Duplication?

 Many IBOs are taught that "duplication" or "copying" is the key to success in Amway. It is why so many IBOs are desperately trying to sponsor downline. It is why, in my opinion, so many IBOs will use any tactics to get people in front of the plan. I have heard of many zany tricks and deceptive practices by IBOs who are recruiting potential downline.  This has damaged the Amway name over the years to where you might get funny looks by mentioning Amway.

Unfortunately, even IBOs who are able to sponsor a few downline run into problems. That problem is retention. Downline come and go with great frequency. Many IBOs come and go because they simply do not make a net profit and they quickly lose interest in "doing the work" for so little reward.  Some might sign up so their sponsor will leave them alone.

I will agree that duplication can be a vital part of being successful in this business. But in real business, an owner will duplicate himeself/herself by hiring employees. The employees perform certain tasks in exchange for a wage or salary and allows the owner to accomplish certain tasks that he/she cannot do single handedly. If the employee is compensated fairly, they tend to stay, and in jobs where minimum wage is the standard, they often have retention problems and have to hire and train new workers with regularity. It is no different in the Amway opportunity. Those who make money, although the exception, will stay, and the vast majority of IBOs, who make little or nothing despite their efforts, will leave. It is that simple. If IBOs were actually making that extra $200 a month or maybe even an extra $150 net profit, I would guess that they would continue to be in business. But like a real business, when they do not make money, they fold up and do something else, which may be simply working harder at their jobs.

While duplication is a good concept on paper, it doesn't work because not enough IBOs make a net profit. There is no continued interest in staying in a business where they spend more on tools and products than they take in. Groups who focus on the prosumer or buy from yourself concept make it worse for downline as they have little or no sales to add to their bottom line.  No business can survive with the owner and possibly the employees account for most if not all of the sales.

If IBOs and prospects would see and understand this concept, they could avoid a lot of pain.

Transparency?

This is a repost of a story I penned some years ago.  It's a bit lengthy but a fun read:  

Apparently, Joecool has a new fan. A WWDB IBO who runs the blog called "Transparency Of A Dreamer". http://transparencyofadreamer.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/transparency-how-do-you-filter-online-information/

This blog is run by Cameron, who is apparently a WWDB IBO. I used to follow a blog called WWDB Expeditions Of Truth authored by Shaun Guthrie. Both apparently hail from Canada. What I find humorous is how Cameron uses the word "transparency" in his blog title. Cameron, like Shaun, does not allow comments on his blog. I find it odd how pro-Amway blogs often do not allow comments unless they are positive about Amway. What are they afraid of? Hmm.

Cameron says on his blog:

Dream Builder training and mentorship system while being “transparent” in my success’ but MOST IMPORTANTLY my non-success. As a dreamer I identify myself as wanting and desiring more for myself, my family, my friends and my associates. Thus – Transparency of a Dreamer.

When I chose the name of this blog I chose it because I felt that there was a lack of integrity and transparency in how information / experience was shared.

My question to Cameron is why doesn't he allow comments, or transparency on his own blog?

He openly criticizes me because he feels I have some hatred towards Amway and WWDB. That is not true. I don't hate anyone. My blog is about my experiences in Amway and WWDB and some of the bad practices that WWDB leaders employed. Based on my observations of Shaun Guthrie's blog, I can say some of the same practices I saw over ten years ago still happen now. Shaun's blog is now gone (because he quit??) but he spoke of getting out of debt (which is good) but he did so by selling his home and cashing out his 401K. He spoke of buying homes in cash, and abut a 2% divorce rate in Amway/WWDB which is a dicey claim at best. I often hear how Amway/WWDB has changed but here we have the same leaders teaching the same stuff. What exactly has changed? I might add that WWDB leaders in my day LIED and said nobody made a profit from tools. Now that the lie has been exposed, they admit profit is made on tools but none of the liars were ever held accountable.

Let's examine Cameron's business:

Business Level: Founders Belivers Pin almost 2 years straight + additional consecutive months to today’s date (Mar – Apr 2014 as of this post)
Highest PV Bonus Bracket: 9% BV over our organization + Retail / Personal Use Volume.
Personal Width: 1
Depth: 2 wide on one sponsored leg.

Cameron is around the 6 to 9% bonus bracket. With his premiere membership and assuming he attends functions, he is LOSING MONEY! 6-9% will pay you around $100 a month (gross) which will leave you at a loss when factoring in business expenses. That doesn't account for time spent in the endeavor. Cameron says he is not in debt, but he doesn't mention that he profits from Amway. Most likely because his job covers his Amway/WWDB losses.

For the record, I did as an IBO, witness WWDB leaders offer advice such as having your family skip a meal to buy another tape/cd, or quitting your job to attend a function, after all, you can just get another job. You can skip paying your mortgage for about 3 months before the mortgage company forecloses (so you can attend a WWDB function). Greg Duncan taught us how stupid it was to take out loans (can you say hypocrite). I wonder if Mr. Duncan paid off all of his loans yet? LOL Brad Wolgamott taught about the 2% divorce rate (can you say hypocrite?).

Cameron then tries to discredit me by linking to David Steadson's blog. (Steadson aka IBOFightback). Steadson has already been discredited as a liar and referred to as a a cyber bully by Beth Dornan, who ran an Amway corporate blog.

http://blogs.amway.com/amwayinsider/2008/01/15/cyber-bullies-not-welcome-here/

As those who frequent the Opportunity Zone know, our conversations here are governed by a philosophy we call "civil discourse."

Civil discourse means we agree to disagree, but not to be disagreeable. In other words, I accept your right to have an opinion that differs from my own and ask that you do the same. In a word, it means respect. Bullies aren't allowed.
I was disturbed to read that someone who has been critical of this business has been harassed and disparaging information about him posted by a cyber bully.

Steadson, aka IBOFightback is the ONLY ONE who wrote disparaging articles about Amway critics.

Cameron then criticizes the fact that I occasionally use profanity on my blog. I have and I allow some of it. But nobody gets a handful of dirt in their face without dishing it out first. I've been threatened and had IBO's slander and libel my name. That is why I use the pseudo name "Joecool", to protect my true identity.

Why does Amway and WWDB continue to receive criticism? It's not because of Joecool or any other Amway critic. Amway and WWDB receives criticism because of the actions and behaviors of their IBO's. People are still lied to and tricked into meetings. People still overstate the income and effort needed to build Amway. People give the best case scenario without informing prospects of the typical IBO's experiences. The internet is still loaded with legitimate complaints about Amway and WWDB and their only response is to attack the critic rather than fixing the problems that leads to the criticism.

Good luck Cameron, I know you've been reading this blog. You've been an IBO 3 years and you have one leg with a few more downline. A WWDB leader once said insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Were you shown a 2-5 year plan? Maybe it's time for you to sit down and come to grips with Amway and WWDB yourself. I truly hope you won't quit and take your blog down like all other WWDB IBO's I've encountered.

Building A Business?

 When I was an Amway IBO, many people would talk about "building a business". But many folks who spoke about building a business didn't know what that meant. I believe it is because they were taught that building a business meant listening to tapes or audios and attending functions. Or building a business might mean sponsoring others. In my segment of the Amway world, building a business pretty much meant recruiting and showing the plan. Apparently, I was mislead, and many others were as well.

Building a business, generally speaking means building a customer base. A business moves products and services for a profit. In groups that focus on buying from yourself or prosumer nonsense, generally will struggle because the revenue they generate in their business is coming from their own pockets. Or their jobs are actually supplying the money for their own bonuses. In this model, the only way to profit is to sponsor many downlines so the pyramidal compensation plan can work in your favor.

Many IBOs compare themselves to a franchise. Can you imagine a true franchise where your long-term success depended on your ability to open other franchises? What if you as the owner and your family accounted for the majority of the sales? Could this franchise survive? More than likely not. Yet this is exactly what many Amway IBOs do, and they mistakenly think they will be successful. The only reason why Amway IBOs are able to play out this model longer than a traditional franchise owner is because they do not have to rent office space or hire employees.

If an Amway IBO ran their business like a traditional business, the lack of retail sales to non-IBO customers would be immediately apparent when the first month's electric bill or lease payment arrived.

Building a business entails many things. These things may include advertising, marketing of products, and do not necessarily include any training. In its simplest form, the Amway business is about selling and using products, and getting others to do the same as you do. Why do IBOs think such extensive training (standing order and functions) is needed? I challenge IBOs to write up an actual business plan for their Amway business, including projected sales and expenses and see what you come up with. If you think I am just being negative, write up your Amway presentation and show it to a loan officer at a bank. See what they have to say. Seriously.

Bait And Switch?

  In my informed opinion, Amway is a huge bait and switch scam run by the diamonds. The crowd sees the diamonds as someone to be worshipped. They arrive to standing ovations when they appear to show the plan and/or to speak at a function. The diamonds speak of untold wealth beyond the reach of most people. They show slide shows of fabulous trips and events that they attend and possibly golf outings and other fun things that are associated with people who have money. The diamond often has some sports car or a nice sedan such as a Lexus or Mercedes. And all of this alleged wealth comes from Amway. Just join and get the secrets to wealth from the diamonds and you too will be living in fabulous wealth. 2-5 years, build it right and build it once is what I heard.

But it's a bait and switch scam. They show you wealth and speak of their large incomes (without verification of course) and people tend to believe what they are told. The diamonds claim to have the key to the secret of success. All you need to do is get plugged into their system and you are nearly assured of success. Right? Listen to those diamonds. They are the pinnacle of success and all you need to do it copy what they have done. So simple even a dog can become a platinum. All you need is 2-5 years, do it right and do it once and you're set for life.

So you subscribe to their system of voicemail, books, standing orders (audios/CDs), meetings and functions/seminars. In the teachings, the theme seems to be similar. Never quit, and the answer to most Amway problems are to consume more tools and functions. If you are struggling and losing money, the solution seems to be to invest more in tools and functions. It's like a struggling business spending more on overhead without simply trying to increase sales. This is why so many IBOs quit, because they struggle to make sales and/or to sponsor downline. Despite all of the teaching and tools and seminars, it is apparent that very few IBOs make any profit.

What people don't see is that the Amway business itself is just a shill for the real business. Amway IBOs unknowingly recruit prospects into Amway thinking they can make a fortune in Amway. In the meantime, the diamonds are raking in the dough by selling monthly subscriptions for voicemail, books, audios and meetings and seminars. Additionally, the diamonds put on a "major" function each quarter where they can make possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single weekend. I believe some diamonds make way more income from the tools and functions than from Amway. A diamond is a lifetime achievement so someone could qualify diamond for 6 months, never qualify again, but still make a nice living from speaking honorariums and selling other tools. The tools business is the real business. The Amway business is like a "front" to conceal the real business, much like the Italian restaurant is a front for the mob. The restaurant is a legal business that helps conceal the illegal activity. And that my friends, is the Amway bait and switch scam.

The Key To Success = Lying?

  The first time I was prospected for Amway, I was in college. I actually didn't know much about Amway, but I had somehow formed a negative opinion of it. Needless to say, when I was invited to a beer bust and it turned instead to be an Amway meeting.  My impression of Amway wasn't that good already and being tricked into a meeting didn't help.  Some years later, I eventually did join because a close friend of mine had achieved direct distributor (now called platinum) and he had assured me that it could be done and that he would make sure that I would also achieve it. I did achieve a level just below platinum (4000 PV), but I quit for several reasons. First of all, I didn't make a net profit as the expenses for tools ate up my profits. Secondly, the more I progressed in the business, the more and more my upline wanted control of my life. For example, we were told that we should check upline before getting married, buying a car, or even having children, etc. I thought that was very strange and I eventually left the business for good.

But in the US at least, I believe Amway's name to be so battered that an IBO cannot sponsor downline and build a business without lies and deception. There are hordes of stories confirming testimony that lies and deceit are common in prospecting potential IBOs. This was extremely rampant when Amway changed their name to Quixtar. IBOs would deny the connection or IBOs would say they are with network 21 or WWDB and claim something ridiculous such as Amway simply being their supplier. The promotion of perfect water also brought on silly antics about a $50 case of water being capable of performing miracles. If the opportunity could stand on its own merits, then IBOs would not have to resort to such desperate measures which include lies and deception.

Even the Amway presentation if often filled with deception and lies. I remember seeing the presentation and they said shopping through Amway; an IBO would save 30% over local retailers. When I actually saw the catalogs, I wondered where are the savings?? An open-minded price comparison will easily show that Amway products are not cheaper than a retailer like Wal-Mart. It's not possible when you consider that Amway's bonuses must be a part of their product price.

The 6-4-2 plan or similar variations are made to sound easy, and the presenter talked about lifelong residual willable income, which I also find to be deceptive if not an outright lie. The presenter never mentions that only about 1 in 400 ever reach the platinum level, where allegedly you begin to break even as an IBO if you are consuming training and tools.

But can Amway be successfully promoted without lies and deception? It is my opinion that an IBO has no chance of building a business by being completely upfront and honest about Amway and about being an IBO. Even with lies and deceit, many IBOs still cannot get people to see the plan or to buy products. It is my opinion that overall, very little Amway products are sold to non-IBOs. So if you cannot sell products and you cannot get people to see the plan, you cannot build a business and if you are purchasing tools, you are simply digging yourself a financial hole that will only grow larger as time passes. The cost of 100 PV (about $300) is already more than what most families and/or singles spend in a month on household products. This means that most people simply cannot sustain themselves in the business and it explains why most IBOs drop out in the first year.

It is why lies and/or deception are needed for an IBO to have a chance at promoting and building an Amway business. Because the truth is not pretty and more than likely, will not work effectively for building an Amway business.

"Partner Stores"?

 I wanted to write this post because I had a debate with an (apparent) Amway IBO who is bragging about Amway partner stores. The tag line is Amway certainly does their due diligence, as well as partner stores as partner stores would not want to associate with Amway if they were a scam, etc. After reading this post, you will see that "partner" stores would be insane not to partner with Amway. Before going into that, maybe someone can explain what due diligence was put into partnering with Worldcom (formerly MCI) and Enron, for selling energy products and services. Surely all those high-priced lawyers must have known about these epic failures (scams)?

Now, when an Amway IBO refers to a partner store, we are talking about a one-way road. What I mean is that Amway sells products for these partner stores, but the partner stores don't sell any Amway products and have nothing to do with Amway other than a business agreement (apparently) to allow Amway IBOs to act as commission only salespeople for these partner stores. Amway IBOs take on all the time and personal expenses of moving partner store products, often at noncompetitive prices, and get a small commission, but only if they meet a minimum quota (100 pv), which is roughly $300 USD, but could be more because partner stores PV amounts are typically quite small.

Imagine that a partner store basically has the entire Amway sales force potentially selling their products and the partner store can charge whatever they want. The Amway IBOs are often taught to buy from Amway and the catalogs, so the entire sales force often becomes loyal customers as well. And to make the deal even sweeter, the partner stores pay nothing unless the Amway IBO sells at least $300 worth of products, although partner store and Amway products can be commingled. In my way of thinking, it's a no brainer for partner stores to hook up with Amway. They have no risk and potentially a lot of addition sales. High upside and no downside.  If there's a big downside, I certainly don't see it.

And the cherry on the sundae for Amway and the partner stores is that Amway IBOs will also recruit and train other Amway and partner store commission only salespeople at their own time and expense. Amway and partner stores can't possibly lose!! I almost want to go and create Joecool's widgets and become an Amway partner store myself. If Amway people sell my $100 Joecool widgets that cost me $5 to make, I rake in huge profits and the most commission I would pay is about 25%. It's a great deal because Joecool has zero risk. I only pay if the product gets sold. and I don't pay if products don't move. I might even be able to sell Amway IBOs my catalog so they can sell my stuff. It's heads I win and tales they lose for me.

So, if you ever hear about and Amway IBO bragging about how Amway partner stores like Nike, Barnes and Noble or whatever big-name company might "partner" with Amway, you can laugh to yourself and to use Amway's own catch phrase: "Now you know".

Sustainability?

 One of the key selling points of the Amway business is for people to do the work once and then reap financial benefits for life. Thus, the term lifelong residual income or passive income. But that simply does not happen for the vast majority of IBOs. The reason why most IBOs do not have a sustainable business is because their business is not based on sales to genuine customers with a genuine need. Most IBOs themselves will not buy Amway products once their affiliation to Amway is over. Many IBOs are willing to pay the "premium" prices while they believe Amway will make them rich, but when the reality sets in that they are not making money, somehow their loyalty to Amway products goes out the window.

If you are an IBO doing your 100 PV monthly, then your only way to increase volume is to sponsor downline in hopes that they will also do their 100 PV as shown in the plan. And even if you are somehow able to accomplish this and sponsor a bunch of people as shown in the plan, chances are that many IBOs will "do nothing" and of the remaining, some will move 100 PV, but they will likely quit in one year or less. The attrition and failures in Amway make it nearly impossible to build and sustain a group. Even diamonds are working hard to help their downline keep up the volume or they too, will fall out of qualification. Has anyone actually heard of a diamond who walked away from Amway and is collecting large residual checks while doing nothing? IBOs often talk about it but not a single one can name one of these individuals.

In many or possible most cases, IBOs are only selling the Amway opportunity and not Amway products. They sell the possibility or hope that they will build a business, walk away and collect untold wealth for the rest of their lives. It isn't going to happen. Say for example, you sold 100 PV monthly on a consistent basis to customers. These customers will automatically go online and make purchases when they run out of their products. If you are lucky, they will also refer friends to make purchases. But most IBOs do not sell products, they are selling the opportunity. Thus, once the business building stops, so goes the product purchases in most cases.

That brings up the next point about why an Amway business is not sustainable for most. The products cost more than most other retailers. That will limit the potential for customers and referrals. Amway defenders like to cite quality issues, but most customers who shop online aren't familiar with Amway products and have no way to know whether Amway has quality products or not. That leaves them to decide based on prices. And Amway in general, costs much more than Walmart for the same or similar products. A tough sell indeed and for these reasons, I find the Amway business to be unsustainable. There is no other conclusion that can be made.