The Quota?

  Most LOS groups that I know of, use 100 PV as the benchmark when promoting the Amway business. Many groups also teach that you simply "change" your shopping habits and you can easily reach 100 PV. This teaching creates an artificial demand for Amway products and I believe that Amway sales would take a huge dip if not for this teaching. I also am of the opinion that for this reason, Amway had/has done little to reign in LOS abuses of downline.

100 PV is roughly equal to about $250 to $300 worth of products. Of course, your cost may vary, depending on whether you purchase a lot of CORE Amway products such as laundry detergent, and nutrilite vitamins. For many people, the 100 PV benchmark is seen as the minimum for a business building IBO. The problem for many is that Amway products are not competitively priced, thus it is a hard sell. If I can buy the same or a similar product elsewhere for a fraction of the price, I will. And most consumers feel the same way.

It is why some LOS groups adopted the "buy from yourself and get others to do the same" philosophy. Since most people do not like selling, and because of the high prices of Amway products, simply telling prospects to buy from yourself made the concept palatable. The problem with buy from yourself is that it reaches the borders of being illegal, in my opinion. That is because in a buy from yourself environment, the only way for an IBO to make a profit, is to recruit downline to benefit from the volume rebates. That is because there is no outside customers to bring in cash from outside the circle of IBOs.

What makes this issue even worse is when you have LOS groups such as WWDB creating an even greater problem with programs such as eagle. If 100 PV is an inflated demand for Amway products, incentive programs such as eagle make it worse. How can a single person reasonably be expected to move 200 to 300 PV when most of it is personal consumption? The upline leaders use these programs as an incentive for downline IBOs, but in turn, they benefit financially by having more downline volume, as well as potentially enhanced tools sales by dedicated downline IBOs.

I challenge any IBO or prospect to take a close look at your Amway purchases. Are you truly just changing your shopping habits and achieving 100 PV or are you buying things to give away, or buying things that accumulate somewhere? Unless IBOs are selling half of their purchases, they are probably overbuying Amway products. I believe it is simply because of upline teaching which creates a defacto 100 PV quota and an artificial demand for Amway products. I challenge you to examine this closely and make your own conclusions.

Amway And The BBB?

 Over the years, I have seen literally hundreds (if not more) blogs and testimonials about Amway. Most of them decry the pitfalls of being an Amway IBO. Most of the complaints cite the fact that Amway in general has higher prices than comparable retailers and the fact that the system consisting of voicemail, books, cds and seminars ate up any profits the IBO may have made and resulted in net losses for most. One particular Amway apologist bemoans the fact that the internet is full of bad testimonials about Amway. The reason why there are so many negative testimonials about Amway is because over the years, thousands, possibly millions either had a bad experience for the reasons I cited above or personally know of someone who had a bad experience.   Diamonds who lie during their presentations don't help the cause either.

Amway defenders will often cite the fact that many IBOs sign up and "do nothing" as their defense to this. But I will easily point out that I haven't seen anyone say they signed up, failed to do anything or order products, quit and started blogging about a bad experience in Amway. These defenders will also compare Amway to the gym where people sign up and "do nothing". Whether true or not, I also do not see people who sign up for the gym and "do nothing" complain about not receiving health benefits by simply signing up. It is a very weak defense. Conversely, I have seen numerous accounts of folks like me who did put in effort, some for many years, who did what upline advised and did not see the financial rewards that is promoted in "the plan".

Amway defenders will then try to justify themselves, saying that the better business bureau (BBB) receives few formal complaints about Amway. I will possibly agree with this. Many IBOs never bother to file formal complaints to the BBB or to Amway because in many, probably most cases, the person who quits and may have had a bad experience, was sponsored into the business.  The sponsor was often a friend or family member of the IBO who left the business. Many will simply leave and forget the episode and chalk it up to a learning experience in life. Some will complain but really have to no venue to voice their remorse about joining. Some of us have found the internet to be quite effective in sharing our experiences and our opinions on why the business did not work. This is what one Amway defender calls the "internet war". What I have pointed out is that critics most often simply point out what the IBOs themselves have done. In many cases, the IBO is his own worst enemy. Afterall, critics didn't deny Amway and Quixtar had a connection, nor did critics make up claims about perfect water, etc.

It would appear that most of the problems has a root in the AMO systems, such as WWDB, BWW, LTD, or N21. Now, not all upline leaders are unethical, but it appears that many are, and new IBOs have no way to identify the good from the bad. It also appears that some of these upline leaders will issue bad advice. Advice that is detrimental to the IBOs, but financially beneficial to themselves, such as telling IBOs to never miss a function, or to buy more cds. In many cases, these unethical uplines do not care about IBO success, their goal is just to move as many support materials as possible, so they can fund their "diamond" lifestyle. Sadly, it is also apparent that the diamond lifestyle may be a facade in some cases. An illusion of wealth portrayed as a recruiting tool.

If you recognize some of these warning signs, ask tough questions of your potential sponsor and visit this or some of the blogs linked to this one for more information.

Mentor Or Crook?

 One of the things our upline told us when I was an Amway IBO was how much they cared about their groups. My sponsor told us that these wonderful diamonds could be anywhere, doing anything, but they chose to be at these functions out of love and loyalty to the group.  At the time, upline insisted that nobody earned any money from the sale of support materials. I wonder how many of these wonderful upline mentors would have been at the function if they lost money or made no profit from the functions?   And food for thought, how many "mentors" get paid for mentoring someone?  Isn't paid consultant a better description?

Shortly after I left the business, the lies about the tool income became exposed and the internet also made it easy for prospects to find out this information. Of course, many upline started to talk about tool income, although there is still a great deal of secrecy about the tools and the income generated by tools.

What I find humorous is how some IBOs actually think their upline is some kind of mentor to be followed. As time passes, we are finding that many diamonds are fakes and frauds. There are many "former" diamonds, clearly debunking the myth of lifelong residual income. We are finding diamonds who divorce, contrary to the teaching that Amway saves marriages. Diamonds who are in financial difficulty and some in apparent bankruptcy.

Now these diamonds are no different than the rest of society, but they made much profit in selling themselves as being "above" the crowds. Thay they were financially well versed, that their marriages were built on a foundation of rock. That their lives are in order and that these diamonds are to be honored and copied by their downline faithful. But slowly and surely, they are being exposed and hypocrites and we are finding that they are not living large and debt free as they claimed. They are being exposed as a bunch of crooks with nice suits and nice smiles. It is unfortunate that some of these diamond leaders are suffering misfortunes, but I have trouble drumming up sympathy for them at this point.

So is your upline a mentor to be followed or just a cheap crook?

Behind The Scenes?

 One of the things that the Amway Diamonds and some other leaders do to attract new IBOs is to put on a dog and pony show. They want prospects to think that you can consume Amway products and get others to follow your lead and in a few years, you will be set for life financially, speaking on stages and securing the future for generations to come. They might use props such as pictures of mansion. slideshows of cars, jets, yachts. It looks impressive but based on what I know now, who knows whether the diamonds actually own this stuff or if they are simply showing you a slideshow of "lifestyles of the rich and famous". The reality is very likely that many diamonds are actually living in debt or bonus check to bonus check. It is a fact that more than half of NBA basketball pros end up broke less than 5 years after they retire, and they earn tons more cash than diamonds. Why would a diamond be different than the average Joe, especially when they appear to live beyond their means?

In the few cases where diamond income was exposed, we can see that they were not making the kind of money they would have you believe.  A Triple diamond (documented) was making about half a million a year from Amway. A nice income for sure, but not what people would think, and not enough to save that diamond from chapter 7 bankruptcy. Another WWDB diamond apparently lost a home to foreclosure. Another diamond, unnamed but documented in the book "Amway Motivational Organizations, Behind the Smoke and Mirrors", talks about a diamond who had a gross income of over 3 million dollars, and a net of about $320,000. This diamond was in debt, had back taxes owed to the government, and was working hard to portray the diamond lifestyle while living in serious debt.

Some of these leaders also use religion or Christianity as a means to justify their involvement in the business. For those who know, the Bible is clear that the love of money can lead to destruction. When you have functions such as Dream Night, what does that say? I would also like to note that in cases where these diamond's financials were exposed, there were no significant contributions to charity. I wonder if these charlatans talk a good game but do not contribute time or money to worthy causes? Where are the ten thousand dollar checks they talk about donating to charity? These leaders often refer to themselves as mentors, but any help they provide to downline results in some kind of compensation for them. This is not a mentor, but more like a paid consultant who is not getting effective results.  

Behind the nice suits and the glitz of the functions, I believe that IBOs and prospects would see a world they truly would not want to be a part of. A world where deceit is practically needed to succeed. Where you take advantage of people who trust in you. Where you pretend to be wealthy and free, but in reality, a slave to the mighty dollar. Where you traded a 9-5 job for a job that works the graveyard shift. If you look objectively behind the scenes, you might see what I see.

The Solution?

 I just shake my head when I read about the kinds of advice that Amway IBOS receive from their trusted mentors and upline.   Now let me say that I would have nothing to criticize if downlines were regularly progressing and moving up the ranks and actually making money.  But it’s obvious that most IBOS are spinning their wheels getting nowhere and the only advice that upline seemingly gives is to spend more money on functions and tools that are already proven to be ineffective.  Business not growing?  Buy more tools.  Having trouble sponsoring downline?  Buy more tools, attend more functions.  In real business, people would analyze why the business isn't growing and make adjustments and/or cut expenses.  

When most real business owners are cutting expenses or looking at strategies to bring in more revenue, Amway IBOS and uplines are advising people to spend more money on activities that don’t make them money.  Why not just get a pile of cash and burn it?  The result would be the same.  Keep in mind that the upline profits from the sale of tools and functions so it seems pretty dubious that upline would advise IBOs struggling for their lives to spend more time and money in things that haven’t worked in the first place.  

What is the real solution to a failing Amway business?  I can’t tell you that without a lot more information, but I can tell you that spending more money on things that do not result in more sales and profits is not likely to be the solution.  Most dedicated IBOs lose money because of the tools and functions which are not effective in helping IBOS become profitable.  What makes it more insidious is that uplines profit nicely for giving downline bad advice even if their bad advice results in bigger losses.   It's ironic because one of the things upline teaches is to be accountable.   Yet, uplines are never held to account.  They claim that they have the IBO's best interest at heart, but advising them to spend more money on tools and functions when the IBO's business is not profitable, while profiting off tools, is extremely disingenuous.

When it comes to Amway, it seems apparent to me that the only logical solution is to walk away, seek refunds on whatever you can and find another activity to make some income. Sitting at home watching TV is more profitable to most IBOS that actively trying to run an Amway business.

Better Than Amway?

  One of the silly things I get asked occasionally by IBOs is what’s better than Amway since I opine that Amway is a lousy way to make an extra buck.   Actually, if people actually made money with Amway, I’d probably have nothing to say.  But it is a fact that the vast majority of people make nothing or lose money in Amway.  Typically, losses are because of the tools and functions.   This is why diamonds teach hard core dedication to the system and the teachings of "CORE".  This actually doesn't help the IBO, but it provides financial security for the diamonds in the form of income as a hard core group of IBOs buying standing orders and attending functions provides a steady income for the diamonds.  In some or possibly many cases, a more steady income than Amway income.  

So, what’s better?  Well, staying home and doing nothing is better because you won’t be wasting your time and money chasing an opportunity where you are very likely to lose money. Staying at home to watch “The Simpsons” is better because you’ll be entertained.  But seriously if you want to make extra money? What can be done?  

Get part time work.  You can. Use sone of the extra money plus invest some of that extra income.  This is the route I took when I was young, and it’s paid off big now.  Investing for the long term in bid companies like Apple or Microsoft gives an average return in the range of 20% or more in some cases.  Thus, your money can possibly double every 3-5 years, provided there isn't a recession or bear market.  Start an actual business with a specialty such as installing flooring or security doors.  These can be very part time with good results although sone skill is required.   However, those skills can be learned with some effort.

You can also buy and sell things such as flipping used cars.  Buy a car cheap, fix it up cosmetically and sell it for a profit.  Or find a niche market where you can sell insurance or burial plots part time.  These are real ways you can actually make some extra money.  In the end you need to decide for yourself on what to do but I can tell you that almost anything you choose will be more lucrative than pursuing Amway.    

Good luck in whatever you do, if you choose to pursue anything.  

You Must Believe!

 In the past, and I believe still today, some leaders in motivational groups talk about faith and belief. Speak it into existence. Some of this is the mantra among IBOs who believe they are going diamond. Never mind that statistically, your chance of winning the lottery might be better than going diamond in Amway. In fact, I am certain that there have been more power ball lottery winners than new Amway diamonds in the US and Canada in recent years. But an honest question for IBOs, prospects, and Amway supporters. Do you truly believe that this business works and that you will succeed?

If you truly believe, would you feel confident walking into a bank and meeting a loan officer. Tell the loan officer that all you do is sponsor 6 who sponsor 4 who sponsor 2 and you will be a new platinum (silver). Then all you need is 6 of these groups and the money will roll in forever while you sit on a beach in the Bahamas while money rolls in by the barrel full. And then ask the loan officer for a business loan. If you think this suggestion is crazy, maybe you don't truly believe in the business. Surely a loan officer would have some financial acumen and would be able to determine the viability of the business prior to approving a loan.

Would you feel comfortable talking to your doctor about joining Amway because a diamond makes much more income with less effort? How about a business professor at your local university? Surely someone with an established expertise in business would see the value of an Amway business and join your efforts? Or would the professor laugh you out of his office? Do you truly believe in what you do? If so, do you use the curiosity approach or are you straight up with prospects and invite them to an Amway meeting? If it's the latter and not the former, maybe your belief isn't that strong?

How hard do you work at building your business? If you truly believe that going diamond is the answer to all of life's challenges and problems, why aren't you building it and working on it as if your very life depended on it? Maybe your belief isn't what you think it is? Are you adding people to your downline every week or month? If not, maybe your belief isn't what you think it is?

If you have some doubts about what you are doing, then it is probably because you see IBOs coming and going. Maybe you see monthly losses in your business. Maybe you see people quitting the business regularly. Maybe you see the same old leaders on stage giving the same rah rah speeches. Maybe you see the logic and the common sense in most of the articles posted on this blog. My blog isn't here to make anyone quit Amway. My blog is to provide information to information seekers and to assist people in making informed decisions if they seek information prior to joining Amway and a motivational group such as WWDB or BWW.

Do you truly believe in what you're doing? Joecool truly believes in what he blogs about.