The Con Artists?

 One of the things that Amway diamonds remind me of is a con artist. Now why in the world would I say that? I say that because in my opinion, it is absolutely true. The diamonds stand on stage, showing off trappings of wealth to lure prospects into the business. They then sell them "tools" or training and promote the tools/training as the key to success. Then when the prospect fails, they say the prospect didn't work hard enough or they didn't do things exactly right. I was an IBO, and I did what my upline advised, I had eagle parameters, and I still did not have a net profit even at the 4000 PV level. I highly doubt anyone could honestly claim I didn't work hard enough, or I didn't do things right. I would have had a net profit but by upline diamond wanted me to re-invest the money into tools - because they are con artists. Yes, I was partly culpable for listening to them but was I supposed to question and argue with someone who allegedly had achieved the pinnacle of success in Amway?

Over the years I have been blogging, I have had contacts with some fairly high level IBOs (platinums) who told me stories of backstage conversations where the diamonds basically refer to the audience as hopeful suckers, knowing that these folks are going to fail. But they have the nerve to stand on stage and try to sincerely sell hope in the form of cds, books, functions and voicemail. And the audience believes it because deep down, they want to believe that you can work hard for 2-5 years and retire young with money pouring into your bank accounts. Who wouldn't want that? But the diamonds know it's a lie, but they still promote that next function or meeting as if you can expect to strike gold when you attend.

I came from WWDB (World Wide Dream Builders) and while some groups might be slightly different, they are mostly alike as these groups are for profit companies that sell training to Amway IBOs for a profit and they make a nice profit, even if all the IBOs lose money. There is no evidence that these tools/training does anything to help IBOs succeed. In fact, I believe that anyone who succeeds in Amway, does so in spite of the tools, not because of the tools. When you think about the Amway teaching, most of their "core" steps involve activities that cost you money instead of making you money. Some of the teaching I heard in meetings involved how long you can put off paying your rent/mortgage and other bills before you would be in trouble. I suppose the diamonds wanted you to spend your last dollar on tools. One diamond said your family could skip a meal to buy more cds because that cd cold contain the one thing that propels you to diamond. These folks were shameless and would take your last cent if they could. Two of my crossline IBOs had some difficulty in Amway and they followed upline advice. One couple ended up in chapter 7 bankruptcy and the other couple had their home foreclosed.

While the diamonds have nice suits and nice smiles, you have to wonder whether they actually believe the very teaching they profess on stage. One thing that Amway confirmed was that once you achieve diamond, they recognize the diamond pin forever, even if you no longer qualify. Thus, some diamonds might be selling you training materials and functions and they may not even be a qualified platinum, let alone a diamond. Some old timer diamond from the 1980's such as the Duncans might have high rankings today but really, they built their businesses in the days prior to the internet and social media. How does that qualify them to teach today, unless they can prove that they are still qualified as diamonds?

In my opinion, prospects and information seekers need to be careful when someone is trying to get you in the business because the diamonds can give you a smooth story and make the business sound "simple" and "doable" but in reality, Amway products can be difficult to sell other than to sympathetic family and friends. And sponsoring is difficult in the US where saturation has likely occurred.

But beware of the diamonds, who look and seem sincere, but are more like con artists trying to sell you on a business that you are unlikely to make any net profit, much less earn untold and limitless wealth. At least if you read this blog post, you can detect some of the angles that Amway IBOs use to lure people into the business.