Joecool Headed To Europe For 2 Weeks

Joecool is headed to another nice vacation, without any Amway income.  I hope to start blogging again sooner than 2 weeks, but enjoy the following story until I return.  :) 

One of my thoughts when I finally left the Amway business was that it was actually a bad idea to begin with. I joined because a good friend of mine had joined and had reached (at the time) the level of direct distributor. I didn't know exactly what a direct distributor was, but I knew that it was a fairly high and significant level. My friend told me that it was a lot easier than he thought and that he could easily teach me the secrets of how to do the same thing he did. I started to think that perhaps I could also do the business and hopefully make a few extra dollars, which seemed desirable as I was still young and fairly new to the full-time workforce.

So, I eventually joined, and I had pretty quick success, being able to sponsor some of my good friends and the excitement of the growing business made it seem as if everything was going just the way my friend mapped it out. That I would show the plans and people would join, and my business would grown. And on the surface, it looked like I couldn't miss.

But as a few months passed by, I started to see cracks in my upline's teaching, although I didn't pass my "negative" thought to my downline. I saw the upline tell us to get out of debt, which was good advice. But then they would say it was okay to go in debt, but only to purchase Amway products or Amway training as it was an investment in our business. That began to raise red flags. Later, in a "movers and shakers" meeting, I heard some teaching about how you could miss 3 mortgage payments and not have your home foreclosed in case you needed cash to attend the next big function. I was starting to wonder if our leaders were interested in our success or just squeezing money out of downline.

Later on, in a smaller but intimate meeting, as Amway leader taught that we could even have our families skip a meal in order to buy another standing order because it might contain the one thing you need to hear to propel your business to diamond. When I heard this, I really started to question upline's credibility. The end finally came for when my upline told me to dump my fiancé' because I could focus on my business better without her. That was the last straw, and I left the business. Being that I was taught well, I never complained about it and just forgot about it.

Then I saw a magazine article exposing the tools scam. I eventually began researching about Amway and shortly later, Joecool's blog was born. I had concluded based on my research and personal experince that Amway was a bad idea and a scam.

The Amway Cult?

  One of the interesting 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 (sometimes subtle pressure, sometimes not so subtle) 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 and the IBO would feel as if they have little to no hope if they drop out of Amway, despite the fact that the IBO would likely be much better off financially.    

The diamonds are given undue adulation.  I recall my first open meeting as a prospect, the diamond was treated like royalty and was given 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.  They hand on every word from the diamond, even so much as they tape/record everything the diamond says in case the one missing piece of information they need might be forthcoming.

The Amway 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.  (AKA - fake it till you make it)

But in the end, the upline just uses their position to force the down line into compliance with their teachings.  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 hoot 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 useless tools and functions even though many IBOs can’t build a business right now because the system is deeply flawed and designed for the masses to fail.  Good luck to you if you read this and join Amway anyway, but you can’t say you weren’t warned.   😃

Exploit Family And Friends?

Many prospects see the Amway plan and get unrealistic dreams of attaining incredible material wealth and retiring in a few years. I find it strange that nobody has been able to point out anyone who actually got in, worked a few years and then walked away from the business and is now enjoying buckets of cash rolling in while they spend their days on exotic beaches sipping mai tais. The more likely scenario will be debt, higher credit card bills, and boxes of unused cds and other various products. The alleged wealthy people in Amway are often spoken about but have you ever heard of or known someone who was retired and living a luxurious lifestyle because they made so much money in Amway? I know Amway IBOs hear about it, but they believe it without any kind of actual evidence. I could say I am retired because I make millions by blogging, but is that believable? In the same train of thought, do you believe that people join and work hard for 2-5 years and then enjoy life with financial freedom and live happily ever after?

So why would someone joining the business become annoying? It's because to the average person, it becomes clear that to achieve this, you need to find "six" people. Thus, to find six people, you need to make contacts to show the plan. Cold contacts of people on the street would be unlikely, even for the boldest of people, so new IBOs start looking at people they know. They start with people they are familiar with, or family and friends. They may also think their family and friends will want to get rich with them. So, the IBOs start making phone calls and contacts. Pretty soon all your family and friends know about your involvement in Amway, and most will not be interested. Where do you recruit now? That's when the cold contacts begin, which makes it nearly impossible to succeed in Amway.

Sadly, for most new and enthusiastic IBOs, they will find that they are shunned by family and friends. Over the years, IBOs have done too much damage to Amway's reputation and overcoming this challenge is too much for the rank-and-file IBOs. They will hear stories about failures and opinions that Amway is a pyramid and/or a scam. Of course, IBOs will have "canned" answers to respond to from their upline. One of the humorous ones is that Amway is praised by the BBB or the FTC and is the shining example of an MLM. To those familiar with this line of reasoning, it can become side splitting humorous.

At first, the family and friends may humor the new IBO, but relentless persistence can eventually turn ugly. This is where uplines will teach the new IBOs to avoid "negative" and to shun these family and friends. This is why some people charge the Amway leaders with being cult - like. It's at about this point where IBOs might realize that Amway products are costly and try to sell off some of them to reduce their own costs. Often times, sympathetic family and friends might make a token purchase to show support. but that can get old in a hurry also. Most IBOs will eventually quit and make amends with family and friends, but some lose friendships for good.

To information seekers and new IBOs, hopefully this message is food for thought......

Build It Right, Build It Once?

 I believe that Amway IBOs have approximately a 50% attrition rate for the first year alone. If you look at a 5 year window, I believe the attrition rate is something like 95%. So what we're saying is that out of 100 IBOs, only 5 will be around in 5 years, or out of 1000 IBOs, 50 will remain after 5 years. This is extremely significant because if you are a business builder, you will need to replace half of your IBOs every single year. For this reason, I am very doubtful that there are IBOs who "built the business right and built it once", who no longer do Amway related work, but still collect significant residual income. I would guess that significant income could be defined as being enough to live a lifestyle in the top tax bracket (for the US) without having to report to a J-O-B.

Now I understand that some IBOs take it personally when I bring up subjects like this. It is because they have been deceived by some upline diamond or big pin who has sold them on a dream of financial prosperity for life if they will only work hard for 2-5 years. I once thought so too, but realized that there isn't a single diamond that I know of who built the business right and walked away to enjoy the beaches of the world while truckloads of money rolls in. Kinda makes you wonder why you see Crowns still working, and diamonds actually quitting or resigning. I have asked the question many times and it has never been answered. Can anyone name a few people who built their business right and built it once who is currently enjoying these lifelong residuals? Also, if that were a benefit, why doesn't Amway say so?

Instead, you have a constant and endless flow of motivation being sold to IBOs. This motivation comes in the form of cds, books, meetings, functions and other things like voicemail messages. It's sad that IBOs have to continue to pay through the nose for motivation and "teaching" about the Amway business when there are cheaper and more efficient means of communication. For example, why would you need an expensive voicemail when a facebook group account can disseminate messages to your group in seconds at no cost? It is because the uplines want to extract every possible sent from their downline. Because of the internet, I believe people are starting to figure things out and avoid the systems altogether. I hope Joecool's blog contributes to this.

All the motivation IBOs truly need is to see a net profit at the end of the month. If IBOs actually earned an extra $200 a month, or $50 a month, or $600 a month as advertised, there would be no need for motivational speeches. The IBOs would simply look at the growth in their finances and they would keep going. The poor retention rate is easy to explain. IBOs are losing money because of the system expenses and they lose their motivation to continue. If you are an IBO or a prospect, stop and think for a minute. If you are making an extra $200 a month with minimal effort, would you need functions and other materials to motivate you? Or would you have intrinsic motivation from the profit? All the motivation you will ever need is a net profit. Take that to the bank.

Attack The Messenger?

 Recent comments on this blog have been quite interesting lately. Some heated, some inflammatory and some just silly. But what many Amway defenders fail to understand is that I am simply sharing my experiences and observations. I feel that it serves as an information highway for prospects who are looking into the Amway business. When I was in the business, the internet was not quite as accessible as it is now. Thus, this blog is an easy way for people to gain information about my experiences and informed opinions about Amway.

Information seekers are free to ask questions, or even dispute what I have written. I do not disallow comments that are pro or con with regards to Amway. I allow both sides of the story to be expressed here. I moderate comments to prevent spam and sabotage, which I experienced in the past. In about 15+ years, Joecool's blog has had millions of site visitors. It's clear that my message is getting out there. But I say that commentators should question the message and not the messenger.

Quite often I see people leaving comments that I am lying or wrong but the comments never seem to specify what is wrong or inaccurate about what I am writing. Plus, how can my experience be wrong? It's my experience and that has been confirmed by the many other bloggers and by current evidence that is available on other websites on the internet. For example, I still see (in particular, WWDB) IBOs talking about buying homes in cash, and how the world has a 60% divorce rate while WWDB members have a 2% divorce rate. Where do IBOs get this garbage? They are taught this crap by WWDB leaders. And guess what? IBOs pay good money to learn this crap.

The truth is that Amway people and the world probably have the same divorce rate, but it surfaces as an issue because IBOs make these silly claims. It's also ironic that some WWDB leaders who spoke of buying homes in cash had homes foreclosed and one of them was in bankruptcy proceedings recently. A WWDB leader who said that Amway saved marriages is now either separated or divorced. These same leaders at one time SWORE that not a penny of profit was made from tools and function sales. We now know the truth and these leaders were never held accountable. Who does better? Someone who provides information so people can make an informed decision. Or someone who is deceptive which leads only to the "best case scenario"?

That is the truth. Attack the message, not the messenger.

Critical Mistakes?

 In a few weeks, another Superbowl matchup will occur.   In recent Superbowls, the games have been somewhat close. In close games, a critical mistake made will cost your team the game. A good example of this would be the reason why some teams are watching the Superbowl on TV instead of playing in it. A critical mistake.

In my opinion one of the most critical mistakes that many IBOs make is to ignore the bottom line when analyzing their Amway businesses. I recall, in my experience, business building IBOs, sadly, taught by their uplines to ignore losses, or to view losses as investments into their businesses, or that money is really not important, because you keep building the business and the "money will be there", which is not true. Some uplines may teach that the business is more about making friends or being a nicer person. All of these things may be nice side benefits of reading personal development books, etc., but when running a business, the most important goal should be to turn a profit.

For many IBOs, their businesses consist of listening to standing orders, attending functions and meetings, but not focused on selling products and earning a net profit. And for most IBOs, nobody can blame them as upline may give them bad advice and because the Amway business is person to person selling, it is so inefficient that many groups end up teaching IBOs to simply buy their own volume and get others to join the business. For groups who operate primarily in this manner, you are probably running an illegal business because new and existing IBOs can profit only by continuing to add more downline IBOs in the hope that they too, will buy their own volume and sponsor others.

When you look carefully at the business plan, whether it is 6-4-2, 9-4-2 or some other variation, the majority of these business building IBOs will have low volume and likely to earn only about $10 a month. But to earn that $10 a month, you are likely to have to spend $300 on products, and if you are on standing order, voicemail and functions, then you likely spend anywhere from $150 to $250 monthly (or more) to participate in the teaching system. Thus, these IBO's bottom line is a net loss! It is only when you are able to sponsor many downlines that your losses will get smaller, and you will only profit when you have a sizable downline. That means your bottom line is a loss. And while Amway defenders will argue that Walmart doesn't even give you $10 a month, you can certainly get more products from Walmart for $300 than you can get from Amway for the same price. Walmart will match any advertised price on a product that they and a competitor may carry. Also, Walmart's advertising reaching millions of people, which is much more effective than person to person. While Amway runs some ads now days, they do not directly drive customers to IBOs. The vast majority of IBO business is still to themselves and their downline, and not to non-IBO customers.

I challenge IBOs to look objectively at their bottom lines. It is likely a new loss. If it is, ask your upline how long this is expected to last. Set hard goals and if you are doing what is advised by upline and results to not improve, you may have to ask yourself what will change to make your business profitable. Basically, if you aren't adding active downlines and customers regularly, you aren't going anywhere and are likely to be running your business at a loss month after month after month. It won't take long before you realize that you have lost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars.

As a former IBO with a 4000 PV business with eagle parameters, I was not making a net profit. I saw my bottom line and although doing and achieving what my upline advised, there was no money. I decided the effort, time and money invested wasn't worth it. Plus, my upline started to interfere in my personal life. I saw my bottom line and wasn't satisfied, and I left Amway. I later discovered the lies my upline had fed me to keep me in the business and to keep me buying tools. It is why I started blogging. For now, my bottom line is to get the truth out about the tools scam run by upline. That is Joecool's bottom line.

Edification?

 Edification. During my time in the Amway business, we saw many IBOs get edified, including myself. Of course, it felt great when your upline platinum or diamond would say something that made you stand out in the crowd. For example, I remember an IBO being exalted because he quit his job to attend a major function. His boss wouldn't allow him to use vacation time, so he quit to attend the function. I remember Brad Wolgamott telling people it's just a job, attend the function and get another one (job). I remember at a family reunion function, a man was edified by the diamonds because he was diagnosed with terminal cancer but instead of being at home and bitching and moaning, there he was at an Amway function, making a difference in the world they would say. But looking back, I truly believe that the upline's intentions were to uplift those who went thru extraordinary efforts to spend money on tools or functions.

In other words, you are buying your edification. Of course, when I say you are buying your edification, you are not necessarily doing so in dollars. It can either be in dollars or in time. For example, you may have been edified for listening to 15 standing orders in one day, or you may be edified for driving the miles to show plans, even if the guest was a no-show. I also recall some IBOs in the group being edified for 1000 PV personal use in a month. I honestly don't know who anyone can possibly do 1000 PV in personal use without the purchase of some big-ticket items. I mean how much SA8 or LOC can anyone use in the month? I suppose that you could make Nutrilite vitamins your main source of food or something like that and move a lot of PV, but it's ridiculous to spend that much on personal use.

So, to what extent are you willing to go to get edified? For my upline sponsor, it was what he lived for. My sponsor was/is a physician and he therefore could have a nice lifestyle without Amway but he was more interested in the recognition and edification. He ate it up when he was asked to speak at a function once. He told the group in a nite owl that the dream of being on stage as a diamond was more important to him than the money. Sadly, he never got beyond the platinum level as far as I know and last I heard, he was below 4000 PV. Whatever your dream or reason for building Amway, I honestly believe you need to look at the cost of it. For example, you wouldn't sell your soul to the devil in order to go diamond. I actually wonder how my former sponsor feels these days now that our upline diamond (his hero) has moved to Washington and he cannot spend much time with him anymore?

The cost of edification in Amway is high. Are you willing to foot that bill? I'm glad I woke up and decided that there are much better ways to spend my time, money and efforts. Joecool's blog is one of the better things. :-)

Bottom Line?

 In my point of view. one of the most critical mistakes that many IBOs make is to ignore the bottom line when analyzing their Amway businesses. Most business building IBOs, sadly, are taught by their uplines to ignore losses, or to view losses as investments into their businesses, or that money is really not important. Some upline may teach that the business is more about making friends or being a nicer person. All of these things may be nice side benefits of reading personal development books, etc., but when running a business, the most important goal should be to turn a profit.

For many IBOs, their businesses consist of listening to standing orders, attending functions and meetings, but not focused on selling products and earning a net profit. And for most IBOs, nobody can blame them as upline may give them bad advice and because the Amway business is person to person selling, it is so inefficient that many groups end up teaching IBOs to simply buy their own volume and get others to join the business. For groups who operate primarily in this manner, you are probably running an illegal business because new and existing IBOs can profit only by continuing to add more downline IBOs in the hope that they too, will buy their own volume and sponsor others.

When you look carefully at the business plan, whether it is 6-4-2, 9-4-2 or some other variation, the majority of these business building IBOs will have low volume and likely to earn only about $10 a month. But to earn that $10 a month, you are likely to have to spend $300 on products, and if you are on standing order, voicemail and functions, then you likely spend anywhere from $150 to $250 monthly to participate in the teaching system. Thus, these IBO's bottom line is a net loss! It is only when you are able to sponsor many downlines that your losses will get smaller, and you will only profit when you have a sizable downline. That means your bottom line is a loss. And while Amway defender will argue that Walmart doesn't even give you $10 a month, you can certainly get more products from Walmart for $300 than you can get from Amway for the same price. Walmart will match any advertised price on a product that they and a competitor may carry. Also, Walmart's advertising reaching millions of people, which is much more effective than person to person. While Amway runs some ads now days, they do not directly drive customers to IBOs. The vast majority of IBO business is still to themselves and their downline, and not to non-IBO customers.

I challenge IBOs to look objectively at their bottom lines. It is likely a new loss. If it is, ask your upline how long this is expected to last. Set hard goals and if you are doing what is advised by upline and results to not improve, you may have to ask yourself what will change to make your business profitable. Basically, if you aren't adding active downlines and customers regularly, you aren't going anywhere and are likely to be running your business at a loss month after month after month. It won't take long before you realize that you have lost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars.

As a former IBO with a 4000 PV business with eagle parameters, I was not making a net profit. I saw my bottom line and although doing and achieving what my upline advised, there was no money. I decided the effort, time and money invested wasn't worth it. Plus, my upline started to interfere in my personal life. I saw my bottom line and wasn't satisfied, and I left Amway. I later discovered the lies my upline had fed me to keep me in the business and to keep me buying tools. It is why I started blogging. For now, my bottom line is to get the truth out about the tools scam run by upline. That is Joecool's bottom line.

My Thank You Letter?

 A recent comment left on my blog. It says a lot. Enjoy! Here's the comment:

I prospectively attended my first AMWAY function this evening. I've spent the last several hours online; from what I've found Joecool's account is not the exception but the standard. I have a meeting with my sponsor tomorrow evening, where I'll be returning the information he gave me and politely decline.

Honestly, if I had only read Joecool's testament of (Amway) failure; I may have given the sponsor an opportunity to elaborate on whatever success he has had with this system, and further considered getting involved with this organization; however, the arrogance and malice expressed by the AMWAY supporters on this site, have undoubtedly convinced me that this is not something I want to be a part of.

The problem is- though I hardly know the guy- he seems nice: I sincerely regret the disappointment he'll suffer tomorrow. He said he had been with AMWAY for a little over a year. He approached me in the grocery store; and after a few minutes of awkward conversation, I reluctantly gave the guy my phone number. Talking with him this evening his temperament seemed like a strange, disingenuous confidence masking desperation. If anyone could make this work its guys like him. I for one am not the kind of person to approach perfect strangers with intent of peddling dreams. I wish I could say that I hope this works out for him, and the other IBO's, but I honestly believe their success will be at the expensive of other people's livelihood; this kind of financial burden has the potential to destroy families if a member is unsuccessful.

If i had thousands of dollars and over a year tied up in this kind of investment; I would likely be one of the aggressive AMWAY defenders on this site. I can somewhat understand your predicament. I pray that if there is not a successful future in store for you, that God may open some other door and allow you refuge from what I perceive to be a stifling dilemma. I'm not posting to criticize your work, or dash your dreams; my heart is genuinely broken for those suffocating under their own ambitions.

To the AMWAY advocates that have posted comments though civil discourse; Thank you!

Joecool; I'll never know how much heartache your website has spared my family and I; but, I believe it's considerable, and I am grateful.

The Amway Caped Crusaders?

 I have been blogging for a number of years now and over the years, I have encountered a number of Amway defenders. One of them resorted to sending me a threatening email, and some of them have been trying to find my identity, I suppose as a way of harassing me. What I have found in nearly every case is that the "fired up" IBO will criticize for a while,, and then completely disappear. I presume that the luster of the Amway business fades and more than likely these folks end up quitting and thus quit blogging.

But as I stated elsewhere, other big companies such as Walmart has critics. But Amway is the only business I know of where their salesforce independently defends the company by attacking and criticizing their critics. What's even more astounding to me is that many if not most of these "caped crusaders" don't even earn a net profit from Amway, yet they fiercely defend their beloved opportunity.

I have yet to see an IBO Amway defender be able to describe or reasonably explain, how they have earned a net profit from the business. I know that some people make a nice living from the Amway opportunity, but that is the exception, not the rule. I would guess that most IBOs, even dedicated ones end up with a net loss if they are fully subscribed to the teaching system of cds, books, voicemail and functions.

Lastly, many of these IBOs have misguided criticism. If you carefully read through Joecool's blog, you will notice that most of my articles do not focus on Amway the corporation, but the AMOs, or the companies that promote and sell the tools to the IBOs. I believe the upline diamond leaders are in a position of conflict of interest in selling these tools, and basically screw over their downline in some cases, especially when the advocate for IBOs to have their families skip meals so buy more cds, or to delay paying bills or the mortgage to attend a function, or to qui a job to attend a seminar.

It is these abuses, which apparently still go on today, which is what I am against. And while these abuses continue, so does Joecool.

Letter To Amway?

 This is an open letter basically explaining Joecool's position and why in my opinion, criticism of Amway doesn't stop. (Reprinted)

Dear Amway,

Why does criticism of Amway continue Ad Nauseum? Because you have not taken any apparent visible action(s) against higher level IBOs who make their living by ripping off unsuspecting prospects and faithful downline by feeding them lines about how easy it is to build an Amway business and how they can ditch their jobs and live on easy street. I saw it and there are countless testimonies and experiences posted on the internet.

When I was an IBO in WWDB, we were fed outright lies by upline. Nobody made any money from tools being the biggest. Downline were taught how long they could string out their mortgages or electric bills so they can attend functions and buy more tools. Yes, IBOs have culpability as well, but the culture of these groups is one of trust and loyalty to the diamonds. Amway's owner, Mr. DeVos acknowledged this in his 1983 speech "directly speaking". But despite the speech, no apparent visible action was taken, thus status quo continued. Even the accreditation system which seemed nice on the surface appears to be a farce. I believe that possibly millions of people over the years have been adversely affected financially because of some of these Amway IBO leaders.

Many of the same leaders who lied to benefit themselves are still at it. A fellow blogger named "Rocket" at one time, reported a possible violation where crown ambassador and IBOAI member, Brad Duncan is caught on tape claiming that IBOs can make "hundreds of thousands of dollars" a month in Amway. Your response was to make non sensical remarks and then eventually no response when pressed for one. I also reported a WWDB IBO who was making disparaging and false statements about some competitor's products while making misleading positive statements about Amway products. Your response was no response, and my comment wasn't even published on your "Amway Answers" blog. Ironically, one of the topics on that blog was about how Amway doesn't turn a blind eye to problems. Yeah, you can say it but your actions show something else.

Maybe someone can explain why actions in other countries indicate that the folks who sell Amway tools are scammers. For some reason, the regulatory agencies in the US have not taken notice of the tools business. The Dateline segment in 2004 exposed the tools and systems. It became a big debate on the internet with critics and proponents. While Amway can claim innocence because the unethical actions were taken by IBOs, or "independent" business owners, I still believe that Amway has a responsibility to reign is some of the sales force that represents them.

Food for thought: Joe Paterno was an assistant and head coach, an icon at Penn State University for more than 60 years. He was fired some time ago because he had knowledge of child abuse occuring at the program under his watch. While he was not personally guilty of this, and did many good things for Penn State and the community, still his inactions may have caused harm to befall innocent children. Ultimately, he had the ability and power to stop the wrongdoing but did not. It is a sad ending for a man who many consider a legend. I wish his family well.

Amway can reign in the tool abuse and take control of some of the bad leaders, but apparently has not and will not. The fight goes on.....

Tapespeak?

 WWDB Tapespeak?

A comment left on my blog. Joecool's commentary below:

Anonymous wrote: "I am an IBO with Amway and WWDB. Until you are an IBO yourself then I would stop judging those of us working with this amazing company. Our company is about yes us succeeding, but also helping others succeed as well. I am not going to lie of course the money plays a big role, however the teachings and information that is given to us is helping all of us to become better buisness people but also helping us become better people all around. Many of the people and couples who are involved with WWDB and Amway have had their lives completely changed for the better by building their buisness and being around the wonderful people involved. I was just like you before I became and IBO and when I first heard the plan thought there was a very slim chance that I would make any real money from this. I learned through my amazing upline team that through hard work and dedication you can become as successful as you want! The CORE is a great set of guidelines that keeps you focused on the goals and helps all of us build the best and most successful organization we can. Please stop judging because clearly you have a glass half empty mentality, and with the attitude you have yes you wouldn't make a dime."

**************************

Joe's commentary: I find it humorous how people claim that WWDB has changed and that they are not anything like the experience I had as an IBO back in the late 1990s. Yet I continue to see and hear current IBOs claiming to be from WWDB who say the same stuff I was taught. That diamonds pay cash for everything, even homes and other big-ticket items. That WWDB IBOs have a 2% divorce rate. That WWDB makes you a better businessperson and a better person overall. I wonder how they determine that WWDB makes you a better businessperson when it is likely that over 99% of their business building IBOs suffer losses due to system expenses.

Hard work is not related to financial success in WWDB and Amway, despite what the "amazing upline" says. There is NO documented evidence that WWDB does anything except drain IBO's bank accounts. If you truly examine CORE, you will see that it is designed to keep money flowing upline via tool purchases. Any help you receive from your upline diamonds is always paid for by the downline in some manner or another.

While it's good to be positive, that also doesn't equate to long term sustainable success. I can be upbeat and positive and still be a miserable failure in Amway, which is the experience most "serious" IBOs live through. You cannot "choose" to succeed in Amway any more than you can choose to win the lottery.

Who Is At Fault?

 Part of what Joecool perceives as the problem with the Amway opportunity is the utter lack of accountability of some upline leaders. They may tell you to trust them, to submit to them and simply copy or duplicate what they have done, and they imply that you will get the same results. Possibly millions of downlines over the years have put in blood sweat and tears into the business only to suffer massive losses following the system. Upline will take credit for meager success but place the blame on the downline when success is not there. Upline will claim that they either did not try hard enough, were not teachable enough, or they didn't put in enough time and effort. Despite a shockingly low success rate of system IBOs, nobody seems to fault the system as being flawed. And nobody seems to question whether upline is at fault. I believe it's obvious that the system and the upline advice is severely flawed.

In my observations, I would say that many financial systems are similar. Whether it be BWW, N21, WWDB, real estate gurus or other systems, the success rate is extremely low. Many systems that advertise on television will have a disclaimer that a success testimony is a rare or unique experience. I believe it is similar to the systems in Amway. Dedication or continued spending on the system is not the problem. The problem is often the system itself. It can work for some exceptional people. These people were likely to succeed in other venues anyway. The problem is that is does not work for the majority of people. People who succeed in Amway likely succeed in spite of the system and not because of it.
The bigger problem, is that for many years, some uplines have lived high on the hog off of the dedicated tool purchases of their downline. All the while, questionable or bad advice was given to the faithful downline. Advice such as quitting a job to attend a function, skipping financial obligations such as the rent or electric bills to buy more tools. One upline even said your family can skip a meal because the standing order may contain the one thing you needed to hear to make your business grow. I have personally seen couples lose their homes and go bankrupt because they followed upline advice. Upline to "has their best interest at heart". Granted, the couple has some culpability in these decisions, but uplines who give this advice seem to get a pass.

Where is the accountability? Some of these uplines who give and gave bad advice, are still active today, and some are still giving bad advice to their downlines. Advice that profits upline and drains downline. Even with valid complaints, it appears that many uplines avoid any accountability. For some, perhaps there is poetic justice, such as diamonds having their homes foreclosed. But as many uplines have nobody to hold them accountable, do you really want to do business with these folks? Would you invest your retirement money with a broker who could not be held accountable? Would you have your car repaired by a shop whose mechanics could not be held accountable? I believe the answer is not to these questions, yet many people are asked to trust and follow the advice of an upline who is not held accountable for their advice.

The system is credited for the few successes that are visible, but the individual is held accountable for any shortcomings or failures. IBOs, I encourage you to hold your upline leaders accountable for the advice they give you. If they won't answer tough questions or take responsibility, then one should wonder why the upline should be given your trust.

Is Amway Needed?

 Many prospects join Amway after seeing a hyped up presentation. These presentations are crafted to make people uncomfortable with their current situations and/or jobs. Some dream building is done where prospects are given thought provoking messages such as what would you do with an extra $40,000 a year for example. On the surface, it seems to make sense, and it seems plausible. The problem usually occurs when IBOs get out in the world and try to build the business.   The thing with Amway is that is always sounds good on the surface and on paper, it seems to make perfect sense, until you sort through the half truths and misinformation that the speakers/presenters often dish out.  For example, in Amway, the worse you can do it make money or save money.   They forget to mention the "overhead" that upline creates via the tools and functions.

But in the big picture, is Amway itself needed? I mean you buy products and if you move a certain amount of volume, you get a performance bonus. The goal of many is to sponsor six (6) platinum legs and become a diamond. Some diamonds in the past spoke about how you could technically bury Amway products in your backyard, as long as you did your 100 PV. I guess in a strange way that is true.

But the PV is just the defacto compulsory part of the Amway plan to keep upline in the money.  Afterall, the 30%+ bonus that Amway issues for volume mostly goes to upline while rank and file IBOs get 3%.
 
In my opinion, the Amway business itself is irrelevant. The Amway business exists to legitimize the motivational businesses of many LOS's such as WWDB, BWW, N21, for example. The motivational business in itself is a huge business. However, the content of much of the material cannot be sold to the general public as evidenced by caseloads of these tools being sold for pennies on the dollar on Ebay. The tools only serve to enrich the upline leaders who own the tools business off the backs of the Amway IBOs. Do the math. It costs very little to produce tapes and/or cds, seminars are big money makers. Check and see how much it costs to rent a convention center or arena. You could probably find one where $20 to $25 per person would more than cover the cost. Also, there is little evidence that the tools are effective, despite what upline leaders or Amway apologists may claim.

There are also groups who have left Amway for other MLM businesses, which also suggests that Amway is a sidebar in the real business for these upline leaders. But still, Amway or another MLM is needed because LOS's cannot simply sell CDs and functions without some kind of product to pimp. Thus, together with Amway, upline leaders and Amway handsomely profit together. Upline teaches 100 PV, and that tools are vital to your Amway success. But in the big picture, Amway is not relevant. Think about this seriously for a minute. Next time a function or standing order if promoted, I urge prospects and current IBOs to digest this post and to think about this.

The Problem With Amway/MLM?

 Interesting article I came across:

http://www.thechangeblog.com/my-beef-with-multi-level-marketing/

1. The Products and Services Do Not Add Value

The meeting I went to for the first opportunity was held in a large movie cinema. There was a flashy movie presentation, and then a procession of people gave us their MLM success stories. After this meeting for newcomers, there was a training session for existing marketers. Since my friend was staying for this meeting and I wanted to better understand this opportunity, I stuck around. It was an eye-opener.

In this training meeting, I came to understand that the opportunity basically involved reselling the services of a telecommunications company. It became obvious that it offered little to no value to the potential customer, as the service was in no way cheaper that simply having a contract with the telecommunications company. The trainers encouraged marketers to divert queries regarding the benefits of the service with phrases such as “you will be doing me a favor by doing this” or “you will be helping my dream of working for myself come true”.

In regards to Amway, I’m sure there is nothing wrong with their products. But is anyone actually buying Amway products because they are the best quality and/ or value? It seems to me that most people purchasing the products are doing so because they are wrapped up in Amway or feel pressured to by someone (yes, I’m sure there are some exceptions). This leads me onto my second problem with MLM.

2. MLM Strains Relationships

Now from what I observed, MLM in many ways has a cult-like following as people get heavily wrapped up in the idea of making “passive residual income”. The income model closely resembles a pyramid, and for this reason success with MLM is heavily dependent on recruiting further people to join. In this sense, everyone you know – friends, family and work colleagues – become potential recruits and sources of income.

As I’m sure you can imagine, someone who becomes too wrapped up in MLM is going to be extremely annoying. In this way, MLM can strain, and can even permanently damage, relationships with the people closest to you. And remember, in many cases it is going to be questionable whether MLM products and services do actually add any value.

Final Thoughts

As should be obvious from this article, these are my opinions only. I am only familiar with the MLM opportunities mentioned, and I happily admit that I did not get involved with them past the first presentation. I am very open-minded, and I’m sure many people have good experiences with MLM. MLM is often linked to personal growth, and I’m sure many people gain confidence and learn valuable networking lessons getting involved. That said, if you are involved in MLM or are presented with an opportunity please consider my points above, try to cut past all the hype that is likely to be associated with the presented opportunity, and use your own mind to decide the value of the opportunity.

No Negatives?

 One of the silly things taught by Amway uplines is for IBOs to avoid anything negative including news and current events. This was common practice when I was an IBO, and apparently, still taught by some leaders and groups. Don't read the newspaper, don't watch TV, and avoid people in general, who are negative about the Amway business. My upline would say that the world is too negative so our minds needed to be filtered with positive thoughts so that we can flourish in the Amway business. I believe this is one of the reasons why some people associate Amway and the AMOs (Amway Motivational Organizations) as cults. Tell people how they should think and then bombard them with only happy thoughts about Amway. Everything else is "negative" and should be filtered out.

Sadly, many Amway IBOs buy into this and start avoiding family and friends simply because they may not view Amway in a positive light. Certainly, some IBOs don't shut out family and friends, but it seems that enough of them do, at least while they are involved in building a big business. It was my experience and I still see evidence that this is not uncommon practice even today. If these AMOs were churning out new and sustainable success stories, we would probably not be talking about this but instead, IBOs and prospects get used and abused and spit out by the system, all under the guise of being mentored by uplines. Most IBOs, even those who put in an earnest effort end up with a net loss, despite their dedication to the system and adherence to upline advice. I don't know of anyone who has been able to name more than a dozen new diamonds from the US in the last 10 years or so. It sure looks like Amway in the US and Canada is shrinking, save for some pockets and areas where there is the appearance of "growth".

I would point out the functions as evidence of shrinkage. My former sponsor told me of a Free Enterprise Day function (FED) where IBOs filled the (at the time) Seattle King Dome. 50,000+ IBOs in attendance. I also attended a family reunion function at the Rose Garden in Portland where there were 15 - 20,000 IBOs in attendance. Dream Night was held in venues that sat about 2500 people and more and more, we are seeing smaller venues for these types of functions. Maybe people are simply more aware of what being an IBO entails and simply avoid it? Maybe it's just a coincidence?

But hopefully, someone out there who reads this will understand that avoiding all negative is a silly thing to teach. Unless you live in some Utopian society, there will always be some negative. That's just life. Avoiding the news or only taking in positive can make you apathetic. How would you be able to vote or know what the current events are? Do you rely on your upline for this? Are you living in an Amway/AMO world where you only associate with IBOs and "happy" people? Do you argue and attack opposing views? If you're about avoiding negative, you should take this message to heart and seriously think about what you are being taught by your (well compensated) mentors.

Why Endless Motivation Is Needed?

 I believe that Amway IBOs have approximately a 50% attrition rate for the first year alone. If you look at a 5 year window, I believe the attrition rate is something like 95%. So, what we're saying is that out of 100 IBOs, only 5 will be around in 5 years, or out of 1000 IBOs, 50 will remain after 5 years. This is extremely significant because if you are a business builder, you will need to replace half of your IBOs every single year. For this reason, I am very doubtful that there are IBOs who "built the business right and built it once", who no longer do Amway related work, but still collect significant residual income. I would guess that significant income could be defined as being enough to live a lifestyle in the top tax bracket (for the US) without having to report to a J-O-B. 

Now I understand that some IBOs take it personally when I bring up subjects like this. It is because they have been deceived by some upline diamond or big pin who has sold them on a dream of financial prosperity for life if they will only work hard for 2-5 years. I once thought so too, but realized that there isn't a single diamond that I know of who built the business right and walked away to enjoy the beaches of the world while truckloads of money rolls in. Kinda makes you wonder why you see Crowns still working, and diamonds actually quitting or resigning. I have asked the question many times and it has never been answered. Can anyone name a few people who built their business right and built it once who is currently enjoying these lifelong residuals? Also, if that were a benefit, why doesn't Amway say so?

Instead, you have a constant and endless flow of motivation being sold to IBOs. This motivation comes in the form of cds, books, meetings, functions and other things like voicemail messages. It's sad that IBOs have to continue to pay through the nose for motivation and "teaching" about the Amway business when there are cheaper and more efficient means of communication. For example, why would you need an expensive voicemail when a facebook group account can disseminate messages to your group in seconds at no cost? It is because the uplines want to extract every possible sent from their downline. Because of the internet, I believe people are starting to figure things out and avoid the systems altogether. I hope Joecool's blog contributes to this.

All the motivation IBOs truly need is to see a net profit at the end of the month. If IBOs actually earned an extra $200 a month, or $50 a month, or $600 a month as advertised, there would be no need for motivational speeches. The IBOs would simply look at the growth in their finances and they would keep going. The poor retention rate is easy to explain. IBOs are losing money because of the system expenses, and they lose their motivation to continue. If you are an IBO or a prospect, stop and think for a minute. If you are making an extra $200 a month with minimal effort, would you need functions and other materials to motivate you? Or would you have intrinsic motivation from the profit? All the motivation you will ever need is a net profit. Take that to the bank

Debating An Amway Drone?

 I apologize for the length of this post but it's actually quite humorous and I will also post the link in case you wish to follow along or perhaps leave your own comments. The classic Amway defense is used here, including unsubstantiated income and lifestyle claims. He also calls me a liar but never identifies what I'm supposedly lying about.  It's a bit date but still a fun read.  Enjoy!

https://amthrax.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/penn-and-tellers-verdic-on-mlms-bs/#comment-48347

Malachy:

“, FAILED system”?? Yeah. Right. 8 billion annually no sticks no dent. 60 merchant partners and double digits growth in North America these past 2 years.
(Oh yeah. And #1 selling nutritional supplier world wide. Aha. )


Joecool

8 billion annually. Down more than 25% from 2013 when Amway did 11.8 billion. No debt? How do you know Amway has no debt? That’s an old talking point that was proven wrong in the past if you know how to use google. And #1 selling nutritional supplier worldwide is a HUGE lie.
The #1 selling nutritional supplier in the world is Nestle. In he Americas alone they exceed 40 billion. You are just repeating lies that uplines tells without verifying for yourself. More than likely you are repeating income claim lies from upline as well.
Nestle: https://www.nestle.com/investors/annual-report

Malachy:

Nobody went black or lost their homes BECAUSE OF AMWAY. (Gee by your logic maybe Greg (Duncan) couldn’t afford the tapes books & travel to all those functions?
Dude Matt (Tsuruda)was making $90,000 a month as an EDC.
He probably makes 4-5 times that now

Joecool

It’s not how much you make, but what you do with it. $40K per month and (Greg Duncan) winds up bankrupt?

Malachy:

FYI there are 3500 college players who graduate or declare for the draft before they graduate. Know how many are drafted in the entire NFL? 254. That means there’s only a 7% chance of getting drafted
Then there’s several walk ons who are undrafted who show up to training camp. Then you have OTA, mono camp, training camp, and preseason in which 90 or so men all hope to make the roster (of which there are really less than 50 possible openings in a maximum 53 man roster (a half a dozen maybe ten or so of which are already taken by the superstars like Tom Brady or Beckam or Gronk.

So it’s about a 3% chance of even MAKING a roster, and that doesn’t guarantee the big money but only minimum scale if you’re on the practice squad.

Then there’s the chance of getting injured ending a season (or a carreer)
Average length of an NFL carreer? Less than 7 years.

And how much money do you make after you leave, quit, get cut, or injured out of the NFL?
Zero (except maybe some pension depending on how long you played & what money you made. )
Tracey Eaton had to play a preseason game with a flu & high fever, just to prove himself make the team. At Arizona.
Know what happened after he left the NFL with $300,000 on the bank & had to try & make it as a stock broker?
He ended up $400,000 in debt & had to sell his house!
Thank God Wolgamott came along & he asked Wolgamott how he managed to sleep in every day & be rich.

Now they are free as diamonds & have a beautiful high rise condo in Seattle and paid Cash for a second home on the river.
Eaton makes more money than he ever made in the NFL & is not subject to injuries, age, or roster cuts
Yeah we know all about the odds.

(Then there’s also Superbowl champion Tim Foley in Miami, Hal Greer from the NBA and numerous other world class championship athletes who make their living from amway or endorse the nutrilite Brand. (see Kurt Warner- another walk on who had what it takes in character & went from walk on back up quarterback to Superbowl champion. Yeah. He believes in nutrilite & amway)
Not everybody who plays the game is a winner or a champion. Only those who got what it takes (which obviously you didn’t!)

Joecool
July 30, 2018 10:00 am
7% is a whole lot more success than Amway IBOs. A platinum is allegedly where you start to break even more make a small profit, depending on your commitment to the system. A platinum is already in the top fraction of 1% of IBOs. What serious business owner prospect would want to join and opportunity where the likelihood of success is so low?
Arena football players know the deal before they sign up. They are signing up because someone told them about residual income for life if they play arena football.

Again, how do you know what Tracy Eaton makes? Did you show you his financials? You have no idea but you keep making those kinds of claims. All you are saying is that he lacks integrity and is able to sell people on lies to make his living. 2-5 years, walking the beaches is a lie. One that has serious consequences for many who get involved.


Malachy:

woww. Once again you demonstrated a difficulty understanding (or paying attention to) what people actually say.
If 7 % get drafted that doesn’t necessarily mean they will make the roster by end of preseason and if they do make the roster half of them will NEVER make a million a year

Many have ENDED up broke after being retired (average carreer is less than 7 years and they don’t pay you or even guarantee your salary if you’re not playing. Many get injured and most contracts have team friendly incentives that only pay based on how many snaps you play in the year.)

Tracey Eaton lasted a handful of years after busting his @$$ to make the team during preseason only to end up broke & having to sell his house after retirement. None of hos NFL income was secure or willable to his children

Now he makes more than he did in the NFL and it’s all willable to his children and most of it is passive ongoing income streams.

He paid Cash for his second home. (did you?

Joecool

I understand completely. But anyone who gets drafted receives at least a signing bonus of about $100k or more, even if they fail to make the team.

Most Amway IBOs make nothing and if they attend functions, almost all of them LOSE MONEY.
Tracy Eaton can tell you he paid cash for his home. I paid cash for my home. See how that works? Talk is cheap. Greg Duncan also said she paid cash for his homes. Then we see foreclosures. Guess what? Homes that are paid for can’t get foreclosed.

“None of his NFL income was secure or will-able to his children” Total bullshit. All of his guaranteed income could have been secured and will-able to his children.

You know why Amway diamonds might quit or resign but they never “walk away? They have to keep working the business. Most Amway IBOs do little or nothing and quit. If you stop building your Amway business, people will continue to do little or nothing and quit. You cannot build a sustainable income where the attrition rate is so high unless you are constantly working it. The never quit that upline teaches applies to the upline as well. If they quit, their business will fall apart faster than a cheap Amway suit.

Malachy:

Name one example of an NFL contract which says they continue to get their bloated salary after they’re no longer able to play?
No such thing! It’s all based 100% on their own ability.
Amway isn’t based on ability. It’s based off an asset which continues to generate revenue and therefore earnings for you or your beneficiaries
Ever hear of an “integrated Diamond”?
(Oh. I’m sorry. So now Georgia Lee (Puryear) no longer gets any income since Ron died? )
Better tell Jim to go get a job ha.

Joecool

So why don”t diamonds walk away and retire? Because their business will crumble apart once they stop working. In Amway, you need the ability to recruit and lie to recruits so they will sign up and buy Amway stuff and tools and functions.
I don’t know. Georgia Lee didn’t show me (or you) her financials so I don’t (and you don’t) know what or if she’s still making money from Amway.
You do know that Amway diamonds invest in other things besides Amway right?

Malachy:

I’ve never been lied to by anyone in the Amway company or WWDb. You on the other hand lie all the time & make up stuff to support your excuses why you quit. LOSERS do that & we don’t do that in our family.

Joecool:

What have I lied about? I share my personal experience. Whether you like it or not is another story but these are not lies.

You make up all kinds of stuff. You quote income from people you don’t know. You pretend to know how much income and expenses the diamonds have. The truth is you don’t know.
You bought into the lie that buying from yourself can turn into profits.
You still haven’t answered why not a single diamond walked away to enjoy residual income. Instead, they are on the job until they pass away. That’s not freedom.

Chasing Dreams?

 One of the cruel things done by some uplines is to fill starry eyed Amway prospects with dreams that they know will go unfulfilled. I have heard statements from some former platinums and higher who mentioned that some upline actually think of their audience as a bunch of suckers chasing a dream and making them rich by purchasing standing orders and function tickets. A common dream is for folks to retire before the age of 30 and to walk the beaches of the world. Others dream of mansions, sports cars and other trappings of wealth.

Sadly, the cast majority of prospects and IBOs will never get close to achieving anything they dreamed of when they first saw the Amway plan. Most IBOs would have a better chance of attaining wealth by purchasing lottery tickets instead of trying to build an Amway diamond ship. Amway defenders like to jump in and squawk that the Amway business is not a game of chance like the lottery. While that is true, that makes things much worse. Let me explain. In a lottery, you simply purchase the tickets, and you wait to see the results. The results are completely out of your control. The vast majority of lottery participants will end up losing money while a few lucky ones will win. The reason I feel that the Amway business is worse is because it is not a game of chance. Many of the steps of CORE, are within the control of an IBO and even with much time and effort spent by many business building IBOs, the end result of all that time and effort is basically the same miserable result as a lottery. Many people participating but very few end up profitable and happy. The difference is that lottery players generally don't expect to win. Conversely, many Amway IBOs, expecting to win, are motivated and hardworking, and will put in a fair effort, only to fail and worse, to be blamed for their failure despite doing everything their upline advised.

There is nothing wrong with having goals and dreams. Everyone should have something they are aiming for. But it seems cruel to promote dreams and goals at other's expenses when you really have no means to help more than a select few out of thousands or possibly millions of people to succeed. Yes, Amway is not a game of chance but the reality that long term and significant Amway success is about as common as someone hitting the power ball lottery. The rest of the IBOs who attempted to build a business end up quitting and fading into the sunset. Most will not complain as it is common to be sponsored by friends and family.

In the end, most people are simply chasing a dream that will never come to be. It's a sad situation because as I said, many prospects and IBOs are nice, motivated and hardworking people. But in all walks of society, people can be fooled. I believe the upline leaders are simply getting their downline to chase dreams that will never come to pass. I challenge IBOs to look at their business financials. Do you have a net gain at the end of the month? If not, what dreams can you achieve with a loss of income?

Mentors Or Crooks?

 The really insidious part about some of the LOS leaders, such as the ones I had in WWDB, is that they apparently are cutthroat ruthless businessmen with nice suits and disguised as your mentors and friends. They get you to trust them, and they will tell you that they have your best interest at heart, or that they would never purposely lead you astray. On the surface, you may think this is true but look at their actions and you can easily discern that some of these uplines are absolutely ruthless businessmen who would take every cent from you if they could. I was in WWDB, and I have good reasons to believe that they are still doing this, based on a WWDB IBO blog. On this blog, I see all the same teachings today, that I heard as an IBO and some of the same claims such as buying homes in cash. It's scary.

As an IBO, the diamonds would tell you to never miss a function, ever. The only good reason for missing a function was for your own funeral. I recall some crossline IBOs rearranging pre-planned anniversary parties, weddings, and other special family events in the name of being core and attending all functions. Some IBOs actually did quit their jobs to attend functions, and they very well may have done so because some uplines taught this. IBOs were also encouraged and told to go into debt to attend a function. This was okay because it was an investment into your business.

Our group was also strongly encouraged to buy extra cds every week. To be core, you needed to listen to a cd each day and you cannot listen to the same one each day, right? Couples were told to buy their own separate standing orders. Brad Duncan even had a true north tape (cd) that said sponsors were to eat the standing orders for downlines who quit because it was too much trouble to call upline who calls upline who calls upline to cancel a standing order. Oddly enough, they didn't mind upline calling upline calling upline to add a standing order.

In the end, I was lucky enough to have been progressing up the pin ranks, so my losses were not that devastating. I ended up losing in my early months of the business but mostly broke even when I was at 4000 PV. Sadly though, my crossline did not fare so well. I know of one couple who declared bankruptcy. I don't know how much their WWDB involvement contributed to bankruptcy, but I am certain it was a major factor and I know of two couples who had homes foreclosed, and I believe that their allegiance to WWDB was a factor in those foreclosures. But I guess hey, two WWDB diamonds had homes foreclosed so maybe they were duplicating?

Do not be fooled. The diamonds may have a nice smile and a nice suit, but they are ruthless businessmen who will take your last dime if you allow them to.

Just A Common Thief?

 I was up watching a rerun of the original version of the movie "Die Hard" starring Bruce Willis.   The story is about some foreign terrorists who take over a building on Christmas eve.  They hold hostages and make demands as if they were involved in some political scheme or perhaps playing martyrs.  They had made various demands such as the release of certain terrorists as a condition for releasing the hostages.  During the process, John McClain (Bruce Willis) discovers that these alleged terrorists were simply thieves trying to steal hundreds of millions of dollars.   It sort of inspired me to come up with this new blog post.

The diamonds, in my opinion, put on these elaborate functions and flashy displays of wealth as a way to recruit and retain IBOs.  They love the adulation and the love coming from the downline.  They faithful downline treat the diamonds as deities, and they believe everything the diamond says because they truly want to believe it.  That you can build a financial empire working in your spare time at your own pace.  People at functions tear up because they want the alleged financial freedom.  They want to quit their jobs while barrels of money flows in.  This is the flashy side of the business that they use to pitch their wares upon unsuspecting prospects and downline.

But in the end, it seems as though as the movie, the diamonds are just common thieves.  Like conmen, their faithful downline believes what they upline says.  They refer to them commonly as mentors, and leaders who only want their success.  But what is the reality?  The reality is that the advice given is typically self-serving.   Are you struggling to build your Amway business?  Buy more cds/audios and attend more functions.    So, the solution for a failing business is to spend even more resources on non-income producing materials?   How does that solve the problem for the IBO?  How does that make things better?   It is a fact that uplines profit handsomely from the sale of tools and functions because these materials have a higher profit margin that Amway products, and they keep all the profits.  There is no kickback to the rank-and-file IBOs.

I have read accounts and had personal discussion with former higher up pins where the diamonds do not care about the downline.  The IBOs are expendable as far as they are concerned.  They are simply the source of their revenue.  Of course, they are happy to toss up and coming IBOs crumbs in order to keep them motivated.  They only care about selling more and more tools, because there is a great likelihood that the "diamond" lifestyle is primarily from the sale of tools and functions and not necessarily income from Amway.   Part of the reason for this is because there might be diamonds who once achieve diamond but are no longer qualified as a diamond.  However, once someone achieves the diamond level, they continue to hold the pin and may continue to make an income from tools and functions even if they might actually be a low-level IBO carrying high ranking pin.  Once a diamond, always a diamond, I guess.   Thus, all the glitz and glamor is just a show that rank and file IBOs pay for, even though it does little to nothing for their Amway businesses.   Just another non income producing activity, which is what upline sells a lot of.  

In the end, the diamonds, if you see through the facade, are basically just conmen.  Or if you will, are just common thieves, in my opinion.  If you look at the results from the masses or downline, the results are so poor that any success can be compared to that of winning a lottery.  A few winners, who win on the backs of masses of losers.   Happy New Year! 

How To Silence A Critic?

 There's been a lot of debate and activity on Joecool's blog over the years.  Amway IBOs come and go. They make interesting and sometimes dubious claims, but they never silence any of the criticism because they never prove their case. Or they make ridiculous claims or analogies such as comparing the Amway opportunity to a McDonald's franchise, or silly comparisons to colleges. The owner of Amway, Rich DeVos said in 1983, something to the effect that the tools business was basically an illegal pyramid. If the abuse of downline IBOs had been addressed back then, there might be little criticism of the opportunity today.  

Instead, it appears that Amway and the AMOs (such as WWDB or Network 21) created a symbiotic relationship.  The AMOs do the recruiting, teach product loyalty and a defacto 100 PV or more quota.  In return, Amway allows the AMOs to operate unfettered and the IBOs are the one who wind up paying.

I once had a discussion with an (apparent) IBO who claimed that Amway has created the most millionaires in the world. When asked for the source of this claim, that same IBO disappeared. Now I am certain that Amway has created some millionaires, but the most in the world? Also, based on evidence and simple math, it appears that most IBOs who participate with the tools systems lose money, so even if Amway did produce many millionaires (which is not verified), then we could also claim that Amway produced many bankruptcies and failures as well.   I might also add that diamonds and other higher up Amway leaders do not show any evidence that they are indeed millionaires so it's just an unverified claim.

Various IBOs have also claimed that because they are successful, that it serves as proof that the system works. But when asked for evidence of that success, or to show that their downline share some of that success, they disappear into the night.

You know what? Sweat shop owners are usually successful. They succeed by taking advantage of their underpaid workers. Basically, greedy tools kingpin diamonds are the same thing, maybe worse because at least sweat shop workers have a net gain, although it may be small. The only difference is that occasionally, an IBO might be able to break through and join the diamond ranks.

Some of the zealous IBOs dared a critic to post a real business profit/loss statement, and it was produced. After that, not a single IBO came forward to post the same, or to even discuss their business income and expenses. Why do IBOs avoid discussion about their business? Is it because it makes you look bad? I'm sure if it helped to prove their points, they would discuss it. Maybe the IBOs who post on blogs have nothing? It appears that the biggest defenders of Amway, do so without any ammunition?

How to silence an Amway critic? Simple, back up your claims and show mathematically how the business can work for the group. It's easier to silence an Amway defender, simply ask for proof that it works.

Examining Amway With A Critical Eye?

 The battle continues between Amway critics and Amway apologists. The apologists like to cite new platinums, but do not mention that just as many, and possibly more platinums dropped out of qualification. They like to cite Amway's growth, but fail to mention how the growth is apparently in foreign countries and not in the US and Canada. Even if there are more platinums or growth, it doesn't mean anything and I will go onto explain.

In a platinum group, there are in many cases, 100 downline IBOs or more. Most if not all of these downline are losing money or making nothing, and it is worse, especially if they are buying voicemail, standing order and other tools and function tickets.  An IBO who does nothing may still lose money on website fees, or at the minimum, registration fees. Yes, they might be refundable, but many IBOs are not aware of this, or are not interested in asking their sponsors, or simply write up the loss as a life lesson. Thus, the more growth, or the more platinums, the more downline there are losing money.  It's all a part of the business model if you view the business with a critical eye instead of rose colored glasses.

I also understand that Amway is not a game of chance, but your odds of achieving a significant income can be compared to winning a lottery. Even those who put forth an earnest effort are rarely rewarded with upper echelon pin levels and "passive income" rolling in while you walk the nicest beaches of the world. Amway supporters are wanting to show what is "possible", but showing the best-case scenario is deceiving and IBOs do not realize "what is likely" until they have already participated and wasted their hard-earned cash on tools that do not work.

There doesn't appear to be any connection with the amount of effort an IBO puts in with progressive amounts of income. While you can argue that succeeding takes hard work, there are probably more cases of hard work resulting in financial losses or possibly financial devastation. I personally witnessed a crossline losing their home to foreclosure and a crossline winding up in bankruptcy, all while following upline advice to keep pouring money into tools even while these IBOs made no progress in terms of sponsoring downline.

The Amway Apologists can continue to deny the shortcomings of the Amway opportunity, but for me, the results speak loud and clear.