Glorified Customers?

 IBO = Independent Business Owner. Most Amway folks consider themselves IBOs, or independent business owners. To some, owning a business sounds cool. It sounds like you are achieving something and it may even seem that there is status involved in being a business owner. It is one of the reasons that may compel someone into signing up for the Amway opportunity. It was a small factor in gaining my interest some years ago when I was pitched the "plan". But are you really a business owner running an Amway business?   Or are you a glorified customer of your upline?   You purchase goods through them and if you are dedicated, you are buying tools and functions of them.  That makes you a customer in ny opinion.

Based on what I see and hear from Amway related blogs and forums, most people involved in the Amway opportunity are not business owners. They are simply customers. They are customers of Amway and they are customers of the system, consisting of voicemail, cds/audios, books, and seminars. Does this sound confusing? Think about it. Many groups teach "buy from yourself" and get others to do the same. If you belong to one of these groups, you are being taught to be an Amway and system customer, nothing more and nothing less. Both Amway and the system profit from your loyal purchases and they fool you into thinking you are getting a good deal by giving you a tiny rebate each month. Only if you are able to lure enough gullible people into your downline will you finally be able to leverage their purchases to make a small profit. If you can get a large following, then you might make some nice coin, but it will come at the expense of the people who trusted you enough to sign up and follow you.

If you stop for a minute and truly think about a business, what business can thrive without customers? I cannot think of any businesses where there are little or no customers. Why would the Amway opportunity be any different? If you are your only, or your own best customer, then maybe you are not even a business owner, but simply a customer of Amway and a customer of the system. Think about this for a moment. Without actual customers, any bonus you generate is coming out of your own pocket or from any downline you may have sponsored. Is this what your business consists of?

Without any sales to non-IBO customers, any profit simply comes out of the pockets of the people in the Amway system. When you receive a rebate, you are simply getting some of your own money back. You have not generated any real profit. The only way to generate real profits is to sell to outside customers. This brings money into the system or the "Amway economy", if you will. If not, an IBO is just a glorified customer bringing profits to Amway and the tools systems.

So, are you a business owner or a customer?

What Beaches?

 One of the things Amway IBOS like to talk about is ongoing residual (passive) income that they believe they can generate thru their Amway business that keeps rolling in, thus allowing an IBO to retire and walk the beaches of the world.  But I ask this of Amway defenders. Name one or two diamonds who built their business right and built it once, and are now walking the finest beaches of the world while barrels of money rolls in. Over the years not a single Amway supporter has been able to name a single diamond to achieve such a feat.  Why is that?   

More than likely such a person does not exist.  After all of these years, do we believe that not a single diamond wanted to retire quietly and privately to live a life of luxury?   Of course, the answer might be quite simple.  That ongoing residual income is a lie, just like walking away to enjoy untold wealth.  If you read Amway's business disclosures, there is no mention of residual income anywhere.  

More likely with the majority of IBOs doing little or nothing and quitting, diamonds are working harder than anyone but with a flexible schedule instead of a 9-5 job. These diamonds are working the night or the graveyard shift. They are constantly replacing people who quit and forever recruiting fresh young ambitious IBOs because they have to. Think about it. A diamond business is like a sandcastle. It will stand on its own for a while, but the waves will quickly destroy it and soon enough, you'll never know a sandcastle was there. That's how your "residual" income will be. It will be temporary.   And that's the Amway portion of the business.  I'm pretty certain that once a diamond stops participating in functions, that income stops immediately.   And if I might add, diamonds once lied and said nobody made a cent from tools and functions.

The diamond lifestyle seems alluring, but the reality would very likely show a far different lifestyle and a glimpse into the world of a diamond where you are always running to and from functions and meetings to hold your group together. It's not just a glamorous life of luxury that they lead you to believe. If you don't believe me, name a diamond or two who's living the high life on residual income after walking away from their Amway business. These diamonds are like Sasquatch. Many/most have seen or heard about them but there is no real evidence that they actually exist.

Business Equity?

 Many many people see the Amway plan, sign up in the hopes that Amway income will help them fulfill their dreams and that they will walk away from their jobs and collect lifelong residual income while walking the beaches of the world. Sadly, most IBOs will never even sponsor a single downline. These IBOs may continue in the business for a while but will eventually quit when they see the writing on the wall. The fact that many people sign up and do little or nothing is a problem that seems to go ignored by many.   How do you build a financial empire that produces "residual" income if IBOs quit with such amazing regularity?   And in a touch of irony, these same IBOs generally do not keep purchasing Amway products once their "diamond" dreams disappear.

But wait, you're an "independent business owner". So instead of quitting, why not just sell your Amway business? I wonder if any IBOs actually think about what their business is worth.  I mean a diamond could sell their business and live large happily ever after, right? Here's some food for thought. Why are there instances of diamonds quitting or resigning from Amway?  Why would they just quit when they could either walk away and collect an income "forever" or sell the business? What would an Amway business be worth? You don't really own equipment or a building. You probably don't have employees. Your Amway business likely has little or no equity. You don't own your downline, although their volume passes through your business. But if they do nothing, you get nothing, which is why people cannot just "walk away" and collect income forever. 

I believe diamonds quit and resign because their business is worth very little or nothing. And most Amway businesses do not even generate a net profit. For IBOs who are seriously pondering on this very important message, try looking up this topic in Amway's rules. There are very complicated steps to be taken when selling your Amway business as each person upline must be offered ownership (To the best of my understanding). This process can go on for a long time, and the attrition of your business could render it worthless before you can find a buyer, if you have a buyer at all. Also, if you quit, the downline in your group would be surrendered to the immediate upline anyway. So why would your upline want to buy your business? Why not just do nothing and let the downline be defaulted to you?  

So IBOs, I ask you. What is your business worth? Food for thought....

The Loser?

 One of the things I recall as an Amway IBO was thinking how sorry I felt for people who were not Amway IBOs because we were all going to be rich and everyone else was a loser. Our upline used to tell us that we were winners - and if you weren't a winner, then obviously, you are a loser. Many times, the term "broke" was attached to the term loser. That was my mindset back then but having been out of the system more than ten years, I can look back and laugh, realizing that the losers were the ones buying stuff they don't need, stalking people at malls and bookstores, and wasting their time and money on tapes (cds), books and functions.

What goes unnoticed in many cases, is how much time and money really goes down the drain for IBOs who work the system. Your life revolves around the business if you are dedicated and hard core. You are always looking for prospects and people to show the plan to, and you have to rearrange your schedules, or outright skip social or family gatherings because of the never-ending number of meetings and functions, many of which teach you nothing about running a profitable business. When I first left the Amway business, I was sort of angry at the time and effort that was wasted, along with the cash I threw down the crapper.

But after I did finally cut ties with the business and the people associated with it, I got back into a routine of sorts. I focused on my job and after some years of gaining experience and working my way up the corporate ladder, I received some promotions and I am scheduled to be retired before the age of 60 with a decent retirement income and will likely have my home paid off by then. So while I did have to work a dreaded job to be able to retire, pretty much all IBOs are also working a job or business PLUS having to expend their time and money to run their Amway business which has little to no chance of providing a long term stable and significant income. And if I may add, it is the systems such as WWDB or N21 that usually end up costing the IBOs the most money because of things like the functions.

So, I will ask the question. Who's the real loser? The person diligently working and saving for their future or the person chasing a dream that is unlikely to materialize? Factoring in the expenditure of time also makes the systems even more costly than it appears on the surface.

Ruthless?

 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 Duncen 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.

Joecool On Vacation

Joecool is on vacation.  Heading to Vegas for some shows and a little gaming.   Be back in about 5 days.  Until then, enjoy this article titled:  "The Life Of An IBO"?

 I send this message to inform Amway IBOs that they should be aware of their circumstances in business. What I mean is when you are a new IBO, it is common for you to buy/sell your 100 PV and perhaps listen to some cds/audios. If you basically did what your sponsor or upline advised, you made your 100 PV bonus level and you will receive a bonus from Amway for about $10. If you did as advised by your upline/sponsor, then you likely made a name list and started contacting some potential business partners aka prospects. You're probably a bit excited because things are going as you expected. You did your part and a bonus is on its way to your doorstep. Heck, you may have even sponsored a friend or relative because of your newly found excitement and enthusiasm.

But what happens after a few months? If you are still doing 100 PV and have no downline, then what are the chances that you will ever achieve anything? Your excitement is wearing off and now the Amway opportunity is becoming "work". You are also starting to notice that it is starting to get expensive to continue to purchase products, many of which you never purchased before. For example, were you buying cases of energy drinks and "high end" vitamins before Amway? Did you buy $50 cases of bottled water before Amway? Supposedly their laundry soap and other cleaners are highly concentrated, therefore your consumables are the nutrition/vitamin products.

Even if you managed to find some downline, are they duplicating what you do? Are they also moving volume and sponsoring downline? If not, what are your chances of fulfilling the 6-4-2 plan or some similar version of it. When I saw the plan, I thought it was reasonable and I was on my way to platinum. What I discovered though, is that as you progress, upline has greater expectations of you and that includes more tool purchases. (I was in WWDB). In the end, my recommended tool purchases ate up any profits I had and at the 4000 level, I was just about breaking even, which means I was at a loss when factoring in my time spent and other miscellaneous expenses such as gas money.

Where are you at?  If you've been in for more than a year, are you on schedule to become platinum or are you at 200 PV with one downline? Maybe you have a small group with 600 PV? You still aren't close to a net profit. For the vast majority of people, success is not right around the corner. What's around the corner for most is more time lost, more money expended, and no progress. If your group is now growing each and every month, you are sliding backwards. If you don't constantly have new IBOs coming into the group, you are probably stagnant. With about half of IBOs dropping out each year, keeping a group together is a tremendous task.

IBOs, where are you at after a few months? Where are you at after a year? If you haven't gone platinum, it is nearly a certainty that it will never happen, despite what your upline might say. The facts are there; it's a matter of whether you want to believe it or not.

Goals and Dreams?

 One of the things that you may be taught as an Amway IBO is to have a goal. While having a goal in a good thing, I believe the context in which it is taught by Amway leaders is misleading. They want to motivate you to "go diamond" or perhaps some other achievement in the Amway business, but there is no specific means to achieve these goals and frankly, I do not believe that many IBOs or prospects understand what they are pursuing.

For example, one way that diamond leaders try to motive their downline is to show displays of wealth. They may show fancy cars or talk about the mansion they own and paid for in cash, or they may show you a fancy vacation or jewelry. All the while, these diamonds may be up to their ears in debt. Has a diamond ever showed anyone a copy of their bank account balances or a business tax return? While IBOs may claim that this is nobody's business, I beg to differ. In the REAL world of business, these are not uncommon practices. A close friend of mine who recently sold a franchise business not only gave copies on his bank statements, but three years' worth of personal tax returns to the eventual buyer of his business. It was to verify his claim that his business was worth buying.

So, for IBOs and prospects, what is your business goal? If it's to make $500 a month, has your "mentor" actually sat down to discuss this and to map out how this can be accomplished? What about setbacks? In the Amway business, the Amway reputation is damaged, thus achieving certain tasks may be much more difficult to conquer than you are led to believe? Is your upline actually helping your individual cause or are they simply leading you to purchase more tools? If your goal is not diamond, are you receiving the same help as others in the group? Did you know that your sponsor is supposed to help train you free of cost?

The big question though, is are you progressing towards your stated goal and are you on schedule to accomplish the goal and reap the rewards, or have you fallen into a trap of attending meetings and listening to standing orders and accomplishing nothing other than shrinking your bank account? If you have stated goals, there should be tangible and measurable ways to assess your progress (i.e. profits). If your upline starts to feed you rubbish about being a nicer person or that Amway saves marriages, then your upline is leading you astray.

Amway Creates (Debt)?

 One of the things I noticed is that many IBOs who support the Amway opportunity seem to be in debt. I know that being in debt is one of the reasons these prospects are drawn to the opportunity, because they believe that they will earn so much cash that their debts will go away. I remember seeing a presentation where the speaker touched on how people were in debt with credit cards maxed out. Thus, this business is for you because you can earn enough to pay off those credit card bills or maybe go diamond and pay cash for everything.

In my informed opinion, the speakers who promote Amway in this manner are unethical at best, because they will teach IBOs to live below their means, cut expenses, and reduce debt, only to turn around and have the IBOs spend their cash on tools. It's not really debt reduction, but simply redirecting an IBO's purchases towards things that benefits the upline. It is why I often wondered why a speaker would say it was okay to go in more debt, only to invest in their Amway business. I mean, debt is debt and if IBOs are to reduce their debts, they should also be cutting their Amway expenses and focus on selling products, which can result in immediate cash.

I also believe many diamonds to be hypocrites. I heard many of them speak about how diamonds pay cash for everything, including their homes. I find it quite humorous and very hypocritical of some of these speakers who were exposed as having their homes foreclosed. One of these speakers, Greg Duncan, a prominent triple diamond, apparently had filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy some years ago because he could not service his debts. This was public record in the State of Montana.

I also believe that many diamonds may be drowning in debt, more so than the downline that they teach. Why do I believe this? Because they portray lifestyles that are not sustainable on the incomes they have. Sure, a diamond may have a $250,000 income consisting of Amway payments and tools. But if anyone does the math and considers taxes and business expenses, these magical diamonds suddenly don't have much cash left over to be able to purchase mansions and sports cars. So how do they obtain these trappings? I believe many diamonds might be financing their cars and homes and may actually be in heavy consumer debt while trying to portray a diamond lifestyle.

Amway pundits may argue that hey, at least these folks don't have to answer to a boss and wake up early to go to a job. While that may be true, most job people don't have to stay up until 3:00 in the morning showing plans and having night meetings to motivate their downline. Furthermore, a diamond must have to live in fear that a scandal could tear apart their group or that a disagreement with an upline could get you cut from tools profits.

To summarize, I don't believe diamonds are that different than the rank-and-file IBOs. They get divorced, they have debts. They may have bigger incomes, but that is all relative. A man with a $50,000 a year salary could live comfortably and debt free while someone who earns $250,000 can be drowning in debt because they live beyond their means while the $50K man lives below his means. The evidence is there, diamonds live excessively and many flaunt wealth. In the book, the millionaire next door, Stanley and Danko say that people who flaunt wealth, often are not wealthy. Are you as an IBO, drowning in debt? Maybe you are simply following the example of your upline diamond? Maybe?

The System Scam?

 It is my observation that people who join Amway usually end up losing money in the end. They may get involved to make a few bucks or because they are mistakenly led to believe that they will become millionaires in Amway in 2-5 years. I know my sponsor convinced me that we would be millionaires in a few years. These folks who recruit new IBOs into Amway are often associated with a "system" such as Worldwide Dreambuilders (WWDB)or Network 21 (N21). These system promoters, often diamonds, may mislead the recruits by showing them pictures of mansions or other luxuries, implying that they attained these goods with their Amway business. In many cases, it is a deception, especially when we know for a fact that some diamond leaders who proclaimed that they only make cash purchases, had their homes foreclosed. Without the hype, I am sure there would be fewer signups. But what is the evidence?

It is simple. Amway reports that the average active IBO earns about $202 a month in gross income. This average includes diamonds and other higher end IBOs but excludes IBOs who were not active. If you calculated the median, the average would be much lower.

But what makes IBOs operate at a loss is the system expenses. The system generally consists of voicemail, standing orders, cds, functions, books and other materials. An average business building IBO might spend an average of $250 a month or so on these expenses. And that's typical of a single person. Amway defenders like to decry the amount, but there are couples who would likely spend more and IBOs who must travel by planes to functions would spend more. Single IBOs who buy only the minimum might spend a bit less. Some IBOs with abusive uplines might spend much more than $250 a month on tools. I believe my former sponsor probably spent easily an average of $1000 a month on average. (I am from Hawaii, so the average cost of functions is greater due to long distance travel)

Thus, if the average IBO earns $202 a month but the same average IBO spends $250 a month on tools, the average active IBO is losing money each month, with lower-level IBOs (i.e. 100 PV) would lose more.

Look at a group of 100 IBOs at 100 PV. (This is just a model). If a 100-business building IBOs average $250 a month on tools, they as a group would expend $25,000 a month on tools. Their volume would be 10,000 PV, or about 30,000 BV. This would generate about $7500 in bonuses per month. Thus, this group spent $25,000 to learn and be motivated while the group splits up $7500 a month in bonuses. The platinum would get the lion's share of the bonus but most of the rest of the group will suffer net losses. As the group grows, the bonus may grow, but so will their expenditures on tools.

The only way the group can make money as a whole is to avoid participation in the tools altogether. The evidence is right here with simple math. The systems do not work because the cost of the system is likely to consume all of the Amway generated bonuses and more. I gladly challenge anyone to explain in detail how this post is not reflective of the reality of being in Amway and a system such as WWDB or Network21.

Instead Of A Job?

 What happens to many unsuspecting people is they join Amway thinking they will attain wealth and riches by "owning their own business", but in reality, they have basically become unpaid commissioned employees of Amway. You don't get health insurance, vacation, or any fringe benefits. You get to work unlimited hours and you get commission by moving products. You can leverage your commissions by increasing this unpaid sales force by sponsoring others into your downline.

Some people do succeed employing this method, but you will need to be an elite recruiter in order to get people to sell Amway products for no salary. You are also handicapped right from the start because past IBO behavior has soiled Amway's reputation in the US and Canada. This point is supported by the fact that Amway's sales appear to be growing the most in foreign countries and not in North America. Seems that everyone I know has been at one time, involved with Amway (and had a bad experience) or knows of someone who had a bad experience (i.e. tricked into attending a meeting, or deceived in some way about the opportunity or the products).
Even if you are a great recruiter, your likelihood of attaining Amway success (emerald or higher) is a tiny fraction of 1%. And for those who attain Amway success, they have great difficulty in sustaining that level. It is why there are hoards of "former" emeralds, diamonds and platinums.

You may hear about how Amway was found "legal" by the FTC or that Amway is #1 in online health and beauty sales. All of this may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that an IBO is basically an unpaid commissioned Amway salesperson. You absorb all the business expenses, pay for your own training, and you get to share your commission with layers of upline (more middlemen), some of whom do not help your business, and some who don't even know you exist. It's a great deal for Amway but not for IBOs. You move their products and absorb the expenses and in doing so and they pay out a commission. As for any awards or credits Amway receives, it's great for Amway, but you are an IBO - an independent business owner. You are not Amway.

Bottom line - if you can get people to work for free, you can find numerous opportunities to get rich that are much better and more lucrative than Amway. :-)

Is Your Diamond Rich?

 One of the things so many Amway IBOs and others do is assume that their upline diamond is rich beyond belief. At meetings, the speaker would be introduced as being in the top one tenth of one percent income bracket. While it may or may not be true, nobody ever questioned it, they just assumed it was true because people saw pictures of mansions and copies of 10-year-old bonus checks. Even I never went and studied how the diamond bonuses worked. Most people just assumed that the money would be huge at the diamond level. But looking back, I can recall some things that make me believe that the diamonds were cutting corners and needed their platinums working free at meetings and functions in order to maximize profits.

The diamonds in our group often did not stay in hotels when visiting for meetings, but in the home of another diamond or some lucky downline platinum. The diamonds rarely rented a car. Instead, a downline platinum or higher would be lucky enough to be the unpaid and uncompensated chauffeur for the weekend. The platinums basically were the doormen and ushers at the functions and in many cases, probably didn't even get to hear the speakers since they were busy working. Their reward for their troubles was "spending time" with their uplines.

The downline are basically unpaid volunteers. For example, ever see diamonds actually renting a moving van and hiring movers? I believe most of them had downline groupies who did the work for free, just for the honor of being near their upline. Just my opinion, but if these folks had mountains of cash, why wouldn't you hire movers, so your downline didn't have to use up a valuable Saturday or Sunday to do that work? That's like owning a chain of stores but having all of their stores closed. No products sold, no new recruits prospected. If Ray Kroc moved his residence, would all the nearby McDonald's owners close their stores to help him move?

Another things IBOs and prospects should note is that pictures of mansions, sports cars and jet skis doesn't mean someone is actually wealthy. Someone could have all those things on credit or rented after all. And many people who truly are wealthy, do not show off their wealth. It is possible that many diamonds live mundane middle-class lives on their income but need to portray wealth to lure in new IBOs. While your upline diamonds may act and look rich, how would you really know? I can take a homeless guy, clean him up and put him in a suit and a sports car and he would probably look like a diamond.

If your uplines are implying that they are so wealthy, ask them to verify some of the claims. I'm not talking about their personal income, but in business, verifying business income is very common. If you are being invited into the business and a business system such as WWDB, BWW or N21, you have every right to check your upline's credentials. Avoidance of the truth, or an answer such as "none of your business" should be a red flag. It is your business if you are being asked to join, invest your time and money, and follow upline advice.

Chasing A Dream?

 Every year, tens of millions of kids across the US and even other countries have dreams of playing sports. Some dream of playing professionally, some dream of playing at the collegiate level, some may have dreams of dazzling their high school peers. And this can apply to just about any sport, be it baseball, football, soccer, hockey, basketball, golf or whatever endeavor you can think of. As you progress to each of the next higher levels, the number of participants decrease. There are only so many professional teams, and so many college teams, while there are scores of high school teams all across the country. As each level gets higher, it is likely that better physical attributes and greater skills are needed in order to move on. 

I've heard some Amway supporters make comparisons between the Amway opportunity and how the higher levels are like the professionals and the rank and file are like the high schoolers. While I agree that there's only limited space at the higher levels, i think it's extremely important to note why the masses do not achieve the highest levels. In sports, you would need to have the motivation, the physical gifts, as well as the skills to achieve and excel at the highest level. Thus, people who are small in stature likely won't be candidates for the NFL even with a lot of motivation. Someone under 6' tall might have great difficulty in getting a job in the NBA. Of course there are always exceptions, but those exceptions are made up by perhaps, incredible "other" skills or leadership. Some athletes have a knack for being in the right place at the right time, or an intangible.  

So, what does this have to do with Amway? The connection is the massive amounts of Amway IBOs who never achieve even the break-even point. They may come into the program with dreams of financial freedom, or making enough to have a stay home wife, etc. Why do so few achieve even the lowest levels? In my opinion, the Amway business has too many barriers that prevent IBOs from succeeding. These barriers make it nearly impossible for anyone to reach the higher levels. These barriers include but are not limited to high prices that make many products a tough sell. Then you have the optional but vital training and functions that normally drain whatever profit the lower-level IBOs make. Even someone at 2500 or 4000 PV will net a loss if they need to travel by air to functions. You can also factor in some of the zany things previous IBOs have done such as tricking people into attending meetings, or not being accountable to downline, or by messing with your downline's money (bouncing checks).  

In the end, the masses of IBOs just do not possess the ability to overcome these barriers that can stop the charge of a bull elephant. It is why so many IBOs try hard and achieve nothing. While much effort may be expended, it looks as if these folks did nothing and quit. The reality is that most people who sign up were highly motivated but more likely found an impossible barrier and decided to do something else. I know of many former IBOs who went onto succeed in life after Amway. Many do not complain or voice complaints because they were involved in Amway with family and friends.  

So, in Amway and in pro sports, there are masses who want to achieve their dreams. In both cases, a tiny percentage might achieve the top levels. The difference is that athletes know that their chances are small. IBOs are often misled into thinking that everyone can achieve diamond and residual income, which is a myth. Also in pro sports, there is no scam where people have a proven training system that will ensure success if you work hard. In pro sports, it is proven that the elite make millions. Whereas Amway diamonds seem to shroud their success in secrecy, showing pictures of mansions to show off success. Also, athletes may not make the pros but may have benefited by getting a free college education. There aren't any stories of success in Amway for those who don't "make it", as far as I know. Are you chasing an impossible dream?

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 cross line 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 cross line 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.

Buy Your Prosperity?

   One thing I can credit Amway diamonds with is coming up with the most bat sh@t crazy ideas that sound sensible to Amway IBOs but utter madness to anyone else.  One that I heard about was how you can buy your way to prosperity.  Buy your own Amway products and get others to follow and you’ll soon be on the road to early retirement and residual income.  In a pure business sense, that's insanity.  In what business to you buy your way to financial success.  That's just the selling point used to attract recruits, that you can buy your way to riches.  

Have you ever seen a store or business prosper when the major of sales are simply to the business owner and employees?   The answer is no because such a business does not exist.  It’s amazing that people actually believe that you can get rich buying from yourself.  But it works on the downline so the diamonds perpetuate the storyline.   And IBOs soak it in because it sounds so simple and easy to do right?

One thing I saw at a live function was the diamond telling IBOs to ask prospects if they like selling stuff and whether the answer was yes or no, your response would be “great, then this business is perfect for you”.  Of course, actual stories of significant retail sales were rare and my own experience suggested that sympathetic family and friends comprised most of whatever sales took place and I found myself at times selling items at my cost just so the expenses of moving 100 PV wasn’t all on me.  

The strategy of buying your own stuff seems to work because most people do not like selling stuff and especially not to friends.  But many will give it a run because they are hopeful that Amway will deliver the wealth that upline seemingly promises.  The sad thing about the whole this is that dreams of wealth is all you get and there’s very little success to speak of.  From function to function it’s the same old diamonds time and again.  

The diamonds might say they want downline success but they don’t.  They just want to keep replacing quitters with new members as long as they can churn in new tools and functions subscribers.  That’s the real game of diamonds and that’s why the emphasis of the tools and functions is recruiting new people into the game. It’s an elaborate scheme that prospects and new IBOs don’t see because they have Amway dreams clouding their thoughts.   Think about it, new diamonds means another person getting a cut of the tools and functions profits.  It's more profitable to just keep brining in new recruits who are the customers of the tools and functions scam.

You'll be told you can buy your way to wealth but it's just a big lie.

Upline Wants My Success?

 One of the things my upline leaders used to always talk about was how they wanted everyone to succeed. Looking back, I believe they were lying and simply wanted the faithful downline to keep spending money on tools whether they succeeded or not. Now I am not claiming that every single upline leader does this, but primarily the ones who run "systems", such as WWDB, N21, BWW, LTD and some others.

When I stopped and really thought about it, pretty much every piece of advice I received, I had to pay for. Voicemails, standing orders, functions, open meetings. I know these are supposedly optional, but in reality, they are a defacto requirement. Anyone with a "dream" is going to buy the tools because the leaders will tell you that you cannot succeed without tools. Ironically, the same leaders will blame individuals and cite personal responsibility for the failure of downline IBOs, even the ones who did everything they were told.

The leaders are edified and touted as having great business and financial acumen, thus not following their advice would seem foolish. Yet Amway defenders will try to claim that IBOs should discern the good and the bad and operate independently. It's a redundancy that many people do not see. Sure, a downline should not jump off a cliff because upline said they would pad their fall with a pile of cash, but many IBOs put in an earnest effort in Amway, only to fail because of the handicaps and reputation issues that Amway has. These IBOs are told they were lazy or quit too soon, or did not try hard enough. Yet the very few who manage to break thru are edified along with the system while ignoring the multitudes who do not make it.

The bottom line for IBOs and prospects to know, is that I believe most IBO leaders do not know you or care about you and your success. They are more interested in selling you websites, voicemail, standing orders and functions. They know that people will come and go and they are perfectly happy replacing quitters with new people, as long as the system tools keep flowing. I believe some of the US diamonds are now hurting as Amway is apparently shrinking in the US. I read recently of Amway downsizing some of their operations, seemingly confirming that US sales are down. Also to note, Upline leaders would have to share tool profits with new emeralds and diamonds, which is why I believe they do not want new success.

I believe that Amway, other MLM businesses, Kiyosaki, or real estate gurus all have very limited or rare success with their financial systems. Infomercials usually have a disclaimer that success is a "UNIQUE" experience. Amway is no different. But I believe in all of these cases, more money is generated in selling the system than by actually running the system. If not, success stories would be rampant and people would line up to sign up instead of having to be deceived into even hearing the pitch.

My Job Sucks?

 One of the ways that Amway diamonds would put down jobs was to toss in the buzz phrase that a job was simply trading hours for dollars. As if it were demeaning to have a job where you got paid for your time. I believe it's all relative. Being that many IBOs are young and maybe working in more entry level types of jobs, then yeah, your hour's wage might not be that great. If you earn say $10 an hour, then you might be struggling financially, and it may take time before your skills and knowledge increase to a point where your experience is worth more money. What if you had a job paying $1000 an hour and earned $160,000 a month? Is that a lousy deal trading hours for dollars? I don't think so! 

Conversely, having a business can be good or bad also. If you have an Amway business earning less than $100 a month and you spend $200-$300 on functions, standing orders and other training and motivational materials, then you are losing money. You would be better off working for free. That is still a better alternative than working a business where you are losing money. I think most people agree that a platinum group typically has a 100 or more IBOs. Thus, a platinum is in the top 1% of all IBOs. I have heard that the platinum level is where you start to break even or make a little profit, depending on your level of tool consumption. If platinums are barely making a profit, then the other 99+% of IBOs are losing money. How much is that worth per hour?

I think uplines cleverly trick IBOs into thinking that a job is bad. Trading hours for dollars, after all, sounds like some kind of indentured servant of sorts. But in the end, what matters is your bottom line. If you are an IBO with little or no downline, and/or not much in terms of sales to non-IBOs/customers, then you are losing money each and every month if you are attending functions and buying standing orders. Your 10-12 hours a week of Amway work is costing you money! But if you spend 10-12 hours a week, even at minimum wage, then you might be making about 300 to 350 a month gross income. After taxes, you make about 250 to 300. At least trading hours for dollars gets you a guaranteed net gain at the end of the month. You have money that can pay for your bills and expenses instead of the Amway business, which is simply false hope for most.

Uplines trick you into a "business mentality" where you think that working for a net loss is just a part of business. IBOs should realize that a business promoted as low risk and no overhead should be one where you can profit right away. Instead, IBOs are taught to delay gratification, or to reinvest any profit back into their business in the form of tools and functions, which results in a net loss. If that's the case, I would choose trading hours for dollars.

Remember, trading hours for dollars is not a bad deal if you are making enough dollars per hour. And even those who make less, are better off that those who "run a business" but end up with a net loss. It's all relative and hopefully, this message will help new or prospective IBOs who are being enticed to join the Amway business opportunity. Good luck to those with jobs and those with businesses. You can be successful either way. Remember that!

Upline Responsibility?

 One of the disturbing things I have noticed about Amway IBOs and IBO leaders and uplines is how they wall tell downline to trust them. To trust them completely as they have already blazed a trail. No need to re-invent the wheel. Just ride the coattails of your upline to success. The system is proven. Many IBOs take this to heart and put forth tremendous effort. Then when they ultimately fail, upline will shun them and tell them that the failure is their own. That they are personally responsible for failure. This is despite doing what upline advises, and often, that advice is advice that the IBO has paid for.

Now I am not talking about IBOs who sign up and do nothing or never place an order. I do believe however, that the fact that many IBOs sign up and do little or nothing brings concerns about how these IBOs were recruited, but I do not recall ever seeing an IBO do nothing and then complain that Amway was a scam or anything like that.

I have found, however, that many people who are critical of Amway and the systems, put forth much effort, did everything they were told, and did not find the success that upline promoted, or in some cases, guaranteed. My former sponsor was still active; last I heard and has been in Amway for over 25 years. I do not believe he has ever gone beyond platinum, and I know that he was never a Q12 platinum. Some Amway apologists might see being a platinum as a bonus, but when you are hard core sold out to the systems, platinum is a break even or make a small profit business.  Dedicated hard core platinums can lose money, depending on business expenses.  Factor in that time spent by husband and wife and these folks who are breaking even or making a fraction of minimum wage are not spending their time and investments wisely IMO.  Is this the dream that will allow you to buy mansions with a cash payment?

What is also disturbing is how people will tout the system as responsible for any success but hide the vast majority that the system doesn't help. Sure, some will succeed in Amway, but for every success, there are hundreds if not thousands who fail. And if you consider diamond as the benchmark of success, the failures could be in the tens of millions. As I said, some succeed, but very very few in relation to the number who try. Going diamond is probably less common in the US than winning the lottery. With the odds so stacked against you, looking for an alternative means of making a dollar seems wise.  But is Amway a good way to make an extra dollar?  It seems not.

Succeed and the systems and upline take credit, but fail or quit and it is your own responsibility. Are these the kinds of leaders or mentors you want advice from?

The Numbers?

 One of the things Amway IBOs are taught is to ignore facts, or to ignore numbers. I believe this is because the numbers are not pretty when you take a business-like approach to the math behind the Amway business, for most IBOs. It is why upline teaching often "evolves" into things such as Amway saves marriages, or Amway makes you a nicer person, or that Amway is not about money, it is about friendships. That is a load of garbage. Business is about making a profit. If you hear some of these lines from your upline, it should be a red flag. Upline may also feed you other deceptive lines such as an IBO being successful because they showed up at a function, or because they just signed up for standing order. These are all just false lines to encourage an IBO who is not making money.

When you take a good look at the Amway presentation, the majority of IBOs are at the 100 PV level. At that level, they are spending about $300 monthly to reach 100 PV and for their efforts, they receive approximately a $10 check from Amway. Most IBOs will be encouraged to participate in some kind of system, often consisting of voicemail, websites, cds, books, seminars and other meetings. MOST IBOs will not recoup enough cash to cover any of these expenses, let alone all of them. At a glance, the system expenses may appear nominal such as $6 for a cd, $6 for an open meeting, $100 to $125 for a major function, $12 for a book. It is how upline gets you involved, and then after a while, an IBO starts to notice the negative cashflow and then a tough decision needs to be made. Either quit and cut the losses, or press on hoping that the system will eventually deliver on its promises.

What most IBOs don't notice, is that less than one half of one percent ever reach platinum. A fraction of one percent! And in many cases, platinums might break even or even suffer losses! So why would IBOs want to work so hard to reach platinum? They have less than a 1% chance of reaching that level. They have a tiny chance of maintaining that level, and they are still unlikely to earn any significant income at that level. A study done by an attorney general in Wisconsin (Bruce Craig) revealed that platinum level IBOs averaged a net loss of about $900 annually. While Amway defenders will decry that the study is a bit dated, I will say this: The basics of the Amway business has not changed since that study was done, AND there are actually more system expenses today than there were back then, thus platinums may actually be losing more money annually than before. While not all platinums will lose money, I believe hard core dedicated platinums would stand to lose money.

As an IBO, I hope you are tracking your expenses versus your income. Most IBOs will see a negative cashflow month after month. Even though the Amway business is often promoted as low or no overhead, the system expenses (overhead) eventually begin to add up. Beware and please follow the numbers.