Upline Accomplishments?

I recently read a comment from an Amway apologist on another forum. She mentions that someone's credentials must be considered when looking at information that is presented by critics. 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 boasting 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 success and 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 (Joecool is criticized for being outdated even though I was at 4000 PV at one point in my Amway career)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. (Do the math people)

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 how their upline is doing financially in Amway, 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

The 2-5 Year Myth?

One of the things I heard, and is still promoted is the concept of a 2-5 year plan to financial freedom. As a prospect, 2-5 years of hard work in your spare time sounds reasonable. After all, anyone can work an extra 12 hours a week for a couple of years with that kind of reward awaiting you at the end. The sad reality is that you are likely to suffer 2-5 years of financial losses without getting any closer to financial freedom.

When Amway morphed into Quixtar, a very relevant question was how many diamonds were "quixtar only", meaning they signed up in 1999 when quixtar was implemented and then became diamonds in the advertised 2-5 years. As far as I know, there were very few (if any) new diamonds. The new diamonds that were named all seemingly came from other countries, not the US or Canada. Even now, my former LOS (WWDB) is touting "double eagle rubies" which is not a recognized achievement by Amway (as far as I know), and there is no assurance that achieving such a level makes an IBO profitable. In fact, the eagle program run by WWDB is only measuring tool parameters which is great for upline but not necessarily for the IBOs.

Even today, I do not see a steady stream of new diamonds emerging from Amway. If the 2-5 year plan actually worked, there would be new diamonds constantly emerging. Instead, my former LOS (WWDB), actually has fewer diamonds now than back in my IBO days. And of those diamonds who remain, some of them had homes foreclosed and it also appears that at least a few of them ran into some financial difficulties. Makes me wonder what a diamond's finances actually look like. I suspect many of them live in debt, especially if they flaunt the "diamond lifestyle", which is probably not sustainable on diamond income as reported by Amway.

So while it might be possible to achieve diamond in 2-5 years (some have done it), but tens of millions (or more) have tried. It is much more likely that you will win the lottery (provided you have a ticket) than it is likely that you will join Amway and go diamond. It is also unlikely that people in the US and Canada who join will go diamond in the advertised 2-5 years. The 2-5 year plan is not promoted by Amway, but by the LOS leaders. I believe it is a hoax and the numbers back up my claim. You are much more likely to be better off working part time for 2-5 years and saving and investing for your future. If not, you will end up with 2-5 years of losing money on functions and standing orders.

As many Amway leaders will state: Look at the fruit on the tree. In the US and Canada, the trees are bare.

Success Speaks For Itself?

I heard a great comment from a commentator on a related Amway blog. Basically, he said if IBOs were so successful, people would just naturally be attracted. And that's true! Where I live, the local electric company is an attractive place to work with a good salary and benefits package. When there's a handful of openings, you might get as many as 6,000 people applying for these positions. When the federal government hires for the local post office, you get thousands of applicants for a handful of jobs as well.

But IBOs have to justify their positions. The common ones are how Amway products are concentrated, or they have magical ingredients in their vitamins. It is my position that if these products were so good and the opportunity actually produced successful IBOs, there would be no need to be deceptive about the products or opportunity. The products could easily me marketed. In fact, customers would be seeking IBOs to find the products and there would be lines of people waiting to see the opportunity. But that isn't the case. Clearly, Amway IBOs use some degree of deception usually called the curiosity approach or outright lies.

Instead, IBOs themselves are the primary consumers of Amway products. Many IBOs are deceptive when inviting people to see the Amway plan. Some prospects are outright lied to when recruited for the Amway opportunity. The curiosity approach is still used by many, because mentioning "Amway" is more likely to get you funny looks than interest. If what I am writing is not true, why do IBOs need to deceive people? Why don't some IBOs open their books and display the financial success they claim to have? Why so secretive? Why aren't there hoards of new diamonds and emeralds each month? Instead, you mainly hear of the Amway growth in foreign countries. Most likely because the Amway name and reputation has not yet been soiled as it has in the US and Canada.

In the US, I see primarily the same old diamonds who were in control of the functions and systems from more than 20 years ago. In fact, factoring in diamonds who quit or dropped out, I believe there are fewer diamonds now than when I was an IBO in the 1990s. Some of these diamonds also had some apparent financial difficulties. The opportunity is far from how it's promoted. Success speaks louder than words, and where North American Amway success is concerned, the silence is deafening!

Why Did I Join Amway?

For people who have already joined Amway and are trying to make a buck, only to see net losses month after month, you have to wonder at times why you joined Amway. As an IBO, I initially joined as it was pitched to me that I could easily earn a couple of hundred dollars a month, which could make a big impact on my life at the time. Of course it made sense that I needed to invest a little bit of money to get started and to learn about how to run a business.

When I got started, there was a lot of hype and excitement in my business. I sponsored people and my business was on its way. I was touted as a mover and shaker and even got to attend some home board plans with my upline diamond. Even though I did as I was advised, had the parameters in the business that were recommended, I noticed that any cash I had earned still resulted in a loss, or if I made some money, the "next major function" ate it up and then some. As you should know, there are four major functions and a bunch of regional ones. But for many, the major functions take place out of your area, requiring travel, sometimes by air.

It was at the function called "family reunion" where I started to figure out what was happening. My upline platinum was having us "hang out" after the function at about 1:30 am. He started talking about how the business has nothing to do with money. That we made friends, became nicer people, better spouses or parents, and that money was the least important aspect of the business. While many nodded in agreement, I was thinking what the heck??? I wouldn't have joined and "invested" that much time and money into a business where I was "moving and shaking" but not making money.

Many IBOs are at a point where it may be hard to quit. You may have invested some time, money, and effort into your business and you may have been programmed to think that quitting is failure or that success is right around the corner and you don't want to quit too soon. But I urge you to look at facts. What is your bottom line net income? It is red numbers? Is it a recurring loss, primarily because of tool and function purchases? If that is true, ask yourself why you joined. Was it to be a nicer person or to earn some money?

What are your prospects of making a net profit soon if you are breaking even or taking losses? Amway leaders themselves have often said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Where are you at?

Debt Free?

One of the things that many Amway uplines will talk about with their downline is debt. Many IBOs and prospects join Amway, hoping that Amway will help them eliminate debt, by providing some extra income. What many IBOs find out though, is that they end up more deeply in debt, not because of Amway necessarily, but often because of the pressure to purchase tools and function tickets.

Eliminating debt on the surface, is a good thing. However, I believe that many uplines only want IBOs to eliminate debt so they can free up discretionary monies that can be channeled into tool purchases, which uplines profit from. So while the advice seems sound, it still ends up as a self serving piece of advice. If you are an IBO or a prospect, is your upline advising you to eliminate debt and then turning around and telling you to attend "all" functions or to purchase more tools such as standing orders or audios/cds?

As a WWDB IBO, I heard the mantra about getting rid of debt. It sounded good to me, but I was floored when the same upline told us it was okay to go deeper in hock if it was to further our business, or in other words, to buy more standing orders or to attend functions. I could not understand why it was okay to create more debt, but only to "invest" in your business. If debt is bad, then functions and other tools should be cut as well, until the IBO can reasonably afford to participate in the system or until the business profits can cover the cost. IBOs, in my opinion. should be using profits from the business in order to purchase tools. If there is no net profit, then that IBO needs to decide whether or not the tools are worthy of an investment. Even if an IBO has some profits, the IBOs should determine whether to bank the profit or to channel them towards tool purchases.

Too many IBOs trust their upline and make initial and ongoing purchases of tools, and then continue to do so without seeing tangible results. I believe this is why IBOs are taught to trust and have faith. Or that success is right around the corner. It keeps an IBO going, even in the absence of results. Hopefully a post like this can bring awareness to IBOs and potential IBOs. Good luck to those who disregard this information.

Trusting Upline?

Over the years, I have encountered many Amway IBOs and they often have a common theme. They trust their upline and in some cases, consider them mentors. Now in a business venture, it might be good to have a mentor or someone to guide you, but in the Amway opportunity, most of the upline mentors make money off those who they mentor. That is a major conflict of interest but IBOs simply fail to see it. Rather than mentors, maybe a paid consultant is a better description of the relationship. What IBOs also fail to see, is that there is an utter lack of success overall in the field of rank and file IBOs.

When an IBO sees the plan in a big meeting, the speaker will often be built up as a financial guru, and possibly as an expert on how to succeed in Amway. An IBO may have heard something about the trail was already blazed by upline and you just need to follow the trail. Don't re-invent the wheel, just copy what upline did. But as I have said many times before, duplication sounds easy and looks good on paper, but in real life, the vast majority of IBOs run into problems that they simply cannot overcome, such as the bad reputation that the Amway name has in the US. Add that to the less than competitive prices that Amway products sell for, and you have a problem.

What is troubling however, is that IBOs are taught to trust upline and do as they say (defacto requirement), but they are also taught that failure is due to their own shortcomings, even when they do exactly what upline told them. It is also troubling that many uplines will tell their faithful followers that they need to purchase more and more tools (voicemail, cds, seminar tickets). In some cases, an upline may advise their downline to sacrifice basic family needs to buy these tools. Some IBOs were advised to skip meals to buy a cd, or skip paying the mortgage/rent to be able to attend the next big function. How is that good advice?

I might also add that as a newer IBO or prospect, you may have heard that "everyone starts at zero", or that it's a level playing field. It is not. As a new IBO, you will likely be in the 100 PV bracket. Since Amway pays out about 30+% in bonuses, your upline(s) will split up the lion's share in bonuses off your efforts while you get a 3 %bonus. That doesn't sound very level to me. And upline is entitled to that because they were in Amway before you?

So each IBO should look at things objectively and see if your upline is helping you or simply helping himself by giving you advice that ends up in profit for himself with little or nothing for you.

Amway IBOs Have Business Mentality?

One of the things IBOs "think" they possess, 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 "Independent 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.

You're A Winner?

One of the things that my Amway upline taught, and I believe is still taught today in various groups is that winners join Amway and losers do not. Or that you were a winner because you were doing something to better your financial future and those who didn't were losers. or broke minded. Of course the upline who said this had no knowledge about those who were not in Amway. Some of them may already have been financially sound or may have been doing something to better their financial future. I'm not sure why these uplines, who promote "positive", had to resort to calling people losers simply because they did not agree that Amway was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

In many games or sporting events, there will be someone or a team that wins the game and someone or a team that loses the game. Losing a game doesn't make you a loser and certainly, a team that wins the game would not say the losing team were losers. Can you imagine a sports team's coach taking the podium after a game and saying his team won because the other team was a bunch or broke minded gutless losers? That would never happen, yet we see that frequently in the Amway/IBO world. The owner of Amway, Rich DeVos had once said in a recorded message that just because people do not agree with you (paraphrased) about Amway, does not make them losers and that IBOs should not call people losers.

In all of this, people's jobs are also criticized. That a job stand for "just over broke" or "jackass of the boss" and other blurbs. Many IBO's goals and dreams consist of ditching their job so they can sleep all day and live a life of luxury. Ironically, it is most IBO's jobs that continue to produce income so they can pay their bills and feed their family. It is also an IBO's job that funds their Amway and training expenses such as product purchases and functions and voicemail, etc. Without having a job, most people could not even join Amway or pay for any tools. Sadly, most IBOs won't make any money in Amway either, and will have to continue to work at their jobs. I do not believe that someone earning an honest living working a job is a loser. Ironically, the folks calling people losers are often not even netting a profit from their Amway business!

Yes, in this business or the sports world, there will be winners and there will be losers. The question is whether you are the one who is allowed to be the judge of who is and who isn't. I would also suggest that IBOs are completely shutting down potential future business by their behavior. What if I went to a store to purchase something but the item was not available on that particular day, so I don't purchase anything and leave. As I leave, the store owner says I am a loser for not buying something there. Will I go back? Very unlikely. If an IBO truly sees themselves as a store owner, all prospects should be seen as potential business, whether future or present. If your upline tells you that people not interested are losers, you should ask him how much cash he's netting from Amway. You might be surprised at the answer!

Your Million Dollar Business?

So many IBOs mistakenly believe they will work for 2-5 years, own a million dollar business and retire from their jobs walking the beaches of the world while cash rolls into their bank accounts. Sadly, most IBOs won't get anywhere near to the dreams they were sold as prospects in the Amway business. This in my opinion, is the crime in all of this. To fill someone's head with false dreams and hopes and then profit off them by selling them tools that will not help to fulfill those dreams. In fact, the cost of tools is what sometimes leads to financial ruin for some IBOs.

Most IBOs will never sponsor a downline and many IBOs will not even have a single customer. What kind of business can become wildly successful and profitable without a lot of customers? It seems that only in Amway and some other MLM offshoots do we see this warped teaching of buying from yourself as a means to become successful in a business. Many people, desperately wanting it to be true, will buy in and give the business a try. Then after a while when progress stall or it becomes painfully obvious that things aren't working out as promoted, they get discouraged and quit. Most quit and never complain, partly out of shame, or perhaps these former IBOs don't want to complain about the friends and family who sponsored them.

I would challenge prospects to go and look at a million dollar business. Go to the mall and see what some bigger businesses look like. Does your Amway business resemble it in any way? Do you have customers in proportion to a million dollar business? Heck for that matter, does your upline diamond really have what looks like a million dollar business or is their real business selling you standing orders and function tickets? It would appear that standing orders and functions are a million dollar business. Many unsuspecting IBOs are the customers of the tool and functions. Unfortunately, there is no unbiased documented evidence that the tools do anything other making your upline's wealthy.

Time And Money?

One of the big things that the speaker hit on when I heard the Amway plan was time and money. He said because of the job, you may have money, but not enough time to do what you enjoy. He went onto say that if you have no job, you may have a lot of time, but you'll be broke and won't be able to do what you enjoy. He also said that controlling time and money is essentially financial freedom. This concept appeals to many and makes sense in the big picture of life. After all, who wouldn't want to retire early and have enough cash to travel the world and only do fun things? I certainly agreed with that concept. The only problem was that I initially thought I could achieve this through Amway.

The sad reality is that nearly ever single IBO who registers for the Amway opportunity and the tools system, will never realize this dream. An Amway recruiter may paint a nice picture of how simple the business is, and that you can simply buy products and get others to copy or duplicate you and before you know it, you will be in control of time and money, and live "happily ever after". At one time, I believed it myself. Many others also bought the lie. What's worse, the secret to achieving this was contained in standing orders and functions. Another lie.

The more likely case however, will be that the business, including the system of cd's and functions, will cause you to have less time and money. In general, the Amway (and partner store) products costs more than your local big box retailers, and the cost of the systems add up to at least several hundreds of dollars per month if you are "CORE". Thus ironically, what many seek more of, they end up with less of, because of the business and the related activities. The functions and other educational materials take up valuable time and resources from the IBO and rarely ever results in any kind of significant return on the investment. Most IBOs would be better off never getting involved. In fact, many IBOs would be better off writing a check to their upline for $100 a month and not participating at all.

Time and money, think about it. Are you getting more or less of it because of your involvement in Amway and the systems?

Amway IBOs Keep Paying?

One thing that appears to be common among IBOs is how IBOs are in denial. They truly believe that their uplines are working in their best interest and that upline wants their success. I don't believe that to be true. If uplines were truly making a fortune from Amway, why would an downline IBO have to pay for practically every bit of help they get from upline leaders? Why aren't any functions pro bono? What difference would it make to someone making millions heaped upon millions?

To show the plan, you would need to pay to attend an open meeting, and pay for your guests, even if they do not register as a result of the presentation. You pay for voicemail to communikate with your upline and downlines. You pay for standing orders and you may end up paying twice if you were in attendance at the function when the standing order was recorded. You pay for books and other materials as well.

What's more, many IBOs turn their heads when ugly facts rear their heads. For example, some IBOs deny that a prominent triple diamond was involved in bankruptcy proceedings. They continue to edify and pay for financial advice from someone who could not even manage his own finances. They believe that Amway saves marriages even when the leaders who speak this may be getting divorced. It's like upline simply revises history and downlines buy it without question. Many IBOs do not even see it as a problem that some upline lied and said there were no profits from tools in the past. I find this odd because tool profits are still shrouded in secrecy and downline simply believe that they will eventually get a cut, even without a written compensation plan and agreement.

I believe too many IBOs are simply in denial. They give upline their trust and upline abuses it. IBOs are told they are successful for attending a function even when they might be losing money month after month. They may be told that the Amway business is not about money but about making friends. They may be told that they are nicer people because of their participation in Amway. What too many IBOs do not see is that they are in denial about their business. Most IBOs are losing money, a little at a time, perhaps $100 or $150 a month. For the hardcore, maybe more. But they are taught to ignore these simple facts and deny that there is a problem.

It is my hope that exposure of some of these tactics will be beneficial to information seekers and perhaps new IBOs who have not yet been fully indoctrinated. I encourage people to ask tough questions, demand answers and use due diligence when checking out this opportunity. The fact is that very few people every make a profit and people should know this before getting involved. In the end, IBOs pay up and they keep on paying upline for their sage advice, even when their bank accounts keep getting lighter. Where will it end?

The Amway Odds?

One thing that many Amway promoters don't like to talk about is what your realistic chances of success are. I will define success as Diamond because that is what the outcome of the 6-4-2 and 2-5 year plan. Of course you may be able to earn some income at lower levels, but my understanding is that diamond is where the real money from Amway and the tools start rolling in. And I can also understand why people promoting Amway do not discuss your realistic chances of winning. After all, lottery promoters do not show you the millions of losers, they only parade the winners in front of you. You never see the tens of millions who lost money.

Many people, including Amway enthusiasts will agree that many IBOs do little or nothing and wind up quitting. Some people never even place an order or make any attempt to do any business. For the purpose of this article, I am not speaking about these folks. I am talking about people who actually put in some effort to the business.

For many people who want to make an earnest effort, they will purchase and hopefully sell a few items with the goal of reaching 100 PV. For that effort, you will receive approximately $10 from Amway and whatever profit you might have earned by selling products. Here's the catch. You will likely need to pay website fees in excess of the $10 you earn from Amway. For the more dedicated IBOs, you may be paying for voicemail, standing orders, book of the month, and possibly attending functions. These expenses will exceed your income month after month unless you are able to increase your volume by selling enough products and/or sponsoring down line who buy and sell products.

Because Amway has to include the IBO bonuses in their prices, the products come at a premium price. Thus sales to non IBOs are relatively low. Without sales to non IBOs, the only other way to generate more volume is to sponsor people who will buy and sell products. But due to past unethical IBO behavior, getting people to see the Amway sales and marketing plan may be a challenge. Also, most IBOs are unable to sponsor a single downline.

Some Amway enthusiasts will claim that if you do their CORE steps for 2-5 years consistently, that you are likely to succeed. Sounds easy, but because of the factors I have identified, some of these steps are impossible to do consistently. It's not like walking a mile each day where you have control of the step. People will likely fail in showing the plan and sponsoring others because they cannot find enough people who are willing to see an Amway plan. Many, possibly most other IBOs can and will do certain steps consistently such as listening to a CD daily and reading a success book. But because of a spotty reputation in the US, IBOs will very likely fail to be able to show enough plans to succeed.

Your realistic chance of success? My informed guess is much less than 1 tenth of 1 percent. That's the likelihood of going diamond. Your chance of going platinum? My informed guess will be less than 1/4 of 1 percent. If you think you can beat those odds, go for it. For most people, it might be wise to look into other opportunities.

Reap What You Sow?

One of the things that many prospects and IBOs believe is that they will make an investment of time and money into their Amway business and that they will eventually get their time and money back in such abundance that they can walk off their jobs, and walk the beaches of the world while living in luxury because of lifelong residual income, all because of the Amway opportunity. For IBOs and prospects of Amway, I wonder if any of you can actually name even five people who have actually accomplished this? How about two? Keep in mind that there have probably been tens of millions of people who also wanted this and tried Amway and the systems, only to find that reality paints a different picture.

Many people they will reap what they sow. While that many sound true, I guess the next logical question is what are you sowing? Are you deceptive when prospecting people to see the plan? Are you having to justify and high priced Amway product comparisons that are not favorable? Are you actually selling goods to customers and actually qualifying for your Amway bonus or are you self consuming and getting others to do the same? Do you have a negative opinion (broke losers) about people who don't join Amway or are not interested in seeing the plan? Do you now think your boss and your job are evil? Do you leave your kids at home to attend endless numbers of functions and meetings? You reap what you sow correct? The questions is what kinds of seeds are you actually planting?

I wonder what some WWDB diamonds were sowing? At least the ones who had their homes foreclosed, and one in particular was involved in chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings? Are they reaping what they sowed? What about the WWDB diamonds who got divorced? What were they sowing? Are IBO sure about wanting to make the claim of reaping and sowing? And yes, Joecool the person also has his own flaws, but the difference is that I am not on stage proclaiming to be flawless and many diamonds would imply when they speak (and profit from) their tens of thousands of downlines. I am not earning a living by deceiving people and profiting from people I am supposed to be helping. But your upline diamonds are. Take a close look at the fruit on the WWDB tree.

Amway Freedom?

When I was an IBO, I often saw my upline diamond driving around town dressed in a business suit. I used to wonder why he keeps working if he can "walk away" and collect residual income? My sponsor told me that the diamond only works because he cares about his downline and wants to help them. So there are two possible scenarios, the diamond is working to help his downline out of a genuine concern for them, or possibly he is working because he has to! The only difference now is that the diamond works the nite and/or graveyard shift, because many IBOs are building the business after the complete their day jobs. This is probably why diamonds sleep until the "crack of noon", because they are working all night!

Now Amway has stated that the average diamond earns about $147,000 a year. That is a decent income, but after taxes and paying for basic expenses such as medical and dental insurance, the average diamond probably lives a very middle class lifestyle. Keep in mind that a large portion of a diamond's income comes in the form of an annual bonus, thus a diamond's monthly income may be quite small. Yes, diamonds may have other sources of income such as speaking engagements and income from standing orders and functions. But this income depends on the diamond's continued appearances and efforts.

So is it likely that a diamond is "free"? I would have to conclude that a diamond is not free, and may actually have to spend more time maintaining his group than if the diamond simply had a 9-5 job. For one thing, a diamond needs to maintain a personal group to keep qualifying for bonuses. With a poor retention rate in Amway, I am fairly sure that a diamond spends much time recruiting personally sponsored IBOs to maintain this group. Additionally, a diamond must help his six or more groups of downline platinums to maintain their businesses or face the possibility of falling out of qualification. My former diamond dropped down to the emerald level but has since re-qualified at diamond. A diamond must also dedicate time to reward up and coming movers and shakers, to keep them motivated. I got to spend time with my upline diamond when I was considered a promising up and coming pin.

In order to continue to receive tools income, a diamond must also travel to numerous functions and speaking engagements. Although the tools income allegedly doubles a diamond's income, it also adds a lot of expenses, especially if the diamond and his family travel first class to show off the diamond lifestyle, and stays in 5 star hotels. It is probably why diamonds need free transportation to and from the airport and why they stay with friends when traveling as much as possible.

After breaking down projected income and considering projected expenses, I can only conclude that a diamond probably lives a middle to upper middle class lifestyle, and probably works as much as a man with a 9-5 job, except that a diamond works nights and weekends. A good portrait of this is shown in Ruth Carter's book (Amway Motivational Organizations: Behind The Smoke and Mirrors). In the book, the diamond had a net income of over $300,000, but lived in debt, could barely pay his mortgage, and was always on the run from one function to the next. It is very expensive and time consuming to travel from city to city showing off your freedom and diamond lifestyle.

Is this the freedom you are seeking?

Why I Think Amway Sucks?

In my informed opinion, Amway sucks donkey nuts. The products are average in quality but premium in price. That means IBOs are overpaying for personal use items. A good example is Satinique shampoo that costs nearly $10 for a small bottle. You can get a pint of shampoo for abour $3 at WalMart or Target. And you can argue quality but seriously, the products that are from WalMart or Target are just as good as Amway's stud in my opinion. And it has to be that way because Amway's generous 30 plus percent bonuses are included in products that Amway sells.

And to make things worse besides the poor value in products, Amway leaders teach a lot of self consumption so the IBOs get poor value and to top it off, so do any family, friend or customers who make any sympathy or genuine purchases. Not to mention that self consumption in this opportunity basically makes the Amway opportunity a product pyramid. The money flows upwards to the diamonds while the rank and file suffer financial losses.

To make it worse, the diamonds exploit the hopes and dreams of the faithful downline by selling them ineffective training disguised as the key to Amway succesS. But the fact is that there are few new diamonds. My old LOS WWDB has fewer diamonds now in the US than they did back whenI was an IBO. if Amway was so good, where is the fruit on the tree that Amway/WWDB leaders used to crow about? The WWDB fruit is diamonds losing homes to forclosure (Shores/Duncan), a triple diamond in chapter 7 (Duncan), and divorces (Kosage, Wolgamott, Danzik, Brooks). There might be more that I'm not aware of.

If you have obstacles to making money and also having to pay for ineffective training, it's easy to see why Amway sucks.

Your Amway Goals?

One of the things that you may be taught as an Amway IBO is to have a goal. While having a goal in a good thing, I believe the context in which it is taught by Amway leaders is misleading. They want to motivate you to "go diamond" or perhaps some other achievement in the Amway business, but there is no specific means to achieve these goals and frankly, I do not believe that many IBOs or prospects understand what they are pursuing.

For example, one way that diamond leaders try to motive their downline is to show displays of wealth. They may show fancy cars, or talk about the mansion they own and paid for in cash, or they may show you a fancy vacation or jewelry. All the while, these diamonds may be up to their ears in debt. Has a diamond ever showed anyone a copy of their bank account balances or a business tax return? While IBOs may claim that this is nobody's business, I beg to differ. In the REAL world of business, these are not uncommon practices. A close friend of mine who recently sold a franchise business not only gave copies on his bank statements, but three years worth of personal tax returns to the eventual buyer of his business. It was to verify his claim that his business was worth buying.

So for IBOs and prospects, what is your business goal? If it's to make $500 a month, has your "mentor" actually sat down to discuss this and to map out how this can be accomplished? What about setbacks? In the Amway business, the Amway reputation is damaged, thus achieving certain tasks may be much more difficult to conquer than you are led to believe? Is your upline actually helping your individual cause or are they simply leading you to purchase more tools? If your goal is not diamond, are you receiving the same help as others in the group? Did you know that your sponsor is supposed to help train you free of cost?

The big question though, is are you progressing towards your stated goal and are you on schedule to accomplish the goal and reap the rewards, or have you fallen into a trap of attending meetings and listening to standing orders and accomplishing nothing other than shrinking your bank account? If you have stated goals, there should be tangible and measurable ways to assess your progress (i.e. profits). If your upline starts to feed you rubbish about being a nicer person or that Amway saves marriages, then your upline is leading you astray.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities?

Many IBOs and Amway supporters adhere to the idea that their system works. As far as I know, there is zero unbiased evidence that the system works. The system generally consists of a website, voicemail, standing orders and seminars or functions, as well as meetings to show the plan, etc. While Amway supporters will claim that nearly everyone who succeeds is on the system, they won't mention how everyone who succeeds also has hundreds if not thousands of downlines who do not succeed, even with earnest effort in building the business using the system.

Edward O. Thorpe was a math professor at M.I.T. who studied and wrote a theory on Blackjack, and found that it was mathematically possible for a blackjack player to have an edge over the house in a game of blackjack. Casinos scoffed at the theory and said it was just that. A theory with no real life application. Well, Mr. Thorpe started playing small and found that his theory was correct. He was counting cards in blackjack and making consistent money. His book eventually became a best seller. The casinos were ticked off and started kicking out people who were obviously winning and counting cards. Counting cards is not illegal but casinos can refuse to allow a player on their premises. But what casinos did not notice right away, was that their profits were skyrocketing because so many people knew the theory but could not or were not capable of executing the card counting system.

But hey, the system works so everyone should count cards for a living right? After all, it is proven by math that the cards will eventually favor a player and in the long run, you can make huge profits from playing blackjack. Of course not, it is ridiculous for people to think that card counting is a good way to make a buck. Not everyone has the bankroll, the skill, and the patience to succeed in card counting. Most people are better off not even trying this.

In my informed opinion, this card counting system is just like WWDB, BWW, LTD, N21 or other Amway systems. For one thing, card counting is a proven system. The Amway systems are not. But it can be viewed as similar in that very few people can use the system and make it work. Even when hundreds of thousands may try it, very few will succeed in both Amway and card counting. In both "systems", those who do not succeed can lose thousands of dollars. In both systems, doing things right can still result in losses.

In both systems, it is "possible" to succeed, but it is highly unlikely. The vast majority of people simply do not possess the knowledge, skills and abilities to make the systems work for them. You also need some money, some patience, and some luck in order to be a long term success. This article is not about comparing the Amway systems to gambling, it is about a person's ability to make the system work. The difference is that nobody promotes card counting as a good way to make a buck. The same holds true about Amway and their systems. It is not a good system to make money.

No PV In TV?

One of the things our upline constantly taught us was there is no PV (point volume)in TV. They advised the group to avoid Television, the newspapers, and other forms of media. This cult-like tactic was apparently their way of having us avoid any negatives that could affect our thinking. But it renders obedient IBOs as apathetic. As if IBOs didn't need to learn of any news. IBOs don't need to learn about any issues, after all, your upline will tell you what to do and how to vote, and how to think. Looking back, you gotta wonder how in the world your upline would know what was going on in the world if they were following their own advice?

It is true that there's no gain in PV for watching the television, but then again, IBOs engage in many activities that doesn't result in gaining PV. Attending a function, or listening to a standing order doesn't get you any PV either. Hanging out with your upline or attending a night owl doesn't get you PV. If PV was the priority of IBOs, they should be pounding pavement selling products or making contacts with potential buyers. Instead some groups teach that selling is not required or the famous "buy from yourself" technique of running a business. When you sit down and think about it, at least television isn't as costly as attending a function or listening to a standing order, even if you don't get PV for it.

In fact, IBOs spend so much time in non income producing activities, it's no wonder that the vast majority IBOs end up with a net loss after business expenses are considered. What's worse, IBOs run their businesses on the internet but in most cases, it's against Amway rules to advertise their products on websites such as ebay or craigslist. Instead, IBOs employ the least efficient means of working their business. Person to person, one person at a time. For many, the only way to increase PV volume is to sponsor downline. Even many IBOs who emphasize selling, seem to rarely have more than a handful of regular customers. But what can you expect when your means of increasing business is person to person, one at a time? There's a reason why advertising during the super bowl has a heavy price, because tens or hundreds of millions of people see your message all at the same time. IBOs go person to person, one at a time.