the Four Percent VIP Partner Pack. This pack gives you a 40% commission rate instead of the standard 30% but comes with an additional cost of $497 per year.

It’s important to note that there might be other upsells within the training, although exact details couldn’t be confirmed due to the ever-changing nature of Four Percent’s offers and pricing plans.

In addition, members will need to budget for outsourcing hosting, domains, autoresponders, funnel builders, link tracking software, and other essential tools. 

Based on feedback from students, you should budget at least $3000 within the first 12 months to fully utilize the Four Percent training.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Refund Policy

The Four Percent refund policy can be a bit perplexing, so let’s break it down:

• For one-time payments: You have a 30-day window from the date of purchase to request a refund for programs only. This means that if you’re not satisfied within the first 30 days, you can seek a refund for one-time payments.

• For payment plans: If you opt for a payment plan, it appears that you may not be eligible for a refund. However, you should still have the ability to cancel future payments.

It’s important to note that there have been reports of individuals waiting for several months, or even years, for refunds related to a 4% training called Coop within the Four Percent Facebook group.

Some claims suggest that Four Percent may make promises to extend your training period beyond the refund window but fails to follow through.

Praise for Four Percent

1. Free Membership

The Four Percent Group offers free membership to everyone. While free members have limited options, this inclusivity allows them to explore and experience the program from the inside.

2. Comprehensive Training

One notable advantage of the Four Percent Group is its step-by-step affiliate training program. Unlike platforms with subpar training, this program distinguishes itself as a credible platform for starting an online business. It also offers invaluable insights into digital product marketing and provides essential tools for online business development.

Criticism of Four Percent

1. Concerns About Vick’s Past Involvement

I have significant concerns regarding Vick’s past involvement with MOBE. Additionally, the discovery that he has previously replaced people’s Affiliate IDs with his own, purely to boost his commissions, raises major red flags.

This should be a significant concern for potential Four Percent Group members, as it leaves them wondering if this behavior might recur.

2. “Pay to Play” Model

While the term “pay to play” might not be a perfect fit, it seems applicable in this context. To promote the Four Percent Group, payment is required, granting access to affiliate links.

Ideally, affiliate programs should offer free membership without the need for payments to access these links. This payment requirement appears to be a strategy to increase Vick’s earnings, which I personally find distasteful.

3. Overemphasis on Paid Ads

I’m concerned about how much the Four Percent Group training pushes paid advertising. This might not be the best choice for beginners looking to make money online, as it often leads to losing money.

Many beginners, like myself, have wasted thousands on courses that claim pay-per-click (PPC) is the best way to make money online. In reality, a better approach is to focus on things like improving your website, creating your content, and finding the right niche to maximize your online earnings.

4. High Cost Compared to Other Courses

The Four Percent Group’s training costs a lot more than most other affiliate marketing courses.

What’s even more concerning is that they don’t reveal the full cost when you first sign up, which makes it hard for people to know how much money they’ll need to invest.

5. Dependence on Four Percent for Income

One big issue with the Four Percent program is that many students end up mainly promoting Four Percent itself. This means that if you succeed and start making money with the program, most of your income comes from Four Percent.

If, for some reason, Vick Strizheus decides to stop offering his products or change how affiliates are paid, like he has done before, your entire business could be at risk.

Is Four Percent a Scam?

Let’s address the question: Is Four Percent a scam? While I won’t outright label it as a scam, it’s essential to consider some concerning aspects.

Firstly, it starts with the founder, Vick Strizheus. If you do a quick Google search, you’ll come across two significant issues related to his past:

1. Convicted of Insurance Fraud: Early in his career, Vick worked for an insurance company and was convicted of submitting fake policies to earn higher commissions. Some sources even suggest he spent time in prison due to this conviction.

2. Involvement in Multi-Level Marketing (MLM): Vick was a prominent promoter of an MLM company called Empower Network during the mid-2010s, which eventually went bankrupt. MLMs have a reputation for enriching their founders and early promoters at the expense of others involved.

As you can see on the picture (below), Vick is closely connected to the founders of Empower Network…

Moreover, Vick still appears to advocate for the MLM business model, and Four Percent itself has a strong MLM vibe. In his webinar, Vick highlights that his second most significant source of income is network marketing and even provides a list of these network marketing companies

Students seem to earn commissions primarily by recruiting others into Four Percent, which raises concerns about the focus on recruitment rather than genuine product value.

Another red flag is the numerous complaints about Vick not fulfilling his promises. For example, there have been complaints within the private Four Percent Facebook group about a training program called Coop, launched by Vick, which left many students awaiting refunds and commission payouts indefinitely.

There seems to be a pattern of Vick making promises to Four Percent students and failing to deliver or leaving them waiting for extended periods.

Criticism or questioning of Vick or Four Percent in the private community is often met with dismissal, with critics labeled as naysayers. Vick himself appears to encourage this attitude, emphasizing unquestioning obedience to mentors.

Now, you might have noticed that Four Percent has thousands of positive reviews on Trustpilot. However, it’s crucial to take these reviews with caution.

Most of them come from newbies taking the free Four Percent training, and they are prompted to leave a review after each lesson. Here are some examples…

As you can see, these reviews often lack substance and do not reflect the quality of the premium Four Percent training.

I’m not trying to be biased. However, the 1-star reviews look more detailed and convincing… 

Is There A Better Way To Make Money Online?

If you want to make a full-time passive income from home, I’d suggest you to start an affiliate marketing business.

In affiliate marketing, you can run your business almost with zero cost. Most importantly, you don’t need to invest in creating and developing any products.

A 21-year-old student from my #1 recommended training platform of affiliate marketing was able to earn $7,395 in just 1 week, which means he made more than $1k a day…all while using free traffic methods and affiliate marketing.

Wealthy Affiliate has existed for more than 10 years and there are many success stories over the years.

Where to Join Wealthy Affiliate?

Wealthy Affiliate has a very simple pricing scheme. It has a free and premium membership.

If you want to feel about Wealthy Affiliate, you can sign up for the starter membership here (no credit card required). You can select to be a free member with no time limit.

And as a starter member, you can get instant access to the community, live chat, over 500 training modules, 2 classrooms, networking, commenting, 1 free website, and access to the keyword tool.

Anthony Smith

Anthony Smith is an internet entrepreneur. He created the Side Hustle Ideas Database to help people find side hustles for making extra money, with the potential of turning into a full-time income.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a business degree, he gained business experience at a consulting firm. At the same time, he tried various side hustles including freelance writing, blogging, and eCommerce. He managed to turn his side hustles into a full-time business, earning over $3 million. Now, he enjoys financial freedom and travels around the world as a digital nomad.