The Game Of Amway?

 The Amway business can be exciting for a new IBO.  Your head is filled with all kind of dreams of wealth and early retirement and you haven’t yet been exposed to the hard realities of building an Amway business.  The name reputation and other factors that make the business difficult have not yet been uncovered.  

But once an IBO has been around for a while, that IBO May have gone through most of their contacts and is settling into a routine.  I call it the game of Amway because these folks are still believing the dream, attending all the meetings and functions, buying and listening to the audios and reading the self help books.  

Doubt has crept into the mind of that IBO but upline has already taught them that quitting makes you a loser and that there will be little hope of you ever reaching your financial goals without Amway.  So you press on.  You put on your suit and a fake smile and you press on. You move your volume, even if it means self consumption.  You continue to do the CORE steps at your expense even when your business isn’t really growing because you’ve been taught that success might be right around the corner but you must not quit.  Even though you are bleeding a negative cash flow month after month but you hang in there anyway. 

It is at this point you have entered the game of Amway.  You keep going trying your best but it’s well known that even the hardest working and talented people can fail in Amway because it’s a flawed system.  The products are priced too high to be truly competitive and then the cost of tools and functions drains your resources  

Your upline will always encourage you because they profit from your tool and function purchase even if you never wind up making a cent of profit from Amway   You’d persistence just keeps the income flowing for upline.  When you stop and really think about it, it just a cruel game.  The Amway game.  Most people snap out of it by some like my former sponsor has been active in Amway since 1994 although not having achieved much for all his efforts.  

Because Amway is like a game, it becomes more of a hobby than a business.  Hobbies cost you money, a business is supposed to make you money.  

Is Amway Wilting?

 Most if not all of us have never had to deal with a pandemic and all of the restrictions and changes to our lives that comes with it. Sadly, covid has claimed many lives, although it appears that it’s mostly those with already existing health issues.  The hard part is that you don’t know who’s got it so there are times you must treat others as if they are infected just to be safe.  

But the Amway business is a lot of person to person and a lot of personal contact in order to recruit and to train other IBOs. But in the new covid society, there’s a lot of distancing and some cities have mandated mask wearing.  I haven’t hear much but I would think it’s safe to assume that recruiting downline must be very difficult if not non existent at this point.  

I have read and heard that functions are now conducted online but the diamonds are still mostly charging full price.  And that’s despite the fact that the diamond virtually has no expenses in running functions because there is no need for a venue.  So much for diamonds caring about your success.  If there’s no expense for a function, why do they need to charge full price when they are allegedly taking in the cash from Amway?  Think about that for a minute.  

Being that the covid has affected the world. I can only assume that Amway revenues are wilting because the ability to recruit has been greatly hampered.  I have gone looking but I assume that IBOs have been using social media as a way to attract and recruit new prospects. Just out of curiosity I may go and seek out someone who’s on the recruiting trail.  

Stay safe and socially distance!  

Never Ending Training?

 If you are an IBO or a prospect seeking information about the Amway opportunity, you came to the right place.  I will give you the secret of the Amway business in this article.  You’re probably curious and I’ll bet you’re upline won’t wAt you to read this.  

The Amway business is about selling products, buying products and recruiting some down line so you can leverage their volume with yours to earn higher commissions, or a higher PV bonus.  It’s really that simple.  Other than these activities, there really isn’t anything you can do to help you’d business to prosper. 

Attending seminars whether online or in person takes money away from your resources and doesn’t result in more PV moving through your business.  Listening to a cd or audio dies nothing either.  It doesn’t sell products or result in more business volume.  The same goes for reading a book or attending a team meeting or whatever else they call it now.  

The question is how much time and expense you will expend to learn these simple tasks of buying, selling and recruiting down line.  Yes your diamond might have sone advice but why would you need and endless supply of training to do this?  I might add that constantly paying for training is useless if the results are not commensurate to what you are investing your time and money in. 

Just look around you. Are other IBOs growing like crazy and earning real money or is that information top secret?  You’d think actual success is something that should be shared bud it’s kept a secret in Amway.  Rank and file are told not to talk about business unless it’s talking to upline because they don’t want you to see reality.  

The reality is that most are struggling, hanging on by a finger and hoping their fortunes will turn. But for the vast majority of IBOs, the end will come and there will just be more Amway casualties.  And the diamond knows this but want you to stay as long as possible to harvest tools and functions income from you. 

Think about it. Think about your business and analyze the facts.  I hope you reach the same conclusion that I did.  

Do As I Say?

 When I was an IBO, I recall so many issues that upline brought up that seemed utterly hypocritical but I guess most down line just miss it and give the diamonds a pass.  One glaring thing was the catalog sold suits and clothes while the diamonds were in designer suits to show off their wealth.  One important thing to note is that many possibly most wealthy people don’t feel a need to show off their wealth. 

The diamonds often didn’t seem to follow their own advice as they would say to avoid debt. If I clearly heard those same diamonds to say it was okay to pile up debt but only to invest in more tools and functions.  To me this is just shameless conflict of interest advice given by diamonds.  These are the folks who are supposed to be Uber wealthy and only helping down line out of love.  

But on closer inspection, any “work” performed by diamonds earn them some firm of income.  Open meetings, audios, functions, books and voice mail.  Each of these “training” materials is a form of income for the diamonds and the diamonds push the training as a key to success.  Sadly there is little success coming from tools and functions.  Just hopes and dreams that are not fulfilled.  

The diamonds count on undying loyalty to make a lot of their income and unfortunately too many down lines put their trust in the upline without question.  

My advice is for IBOs and prospects to look carefully at the Amway disclosures which shows the average incomes and the percentage of success.  I haven’t looked that recently but last time I checked, about one fourth of one percent of IBOS made it to platinum or about one in 400.  And only a tiny fraction of that ever went to reach diamond.  

Why would a serious prospect consider such a poor opportunity?  

What’s Better Than Amway?

 One of the silly things I get asked occasionally by IBOs is what’s better since I opine that Amway is a lousy way to make an extra buck.   Actually, if people actually made money with Amway I’d probably have nothing to say.  But it is a fact that the vast majority of people make nothing or lose money in Amway.  Typically losses are because of the tools and functions.  

So what’s better?  Well, staying home and doing nothing is better because you won’t be wasting your time and money chasing an opportunity where you are very likely to lose money. Staying at home to watch “The Simpsons” is better because you’ll be entertained.  But seriously if you want to make extra money? What can be done?  

Get part time work.  You can. Use sone of the extra money plus invest some.  This is the route I took when I was young and it’s paid off big now.  Start an actual business with a specialty such as installing flooring or security doors.  These can be very part time with good results although sone skill is required.  

You can also buy and sell things such as flipping used cars.  Buy one cheap, fix it up cosmetically and sell if did a profit.  Or find a niche market where you can sell insurance or burial plots part time.  These are real ways you can actually make some extra money.  In the end you need to decide for yourself on what to do but I can tell you that almost anything you choose will be more lucrative than pursuing Amway.  

Good luck in whatever you do, if you choose to pursue anything.  

Upline Love?

 I recall the love bombing in Amway.  It was quite weird to me.  I mean who says they love you just shortly after joining Amway?   The relationships were basically superficial as those who left Amway were shunned and often called losers.  Funny how you can go from loved to being a loser in a few short days.

Upline would justify it by saying the person leaving was breaking the relationship so it was on them.  Amway leaders are good at blaming the victim.   It was never about the lousy business of Amway that caused the IBO to quit.  Selling generic nature products for high end prices is a challenge that the vast majority of people cannot manage. 

The inability to move products and sponsor people seem to be the reason why people quit so often.  Then you add in the never ending costs of paying for personal use products, tools and functions.  It takes a huge toll on IBOa and the most likely reason why so many people quit so often.  

It is not because They IBOs are lazy or incompetent.  It’s because when they join Amway, they join a business opportunity that is designed for the majority to fail.  That is the nature of MLM and Amway.  You need to constantly recruit new members or the scheme will fall apart like a cheap suit.  

Being that Amway is now an online business, you’d think they would be flourishing but I suspect that Amway and their IBOs are suffering because they can’t recruit new members easily.  And recruitment is a red flag of a product pyramid scheme.  I’m not here to condemn Amway but 2020 sales figures are likely to support my suspicions.  

Amway Recruiting?

 I find it humorous to look back at my IBO days and reflect on all the funky means of recruiting and how it evolved.  At one time it was about buying your own products and getting others to do the same.  That plan seemed reasonable until you actually thought about a store owner being their only customer.  It just doesn’t work.  Imagine a tourist based economy without tourists?  The hotel can’t stay alive with only their staff staying at the hotel.  

I also remember the potential name change from Amway to Quixtar and how comical it was when IBOs use to say Amway and Quixtar are completely different entities.  But it was funny when you countered that signing up for Quixtar was still signing up with Amway corporation and you sold Amway products and any bonuses that you received cane from Amway.  At least I got sone good laughs out of it.  

Then there was the e-commerce line which sounded nice except that many IBOs were still calling into upline for products and manually picking up products.  So much for efficiency.  My understanding was that groups were reluctant to change to drop shipping and online ordering because they were able to manipulate PV to maintain qualifications and/or to help certain groups to qualify for levels.  Since the lions share of diamond income is often from annual bonuses, this was very important.  

I’m not 100% sure if the recruiting pitch has changed much but I haven’t been recruited for Amway in a while and I haven’t really been checking social media to seek out IBOs to engage in conversation as I did in the past.  If anyone has any updated information, please feel free to leave it in the comments. 

Be safe and covid 19 free!

Diamonds Are Forever?

 One very important thing that many prospects and even IBOS don’t know about, but should know, is that an Amway pin achievement is a lifelong accomplishment.  In other words, if you qualify for the diamond level, for 6 months in the year 1968, you would still be recognized as a diamond today, although you would not receive diamond bonuses and benefits like free trips unless you are currently qualified.  

Thus Joecool is still a 4000 pin in Amway.  I still hold the pin even though I haven’t been in Amway since the 1990s.  Thus diamonds who may have qualified at high levels in the 1960s or 70s and 80s might be recognized as high level diamonds but they could be moving 700 PV monthly.  But for sone or maybe many diamonds, the main thing is to get to speak and receive honorariums and the ability to sell cds and audios.  

How excited would you really get to pay good money and possibly have to travel (without covid) to a site that requires hotel and airfare to see a diamond who qualified diamond in 1990 and is not qualified anymore?   I’m sure there are some of these diamonds around even if your upline would deny it.  

Keep in mind as I said that I am still a 4000 PV pin but nobody would give me credibility in Amway, but why would diamonds be given credibility plus your money to hear their advice on how to build a business?   

Amway only recognizes new diamonds and does not publish who is currently qualified.   So some years ago, diamond club was in Hawaii on the island of Maui.  I checked to see how many diamonds attended.  There were 160 people in attendance but that included spouses and children.  Thus there were less than 160 diamonds in attendance.  Sure, some may not have been able to attend but this many financially free with easy schedules would miss a free trip up Hawaii?  Maybe sone but the reality is that current diamonds are rare, at least in Amway.  

The Cult Of Amway?

 One of the things that is noticeable to a neutral eye is that Amway groups and leaders have some resemblance to a cult  the main difference is that you can come and go, but still, there is peer pressure to keep going and not quit the group because quitting would give you the label of being a quitter, loser, or broke loser.  This pressure might be subtle but it’s real   

The diamonds are given undue adulation  I recall my first open meeting as a prospect, the diamond was treated like royalty and was give  a standing ovation as he entered the room   And his claim to fame?  Achieving a level in Amway.  Sure, achieving diamond is no easy feat but surely not worthy of rock star status.  But worshipping a leader is a cult like trait.  

The IBOS all have a common cause.  They all seek financial freedom thru the Amway business and they all plan to do it in a relatively short amount of time.  The IBOS dress alike in business attire and they act similarly and they use many of the same products.  They all fall in in line and try to “ earn time” to spend with the leader.  These are also cult like traits  I mean who really needs to wear a suit to learn to buy stuff, sell stuff and recruit others to join?  The rank and file think they are just acting successfully because they will eventually make it if they just keep going.  

But in the end, the upline just uses their position to fierce the down line.  They sell them the hope of a better life by convincing them that you need an endless supply of training and Amway education via tools and functions.  In my informed opinion, the diamonds don’t give a good about the down line.  They are just there to be exploited so the diamonds can enjoy the diamond lifestyle.  

For this reason the diamonds have to charge full or nearly full price for zoom meetings and such even though many IBOs can’t build a business right now due to covid 19.  Good luck to you if you read this and join Amway anyway, but you can’t say you weren’t warned.   😃

Amway Recruiting?

It’s been fairly quiet around here and I haven’t seen too much Amway activity online or in real life.  It’s a bit off because Amway’s lifeline is to recruit an endless stream of new recruits to bolster their business which is wrought with turnover.  

Over the years, Amway had all kinds of different recruiting campaigns.  There was the buy from yourself concept where you basically bought your own stuff and recruited like minded people.  Of course with little to no sales to actual customers, your income was dependent on down line purchases and was doomed to failure.  

Another campaign was the private franchising which tried to trick people into thinking that Amway was a franchise opportunity which appears to give you a greater chance of success if you just follow the system.  Another novel idea which fizzled out.  

If Amway was a legitimate business. You could have storefronts and sell products to retailers.  You could actually make money by selling products without any tools or functions.  There might be some people who have found a niche where they can sell some products but overall, these stories are rare.  

That just leaves IBOS recruitment as their only realistic means or expanding business but the fact that most people who join do little or nothing before quitting makes this option another one in a gazzillion chance.  The fact that most people never sponsor a down line should also be a wake up call. 

Good luck if you see this and choose to keep going. 

Never Ending?

I’ve noticed how stories about Amway failure is never ending.  Nearly everyone knows someone who had a brush with Amway that didn’t end well.  Most have a brief stint, quit and move on.  But many invest time money and effort only to get screwed by upline as they are advised to keep investing into a money pit business.  

What makes it worse is that the training is never ending as if selling stuff and sponsoring others is so complicated.  Amway IBOS think they’re investing in an Amway education but the reality is they are funding their upline’s lifestyle.  The Amway education is often compared to college which is BS because college eventually ends and then the person goes off to find work.  

The IBOS just keep spinning their wheels often getting nowhere but digging a financial hole.  Sone find that after a year or two that they’ve lost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars trying to stay the course and to do as they are advised.  In the end, a large group of Amway IBOS can suffer staggering losses.  Do the math, if a group of 1000 down line is a diamond group spends $250 in a month fir tools and functions, the diamond can gross $250k.  After expenses they might earn $150k or more, some of which might be shared with platinums and above.  

But I just wanted to give you a glimpse of the magnitude of the scam perpetuated on down line.  It’s scary and can make you angry when you think about it.  The insidious part is that the down line think the diamonds are actually helping them.  I just hope prospects and IBOS continue to seek and find information.  It’s why Joecool hasn’t quit blogging.