Amway Diamonds Are Just Actors?

In my opinion, Amway diamonds are nothing more than actors. They portray a role and while they might be envied by their downline, when the lights are turned off, what remains? I believe most diamonds are simply middle class people portraying lifestyles of the rich and famous. We could debate whether or not a diamond has an easy job. Heck, I could concede that speaking at functions can be better than a 9-5 job, but the volatility of an Amway business can make a diamond live under greater stress than someone with a regular and predictable job.

My former diamond used to iive in a middle class neighborhood and he told the group that he was buying a property in an exclusive gated community and was going to build himself a nice home. He said his home would be on a hill right above a nice beach where he could enjoy his hobby of spearfishing and the ocean. I don't know if he ever built that home but last I heard, he is living in the State of Washington. Makes me wonder why he would move there when he was allegedly building his dream home in Hawaii near one of his favorite beaches. (Maybe the cost of living is cheaper there?)

Think of the diamond this way. It is a fact that most diamonds are not Q12 (which means they have diamond qualifications for all 12 months of Amway's fiscal year). A Q12 diamond averages about $600,000 from Amway (source: Amway.com) but only a small percentage of diamonds are Q12. The other average non Q12 diamonds average about $150,000 a year and they augment that income with tools scam income. So an average diamond might make in the range of $250,000. You may thing they are "rich" but after business expenses are considered, plus taxes and family medical and dental insurance, and other miscellaneous business expenses, a diamond is not financially capable of buying homes in cash, having exclusive golf club memberships and buying ferraris in cash. What is likely is that a diamond lives a middle class lifestyle while acting like they are rich. I had a conversation with a former emerald who told me that most of her emerald income (or diamond for that matter) comes in the form of an annual bonus so her monthly income was relatively small.

There might be diamonds who are wealthy. But if they truly are, it is because they are at a level higher than diamond and they are also very likely to have income from sources other than Amway. We know that back in 2009, Greg Duncan a WWDB triple diamond filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in Montana and it is public record. He had homes foreclosed. This man stood on stage when I was an IBO and told the audience that anyone who makes a loan is "stupid". I wonder how Mr. Duncan felt when he reneged on his multiple home loans, despite having a triple diamond income from Amway of about $40,000 a month?

For these reasons, I say Amway diamonds are just actors. Some better than others, but in the end, when the lights and shut off, they are not much better off financially than someone with a good paying job. In fact, I have read in several places that truly rich people don't show off their wealth. That is food for thought isn't it?

Is Amway Like Las Vegas?

I had an interesting inspiration recently. I thought of Amway like Las Vegas. Amway defenders will swoop in and claim that Amway is not gambling, therefore, not a valid comparison. But even with that, I still say Amway is like Las Vegas. The diamonds parade around on stage, trying to display the appearance of success and that "anyone" can do the same. To that, I say "anyone" can put a few dollars in the mega bucks slot machine and hit the big jackpot.

While the diamonds portray some dream lifestyle, so does Las Vegas. The strip hotels are fabulous and opulent in luxuries. Just walking through some of the newer hotels can leav you in Awe. And all of this can be yours for the right price. You can get almost anything you want in Vegas if you have enough money. In Amway, you can get almost anything you want if you can fool enough people into believing in you, allowing them to follow your ause and sign up somewhere in your downline

While Vegas might be legendary while the glitz and glamour, the casinos are full of people willing to lose their hard earned money in the hopes of shrinking it rich. The same thing applies in Amway, except that most Vegas visitors understand that the deck is stacked against them and that winning would be great but not expected. In Amway, the downline are led to believe they will all make it big and be on stage as emeralds and diamonds. The stark reality and the insidious part of Amway is that the hotels and can luxurious and opulent while the streets of Begas are littered with homeless people and the casinos are full on people losing money each and every day.

Las Vegas was not built on winners and the Amway diamonds are not built on winners. Amway is built on millions of people churning and quitting. While in Amway, they hope or believe they will eventually "make it". In the meantime, they spend money on products and training that they would have not otherwise, and that doesn't factor in the loss of time. At least in Las Vegas, even if you lose money, you probably had a good time and and a few complimentary meals or perks. The same cannot be said of Amway.

Signs That You're Sucked Into Amway?

Sometimes it happens to the nicest of people and it oftens happens slowly and subtly. These are the signs that you are becoming indocrinated and you are likely annoying your friends and loved ones at this point. It may not be apparent right away but the change occurs and eventually becomes noticable to those who know you. You think you are doing what it takes and developing your ability to succeed in Amway so you may not notice that you've become "one of those Amway people"

You're driven to recruit everyone you know. You made your name list and you're working it hard! You may even resort to deception or outright lies to get people to meetings because saying "Amway typically will not work. Before you know it, your family and friends avoid you like the plague. You end up spending time at malls or book stores or coffee shops and other public placse scouting for "sharp" recruits. You almost become phony in talking to people and feigning interest in other people and their interests because that's how it's done in Amway!

You're encouraged to develop an unreasonable, irrational zeal for the products. Even so far as to justify the quality of toilet paper or to call the products prestigious. You may even argue the quality of energy drinks or about phytonutrients, something you may not even know about. Even when there is contrary but concrete evidence, you continue to defend your Amway goods because it is your ticket to "freedom"!

A whole bunch of demands, promises, subtle threats of failure if you don't try hard enough are made in the promotional material and motivational seminars. i.e. If you quit, you are a loser destined to die broke and unhappy. Or you let someone steal your dream. These ridiculous claims are how your upline keeps you hooked. While the pressure can b subtle, it can still be powerful. After all, nobody wants to be labeled as a "loser".

Because the system is touted as the way you're going to make yourself fantastically rich, you're under pressure to drop any conflicting or competing interests such as your bowling or tennis league or golf club. Nothing else in life has importance except for the quest of financial freedom. All activities in your life must enhance your Amway business and have an affect on your financial future. No other activities matter to you unless it affects your financial future. Even family and friends may be shunned in your quest for the holy financial grail. And this is in spite of your business generating $10 a month in income while you spend $250 on cds, books, voicemail and function tickets.

Your upline soon becomes your most trusted friend. Your thoughts and feelings are shaped in part by the cds, meetings and functions. People who you may have trusted all your life suddenly becomes secondary in your life because of your undying loyalty to your upline. You shun the advice of (formerly) trusted family and friends because they are "broke minded" or have an "employee" mentality.

Do you recognize these behaviors? Hopefully you aren't displaying these behaviors, If you do, you have been sucked into Amway.

P.S. Joecool will be traveling to another part of the world for the next week (with my job income) so I may not have access to post new comments or new articles until next week. Until then, enjoy this new article and I'll try to check in before the end of my trip.

Aloha!

Amway Is Inconvenient?

Looking back at my IBO days, I can now laugh at some of the weird stuff we did and believe it or not, I have reason to believe that my old LOS, WWDB still teaches some of this and some other major groups also teach it. I believe some of these practices were the reason why some people refer to the Amway business as cult or having cult like qualities. If you recognize some of these practices, you might be in an unethical group and you should ask your upline the tough questions and possibly reconsider or reprioritize your involvement in the business.

Late meetings. Our upline was into late meetings, many occuring after midnight. I suppose it was a show of loyalty and dedication to the upline and the system. In reality, it made most people angry at their jobs because they had to wake up early to go to work. For me it made me mad at our upline because the meetings taught us nothing of substance and it just made us tired. Our upline used to talk about time being important but it was never important enough to make him show up on time for his own late night meetings. Another cult like factor - sleep deprivation. Our upline described this practice as Amway being a business of incovenience, designed to weed out the weak and undedicated.


Submission to upline was one of the things we were told. Our group was told that upline would never purposely lead us astray so we should trust them and never try anything without checking upline. Afterall, upline had experience and probably had all the answers. Some of this checking upline included asking permission to get married, buy a car or a home, or even something as small as purchasing a camera. The upline said maybe someone upline might have advice on how to get a good deal on a camera so no harm in checking upline before making a purchase. It is my guess that upline didn't want your disposable income being spent on anything other than standing orders and functions.

Secrets. Anytime we asked about how much income uplines may have been earning, we were either told it's none of our business or shown a photocopy of a 5 year old bonus check that someone upline may have received. Our proof that the business worked was upline showing off pictures of sports cars and mansions. Of course we now find that some WWDB diamonds had homes foreclosed, and one prominent triple diamond had some dealings in bankruptcy court. Looking back, I suspect that many diamonds have mortgages, which would not be a problem except that these leaders scoffed at the stupidity of having a loan. That diamonds pay cash for everything, including homes. My former sponsor still lives in a run down rented home beause he won't purchase a home unless he's got the cash. My former sponsor is a physician so I find his position on buying a home preposterous. His oldest child, a son probably grew up deprived of his parents because of dedication to the system and the functions.

Losing money is success. Many times, our group was told that losing money was a sign of success. It was success because we were investing in our futures. That the business really is not about money but about friendships. I suppose upline taught this because everyone was losing money so it was nice to hear that success was around the corner, and that we were all nicer people and on our way to success if we just attended more functions and bought more standing orders. People who sold off some of their personal property were edified if they did so to attend a function. Obviously these folks were not advised to run their business within their means. Upline even said that going into debt was okay, but only if the debt was to invest in the business or to buy extra function tickets.

While some of these practices seem bizarre, I believe it is because the upline advice was self serving and meant to channel their downline's dollars into tool purchases. It is the only conclusion I can make.

Amway Prospects Deceived?

I was thinking about how propsects are invited to see the plan. In many cases, there will have been a bit of deception or half truths told in order for an IBO to get a prospect in front of the plan. But then I thought about the plan and how much deception was used in the plan itself by the speaker.

IN many cases, IBOs and new prospects are deceived right from the beginning. The speaker might make some small talk, and get the prospect to agree on certain issues, such as income tax and insurance eating away at your paycheck, etc. When a prospect hears this, it will make sense and they will agree and trust the speaker somewhat. Afterall, the speaker has been built up to be a financial whiz and all. And much of what the speaker says makes sense, at least on the surface.

Then the deception begins.............

The speaker might talk about IBOs saving 30% on products righ from the start, which is false. Here's some information debunking that age old myth:
http://www.amquix.info/Save30_myth.html Not only do many products cost more, factor in shipping and handling fees and it's not evebn close in many cases.

Then the speaker might talk about 98% of people being dead or broke by age 65, which is not true. The speaker might talk about 90% or more of small businesses failing in the first year. These little factoids (which are untrue) are apparently used to make other opportunities seem flawed in comparison with the Amway opportunity. Readers and prospects really need to do some research and due diligence and they will easily see through the mistruths.

The speaker might then talk about how the Amway opportunity is cheap to get started, and has little or no overhead. But the problem is that many dedicated IBOs will get hosed as their upline will begin to teach them that they need to invest in their business in the form of voicemail, book of the month, standing order and attending all meetings. These expenses nearly guarantee that an IBO will end up with a net loss of income. What's more, upline may teach that this is success! In many cases, the speakers don't care abot the prospects. All they care about is getting people signed up and on the system. Sure they may loan cds to newbies, but once an IBO wants more, they are likely told that "serious" business owners buy their own tools.

So a question for IBOs and prospects. Is it a good opportunity when you have been lied to or deceived right from the outset?

Amway And Personal Responsibility?

One of the disturbing things I have noticed about Amway IBOs and IBO leaders is how they wlll tell downline to trust them. To trust them as they have already blazed a trail. No need to re-invent the wheel. Just ride the coattails of your upline to success. The system is proven. Many IBOs take this to heart and put forth tremendous effort. Then when they fail, upline will shun them and tell them that the failure is their own. That they are personally responsible for failure.

Now I am not talking about IBOs who sign up and do nothing, or never place an order. I do believe that the fact that many IBOs sign up and do nothing brings concerns about how these IBOs were recruited, but I di not recall ever seeing an IBO do nothing and then complain that Amway was a scam or anything like that.

I have found, however, that many people who are critical of Amway and the systems, put forth much effort, did everything they were told, and did not find the success that upline promoted, or in some cases, guaranteed. My former sponsor was still active, last I heard and has been in Amway for over 15 years. I do not believe he has ever gone beyond platinum, and I know that he was never a Q12 platinum. Some Amway apologists might see being a platinum as a bonus, but when you are hard core sold out to the systems, platinum is a break even or make a small profit business. Factor in that time spent by husband and wife and these folks are breaking even or making a fraction of minumum wage. Is this the dream that will allow you to buy mansions with a cash payment?

What is also disturbing is how people will tout the system as responsible for any success, but hide the vast majority that the system doesn't help. Sure, some will succeed in Amway, but for every success, there are hundreds if not thousands who fail. And if you consider diamond as the benchmark of success, the failures could be in the millions. As I said, some succeed, but very very few in relation to the number who try. Going diamond is probably less common in the US than winning the lottery.

Succeed and the systems and upline take credit, but fail or quit and it is your own responsibility. Are these the kinds of leaders or mentors you want advice from? Where's the personal responsibility of the leaders and mentors? There are many stories of IBOs doing exactly what they were advised, only to lose money and/or fail. Where's the responsibility of the leaders? The tools system is win win for the upline leaders with the downlines getting a lose lose situation.

The Endless Amway Training?

I believe that Amway IBOs have approximately a 50% attrition rate for the first year alone. If you look at a 5 year window, I believe the attrition rate is something like 95%. So what we're saying is that out of 100 IBOs, only 5 will be around in 5 years, or out of 1000 IBOs, 50 will remain after 5 years. This is extremely significant because if you are a business builder, you will need to replace half of your IBOs every single year. For this reason, I am very doubtful that there are IBOs who "built the business right and built it once", who no longer do Amway related work, but still collect significant residual income. I would guess that significant income could be defined as being enough to live a lifestyle in the top tax bracket (for the US) without having to report to a J-O-B.

Now I understand that some IBOs take it personally when I bring up subjects like this. It is because they have been deceived by some upline diamond or big pin who has sold them on a dream of financial prosperity for life if they will only work hard for 2-5 years. I once thought so too, but realized that there isn't a single diamond that I know of who built the business right and walked away to enjoy the beaches of the world while truckloads of money rolls in. Kinda makes you wonder why you see Crowns still working, and diamonds actually quitting or resigning. I have asked the question many times and it has never been answered. Can anyone name a few people who built their business right and built it once who is currently enjoying these lifelong residuals? Also, if that were a benefit, why doesn't Amway say so?

Instead, you have a constant and endless flow of motivation being sold to IBOs. This motivation comes in the form of cds, books, meetings, functions and other things like voicemail messages. It's sad that IBOs have to continue to pay through the nose for motivation and "teaching" about the Amway business when there are cheaper and more efficient means of communication. For example, why would you need an expensive voicemail when a facebook group account can disseminate messages to your group in seconds at no cost? It is because the uplines want to extract every possible cent from their downline. Because of the internet, I believe people are starting to figure things out and avoid the systems altogether. I hope Joecool's blog contributes to this.

All the motivation IBOs truly need is to see a net profit at the end of the month. If IBOs actually earned an extra $200 a month, or $50 a month, or $600 a month as advertised, there would be no need for motivational speeches. The IBOs would simply look at the growth in their finances and they would keep going. The poor retention rate is easy to explain. IBOs are losing money because of the system expenses and they lose their motivation to continue. If you are an IBO or a prospect, stop and think for a minute. If you are making an extra $200 a month with minimal effort, would you need functions and other materials to motivate you? Or would you have intrinsic motivation from the profit? All the motivation you will ever need is a net profit. Take that to the bank

The Real Amway Business?

I have been reading some ongoing debates about whether the system income for higher pins is more than their Amway bonuses. I believe the systems such as BWW, WWDB, N21 or LTD, does generate more profit for upline than the sale of Amway products. How the system income is divided though, is still a mystery as it doesn't appear that there are bonafide written contracts explaining how tools income is split up among the higher pins. There is also the debate of whether diamonds themselves or their "corporations" receive the profit, which is laughable as a defense.

But it's very easy to determine that more income is made from the system than from Amway. If you move $100 worth of Amway products, Amway will pay about $33 back in the form of bonuses. These bonuses will be split among the Amway IBOs (middlemen), depending on your level. On the other hand, if your group bought say 20 cds at $5.00each, the system will profit about $90 as cds cost about 50 cents each to produce in bulk. Some Amway apologists will cite the fact that some groups sell cds for $2.50 or $3.00. While this is true, there is a "member's fee" which must be paid. And when you add in the member's fee, the profit for the system is the same or possibly higher! Even when you factor in the system employees, you can easily see the math and determine where the real money is made.

If you buy a major function ticket for $125, the cost of that function might be in the neighborhood of $25 to $30 per attendee, so the system may generate $100 profit on a $125 sale. I believe the smaller functions such as open meetings, books and voicemail have smaller profit margins, but still overall, it's easy to conclude that the profit from the system is greater than profits generated by moving Amway products. I might add that the sales on these functions are often made in cash, thus who knows if the diamonds are even paying the IRS taxes on these sales.

The only question is how much each individual earns. I have "heard" that platinums get a discount on the sale of standing orders and cds, but I have never heard of a platinum sharing any profit for functions, voicemail, or any of the other materials. This is puzzling to me as I believe the platinums do the most work in the system, helping downlines.

So for the lower level IBOs, if you move $300 in Amway sales (Approximately 100 PV), you will receive about $10 or 3% while upline enjoys the rest of the $90+ in bonuses from Amway. And then when you purchase and move tools volume, you receive nothing and some of your uplines enjoy all of the profit. While I don't see any problem in upline making a profit for selling training materials, I see a problem in the fact that the tools don't work. So few IBOs progress to levels where an actual profit is earned that the use of tools cannot be justified. Amway supporters will point out the new platinums emerging each year, but do not mention the platinums who do not re-qualify.

Based on my observations, I can only conclude (quite easily) that there is substantially more profit from the sale of support materials for upline to enjoy, and I can also conclude that the support materials are ineffective in training downline IBOs so they can progress to higher levels of the business. But as PT Barnum once said, a sucker is born every minute.

""Anyone"" Can Succeed?

One of the "false hope" things my upline used to tell our group was that everyone was going to succeed. That although things are tough, one day we will all be at diamond club together looking back at the struggles and laughing. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. One of the things that Amway promoters like to state is that "anyone" can succeed", but in the same line of reasoning, I could also say that "anyone" can win the lottery. The same thing can apply to not "everyone" can succeed in Amway and not "everyone" can win the lottery. Amway is not a game of chance like the lottery, but this still applies and ironically, the outcomes from participation is similar to a lottery. Few winners and masses of losers.

Using the term "anyone can succeed" is simply a statement that gives people hope. It appears that Amway promoters love to use the psychology of giving people hope as a means of recruiting and retaining IBOs. Hope is what keeps people motivated. The problem with the Amway opportunity, is that it is false hope. It is very easy to see that in most groups, the majority of downline IBOs will lose money. The majority of active IBOs, if they receive a bonus, will get only about $10 a month from Amway. If they use voicemail, or subscribe to standing order, they are already at a net loss for the month. Never mind the open meetings, major functions and other monthly expenses associated with the Amway business.

I believe it is hope that makes gambling popular. One pull on a slot machine handle can change your life. Many IBOs believe that one good run of business can change thir lives. Unfortunately, the Amway business has not appeared to have produced much fruit in North America. It seems that any new success is simply replacing older pins who no longer qualify. In my opinion, it is a telltale sign that Amway has stopped reporting North American sales. I'm sure if sales were up, they would stand on their rooftops and trumpet out such success. But Amway has seen double digit decreases in sales each of the last few year. Are people beginning to see through the Amway façade?


To summarize, "anyone" can succeed. But that simply means that you never know who the next platinum or diamond may be. You don't know where they will come from. And it is unlikely to be a new recruit. If you are using a system such as N21, WWDB, or BWW, then I can say with certainty, that "everyone" cannot succeed.

Looking Behind The Amway Scam?

One of the things that Diamonds and some other leaders do to attract new IBOs is to put on a dog and pony show. They want prospects to think that you can consume Amway products and get others to follow your lead and in a few years, you will be set for life financially, speaking on stages and securing the future for generations to come. They might use props such as pictures of mansion. slideshows of cars, jets, yachts. It looks impressive but based on what I know now, nobody knows whether the diamonds actually own this stuff or if they are simply showing you a slideshow of "lifestyles of the rich and famous". The reality is very likely that many diamonds are actually living in debt or bonus check to bonus check. It is a fact that more than half of NBA basketball pros end up broke within years after they stop playing, and they earn much more than diamonds. Why would a diamond be different than the average Joe, especially when they appear to live beyond their means?

In the few cases where diamond income was exposed, we can see that they were not making the kind of money they would have you believe. Triple diamond Greg Duncan was making about half a million a year from Amway. A nice income for sure, but not what people would think, and not enough to save Mr. Duncan from chapter 7 bankruptcy. David Shores lost a home to foreclosure. Another diamond, unnamed but documented in the book "Amway Motivational Organizations, Behind the Smoke and Mirrors", talks about a diamond who had a gross income of over 3 million dollars, and a net of about $320,000. This diamond was in debt, had back taxes owed to the government, and was working hard to portray the diamond lifestyle.

Some of these leaders also use religion or Christianity as a means to justify their involvement in the business. For those who know, the Bible is clear that the love of money can lead to destruction. When you have functions such as Dream Night, what does that say? I would also like to note that in cases where these diamond's financials were exposed, there were no significant contributions to charity. I wonder if these charlatans talk a good game but do not contribute time or money to worthy causes? Where are the ten thousand dollar checks they talk about donating to charity? These leaders often refer to themselves as mentors, but any help they provide to downline results in some kind of compensation for them. This is not a mentor, but more like a paid consultant who is not getting effective results.

Behind the nice suits and the glitz of the functions, I believe that IBOs and prospects would see a world they truly would not want to be a part of. A world where deceit is practically needed to succeed. Where you take advantage of people who trust in you. Where you pretend to be wealthy and free, but in reality a slave to the mighty dollar. Where you traded a 9-5 job for a job that works the graveyard shift. If you look objectively behind the facade, you might see what I see.

Amway Financial Freedom?

Financial Freedom! That was one of the major battle cries when I was recruited for the Amway business. You gain control of time and money by creating residual or passive income. That is true financial freedom. You wake up at noon, no job, and just do whatever you please, whenever you please. I remember the speaker saying that broke/unemployed people also had freedom, but it was different because they were broke and could not afford to go golfing or do other activities that required money on a regular basis.

I am assuming that this is still the case for many IBOs. Of course, upline leaders may toss in a disclaimer that you don't get rich quick as an IBO, but the pitch apparently still contains the financial freedom and residual income theme, based on my experiences with IBOs. IBOs still think they will be rich. Also, 2-5 years sounds like "get rich quick" to me.

But hey, financial freedom would be a great thing, don't get me wrong. Who wouldn't want to be 35 years old with enough cash to never have to work again? I mean I could spend some time imagining how fun that would be. It would also be fun to imagine what you would do with all the cash if you hit the powerball lottery as well. But for the starry eyed IBOs, I simply have a few questions for you to ponder. A few realistic questions that you should be asking yourself. The answers to these questions will tell you a lot.

1. Who in your group or upline truly has achieved financial freedom? Have you seen their financials or simply a display of wealth such as mansions and fancy cars? Mansions and fancy cars could just be a massive pile of debt. Not too long ago, there apparently were diamonds who had their homes foreclosed, and a triple diamond who was in bankruptcy proceedings. Find out if anyone in your group/upline has actually achieved the success that they are using to recruit you. Also, if they are financially free, why do they work at function after function? Traveling and speaking might not be a traditional job, but it is still work, nonetheless.

2. Even if you find someone who is retired and golfing everyday because of Amway residual income, ask yourself what the likelihood is that you will be able to achieve the same results. If diamonds are still working, what chance do you have of success if you are new or experienced in Amway, and have few or no downline. More than likely, your chance of winning the lottery will be greater than your chance of achieving a significant residual income from your Amway business. Also, I don't know of any Amway retirees who built their business once and walked away with any significant residual income from Amway. Do you?

Beware Of Amway Mentors?

In recent weeks, I have received various emails from Amway IBOs and prospective Amway IBOs asking for my opinion and advice on whether to join Amway or what I thought about Amway. I never tell anyone directly that they should not join or join, but I offer them my thoughts and experiences and allow them to at least make an informed decision about Amway and the Amway systems such as WWDB, BWW, LTD, Network 21 etal. Many people are not familiar with these systems and the system leaders are typically diamonds and above and although they do not present actual credentials, most people assume they are wealthy beyond belief and should be worshipped and given the utmost respect.

However, I have seen chinks in the Armor. I saw a triple diamond file chapter 7 bankruptcy and lose homes to foreclosure. Another "lesser" diamond in WWDB also lost a home to foreclosure. A very valid question I have is how they can lose homes to foreclosure when they cry out on stage that diamonds pay cash for everything? What is also stunning is that the triple diamond only made $40,000 a month. Now that's a great income but is that what you would think a triple diamond would make from Amway? How can you afford mansions and jets and a fleet of sports cars when you earn about the equivalent of minimum wage in the national football league? The answer is you make additional money by selling your downline voicemail, CDs, books and seminar tickets, along with charging them for meetings and other events. More on that to come.

Amway leaders often present themselves as "mentors" but mentors don't make money from the people they mentor. For example, my grandfather teaching me to have character or to be a good man would be mentoring. Someone charging me for voicemail or books and CDs and making money even if I lose my shirt can hardly be considered a mentor. I would say that person is a paid consultant who has no accountability for my results in Amway. As far as I know, no Amway upline has refunded money because you lost your shirt following their advice. I hear stories at times about people losing a lot of money and while they can return seem Amway products, I don't hear stories about refunds from the "tools scam".

And that's the worst part about the Amway "mentors". They have never been held accountable for the massive numbers of people who have spent money in WWDB, BWW, LTD or Network 21 and didn't make money despite doing everything their "mentors" or upline leaders advised. Also, there is no documented evidence that the system of books and CDs and seminars do anything to help IBOs make money, unless you're selling these materials. My advice to Amway prospects and potential IBOs - Beware of Amway "mentors"

Amway Nearly Guarantees Failure?

What many Amway and MLM IBOs do not realize is that the Amway/MLM compensation plan nearly guarantees failure for most IBOs. There, there will always be some people who make money in Amway. Some might even make a nice income, but they are few and far between. But for Amway. all you need to do is look at the 6-4-2 plan and you can easily see how few people can actually succeed.

We know that in the 6-4-2 plan there are 79 IBOs doing 100 PV. We know that many IBOs do little or do nothing, thus a group where 7500 PV is moved, then one can conclude that you would need more than 100 IBOs. I believe many platinum groups consist of 150 to 200 IBOs. Many of these folks quit and need to be replaced, so the platinum is often very busy showing the plan and recruiting downline. In the end, out of these 150 to 200 IBOs, there is one who is making a decent income (the platinum). Well, that platinum represents less than 1% of IBOs. Even if the entire population of the world signed up for Amway, that rate of success would not change because it simply takes that many downline to make a platinum.

Based on the evidence supplied here, you can make a claim that joining Amway or an MLM nearly guarantees your failure. The only exception would be an IBO who signs up and only sells products to actual non IBO customers. These folks can make a profit, but are highly unlikely to make any significant income. However, most IBOs end up joining Amway with an AMO attached (AMO = Amway Motivational Organization) such as WWDB or Network 21. These folks are for profit companies that sell training and motivational materials. But if the system only allows for a fraction of 1% to be "successful" at any given time, no amount of training or motivation will make it better.

The upline leaders who sell these tools often deceive their groups that anyone and possible everyone in the room can succeed. It's simply not true. The system is set up for a limited number of successes. You cannot become a platinum or higher simply by choosing to do so or by wanting it bad enough. Hard work may help but still doesn't guarantee you anything. The system is multi level and it can only yield a small number of "success", just as there can only be so many officers in the Army. Working harder can help someone advance, but the number of leaders (platinums) will only increase relative to the numbers of lower level IBOs. Do the math and the sad picture becomes more and more clear.

Should I Join Amway Or Not?

Recently, I've gotten this question posed to me via email quite a bit recently. My contact information is on this blog and some information seekers have asked whether I think they should join Amway or not. Unfortunately, I cannot answer this question for anyone. What I can do however, is provide information and share my personal experience so anyone considering the Amway business can make a fully informed decision.

Here's a few suggestions I would make to prospective Amway IBOs. Obtain an Amway product catalog or g to www.amway.com and look at their product line and pricing. Ask yourself if you would honestly use these products as a customer if you were not going to be involved in Amway. Try asking a few friends or relative if they would be interested in these same products for the quoted prices. What I found was that Amway products are generally not priced competitively and I could usually get more product at a cheaper price shopping at local retail stores instead of Amway.

I would also try to truly understand how the bonus schedule works and the costs associated with it. For example, your lowest bonus level would be 100 PV. 100 PV is roughly $300 in personal use and/or retail sales. Does a married couple typically spend that much each month on toothpaste, household cleaners and laundry detergent? For me, the answer is "no". Imagine being single and expected to go through that dollar amount of products.

You should also be fully aware of how much it will cost to be an independent business owner, or "IBO". For example, your upline or "mentor" will expect you to read books, listen to cds, subscribe to a voicemail system, and attend meetings and functions. These "tools" have a cost and it will typically cost about $200 or more for someone to be involved with Amway and to get "training". What many prospects are not aware of is your sponsor is supposed to train you at no charge, because they get to leverage any volume you produce. What many people also don't know is that upline and your "mentors" often earn significant incomes from selling these tools and that they make large profits, regardless of whether you make any profit and they profit even if you go bankrupt. There is also no unbiased evidence that the training is effective in producing results for you.

As an IBO, you are restricted by Amway's rules, which can inhibit sales. For example, you are not allowed to advertise your business or products unless you can specific approval from the Amway corporation. You are not allowed to sell products on ebay or craigslist so you have that handicap. Basically, you act as a commission only sales person for Amway whose only recourse is to sell products by word of mouth, typically to family and friends (ever see anyone get wealthy doing this?).

Lastly, if you do join and you move 100 PV, and participated in all the training, you will spend (approximately) $500 a month minimum, less any retails sales you are able to generate, and you will get about $10 from Amway. That $10 is compensation for all the time and effort needed to move that product volume. Typically, you will spend about 10-20 hours a week in your Amway business if you are even halfway serious. Conversely, you could get a 1% cash back credit card and earn $5 for doing nothing other than spending about the same amount that you did on Amway related goods, but with a cash back card, you likely spent very little of your time.

I could go on and on, but I've presented a few points about Amway that I believe will allow most people to make an honest and informed decision about the business. My contact information is on my profile for this blog if anyway has additional questions or thoughts about the Amway business. In the end, it is still ultimately your decision on whether to join or not.

Part Time Work Or Amway?

Many people pitch Amway as an easy, and somewhat shortcut to riches. It's all over the internet, it's what I saw as an IBO, and I have good reason to believe that many still pitch Amway in this manner. I believe that people want to believe that you can create wealth part time in 2-5 years. IBOs and prospects may be told "it's not get rich quick", but 2-5 years to quit your job and live off residual income sure sounds like the pitch of a get rich quick scam. It is what has contributed to Amway's current reputation.

A typical IBO (not counting those who do nothing), according to the "plan" will consume and possibly sell some goods on their way to 100 PV, which will earn them about a $10 bonus from Amway. There might be some profit from sales to customers, but there are also expenses involved in running a business. If an IBO is on the system, then their expenses might run from $100 or so to $500 a month, depending on level of commitment (brainwashing). In the end, a falwed system and generally non competitive pricing and products leads to most IBOs eventually quitting. The vast majority of IBOs on the system will wind up with a net loss, even with a tremendous amount of effort. Seems that effort has no relationship with success in Amway. Based on my experience, deception and lies seem to be a better way to succeed in Amway than by hard work.

But what if someone basically worked a part time job instead of Amway? If someone simply got a 20 hour a week job at $10 an hour (not that difficult), someone could earn about $800 a month gross income, or about $9600 a year. In ten years, even with no raises in salary, that person would have earned close to $100,000 more income. That money, if invested into a diverse portfolio can be the nestegg that allow someone to retire early, or to retire more comfortably than most. And that salary is guaranteed if you work the hours.

In Amway, there are no assurances of anything, even if you work 40 hours a week. The only assurance if that you will help your upline earn more than yourself by moving products. If you are on the system, you are basically paying your upline (via tool puchases) for the priviledge of boosting your upline's volume. It is why uplines teach you to "never quit" and to be "core". These virtures help assure your upline of profits, but does little for the rank and file IBOs. I write this blog post just to stimulate thought amongst IBOs and prospects. There are better and easier options than the Amway opportunity. If you are reading this, you are looking at one potential alternative. It's your job to decide.

Time And Money?

Time and money. When you control both, you are free. At least that's how the business was pitched to me as a prospect. It made sense at the time. If you have enough money, then you don;t have to have a job and go to work every day. Having enugh money allowed you to control your time. It sounded like a great deal to sleep late every day and not have any financial difficulties. It sounds so simple. Join Amway, 2-5 years and there you are.

But for most people, joining Amway (and the systems)ironically robs you of what you desire most. Time and money. For those wanting to build a business, you may be told you need to invest in your business, and while that may be true, I do not believe there is any bonafide evidence that can support the relationship between the investment of time and money into the Amway business and earning a significant income. Many people have invested years and thousands of dollars into the business only to end up with nothing. My sponsor was a physician who spent many days away from his practice (lost income) and his oldest child (son) probably didn't see him very much since he was out showing the plan every nite.

Diamonds give the appearance of being filthy rich with nothing to do but golf abd go shopping but we are now seeing evidence that diamonds may not be all that. Home foreclosures, bankruptcy, former diamonds speaking out, diamonds moving their groups out of Amway, diamonds possibly selling their homes and downsizing. I believe that there are possibly many - a - diamond who is in financial difficulty and they have not escaped the tough economy as they may have implied in a meeting.

Also, if diamonds were so free and filthy rich as they like to portray, why don't any of the bigger pins ever walk away from the business and live on the beaches of the world that they like to talk about? Why are they always attending and running functions? I am guessing tha most of them are working these functions - because they have to. I suspect that some of these diamonds are in debt trying to portray a lifestyle that they truly cannot afford.

If you are joining Amway to gain more time and money, I urge you to make sure you are keeping track to see if you are gaining time and money, but if you look carefully, you will probably find that what you desire more of, is what you actually have less of. That is, time and money.

Amway Success?

When I was a young IBO, I saw the plan and thought it was realistic to go direct and to find six (6) downlines who could do the same thing. I didn't know the realistic chances of doing this, but the presentation made sense so I went with it. I basically built my group on excitement and it seemed like the system could work. Sadly, as I climbed the ranks, my bottom line did not change. I did not "net" $200 at the 1000 PV level, and I did not "net" $1000 a month at 4000 PV as my upline taught. I had the parameters they taught, but the reality was my leaders taught everyone to pump what little profits we earned into buying more tools.

My leaders also taught people to get out of debt, which was good advice on the surface, but at the same time, any disposable income left over was to be channeled into tools, and for those who did not escape debt, they were told it was okay to go deeper in debt, but only if it was to "invest" in their businesses by purchasing more tools. Thus it certainly appears that upline's advice was purely self serving and had nothing to do with an IBO's individual success.

I was in WWDB and they (upline) said that WWDB was breaking the most new diamonds and that WWDB diamonds were the most profitable. So here it is more than a dozen years later, where are all these new diamonds? Aside from from foreign diamonds, there are (I believe) less than 4 new diamonds from WWDB in the US from the time I left the business. Now I may be wrong, but even it was a few more than 4 new diamonds, that is a miserable success rate given the amount of cash spent by downline on tools and the claims made my upline about the tools.

We have also seen some WWDB diamonds end up in home foreclosures. Where is the integrity and financial acumen these leaders boasted about? Where is the success and long term financial security available to everyone that was touted? I believe more diamonds and emeralds fell out of qualification than new pins emerged. The business was promoted as one that would stand the test of time. Sadly, I believe WWDB and the Amway opportunity as promoted by WWDB has been a miserable failure. There is little success to speak of, just he same old tired diamonds showing off a lifestyle that some of them apparently can no longer afford. Where is the success?

It is years later and we are still waiting.......