Why Amway Is A Pyramid

Let me start out by saying that Amway is a perfectly legal company, and therefore I am not saying or implying that Amway is illegal. But I believe that the way Amway businesses are run, are like pyramids. In most groups, you will have the lowest level IBOs efforts and tool purchases being responsible for the upline bonuses and tools income. Many many IBOs are fooled into thinking that the ability to surpass your upline or that you don't get paid to recruit downline makes this a good deal.

Unless you have a very very rare group where actual product sales to non IBOs in sufficient to cover the costs of running you business, functions and all, then it is true that the lower level IBO's jobs are likely the source of income for the uplines. How many groups are like that? None that I have ever seen or know of. In fact, how often do IBOs even sell enough products to cover their expenses for even one month out of the year? The groups that teach "buy from yourself" end up doing the most financial damage to their groups because the downline's expenses are then covered exclusively from the downlines jobs, bank accounts, or drive the downline into debt.

I've seen and discussed group structures in forums many times and I can only conclude that tool sales wipe out what little profits/bonuses some of the downlines might receive. Only when an IBO is able to sponsor enough downline to absorb the losses for them will they finally breal even or make a little profit. I would guess that the 4000 PV level or platinum is where a dedicated CORE IBO would breal even and possibly start to make a real profit. But we also know that most platinum groups have 100 or more IBOs in order to generate 7500 PV. Thus we can also conclude that less than 1% of IBOs make a net profit. The only way IBOs can earn a net profit at a lower level is to avoid purchasing tools and to avoid paying for functions. Those who get involved in a system such as WWDB or N21 almost guarantee that they will have a net loss.

Sure, my job may have a pyramid structure with the CEO making the most money. But the difference is that in a company, even the lowest paid employee still receives a paycheck and has money at the end of the month. The same claim cannot be made by IBOs. For these reasons, I believe Amway to be a legal pyramid. IBOs and information seekers are free to participate, but I challenge them to sit down and really analyze their ability to make a net profit. In most cases, the analysis won't be favorable. If you are in the US in particular, you may have great difficulty in even being able to discuss "Amway" without getting strange looks your way from others. Good luck in whatever you decide.

P.S. Happy New Year!

IBOs, Do You Believe The Illusion?

One of the things my upline taught us ad nauseum was that we needed to have faith in our business and in our upline. That we needed to believe that we were going to be successful. IBOs are told that they should act successful even if they are still working their way up the ranks in the business. It is why they ask (require) IBOs to wear suits and business attire to all meetings and functions. This is one of the weird quirks about the business in my opinion. I live in Hawaii and I remember a function they held in the middle of July in a high school auditorium and there was no air conditioning. I think my suit needed special cleaning because it was completely saturated with persiration.

Anyway, with this part of the year, soon there will be thousands of IBOs shuffling off to a function called dream night, or in some cases, winter conference. The tickets are about $60 to $80 and includes a dinner. What IBOs are often unaware of is that many venues will allow you to run these conferences for $20 to $25 per person. The rest of that ticket prices goes directly into your upline's pockets. Anyway, the dream night function will feature slide shows of mansions, yachts, jet skis, sports cars, fabulous vacations and other trappings of wealth.

What many IBOs don't realize is that this display of wealth is just that. There is no bonafide evidence to indicate that these diamonds actually own all of those toys and goodies. The diamonds probably won't verbally confirm it either, because these toys and goodies may not really be owned by them. It could be rented, or maybe some upline corwn ambassador may own the mansion, but IBOs will assume that these trappings of wealth are common once you reach diamond. As an IBO, I never actually knew how much a diamond really earned. I just assumed it was a lot because we were shown all of these goodies and just assumed all diamonds had these kinds of lifestyles.

If I posted a picture of a mansion and a jet and said I owe it all to my earnings as a blogger, people would cry foul, that I am lying or making things up. And they would be right. Well, I would guess that many diamonds are doing the very same thing if they appear on stage and implying that they have jets and mansions. As I said, someone may own a mansion and a jet, but to imply that this is a part of the typical diamond lifestyle is a stretch. The evidence is there. Some diamonds have lost their homes to foreclosure. My old LOS diamonds (WWDB) taught us that diamonds pay cash for everything, including homes. Now confirmed as a blatant lie. Who knows what else they may have misrepresented?

I ask IBOs and prospects who may be attending dream night, to watch with a critical eye. What is being implied with the display of wealth? Analyze if those goodies can be purchased with a diamond income ($150,000 plus some tool income). Ask yourself if this lifestyle is truly sustainable? Ask yourself if you can live with yourself if deception is a part of earning your diamond lifestyle?

Residual Income And Retirement?

One of the things that many IBOs mistakenly believe is that they will build their Amway business and then they will have the ability to "walk away" from the business while the income continues to flow in. I believe if there was such an incredible benefit such as lifelong residual income that could be achieved from Amway, I'm fairly certain that Amway would advertise this as a benefit of being an IBO. But Amway does not. It is very likely that your LOS such as WWDB or one of the others will promote this benefit while telling you that your bext chance to achieve it is by subscribing to their "system".

One thing that goes unnnoticed all too often is that there seems to be nobody who is actually retired and living off the efforts of having built a big Amway business once upon a time. Seems that even the crown ambassadors still have busy lifestyles running from function to function and participating in other business related activities. While many of these leaders may claim they love their downlines or some other bunk, it is my belief that these leaders keep working their Amway businesses for one reason only. That is they need to keep working in order to keep the income flowing in.

The diamond lifestyle that is often portrayed may seem like a great goal or dream to achieve, but the fact of the matter is that a "diamond lifestyle" cannot be sustained on diamond income. The average diamond, according to Amway, earns about $150,000 a year. While that may seem like a great amount of income, it's not nearly enough to sustain the kind of lifestyle portrayed by diamonds. Even if that income is supplemented by income from the sale of tools, you can't fly your family around the country first class to do all kinds of functions and still end up with much leftover to own fancy homes and cars.

If I deposited $1000 in the bank and never touch the money, the bank would pay me a certain amount of interest each year, guaranteed. That is residual income. In Amway, you can basically earn income in two ways. You can sell products for a profit, but there are problems with this. First off, Amway products in general are more expensive than local retailers. It is why you hear so many justifications about quality and concentration, because you are hard pressed to argue cost. Secondly, you are severely restricted from advertising, thus selling can be difficult. The other way to generate more income is to build a downline in hopes that the downline will help you to leverage your volume. But then your downline will have the same problem that you had in moving products. That being said, even if you achieve some level such as emerald or diamond, your business will immediately begin to fall apart once you stop working because attrition will take its toll. It is why there are hoards of "former" platinums. If platinums are not sustainable, then neither is any other level.

There are many many instances of diamonds quitting, resigning, or falling out of qualification. People come and go in this business every day. Do you really think you can bank on retirement and residual income under these circumstances? If you believe that, I have some swamp land in Florida to sell you.

Can You Overcome The Name "Amway"?

Over the years, I believe that Amway has earned a bad reputation with the general public in the US. It is because IBOs have lied, IBOs had deceived and tricked people into attending recruitment meetings, and IBOs have done zany thing that have turned people off about the Amway opportunity. Factor in the bad experiences some people have had because of the "tools scam" and it's easy to understand why just mentioning the name "Amway" can result in funny looks from others.

While certainly, the blame is not entirely because of Amway the corporation. But certainly, I cannot give Amway the corporation a pass because I believe they have known about the tools "kingpins" and allowed them to operate without resistance. As a result, many IBOs suffered bad experiences such as bankruptcy, homes lost, and other financial devastation as uplines would advise downline to "do whatever it takes" to attend more functions and to buy more tools. While the tools are optional by the letter of the law, the uplines operate from a position of trust, or a position of a trusted friend or mentor. Thus bad self serving financial advice was disbursed by many uplines and they apparently helped fund their diamond lifestyles with the proceeds from tool sales (voicemail, websites, standing orders, functions, book of the month, open meetings).

I believe when I was a WWDB IBO in the later 1990's, the tool kingpins were in their heyday. The internet wasn't as readily available with information for prospects. IBOs didn't use the internet to place orders, thus the kingpins ran their unethical businesses unbridled and unchecked. I believe Amway's efforts (if any) to suppress these kingpin's efforts were ineffective, and I believe it is because the kingpins and indoctrinated IBOs were the ones recruiting new members for Amway, and taught them the 100 PV (defacto) quota, along with Amway product loyalty.

I remember a meeting in our group where our upline platinum told us that the key to Amway success was the ability to overcome the name "Amway". For the very reasons I have cited here, our group was taught to avoid mentioning the name Amway and to use the term private franchise and other catchy names to avoid detection from prospects. Some people in our group must have outright lied because I attended more than a handful of smaller meetings where guests walked out ticked off, muttering something about being tricked or wasting their time for the meeting.

When I finally quit Amway in 1998 or so, I went on with my life and things were great, having left Amway, which left me with more time and money than previously. It wasn't until I later discovered the blatant upline lies (such as there are ZERO profits from tools) and that IBOs were still subjected to such lies. Having learned that the same uplines were still teaching basically the same things with many of the same lies, I began my blogging career. While Amway apologists claim that my experience is old, I keep running into evidence that suggests that things are more the same than not, save for the internet ordering and automated issuance of downline bonuses.

Many of the leaders who deceived and lied, are still in leadership roles and teaching many of the same abusive advice. Why I keep blogging, is because these leaders continue to profit at downline's expense and they have never been held accountable for bad advice or for their lies. I hope this blog provides enough information so prospects and IBOs can make informed choices.

P.S. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas From Joecool

Merry Christmas to everyone. IBOs, Amway staff, critics and all. Have a safe and happy Christmas holiday! May your families be in good health and good spirits and hope a great new year is around the corner! While we may have our disagreements and differing opinions, let us put them aside to enjoy this special holiday!

Joecool

Uplines Are Like Car Salesmen?

When I saw the Amway plan, it made perfect sense at the time, because the diamond who made the presentation made everything seem sensible. Make money and/or save money. On the surface, you would have to be nuts to not want to make or save some money. But it is the reality that is the problem. The reality is for business building IBOs is financial damage or financial disaster from the ongoing costs of the system expenses. I saw crosslines go bankrupt and more than one couple lost their homes to foreclosure by "doing whatever it takes" to get to the next function.

Our group (WWDB) edified people who bought extraordinary amounts of extra tapes/cds, extra function tickets and made superhuman efforts to get to functions. Looking back, I remember an IBO who was edified for coming all the way to a family reunion function in Portland Oregon when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The speaker said he could have been miserable spending time at home but here he was making a difference in people's lives. WTF? I wrote a post earlier this month about how IBOs think they are saving the world and helping people when in reality, the masses of IBOs are only "helping" their diamonds to attain material wealth by purchasing function tickets, voicemail, standing orders and other materials.

I would agree that some training and information can be helpful for new IBOs but I do not see any value in a neverending supply of cds and and endless number of meetings and functions. The very thing (support materials) that uplines claim is your key to success is the very thing that nearly guarantees business building IBOs to financial struggles. Our upline wanted IBOs to be out of debt, which is good, but they would also say in the same breath that it was okay to go into hock if it was to attend functions or to purchase additional support materials. WTH? Sadly, many IBOs do not see through this self serving advice.

Most people, including myself are very wary when we deal with car salesmen. We are wary because we know that the salesman is out to make money off of us and will try to sell us every option in the book. Thus we negotiate and reject the car options that we don't really need to or. Guess what? Your uplines are like car salesmen except that they sell you different options such as premier club, standing order, book of the month, function tickets, voicemail, open meeting tickets. Just like a car buying customer, taking all the options maximizes the car salesman's commission and the car dealer's profit. Buying all the support materials increases your upline's profits. Imagine the car saleman telling you that the extended warranty was vital to owning the car. You'd think twice about it, yet uplines will tell you that functions are vital to your Amway business and many IBOs buy it hook line and sinker. I hope this analogy will encourage IBOs to think of support materials as options on the car. You don't need any options to make the car work. Just as you don't really need support materials to buy and sell Amway products, and to get some downline to do the same.

We are wary of car salesmen. In my opinion, downline and prospects should be just as wary of uplines who promote tools as "vital" to your success in Amway. Keep in mind that a sponsor is obligated to help train any downline, regardless of whether they are on the system or not.

Upline Credentials?

I recently read a comment from an Amway zealot on another blog. She mentions that someone's credentials must be considered when looking at information that is presented. I will comment that showing me a sports car or a fancy suit is not proof of financial success. Telling the audience that you buy homes in cash is not proof either. In fact, some of these diamonds were found to have their homes foreclosed and some had financial difficulty, even though they at times had shown off pictures of their lifestyles. I believe that many diamonds are likely to be more like the general US population - in debt. In debt trying to portray a lifestyle that is unsustainable with their Amway and Amway related income.

I find this subject ironic because not one single upline leader, as far as I know, has ever supplied bonafide credentials about themselves. The audience assumes that the person on stage has certain credentials, but do they really? I will say that certainly, if someone is wearing a diamond pin for example, that this person has at least achieved the diamond level as recognized by Amway, but the level may not be current, and the level doesn't indicate the kind of income this person earns from Amway. (Joecool is criticized for being outdated even though I was at 4000 PV at one point in my Amway career)

What many people assume is that the diamonds buy homes and cars in cash, that they wake up at noon every day and participate in leisure activities all day while the cash rolls in. I have heard from some new IBOs, that their upline makes more money taking a crap in the morning than a critic makes in a whole year at a job. That IBO became quiet when some critics offered to take that bet.

But the truth of the matter is that as far as I know, only former diamonds have come clean about their Amway income. They are the only ones who spoke of credentials and accomplishments. Even critics of Amway will often openly speak about their experiences and achieved levels in the business. In the REAL business world, showing business tax returns and credentials are a normal part of doing business. It appears that only in the world of Amway is the supply of credentials and financial statements a big secret. Now I am not suggesting that IBOs or upline leaders should disclose their financials to the entire world, but certainly prospects and some downline should be able to see what their upline is doing financially, especially if that is the basis for purchasing their standing orders and function tickets. And I refer to business (Amway and Tools) income and expenses only, not from other personal sources.

I believe that IBOs and upline leaders do not disclose that information because it would not be beneficial to them. If it were, they would likely publish it freely, just as they flash around copies of checks. IBOs and prospects should take this to heart and ask upline the tough questions

In The End, IBOs Are Just Salesmen

IBO = Independent business owner. I thought it was cool, but looking back at the bottom line, IBOs are just salesmen for Amway with no fringe benefits and no guranteed salary. Or, a comission only salesman. Salesmen earn their income by selling goods and services, and earn a commission. Sadly, many IBOs sell very few items because they have been taught that you make your money by purchasing items from yourself.

On the surface, buying from yourself sounds sensible but you don't truly make a profit by purchasing your own goods, you simply empty your checking account. Any profit you think you have earned has actually come out of your own pockets. In any business, you must have a base of customers in order to have a steady income. If you are purchasing the majority of your goods, you are only making a profit for Amway the corporation, who makes, or in the case of partner stores, distributes the goods. The ones who actually produce the goods are the ones who profit. An IBO is just someone who sells the goods and who distributes them for a commission.

For most "real" business owners, building their business might mean advertising, creating special sales, and increasing the number of customers or by increasing the volume purchased by existing customers. An IBO who is "building the business" is rarely ever trying to attain more customers. In factm some of Amway's regulations make it difficult to attain a mass of customers such as restictions on advertising. Therefore, most IBOs who are "building" are simply seeking to add downline who will hopefully buy their PV and also attain more downline. In this manner, IBOs are increasing volume, and therefore their commissions by adding people to their downline. Ultimately, the upline is making their money by the efforts of their downline and often, from the jobs of their downline because there are usually not enough customers to sustain any significant level of sales.

In this day of social networking and power advertising, Amway apparently remains a dinosaur. While they do advertise some of their product line on TV, the salesmen or IBOs have little ability to market their products on a large scale. Instead it is word of mouth, individual to individual. It is highly ineffective. Do you know why it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars for a 30 second commercial in the superbowl? It's because tens of millions of people are watching. What do you think is more effective on increasing sales, a superbowl commercial or word of mouth advertising. Keep in mind that zany IBO behavior has already damaged the Amway name, thus giving you a disadvantage over other opportunities.

In the end, or the bottom line is that an IBO is just a salesman who receives no fringe benefits, and a relatively small commission. It's a great deal for Amway, but is it a great deal for an IBO?

Complaints About Amway?

Over the years, I have seen literally hundreds (if not more) blogs and testimonials about Amway. Most of them decry the pitfalls of being an Amway IBO. Most of the complaints cite the fact that Amway in general has higher prices than comparable retailers and the fact that the system consisting of voicemail, books, cds and seminars ate up any profits the IBO may have made and resulted in net losses for most. One particular Amway apologist bemoans the fact that the internet is full of bad testomonials about Amway. The reason why there are so many negative testimonials about Amway is because over the years, thousands, possibly millions either had a bad experience for the reasons I cited above, or personally know of someone who had a bad experience.

Amway defenders will often cite the fact that many IBOs sign up and "do nothing" as their defense to this. But I will easily point out that I haven't seen anyone say they signed up, failed to do anything or order products, quit and started blogging about a bad experience in Amway. These defenders will also compare Amway to the gym where people sign up and "do nothing". Whether true or not, I also do not see people who sign up and "do nothing" complain about not receiving health benefits by simply signing up. It is a very weak defense. Conversely, I have seen numerous accounts of folks like myself who did put in effort, some for many years, who did what upline advised and did not see the financial rewards that is promoted in "the plan".

Amway defenders will then try to justify themselves, saying that the better business bureau (BBB) receives few formal complaints about Amway. I will agree with this. Many IBOs never bother to file formal complaints to the BBB or to Amway because in many, probably most cases, the person who quits and may have had a bad experience, was sponsored into the business. The sponsor was often a friend or family member of the IBO who left the business. Many will simply leave and forget the episode and chalk it up to a learning experience in life. Some will complain, but really have to no venue to voice their remorse about joining. Some of us have found the Internet to be quite effective in sharing our experiences and our opinions on why the business did not work. This is what one Amway defender calls the "internet war". What I have pointed out is that critics most often simply point out what the IBOs themselves have done. In many cases, the IBO is his own worst enemy. Afterall, critics didn't deny Amway and Quixtar had a connection, nor did critics make up claims about perfect water, etc.

It would appear that most of the problems has a root in the AMO systems, such as WWDB, BWW, LTD, or N21. Now, not all upline leaders are unethical, but it appears that many are, and new IBOs have no way to identify the good from the bad. It also appears that some of these upline leaders will issue bad advice. Advice that is detrimental to the IBOs, but financially beneficial to themselves, such as telling IBOs to never miss a function, or to buy more cds. In many cases, these unethical uplines do not care about IBO success, their goal is just to move as many support materials as possible, so they can fund their "diamond" lifestyle. Sadly, it is also apparent that the diamond lifestyle may be a facade in some cases. An illusion of wealth portrayed as a recruiting tool.

If you recognize some of these warning signs, ask tough questions of your potential sponsor and visit this or some of the blogs linked to this one for more information.

Minimum Wage Better Than Amway?

Some big companies and some private entrepreneurs have been accused of being "sweat shop owners". This is when they exploit their workers, often in foreign countries by having them work for a very small wage. For example, a foreign operation may have a warehouse full of women and children working all day under poor conditions for a few bucks a day. The owners of these operations can rake in the dough as they save a ton of money in labor costs. There are some big American corporations that have been accused of this.

Some uplines operate just like sweat shop owners, but in many cases, they are worse then sweat shop owners because even exploited workers earn something. At the end of the month, they have a net gain, even if it might be small. In the case of many Amway IBOs, they spend money on Amway products, and uplines take the lion's share of the rebate/bonus that is generated by those sales, and then in turn, these same uplines try to get many of their downline to also become customers of their system of cds, books, voicemail and seminars or functions. In many, probably most cases, uplines will make just as much if not more income from the system, than from Amway. Most downline IBOs would be far more profitable if they simply worked a part time minimum wage job instead of building an Amway Empire.

These same upline will also teach fierce loyalty to the system. Never miss a function. Make sacrifices to buy more books or cds, and make sure you are always looking for people to sponsor to add to the system. Joining the system almost guarantees that you will suffer a net loss in the Amway business. It is why I continue to write about what IBOs and prospects should look for when they are being recruited or indoctrinated into these systems. It is why there are so many defenders of Amway, most of whom are losing money, but think they are still successful because it is what upline teaches. If only the IBOs and prospects could just step back and look at things objectively instead of blindly believing what their upline teaches them.

I know most IBOs won't believe this, but I will say it anyway. IBOs on the system are probably worse off than sweat shop employees because they are paying their upline to do their work. At least sweat shop employees get a smalll salary. Upline will teach you that it is an honor to drive them around, or to do tasks for them. I saw this firsthand and have no doubt that some or all of it exists today. Many platinums works are free doormen and ushers at meetings and functions. Upline benefits by maximizing profits from functions. It is pure downline exploitation and I hope eventually that more and more IBOs will recognize this. It is clear for those who are willing to look at it objectively.

For most, a part time minimum wage is a better proposition than Amway.

IBOs Help People?

One of the biggest loads of guano by upline used to feed us was that our business was about helping people. That the great thing about the business was the number of people we are helping. I used to wonder how we helped people because anyone who wasn't interested in the business was labeled as negative and were to be avoided. Thus we only "helped" people who were in Amway.

I also wondered whether we could honestly say we were even helping people in the Amway business as many of my crossline had been involved before I was and and they had no downline. They faithfully attended all the meetings and functions and did their defacto PV quota each month. I figured they had to be losing money because I wasn't making anything even at higher pin levels than my crossline. I guess even being a dedicated IBO for more than half a year, I guess I maintained some sense of compassion and common sense about things. (I also thought many meetings were a waste of time, money and effort). But I supressed my common sense because my group was growing and I was being edified as a mover and shaker.

Having walked away from the business, I can honestly say now that the IBOs and upline leaders aren't about helping people. They only want to show interest in you if it will somehow benefit their Amway business. While people spend time helping their communities or churches, or feeding homeless people for that matter, IBOs are busy attending meetings and functions, and finding prospects to brng to the next open meeting or funtion. While people give their time and money to help others, many IBOs are in financial bondage because their involvement with Amway and the systems such as N21, WWDB, LTD or BWW eats up an IBO's time and income, rendering them financially and schedule wise, unable to help some of these kinds of causes.

So I challenge information seekers and IBOs to think about this. When your upline leaders or sponsor talk about helping people and helping a cause, what exactly are they speaking of. When you're at a function and your church or neighbors are cleaning up the roadside or painting a school, how are you helping? Some uplines will even tell their IBOs not to tithe to their churches. That they can donate $10,000 checks later. Well, that later rarely ever comes and the money that the churches and charities take in help others immediately, not when someone goes diamond.

So....... Do IBOs really help people?

Many Systems Just Don't Work!

Based on my experience in Amway, my blogging experience, and observation of other people who give financial advice such as real estate gurus who teach you to buy property with no money down, or others such as Robert Kiyosaki for that matter, all show testimonials of sucessful people. Obviously they do not show you the vast majority of people who try their systems and fail.

It is my informed opinion that whether it is Amway, WWDB, BWW, N21, real estate or the cashflow business, the vast majority of people who try these systems do not make any kind of significant income. Sure, some do, and those are shown as the possibilities. But if you watch infomercials, you will see in small print on the bottom of the screen, "unique experience", you results may vary. I believe that a similar message used to be at the end of Amway diamond recordings as well.

These systems in general do not work for various reasons. Many people simply do not have the acumen to work the system. Or the system has too many variables for the system to work, or the system calls for things beyond your control. For example, success in Amway generally requires you to sponsor others, something that is beyond the control of most people. Add in the lazy and people who are hoipng for a quick score and it is understandable that most will fail. But these systems are often set up where the majority simply cannot all succeed. Nowhere is that more true than the Amway business where the pyramidal compensation plan nearly guarantees failure for the lower level IBOs.

So what can someone do? Well, it may no be as sexy or attractive but a part time job and investing and saving might be something to think about. Even a part time business where you focus on selling products for a profit might work. It just seems prudent to avoid these "systems" as the primary beneficiary of these "systems" are the ones who directly profit from them.

6-4-2?

Let’s break down the 6-4-2 plan (Re-print)

Basically, it’s a plan to go direct (platinum) and all you need to do is sponsor 6 of these direct groups and you’re a diamond and will retire early and life in luxury right?

Assumptions: 1PV = 2.5BV. 1PV costs about $2.70.

The 6-4-2 plan has the premise that you do 100 PV, and you sponsor 6 frontline who do 100 PV. Your six frontline in turn sponsor 4 (24 IBOs) each who do 100 PV. And each of these 4 IBOs sponsor two IBOs (48 IBOs).

So your direct empire looks like this:

1 platinum Sponsored 6 who sponsored 4 who sponsored 2
6 1300 PV groups Sponsored 4 who sponsored 2
24 300 PV groups Sponsored 2
48 100 PV IBOs

Total 7900 PV. 7900 PV = (1 PV = 2.5 BV) 19750 BV.
19,750 BV @25% = $4937.50 per month. Annualized = $59,250. Add Q12 bonus 69,250 (platinum group yearly income, not counting retail sales profit. Cost of product
(approximate) $21,300 per month or $255,960 per year to maintain 7900 PV.

The platinum must pay his 6 1300 PV groups. 6 frontline 1300 PV = 3250 BV = $390 per month, or $4680 per year. $4680 x 6 = 28,080.

The Platinum keeps 69,250 – 28,080 = 41,170 (net, but not including operating and system expenses, but this includes the Q 12 bonus)

Now, the 6 frontline must pay their 4 IBOs who sponsored two. 300 PV = 750 BV = $45
Per month, or $540 per year. Thus the 6 frontline earn $4680 per year but pay out $2160 downline for a net of $2520 per year, or $210 per month.

Ok, and then each of the IBOs who earn $45 per month or $540 per year must pay their downline (2 each) $7.50 per month, or $90 per year x 2 = $15 month or 180 per year.
Thus the 300 PV IBO earns $30 per month or $360 per year.

Let’s review:

1 platinum earns $3430 per month, or $41,170 per year
6 1300 PV IBOs earn $210 per month, or $2520 per year
24 300 PV IBOs earn $30 per month, or $360 per year
48 100 PV IBOs earn $7.50 per month, or $90 per year
This is before taxes and expenses, but also does not include retail profits, but hey, we teach buy from yourself right?

OK, let’s look at tools expenses. Let’s say only the platinum, the 6 frontline and the 4 each who sponsored others are on tools (Fair assessment?) That would be 31 IBOs out of a group of 79 IBOs on tools or 39% of the group, and remember that all of these IBOs do 100 PV every month.

Tools cost: KATE, Website, standing order, book of the month, open meetings, monthly functions, major functions (some IBOs have to fly to functions), gas, incidentals, babysitters. Let’s estimate these tools and other expenses to be $160 per month (Very conservative IMO). $160 per month = $1920 per year.

Now let’s review the group NET income.

1 platinum $3430 - $160 = $3270 per month, or $39,240 per year
6 frontline (1300 PV) $210 -$160 = $50 per month, or $600 per year
24 (300 PV) $30 - $160 = <$130> per month loss of $1560 per year
48 IBOs earn $7.50 per month or $90 per year.

Group income = $69,250.
Group Tools expenses = (31 x $160 = $4960 per month, or $59,520 per year)
Group profit = $9,730 for the year.

79 IBOs putting in 10 hours per week = 790 hours per week or 9480 hours per year.

These IBOs on average made a whopping $1.02 per hour for the year collectively.
Or………

Platinum made $78.48 per hour
6 frontline IBOs made $1.15 per hour
24 – 300 PV IBOs lost $3 per hour
48 100 PV IBOs made 17 cents per hour.

Return Your Tools!

When I was recruited into Amway, one of the catch phrases was that you are now a business owner. It sounds cool to be a business owner, but in reality, it appears that IBOs are simply salesmen for Amway who are afforded no guaranteed wage or any fringe benefits. In fact, many Amway salesmen do Amway a favor and go out recruiting other salesmen for Amway without any compensation. It makes sense though, because to attain levels of significance, you need to have downline. While it is possible (but nearly impossible) to reach platinum and even ruby without downline, any levels higher will require you to have downline.

So as an Amway salesman, you have no minimum sales requirement. That may seem like a good thing but many uplines will impose a defacto 100 PV requirement for "serious" IBOs. If you are planning to sponsor someone, your upline will likely tell you that your donwline will duplicate your efforts, therefore the 100 PV "requirement". 100 PV will cost about $300. While it is possible to sell some products, it would seem that most IBOs simply buy their own goods and do not sell to non IBOs. It's puzzling to me that so many IBOs argue about Amway's superior quality of products, yet so few former IBOs continue to use Amway products at all once they are not IBOs and even those that do, would rarely ever attain 100 PV. So much for that argument.

What many IBOs do not realize is that their upline diamonds are also salesmen. In addition to moving Amway volume, they will be selling you voicemail, standing orders, premiere club, functions, book of the month. All of these materials brings in a higher profit margin than Amway products. Thus it would only make sense that your upline salesmen would want to sell tools more than Amway products because it has more profit. Where this gets shady is when your upline tells you that they have your best interest at heart or that you virtually cannot succeed without these tools. Imagine your reaction if a vacuum cleaner salesman told you that he has your best interest at heart and that you cannot possibly clean your home without his vacuum. In an odd way, that is exactly what is happening when you purchase tools from upline. What's even worse is that the tools rarely ever work out for the IBOs who buy them. What if you bought a vacuum that didn't work? You would return it for a refund. What if the salesman said you can't return it because you used it?

I find it odd that IBOs accept this BS from upline. That you can only return unused tools. You should be able to return a product because it didn't work! Did that standing order actually help you to sponsor new people? Did you sell more products because you attended a function? Whether a tool is used or unused should not matter. You should be able to get a full refund if the tools didn't work. If not, IBOs who cannot return tools should complain to Amway and the better business bureau, and file formal complaints. Many IBOs simply quit and walk away, giving the tool sellers a break. If the tools don't work, you should return them on that basis and demand a refund. I challenge IBOs and former IBOs to do this.

IBOs Have Business Mentality?

One of the things IBOs "think" they posssess, but in reality they are far from it, is "Business Mentality". It is not necessarily the fault of the IBOs. Many are sponsored into Amway by trusted friends and lacking business experience, they will "submit" to upline as they are advised and will try to learn about the Amway business. The problem is that many upline leaders teach self serving business practices such as hard core dedication to their tools system, from which they often handsomely profit. Let's examine some of the questionable practices.

"Buy from yourself". If you have a business owner mentality, you only buy from yourself if it's beneficial to your business. Many IBOs talk about ridiculous things like a McDonald's owner would never eat at Burger King. That's bull crap. Just because I own a McDonald's doesn't mean I am eating Big Macs the rest of my life. You cannot spend yourself to prosperity. If I sold pens for $1.00 and my cost was .50, and my competitor had a special on the same pens at 3 for $1.00, I'm buying them from my competition. Also, buying from yourself makes you a customer, not a business owner.

"Ignore facts if you have a dream". This is probably the biggest heap of bull crap taught by some upline. I have seen this spouted in particular by IBOs downline from WWDB and BWW leaders. A business owner studies the facts, not ignores them. Any REAL business owner wants to know how much he is bringing in and how much is going out. That's how you detect the heartbeat of your business. A site visitor named Gina on this site, recently posted a profit/loss statement from her real business. Naturally, IBOs were at a loss to discuss it because it was foreign material to them.

"Submit to upline" Another load of hogwash. Why should someone submit to upline simply because they "sponsored me" or whatever? A real business owner would think independently and make business decisions based on facts and numbers, not on the advice of someone upline who hasn't taken the time to assess each IBO on a personal level to be able to give advice on an IBO's "Indepdendent Business", or worse, advice on their personal lives".

"Dedication to the system". Silly advice as well. What dedication does the system have for an IBO? If an IBO succeeds (which is very rare), the system takes credit, but for the more than 99% of people who never make a significant income, it is their own fault if they don't make it. Amway apologists will defend this by saying that many may not have signed up wanting a significant income. While that may be partially true, tell me where people show "plans" designed for the guy who wants an extra $100 a month? The plans shown are always (AFAIK) to go platinum or diamond.

IBOs and information seekers, does any of this sound familiar? Is this a part of your experience? If so, I encourage you to ask questions here and get more information before proceeding with any more "business" activity.

Just The Facts?

So many people get duped into thinking that they will somehow get wealthy by becoming an Amway IBO. Many recruiters will tell stories about how they were once broke, but signed up, endured challenges and now they are diamonds enjoying untold wealth and luxuries. People get caught up in "dreams" and are often encouraged to ignore the facts. People running businesses should pay close attention to the facts because it tells you much about your business and your likelihood of success. But what are some facts about the Amway business that many people don't know about? I have outlined a few important ones for those who harbor dreams of going diamond.

1. The average diamond, according to Amway, earns less than $150,000 a year. Yes, some of this may be supplemented with money from the sale of tools, but after taxes and business expenses such as travel to and from the many functions that a diamond attends would leave a diamond living an ordinary middle class lifestyle, not one with mansions and sports cars as portrayed in many functions or meetings. Yes, a Q12 diamond would have more earnings, but a Q12 diamond is the exception, and not the rule.

2. Most IBOs are NEVER able to sponsor a single downline. Pretty hard to develop six (6) downline platinums when most people cannot sponsor anyone.

3. Most Amway products are purchased by IBOs and not sold to customers. Name a real business that sustains itself by having it's own workers or salesforce purchase most of the goods. MLM is probably the only business where this occurs. Understandably, it explains why 99%+ Amwayers lose money.

4. For most IBOs, the cost of functions, standing orders and other support materials represent the reason why most business building IBOs lose money and it also represents a significant profit for some of the diamonds who sell the materials.

5. Not working hard is not necessarily the reason for someone's failure. But conversely, working hard does not equate success in Amway. I would guess that out of those who work hard, it is still a fraction of 1% of hard working IBOs that even attain a significant profit. Doing nothing won't get you anywhere, but in this business, working hard often gets you nowhere as well. It is my informed opinion that the cost of the support materials is the direct reason why so many IBOs lose money, even out of those who work very hard.

I could go on and on, but these are a handful of facts that IBOs and information seekers should be aware of. I welcome differing thoughts and opinions.

Amway Is A Great Opportunity Or Not?

Over the years I have been debating with Amway supporters, I cannot see what is so great about the Amway opportunity. Are some of these Amway defenders that stupid or dense that they truly believe that a business where one out of a few hundred people might make a profit and most of the remaining IBOs will lose money is a good opportunity? I'm not talking about people who sign up and "do nothing". Many IBOs sign up and put in a great deal of time, effort and money, only to find out that the system simply does not work (especially in the US) and they make a business decision to quit and/or to do something else.

Of course there are some people who make money in Amway. If nobody made money, then the opportunity would cease to exist. But it is basically exploitation of the downline that accounts for upline success. Amway's admission that sales to non IBOs are low, confirms this. Thus certain upline make their income from their downline's PV volume, and on tool purchases. I mean even a lottery has winners. Even ponzi schemes and other questionable opportunties have some winners. This is not to suggest that Amway in not legal. Amway is perfectly legal, but the way the opportunity is set up, those who profit, primarily do so at the expense of their trusted downline.

There are no groups that I know of where all the IBOs can win and earn a profit. I would guess that there might be a few rogue groups who only focus on retail sales, and while these groups can be profitable as a group, they are few and far between. This is because most IBOs fall under an LOS such as WWDB, BWW, LTD or N21, and these groups all seemingly focus on recruiting of new IBOs. Yes, they may sprinkle in some suggeestions about selling goods, but generally speaking, their "training" materials consist of motivation speeches, feel good stories (whether true or not), and the theme of never quitting while continuing to purchase more tools.

Some upline have the nerve to start teaching downline that their Amway business is not about making money, but to save your marriage, make you a nicer person, or some other diversion to make you forget that you are losing money month after month after month. Some groups even mix in religion and politics into their functions and meetings. As far as I can see, the typical business buildiing IBO signs up, gets some of the tools and attends a few functions, and finds that the products are hard to sell because they are not priced competetively with other retailers, and that a damaged reputation is nearly impossible to overcome. These IBOs realize they are not going anywhere, and they walk away, chalking up the losses as a life lesson. But apparently, many uplines who lied and deceived in the past are continuing to do so today, often just revising history for their benefit (i.e. lying about making any profit on tools).

Many IBOs, prospects, information seekers and critics read this blog. My question is very simple. What is so great about the Amway opportunity? For most, it is just a bad use of time and money. While some may exist, I don't know of a single person who "did the work once" and sat back collecting barrels of Amway money while sipping Mai Tais on the beaches of Jamaica. I see crown ambassadors working as hard today as they did many years ago. Diamonds losing homes to forclosures, a prominent diamond in bankruptcy proceedings, and a hoard of WWDB diamonds apparently selling off mansions that they allegedly paid for in cash. (It os quite possible that their lifestyles are simply not sustainable).

Where is the benefit in the business for the typical IBO? Just as there are some diamonds, there are lottery winners. Displaying a lottery winner doesn't make it prudent to spend your money on lottery tickets. Displaying a diamond's lifestyle doesn't make Amway a good opportunity. While Amway is a business and not a game of chance, the results of either, sadly are eerily similar - that is a few winners and millions of non winners.

What is so great about the Amway opportunity? I don't see it.

Get Rich Quick In Amway?

One thing many IBOs will talk about is how they were told that they would have to work hard and that they would not get rich quick in the Amway business. That Amway was not a get rich quick scheme. I do believe this, but what many Amway IBOs and Amway enthusiasts will not mention is that somewhere in the plan or when they were recruited, they were either directly told or implied that they would eventually "get rich" by joining Amway, whether it was "quick" or not.

If people were told that they would not get rich/wealthy and that they would have to work hard and that they would have to overcome the name reputation, how many people would join? As evidence to prove my point, many IBOs and former IBOs know about a major function occuring around this time of the year called "Winter Conference" or "Dream Night". A handful of diamonds would host a dinner and they would show slideshows of extravagant wealth. Since in my days, IBOs were told there was NO PROFIT IN TOOLS, it was implied that all the luxurious trappings were a result of Amway income.

The slide show was shown while the song "I wanna be rich" was playing in the background. There were pictures of jet skis, yachts, boats, jets, fancy cars, golf courses and designer suits and mansions. The audience was told that diamonds paid for everything in cash. The diamonds would stand on stage and tell the audience that they will work 24/7 but it was so worth it to go diamond. That you could catch up on sleep when you are a diamond. That the IBOs in the audience needed to hurry up and join them so they would have more playmates.

Looking back, it was a nice function. It got people to dream of having all of this material wealth. Sadly, I don't think a single one of the audience I was in ever got close to achieving that kind of success. In fact, the LOS I was in, WWDB, didn't have many new diamonds since I left Amway and in fact I think some diamonds have disappeared! Maybe they became negative losers?

Yes, when you are prospected in Amway, the speaker may tell you that Amway is not
get rich quick.

What they don't tell you is that you probably won't become rich at all.

Uplines Exploit Downlines?

Some big companies and some private entrepreneurs have been accused of being "sweat shop owners". This is when they exploit their workers. Often in foreign countries, big companies may hire workers for a very small wage and poor working conditions. For example, a foreign operation may have a warehouse full of women and children working all day under poor conditions for a few bucks a day. The owners of these operations can rake in the dough as they save a ton of money in labor costs.

Some uplines operate just like sweat shop owners, but in many cases, they are worse then sweat shop owners because even exploited workers earn something, even if it's not a lot. At the end of the month, they have a net gain, even if it might be small. In the case of many Amway IBOs, they spend money on Amway products, and uplines take the lion's share of the rebate/bonus that is generated by those sales, and then in turn, these same uplines try to get many of their downline to also become customers of their system of cds, books, voicemail and seminars or functions. In many, probably most cases, uplines will make just as much if not more income from the system, than from Amway. And for the downlines who may earn some bonus, upline will advise them to reinvest that bonus and more back into buying more system materials.

These same upline will also teach firece loyalty to the system. Never miss a function. Make sacrifices to buy more books or cds, and make sure you are always looking for people to sponsor to add to the system. Joining the system almost guarantees that you will suffer a net loss in the Amway business. It is why I continue to write about what IBOs and prospects should look for when they are being recruited or indoctrinated into these systems. It is why there are so many defenders of Amway, most of whom are losing money, but think they are still successful because it is what upline teaches. I have heard many times about the "proven system", but all the system has proven is that it can nearly guarantee that downline IBOs will lose monet, almost exclusively due to the system expenses.

I know most IBOs won't believe this, but I will say it anyway. IBOs on the system are probably worse off than sweat shop employees because they are paying their upline to do their work. At least sweat shop employees get a salary. Upline will teach you that it is an honor to drive them around, or to do tasks for them. Many platinums works as free doormen and ushers at meetings and functions. Upline benefits by maximizing profits from functions. It is pure downline exploitation and I hope eventually that more and more IBOs will recognize this. It's all cleverly planned to make it seem as if a downline IBO benefits by "associating" with upline. But you are not associating, you are simply doing unpaid labor. Stop and think for a minute, for all your time and expense, what tangible gain did your business realize?

Many uplines exploit their downline and at the same time, teach their downline that this is beneficial to them. Don't believe it!

Defending Amway?

I got into the Quixtar/Amway debate back in about 2004 or so. I've seen many Amway defenders and critics come and go. I have thought about quitting but somehow, some new injustice perpetuated by some upline leaders resurfaces and Joecool gains a renewed sense of dedication to exposing the truth about the opportunity and some of the unethical upline leaders. The purpose of this blog is to provide information to those who seek it, whether it be an IBO or a prospect. The information on this blog is from my personal experiences, the opinions I have formed about the business and the opinions and facts that I have gathered as an experienced blogger on the subject.

There's one particular visitor here from Scarborough Canada, basically a troll, who wants to defend Amway, but he is unable to defend Amway on the merits of the business so he results to personal insults and idle threats. Unknowingly, these kinds of Amway defenders make themselves and the business reputation worse as the audience here will often associate the bad manners with the Amway opportunity in general. I believe it is because when you debate on sound business principles and common sense, there is practically no way to defend Amway and the tools system as a sound business opportunity. The vast majority of IBOs end up with a net loss, and those who attend functions and buy other training materials often end up with massive losses in the tens of thousands of dollars.

A common defense of Amway is to show one individual who may have overcome the odds to succeed. What is not said is that this individual may have all his or her downline losing money, or that the success they enjoy was not sustainable due to the attrition of IBOs. Or they may portrat thay success as the best case scenario and not tell prospects about what is likely. There is no unbiased documentation to prove that the system has any effectiveness. It's amazing how one's opinion of the foolproof system changes within a few months. So many IBOs have visited my blog to fight and debate, only to sheepishily email me later to say I was right on many points and that they have since quit Amway. As I said, this blog is not encouraging anyone to quit, but to please be aware of your business expenses and to look at the facts, not ignore them.

A business exists to make money. Some uplines will tell you that you are a nicer person or a better father. That the business is not about money. They would be dead wrong. You joined the business, presumably to make money. If not then you have just joined a very expensive social club. For those who wish to defend Amway and the systems, that certainly is your right and this blog welcomes all opinions, even those that are not aligned with my own. But defend the business and the systems base on facts and results, not on anecdotal stories, best case scenarios and photocopies of someone else's checks. Then you have something to stand on. If not, as I said in a previous post, try getting a business loan by showing the loan officer a copy of Bill Britts bonus check as proof that the business works. Or try securing a loan by showing the bank the 6-4-2 plan.

Seriously, a good debate is great but lacking facts and common sense, the defense looks feeble. Good luck if you are seeking information and I hope this blog provides what you are seeking.

Dreams Fulfilled?

One of the things that uplines talk about is fulfilling dreams. They want to show IBOs and prospects "what is possible". But what is possible is like showing off the winners of lotteries because the reality of the Amway business is many will lose so a few can win. A simple analysis of the 6-4-2 plan or whatever version your group uses will reveal that the lower layers of IBOs are losing money, and they lose more if they are subscribing to various tools such as voicemail, standing order, and attending functions and meetings.

So whose dream are fulfilled? Based on projected income from Amway bonuses and income from selling the tools, I would have to say that only the dreams of your upline get fulfilled by your hardcore dedication to the tools system. Even someone at 1000 to 2500 PV will be losing money if they are hardcore sold out to the system. Of course some of this might depend on where you live and how far you must travel to attend functions. But in general, many IBOs are being advised to "reinvest" any of their bonuses into tools and functions. Ironically, reinvesting into the tools is why these IBOs end up with a net loss.

Another sad chain of events is that upline will ask for your trust. That they have your best interest at heart and want your trust. Do as they advise and you are assured of success. Then if you do everything you are told, your upline will blame you for failure or teach you to blame yourself for a lck of effort. Uplines as far as I know have never been accountable for advice that they pass downline. But they are quick to take credit for the limited success that is grinded out of the system. It is puzzling to see shameless apologists like IBOFB continue to defend and promote an opportunity where the vast majority end up with a net loss. In some cases where downline have sold out to the system, the losses can mount into tens of thousands of dollars over a short period of time.

Later this month and into next month, there will be a function called Dream Night. A function where you might see slide shows of mansions, yachts, sports cars, exclusive vacations and other trappings of wealth. The diamonds may say do as we say and you can have what we have. What goes unnnoticed in all this is that the diamonds may not in fact own or have some or all of the goodies shown in the slide shows. They might not have the incone you think. Some may have financial difficulties but one thing seems clear to me. That downline's dedication and tool purchases help the upline diamond's to fulfill their own dreams.

My Upline Is Rich?

One of the things so many IBOs and others do is assume that their upline diamond is rich beyond belief. At meetings, the speaker would be introduced as being in the top one tenth of one percent income bracket. While it may or may not be true, nobody ever questioned it, they just assumed it because people saw pictures of mansions and copies of 5 year old bonus checks. Even I never went and studied how the diamond bonuses worked. Most people just assumed that the money would be huge at the diamond level. But looking back, I can recall some things that make me believe that the diamonds were cutting corners and needed their platinums working free in order to maximize profits.

The diamonds in our group often did not stay in hotels, but in the home of another diamond or some lucky downline platinum. The diamonds rarely rented a car. Instead, a downline platinum or higher would be lucky enough to be the unpaid and uncompensated chauffeur for the weekend. The platinums basically were the doormen and ushers at the functions and in many cases, probably didn't even get to hear the speakers since they were busy working. Their reward for their troubles was "spending time" with their uplines.

The downline are like unpaid volunteers. For example, ever see diamonds actually renting a moving van and hiring movers? I believe most of them had downline groupies who did the work for free, just for the honor of being near their upline. Just my opinion, but if these folks had mountains of cash, why wouldn't you hire movers so your downline didn't have to use up a valuable Saturday or Sunday to do that work? That's like having all of their stores closed. No products sold, no new recruits prospected. If Ray Kroc moved his residence, would all the nearby McDonald's owners close their stores to help him move?

Another things IBOs and prospects should note is that pictures of mansions, sports cars and jet skis doesn't mean someone is wealthy. Someone could have all those things on credit or rented afterall. And many people who truly are wealthy, do not show off their wealth. It is possible that many diamonds live mundane middle class lives on their income but need to portray wealth to lure in new IBOs. While your upline diamonds may act and look rich, how would you really know? I can take a homeless guy, clean him up an put him in a suit and a sportscar and he would probably look like a diamond.

If your uplines are implying that they are so wealthy ask them to verify some of the claims. I'm not talking about their personal income, but in business, verifying business income is very common. If you are being invited into the business and a business system such as WWDB, BWW or N21, you have every right to check your upline's credentials. Avoidance of the truth, or an answer such as "none of your business" should be a red flag. It is your business if you are being asked to join and follow upline advice.

The "System" Doesn't Work

Based on my experience in Amway, my blogging experience, and observation of other people who give financial advice such as real estate gurus who teach you to buy property with no money down, or others such as Robert Kiyosaki for that matter, all show testimonials of sucessful people. Obviously they do not show you the vast majority of people who try their systems and fail. I don't believe any of these systems have a bonafide unbiased record of success. It is why they all have disclaimers about success being rare or unique.

It is my informed opinion that whether it is Amway, WWDB, BWW, N21, real estate or the cashflow business, the vast majority of people who try these systems do not make any kind of significant income. Sure, some do, and those are shown as the possibilities. But if you watch infomercials, you will see in small print on the bottom of the screen, "unique experience", your results may vary. Your resurts are likely to be a loss. But they never tell you what's likely, only what's possible. I believe that a similar message used to be at the end of Amway diamond recordings as well.

These systems in general do not work for various reasons. Many people simply do not have the acumen to work the system. Or the system has too many variables for the system to work, or the system calls for things beyond your control. For example, success in Amway generally requires you to sponsor others, something that is beyond the control of most people. Add in the lazy and people who are hoping for a quick score and it is understandable that most will fail. But these systems are often set up where the majority simply cannot all succeed. Nowhere is that more true than the Amway business where the pyramidal compensation plan nearly guarantees failure for the lower level IBOs.

So what can someone do? Well, it may not be as sexy or attractive but a part time job and investing and saving might be something to think about. Even a part time business where you focus on selling products for a profit might work. It just seems prudent to avoid these "systems" as the primary beneficiary of these "systems" are the ones who directly profit from them. The IBOs simply supply the money for the tool sellers.

Do You Truly Believe?

In the past, and I believe still today, some leaders in motivational groups talk about faith and belief. Speak it into existence. Some of this is the mantra amongst IBOs who believe they are going diamond. Never mind that statistically, your chance of winning the lottery might be better than going diamond in Amway. In fact, I believe there have been more powerball lottery winners than new Amway diamonds in the US and Canada in recent years. But an honest question for IBOs, prospects, and Amway supporters. Do you truly believe that this business works and that you will succeed?

If you truly believe, would you feel confident walking into a bank and meeting a loan officer. Tell the loan officer that all you do is sponsor 6 who sponsor 4 who sponsor 2 and you will be a new platinum (silver). Then all you need is 6 of these groups and the money will roll in forever while you sit on a beach in the Bahamas while money rolls in by the barrelfull. And then ask the loan offier for a business loan. If you think this suggestion is crazy, maybe you don't truly believe in the business. Surely a loan officer would have some financial acumen and would be able to determine the viability of the business prior to approving a loan.

Would you feel comfortable talking to your doctor about joining Amway because a diamond makes much more income with less effort? How about a business professor at your local university? Surely someone with an established expertise in business would see the value of an Amway business and join your efforts? Or would the professor laugh you out of his office? Do you truly believe in what you do? If so, do you use the curiosity approach or are you straight up with prospects and invite them to an Amway meeting? If it's the latter and not the former, maybe your belief isn't that strong?

How hard do you work at building your business? If you truly believe that going diamond is the answer to all of life's challenges and problems, why aren't you building it and working on it as if your very life depended on it? Maybe your belief isn't what you think it is? Are you adding people to your downline every week or month? If not, maybe your belief isn't what you think it is?

If you have some doubts about what you are doing, then it is probably because you see IBOs coming and going. Maybe you see monthly losses in your business. Maybe you see people quitting the business regularly. Maybe you see the same old leaders on stage giving the same rah rah speeches. Maybe you see the logic and the common sense in most of the articles posted on this blog. My blog isn't here to make anyone quit Amway. My blog is to provide information to information seekers and to assist people in making informed decisions if they seek information prior to joining Amway and a motivational group such as WWDB or BWW.

Do you truly believe in what you're doing? Joecool truly believes in what he blogs about.