Monday, August 31, 2009

Amway - Business Owner Or Customer?

IBO = Indepdenet 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.

Based on what I see and hear from Amway related blogs and forums, most people involved in the Amway opoprtunity are not business owners. They are simply customers. They are customers of Amway and they are customers of the system, consisting of voicemail, cds, 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.

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 you 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.

Without any sales to customers, or people who are not Amway IBOs, 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 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?

Friday, August 28, 2009

Amway - What Are You Duplicating?

Duplication. It was sold as the key to success when I was an IBO and I believe it is still promoted as an important component to succeeding in Amway. But I believe IBOs are misguided in understanding what duplication really is. Sure, it's very easy to stand on stage as a tenured diamond and talk about duplication, but in practical application, can it be done? In my opinion, duplicating sounds great in theory but will not work in practice. In the US, I believe Amway is not experiencing growth. The name change from Quixtar back to Amway was made for a reason. I believe that reason is because Quixtar had a bad reputation. Now I also believe that Amway has a spotty reputation as well, but the company braintrust must have felt it was still better to be Amway than Quixtar.

So back to topic. What are you duplicating? Many IBOs do little or nothing. That is not a mystery. So duplicating nothing gets you nothing. But let's look at the 6-4-2 plan. The majority in the plan do 100 PV and get about $9 or $10 as a bonus. In order to succeed, upline will expect these IBOs to be on standing order and to attend functions. Thus these IBOs will earn $9 or $10 but spend about $150 to $200 a month on training materials. So duplicating yourself will compound the overall losses of the group or team as some like to call themselves. If you sponsor a few people and move up to 300 PV group volume, you will earn about $30 but still spend about $150 to $200 in training materials. So duplicating yourself still creates more losses. Even if you achieve platinum or higher, you may finally reach a point where you have a net gain, but your downline will continue to lose money, primarily due to the cost of the training materials.

So duplication is the key to Amway success. Amway and the people selling the education materials become very successful by your promotion of "duplication", but the IBOs themselves get no benefit from duplicating themselves unless they can get enough downline to absorb the losses for them. It is why some people consider the Amway opportunity a pyramid. While legal, the opportunity still resembles a pyramidal compensation plan as you will only make a significant net gain when you have enough downline "under" you to take the losses. While you can outearn your sponsor, you will never overtake one of the tenured "crown ambassadors".

So the question for IBOs is, what exactly are you duplicating?

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Amway - IBOs, Time To Man Up?

In recent blogging, I have seen many IBOs on this blog and on other forums continue to attack others with the same old vile tapespeak about non-ibos lacking guts, being afraid, and unable to create more income for their families. I find this humorous because IBOs come and go and not even one out of the tens of thousands of site visitors here has perservered and came back to show a tiny shred of success. I had some very colorful visitors in the past such as "going crown" and "going diamond" and a few others. Not a single one of them remains and not a single one of them ever demonstrated that they were capable of building an Amway business. Amway's biggest internet defender appears to fall into the same category with the exception being that he still runs his blogs.

Recently, a site visitor here named Gina posted a profit and loss statement from her business which showed realistic expenditures and and business income. IBOs came to hem and haw and criticize the statement, but not a single one of them had any evidence to show progress in their Amway businesses. In a recent blog post I wrote, the Amway IBOs, for whatever reason, appear to have a need to display wealth that they apparently do not have. According to Stanley and Danko who authored "The Millionaire Next Door", it seem that those who display wealth are the ones who don't have it. I would strongly suspect that many diamonds, and possibly even some much bigger pins live in debt or have little equity and financial stability. I base that on the fact that the lifestyles portrayed by some diamonds, especially the ones shown at certain functions, such as Winter Conference, formerly known as "Dream Night", cannot be sustained, even with over a half million dollars in income a year. Multi million dollars mansions and fancy cars and aircraft comes at a hefty price. I do not believe these lifetyles can be attained by many, possibly most of the diamonds who portray it, at least not on Amway and BSM income.

So IBOs, is anyone ready to "man up" and actually show evidence of how an average Joe IBO can actually profit? One Amway defender always talks about IBOs not being paid to recruit. I agree that there is no direct payment for recruiting, but apparently there is something to it, otherwise why do IBOs spend so much time and money in recruiting? Think about it, an IBO who sells a few items and earns a few reail dollars is better off than someone who has 3 active downline (each doing 100 PV) who actively buys standing order and attend all functions. IBOs are welcome to prove me wrong.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Amway - Complaints About Amway?

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 testomonials 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.

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 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 myself 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 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 ne venue to voice their remorse about joining. Some of us have found the interent 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 avice. 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.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Amway - IBOs - All Show And No Go?

Back when I was in college, many young folks were car enthusiasts and tried to fix up older classic cars like a 67 Camaro for example. Some folks would just buy a new car and add on some trinkets to make the car stand out in a crowd. But one of the sayings we had for cars that looked nice, but whose engine had no power, was "All Show And No Go".

Many IBOs and Uplines are very likely to be "All Show And no Go". They talk a good game. They make claims and try to show off fancy toys and things, allegedly obtained with success in Amway. But shine the light on the truth and you will likely see a different picture.

On a bigger scale, I believe the major function called Winter Conference, formerly called "Dream Nite", is one where diamonds would show videos or slide shows of mansions, yachts, sports cars, jet skis, golf club memberships, shopping sprees and others kinds of fabulous wealth, all the while proclaiming that it is through Amway that all of this can be achieved. Do as we do, and you will have what we have, is what I heard, and I believe it is still the case today. But despite these claims, more and more evidence is available to show that diamonds may not be what they seem.

Ruth Carter's book (Amway Motivational Organizations: Behind The Smoke And Mirrors) exposed a diamond who had a nice, income, but lived beyond their means and were actually heavily in debt. We have also seen diamonds whose homes were foreclosed. Some of these diamonds may have spoken about paying for everything in cash, including their homes. Diamonds quitting (busts the lifelong residual income myth doesn't it?), diamonds moving to a new MLM, etc. It all points to one thing which is clear in my mind. The diamond lifestyle is not what it is portrayed to be, in many cases. Now I am not saying that a crown ambassador or some other tenured diamonds are not wealthy, I'm sure there are some who are, but they are few and far between. They are the exception and not the rule, in my opinion.

It's all show and no go. Like the Texan with the nice hat with no cattle, or the nice car with a weak engine. It's a show, or a facade for many. They give the appearance of success in order to attract new recruits but behind the scenes, might be living in debt, and/or living from bonus check to bonus check. Let the buy beware!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Amway - Amway Creates Millionaires - Another IBO Myth?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Amway - The Problem With IBOs, No Business Mentality?

One of the things IBOs "think" they posssess, but in reality they are far from it, is "Business Mentality". It is not necessarily the fault of the IBOs. Many are sponsored into Amway by trusted friends and lacking business experience, they will "submit" to upline as they are advised and will try to learn about the Amway business. The problem is that many upline leaders teach self serving business practices such as hard core dedication to their tools system, from which they often handsomely profit. Let's examine some of the questionabley practices.

"Buy from yourself". If you have a business owner mentality, you only buy from yourself if it's beneficial to your business. Many IBOs talk about ridiculous things like a McDonald's owner would never eat at Burger King. That's bull crap. Just because I own a McDonald's doesn't mean I am eating Big Macs the rest of my life. You cannot spend yourself to prosperity. If I sold pens for $1.00 and my cost was .50, and my competitor had a special on the same pens at 3 for $1.00, I'm buying them from my competition. Also, buying from yourself makes you a customer, not a business owner.

"Ignore facts if you have a dream". This is probably the biggest heap of bull crap taught by some upline. I have seen this spouted in particular by IBOs downline from WWDB and BWW leaders. A business owner studies the facts, not ignores them. Any REAL business owner wants to know how much he is bringing in and how much is going out. That's how you detect the heartbeat of your business. A site visitor named Gina on this site, recently posted a profit/loss statement from her real business. Naturally, IBOs were at a loss to discuss it because it was foreign material to them.

"Submit to upline" Another load of hogwash. Why should someone submit to upline simply because they "sponsored me" or whatever? A real business owner would think independently and make business decisions based on facts and numbers, not on the advice of someone upline who hasn't taken the time to assess each IBO on a personal level to be able to give advice on an IBO's "Indepdendent Business", or worse, advice on their personal lives".

"Dedication to the system". Silly advice as well. What dedication does the system have for an IBO? If an IBO succeeds (which is very rare), the system takes credit, but for the more than 99% of people who never make a significant income, it is their own fault if they don't make it. Amway apologists will defend this by saying that many may not have signed up wanting a significant income. While that may be partially true, tell me where people show "plans" designed for the guy who wants an extra $100 a month? The plans shown are always (AFAIK) to go platinum or diamond.

IBOs and information seekers, does any of this sound familiar? Is this a part of your experience? If so, I encourage you to ask questions here and get more information before proceeding with any more "business" activity.