Joecool Headed To Vegas?

Joecool is headed to Vegas for 5 nights.  Going for some gaming, great food and a few shows.  No Amway income needed.  LOL   In the meantime, this article is titled:  The Key To Success? 

 Upline would tell the audience ad nauseum that tools and functions are the key to success.  It’s kind of ironic as tools and functions are vital to success, but it’s vital only to the success of the diamonds and higher ups.  Think about it.  The diamonds pocket the profits and show you all the luxuries they enjoy but they don’t mention that much of their luxuries come from tools and functions profits.  The tools have larger profit margins than Amway products and the rank and file IBOs don't get a cut from the pool of bonuses, like the Amway bonuses.  And while diamonds now speak about IBOs getting a shot at the tools income, but how much someone can earn, and all the details are sketchy, unlike the Amway bonus structure which is shown when prospects see the plan.

Diamonds used to lie and claim no profits were made from tools and functions but that lie is now impossible to defend so they might mention that profits are made but downplay the amount of the profits.  One revealing piece of evidence came in 2009 when a triple diamond filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy and his income details became publicly available. It revealed that the triple diamond made about half a million annually from Amway, which is a good income but certainly not the Uber wealth you would have imagined.  This diamond also made about half a million annually from tools and functions.   Despite all of that income, the diamond was unable to properly manage his cash and filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy.

So even with a million-dollar income this diamond had credit card debt, was unable to pay his bills and I didn’t see any charitable donations on his tax returns.  Now a million dollars annually is a great income, but you aren’t buying mansions and a fleet of sports cars in cash.   Living the “diamond” lifestyle is expensive and I suspect that the average diamond likely can’t sustain that lifestyle.  It seems that the income from tools and functions are vital to sustain a diamonds finances.   And it's why diamonds seemingly never "walk away" and collect residual income because once you stop working, your tools income stops.  This should speak volumes to people if you really understand what's happening.  

Think about this.  Income from tools and functions have a higher profit margin than Amway products and unlike the Amway compensation plan, rank and file IBOs do not get anything for the volume of tools they move.  Thus, the diamonds will push the tools hard and take no prisoners.  It’s also why your lifelong Amway uplines don’t give a hoot about you once you stop attending functions or stop buying tools.  You become one of the bitter and broke losers who quit.  They make no money off you if you quit so they may as well shove you off with a swift kick and the label of "broke loser".

Tools and functions are vital to Amway success; if you are a diamond. This does not apply to the rank and file.  

 

Cardinal Rules?

 Below is an excerpt from an apparently newbie IBO in Britt Worldwide (BWW). Note how they are taught that they must ask upline before doing their work. This IBO also talks about not having to use his brain, just follow your upline’s advice. Submit to the leaders. Follow the system and success is guaranteed. Right, and Amway apologists have the nerve to deny that this stuff still goes on? I suspect it is more common than Amway defenders will admit.   I recall these cardinal rules from my IBO days except the version I was taught is not verbatim, but basically the same.

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http://greatdealmway.blogspot.com/2009/08/bww-system-and-get-success.html

*3 Cardinal rules

A. never pass negative advises or rumors to your down lines.

B. you must ask to your up lines before going on your first work.

C. never ever go bad with anyone’s self motive, money and family members.

*4 powers

1. Unity: unity is most powerful aspect. Do work in unity.

2. Power of submission to your work, up lines and customers: you must understand that you do not need to use your brain in this business. Just follow your leaders and submit yourself to them.

3. Power of spoken words: try out this simple but effective formula to gain success in your life. Speak out regularly about what you want in your life. It should be for this business, for family, for country or anything you want. This will reduce the negative energy and will create positive energy around you.

Do best and follow this system. Success is guaranteed!

What Other Conclusion Is There?

 When I was an IBO, I recall so many of the "rah rah" types of meetings and functions I attended.  Yeah, some of the big functions were glitzy and the diamonds paraded around in nice business attire while showing off alleged trappings just as jet skis, sport cars or fancy vacations that they attained from the Amway business.  To an unknowing or unsuspecting person, it seems like a great dream to be able to retire at the age of 29 with more money than you know what to do with.  No brainer right?  But that's only if you don't comb through the details with a discerning eye.

If you carefully go through Amway's own disclosures, you'll see that the "average" IBO or distributor earns $202 a month.  And that $202 includes the uber wealthy diamonds (minus their bonuses), but most importantly that the $202 average does not include distributors who signed up and did nothing.  So, it's not a true "average" because it excluded the least productive of the salesforce.  Thus, this average income includes the diamonds but not the one who didn't lift a finger.   That math is extremely telling.  The Amway defenders will say "diamonds make over $500K".  But they don't tell you that a diamond making that much is Q12 diamond, which is very rare because the diamond and his/her qualifying legs all need to qualify for all 12 months in Amway's fiscal year.   

So why do the Amway folks hype up the (in reality) "ho hum" business of moving household products and cleaners, vitamins, etc.?     Because they have to.  If you do the math behind the business and even if you consider that diamonds "augment" their income by selling audios, books, functions and yes, some even still sell "voicemail", you'll see that the hype and glitz is just a facade like the front of a fancy building on a movie set.   And it's because nobody in their right mind would want to sign up and do all the (time and expenses) activities associated with the Amway  business in hopes of living a mostly ordinary middle class lifestyle.   They show you mansions, cars and alleged wealth because those kinds of prizes make the possibility of wealth seem tolerable in exchange for a person's investment time, money and effort.   Would anyone join with all the hype in hopes of living a middle class lifestyle?    Looking at all of these factors, "what other conclusion is there"?   

What happens is many young and entry level types of workers get into Amway because they believe that Amway is a short cut to wealth and early retirement.   They want to believe.  These young and often motivated youngsters think that $100K or a bit more will solve all of their problems.  But do the math.  After taxes and business expenses, there won't be much left.   I live in Hawaii and flying from here to LA for example, first class can cost upwards of $5000 for two people.   Do you believe that diamonds and their families are shelling out $10,000 for first class ever time they fly to functions if they earn even say $250K   And that's just flights.  What about 5 star hotels and fancy restaurants?    The math is where the uber wealthy diamond's stories fall apart.   What other conclusion is there?

Amway Tidbits?

 So many people get duped into thinking that they will somehow get extremely wealthy by becoming an Amway IBO. Many recruiters will tell stories about how they were once broke, but signed up, endured challenges and now they are diamonds enjoying untold wealth and luxuries. People get caught up in "dreams" and are often encouraged to ignore the facts. People running businesses should pay close attention to the facts because it tells you much about your business and your likelihood of success. But what are some facts about the Amway business that many people don't know about? I have outlined a few important ones for those who harbor dreams of going diamond.

1. The average diamond, according to Amway, earns about than $150,000 a year. Yes, some of this may be supplemented with money from the sale of tools, but after taxes and business expenses such as travel to and from the many functions that a diamond attends, would leave a diamond living an ordinary middle-class lifestyle, not one with mansions and sports cars as portrayed in many functions or meetings. Yes, a Q12 diamond would have more earnings, but a Q12 diamond is the rare exception, and not the rule. (Amway.com says a Q12 diamond makes over 500K but a Q12 Diamond is the rare exception)  If you truly understand what a Q12 diamond is, you will know what I'm talking about.

2. Most IBOs are NEVER able to sponsor a single downline. Pretty hard to develop six (6) downline platinums when most people cannot sponsor anyone. Even finding people willing to just see the plan can be time consuming and challenging.

3. Most Amway products are purchased (apparently) by IBOs and not sold to customers. Name a real business that sustains itself by having its own workers or salesforce purchase most of the goods. MLM is probably the only business where this occurs. Understandably, it explains why 99%+ of "system" Amway IBOs make nothing or lose money.   Upline might teach Amway's 10 customer rule, but is it actually enforced?

4. For most IBOs, the cost of functions, books, voicemail, and standing orders and other support materials represent the reason why most business building IBOs lose money and it also represents a significant profit for some of the diamonds who sell the materials. BTW, who needs voicemail these days?

5. Not working hard is not necessarily the reason for someone's failure. But conversely, working hard does not equate success in Amway. I would guess that out of those who work hard, it is still a fraction of 1% of hard working IBOs that even attain a significant profit. Doing nothing won't get you anywhere, but in this business, working hard often gets you nowhere as well. It is my informed opinion that the cost of the support materials is the direct reason why so many IBOs lose money, even out of those who work very hard.

I could go on and on, but these are a handful of facts that IBOs and information seekers should be aware of. I welcome differing thoughts and opinions.

Amway Creates Millionaires?

 I keep hearing from some IBOs that they belive that Amway has created more millionaires than any other company in the US. I call BS on that claim. I am not saying that Amway hasn't created any millionaires, obviously, the Amway owners are worth billions of dollars. But what the IBOs are apparently implying is that the diamonds are millionaires. I'm sure there are some diamonds who indeed are millionires, especially if they are tenured diamonds, in particular the double diamonds and higher. But conversely, I believe that many high level diamonds are not millionaires. I believe it is just as common for a diamond to be in debt as it is for a diamond to be living large. I also believe that many diamonds did not accumulate their alleged wealth exclusively from Amway.

The reason why this is an issue is because these big pins will stand on stage and show off excessive wealth and imply that it is their Amway income that pays for these mansions, sports cars, and in some cases, jets. In the US, I attended a function called "Dream Nite" where these kinds of trapping are displayed, to the tune of the song "I wanna be rich". The diamonds would say that you can have what they have, if only you will do what they advise. These functions still go on today and I believe it is now called Winter Conference.

Stanley and Danko's book, "The Millionaire Next Door"
http://www.personalfinanceplaybook.com/2009/08/the-millionaire-next-door/

This book makes some very interesting points which I believe applies to Amway diamonds. I will outline the significant ones and I will comment below:

**Predictably, the data shows that most people who you believe to be very rich are not.

**High net worth individuals, statistically, tend to be people that live within their means. They don’t spend a lot of money. They don’t waste money. They tend to be pretty frugal people.

**The authors point out that most of the richest people you know aren’t driving expensive luxury automobiles. That’s what the people who want everyone to think they’re rich drive. (Like Amway diamonds)

Joe's commentary. The book does say that about 1/3 of millionaires acquired their wealth thru a J-O-B and saved and invested, but did mention that many millionaires were also business owners, such as a pest control company, etc. But based on the points made by the book above, I can see where it is likely that diamonds portray a wealthy lifestyle as a recruitment tactic, when the reality is they may be living very middle class lifestyles off stage, or may even be in debt. I have seen evidence of diamonds having their homes foreclosed and being in debt (Ruth Carter's book: Amway: Behind the Smoke and Mirrors). Recently, there was also a report that a WWDB Triple Diamond filed for bankruptcy. The report indicated that the diamond could not make his mortgages, or something to that tune. Odd, because when I was in WWDB, some of the upline leaders said diamonds paid cash for everything because paying interest to the bank wasn't very smart.   Either the diamonds are lying or they are hypocrites, or both.

My question is why IBOs continue to make up these claims? Try googling millionaire or Amway millionaire. There is nothing to indicate that Amway was responsible for creating the "most millionaires" of any US company. If this were true, wouldn't Amway state it on their website? If someone finds any veracity about this claim, inform me and I will post it.  Try looking at AI.  You'll find the answer interesting.  LOL

Future Amway Retiree Or Quitter?

 Check out this blog post from 2010 from an Amway and WWDB IBO. He is talking about retiring and now it is the year 2026 and he quit more than a dozen years ago.  But you can see all the language that is being parroted by this IBO.   I get that he wants to better his family, but that's how many prospects get sucked in stay in until the light goes on and they wake up and see the light.

http://expeditionoftruths.com/2010/10/18/1-year/


"Well we are coming up to Free Enterprise Day’s in Portland this weekend and with that I’ve come up to my one year anniversary. I’ve also passed the one year anniversary of this blog and where I started out with it. I started it while being a guest at Free Enterprise Day’s supporting Lindsay in what I had originally thought was something completely stupid, something illegal, something that was going to drive a wedge between us and our marriage. Turns out it was quite the opposite.

There is nothing wrong with a healthy scepticism and boy did I have a lot of “health” scepticism. After spending 5 months of doing some actual research, checking out the Amway site, Better Business Bureau, Checking the history of the company, Industry Canada, and yeah even checking out all the negative blogs out there, I came to the conclusion there was nothing wrong with this business and what it stood for. One of the biggest things that really drew me to business was the environmental stewardship this company stood on and I thought I could get behind that and have no problems promoting those great products. It was however the World Wide Dreambuilders that really intrigued me and instead of driving a wedge between our marriage it has helped solidify it even stronger than it was last year. How the heck could a business do that? Cause it’s founded on good core traditional values such as marriage, relationships, personal growth and living debt free. Not bad values if I do say so.

So I say one year because it’s one year when I joined my wife and we became united together and made a decision together to actually build this. Since then we’ve achieved some great milestones and have had some set backs, as with anything in life. We’ve been able to kill off a HUGE amount of consumer debt that we would have still had to this day if it were not for the great coaches, mentors we have. We’ve been able to ride the example our coaches have set out and we are pretty much right on track with where they are and that’s just the power of duplication. I’ve retired my wife so that she never has to give her 1st best to another man ever again. We will be able to raise our kids never having to know what a daycare or day home looks like. Not to offend anyone however that’s not how we want to raise our kids, we’d much rather instil our own values and be there every step of the way.

Looking forward to the future we are pumped to hit Double Eagle Ruby late next year at which time I’ll be stepping away from my job so that I never have to work for another man’s dream and give my 1st best to them. I know that we will work hard at this so that my kids will always have me at home when they need me and not have to wait for me to come home from work. I look forward to the days that we can take our kids out to the ski hill during the week day and not the weekend when it’s jam packed. I look forward to seeing my parents with the kids anytime we want instead of a set amount of vacation time or trying to stretch out a long weekend. There are so many things we look forward to in our second year in business and we know because of the great examples before us we will actually achieve them.

Now please don’t misunderstand me, these are our goals and things we want to achieve. I’m in no way saying you have to build this business. I’ve chosen this vehicle to obtain our goals and the vision we have set out for our family. You don’t have to agree with me and that’s perfectly fine. I only hope that you have a vehicle out there that will allow you to 100% achieve whatever it is you have set out for you and your family.

Here’s to year #2!"

Diamonds Are Forever?

 I've seen some interesting discussion and banter about how a diamond pin is like winning a gold medal. That you don't get it taken away from you later even if you don't qualify anymore. The discussion also flowed as to where they mentioned that former US President Jimmy Carter is still addressed as Mr. President. Or that someone with a Superbowl ring can be addressed as a Superbowl champion. While I agree with that to some degree, I think the issue of diamond or former diamond is significant and different from former President Carter or a former Superbowl Champion. Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana don't parade around as if they just won the Superbowl last year.

The diamond pin is a significant achievement for sure. Seems that it's even harder to achieve in North America due to the company name reputation which was soured by unethical IBO behavior.  I don't know of more than a few new diamonds emerging in the last twenty five years or so in the US. But if say a diamond qualified in 1988 and never qualified again, how would you as an Amway IBO feel about paying to see this diamond speak function after function and how many would continue to buy standing orders from a guy who may have achieved diamond 25 years ago and never again? Would the audiences be "fired up" to see these speakers? I find this ironic also, because many Amway defenders like to criticize Amway critics for having an outdated experience. Well, conversely, a one time diamond would be basically the same thing. If not, then Joecool should command the respect of a 4000 PV Eagle since that was my highest level.

I actually have no issue with Amway allowing the achiever to carry their highest pin as a recognized achievement, but I do believe that those who use their former pin status to exploit and profit from new IBOs and prospects should be stopped. I know I would not have been so excited attending a function where the keynote speaker went diamond for 6 months a decade ago and was no longer qualified. Else, by upline's definition, he will teach me to go diamond and fall apart? I believe there are fewer North American diamonds now than twenty to twenty five years ago. Some diamonds resigned and some outright quit. So much for residual/passive income. Obviously if these things existed, then nobody would quit or walk away from residual income.

BTW, an article on an Amway Corporate website says this about passive income:
"Passive income is a term we do not permit distributors to use and it’s not a term the Corporation uses. In our business, there is no such thing as doing no work, and expecting money to still come in.” Link:
http://blogs.amway.com/answers/2010/11/02/unwelcome-words/#comments

Still think there's a free ride at the end of the tunnel?