A Diamond Is Forever?

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

The diamond pin is a significant achievement for sure. Seems that recently, it's even harder to achieve in North America. I don't know of more than a few new diamonds emerging in the last twenty years or so in the US. But if say a diamond qualified in 1988 and never qualified again, how would you as an IBO feel about paying to see this diamond speak function after function and how many would continue to buy standing orders from a guy who may have achieved diamond 20 years ago and never again? Would the audiences be "fired up" to see these speakers? I find this ironic also, because many Amway defenders like to criticize Amway critics for having an outdated experience. Well, conversely, a onetime diamond would be basically the same thing. If not, then Joecool should command the respect of a 4000 PV Eagle since that was my highest level.

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

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

The Reality?

 One of the things that keeps some Amway IBOs going is the "harsh reality". What I mean by that is for some IBOs, once you have been in Amway for a while, it can be hard to quit. You were possibly recruited with dreams of lifelong residual income and walking on all of the exotic beaches of the world. Retiring young and spending that time with your wife and family, and Amway friends. To quit means an IBO would have to face the reality that these dreams will not come true, at least not with the Amway business. The fact is that the Amway opportunity probably would not have delivered those dreams anyway. Even a diamond more than likely cannot afford those dreams. In fact, I would estimate that most diamonds, if they flaunt some excessive lifestyle, are near broke or in heavy debt as a diamond income cannot sustain a jet set lifestyle, save for a founder's double diamond or something similar. I believe the prominent WWDB triple diamond bankruptcy shed a lot of light into the finances of an upper-level pin and it wasn't as impressive as I would have thought.

The triple diamond who filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy made about half a million dollars annually from Amway. That's a great income and more than most people earn, but seriously, a half million dollars income is not going to allow you to buy mansions paid for in cash, or a fleet of sports cars. After paying taxes and business expenses, I'm not even sure someone with that kind of income even lives a worry-free life of leisure. And we're talking about a triple diamond, not your average run of the mill regular diamonds who I would safely assume, earns much less than a triple diamond.

But what really is the harsh reality? It's working hard only to drift between 100 and 500 PV. It's finally sponsoring a new IBO only to have a downline quit. It's talking to people about Amway and getting laughed at or getting rejected. It's your upline or sponsor pushing you to do more. Possibly your upline is one who questions your manhood if you aren't working hard enough. It's your upline or sponsor reminding you that a winner doesn't miss functions, especially the major ones. It's staying up late for team meetings or night owls when you need a good night's rest to do your job the next day. It's driving the miles to show a plan, only to have your prospect not show up. It's having to be deceptive about what you are doing. It's skipping functions with family and friends so you can be core to the business.

As IBOs, do you see any of this? I saw some of this during my involvement. While I have not been an IBO in some years now, I still see many testimonies and comments by more current and even some active IBOs to indicate that a lot of this still goes on. While Amway defenders will deny it, I see no reason why any of this would have changed over the years since Amway has made no significant changes to stop abusive uplines. If Amway did make any changes, they are not immediately apparent and the continuous string of comments and testimonies do not confirm that any clean up has been done.

For active IBOs or prospects, these are the harsh realities that may be attached with the Amway opportunity. Much of it is because of motivational groups such as WWDB, but if you are seeing these traits in your group, ask the tough questions. If you happen to decide that the Amway opportunity is not for you, take heart! There are other ways to achieve your financial goals and dreams and there are more efficient ways out there. Sometimes, quitting something that isn't working is a wise business decisions and sometimes you can lose more by not quitting. Good luck in whatever you decide.

A Con Game?

 Great Thread posted at scam.com:

http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=142975

It is stunning to realize the enormity of this con. Multi-million and billion dollar companies, stock exchange listed companies, companies that put on the facade of being a good corporate neighbor and innocent "business" (cough) next door.

Nework marketing is a flawed and unsustainable business model that effectively is fed and supported by those on the bottom. Those on the bottom work a job to fund their product purchases. Those spoils of war then are divided up by the upline and sponsor company. Those on the bottom, who use funds from their jobs (rather than product sales) to sustain the "business", are an ever expanding rotating door of new recruits.

Although the products may be of high quality and slickly packaged, and give the impression that you are a marketeer of these sundry goods...the reality is much different. You are required to buy monthly quotas for personal use and recruit your ass off to gain entry into the promised land. The product you are really selling is a dubious "business opportunity"...your real market is "opportunity seekers".

A real business markets and sell goods and services. They are sustained by real retail sales. They order only what they know they can sell. From what I see all these mlms push recruiting as the ticket to the good life. Products and retailing mean nothing.

Another major difference is a real business owner holds title to his business...something he can sell. In mlm, you own nothing but your small product inventory.

The nature of this false and flawed business model will always have in its wake a vast turnover at the bottom of the pyramid structure. Its the nature of the beast and can be no other way, all math aside. The many "losers and the quitters" and dreamers who hang in there waiting for their ship to come in are those who support the top and sponsor company. There will always be a relentless drive to recruit at the bottom as it has nothing to do with true product retailing to support the business but finding and recruiting opportunity seekers. The emphasis is always on finding new recruits rather than selling product. And indeed, many of these mlm businesses put restrictions on the associate's ability to retail the product...which subtly strengthens its true goal of recruiting as the primary revenue stream...not product sales.

These "businesses" (cough again) are predatory and prey on the many by appealing to dreams of luxury and a life of ease, especially those with troubles in their life. The start money is low to get into the "business", which is unlike a real business that takes more sizable seed money, some knowledge and guidance and a real business plan.

Those few that actually make sizable incomes from these schemes must live with the knowledge that their life is supported by the broken dreams, efforts and losses of those on the bottom. They conveniently set aside any feelings of culpability after stepping on the bodies of their fellow man so they can proclaim that they worked hard and made it.

There simply is no parallel between a network marketing model as a "business" and how a "normal?" business really works. I understand this because I own a real business that retails real product.

Network marketing is simply the greatest con game of all time. They should all be shut down.

Is Amway A Job?

 I find it ironic that many Amway diamonds will put down jobs as if you should be embarrassed to have one. They talk about employees being slaves who have to worship an alarm clock and a boss. That your life is so miserable in a job, and you will end up broke at the end of your career after working for 30-40 years. They get people to despise their jobs and their boss and offer the Amway opportunity as a viable solution. Join Amway, 2-5 years of effort and then your job becomes optional, or so they say.

Ironically, the Amway opportunity is basically a job. You sell products and you sell the opportunity to others. That is the key to success according to many LOS's. The flaw is that too many IBOs get fooled into thinking they need to be their own best customer. As an IBO, you are Amway's customer. Anything you purchase results in a profit for Amway, but not necessarily for your business. Have you ever heard of a car salesman buying a new car each month to earn a commission? Or a vacuum cleaner salesman buys a new vacuum each month to increase volume? These concepts sound ridiculous, yet most IBOs run most of their own volume. Some IBOs don't have any customers and end up buying their PV bonus.

While some will argue that they are independent business owners, these nice folks are more like commissioned salespeople with no fringe benefits from Amway. Amway has minimal advertising for their products; thus, volume moves person to person, and mainly word of mouth. In my opinion, the least efficient means of getting goods to the consumer. When you factor in that the Amway goods are not really cheaper than a retailer like Walmart, you can see why some groups focus on self-consumption, because there is no market demand for many of these goods and services, The demand is artificial because the IBOs themselves consume most of the Amway goods and services.

The really damaging aspect of all this is the upline leaders who tout their system of cds, functions, books and voicemail as the key to success. While these materials may have some value, it doesn't equate to success in Amway, and in most cases, the cost of these materials are the reason why so many IBOs end up with a net loss, instead of the extra cash they are seeking. Part of the reason why these materials do not work is because you are dealing with a very inefficient delivery system, coupled with uncompetitive prices (in many cases) and a bad reputation. If the opportunity were "all that", people would be seeking IBOs to sign up instead of IBOs having to lie or trick people into attending recruitment meetings.

Unsuspecting people think the Amway opportunity is a business, but it is more like a job than you think. It is my hope that this article will get you to think about it.

Retired At Age 19?

 One of the humorous things I read is when an Amway IBO says he or she is 19 years old and will be "retired" at the age of 24 because of the Amway business. I personally don't know of anyone who has retired primarily on residual Amway income, as many seem to claim. I am not suggesting that nobody has ever done this, but I suspect that there are so few people who may have done it that it is not noteworthy. Even the Crown Ambassadors appear to not only be working but have very busy schedules where they are constantly on the run. In recent years, some crown ambassadors have passed away while still on the job. Why don't we see any Amway retirees? I know retired teachers, police, fire fighters and such. I don't know of any Amway retirees.  

I know some may argue that diamonds are actually "retired" but just do what they enjoy.  Seriously?  Do you know people who retire to enjoy life but still fight crime or answer calls to put out fires because they enjoyed it?   I heard more than one Amway diamond say that if you enjoyed your job, you would do it for free.  Using that same line of reasoning, how many diamonds would be working those functions or running big meetings for free?  We know that significant income is made at these functions or open meetings.  None of the diamonds do it out of the goodness of their hearts as far as I know.  They do it because they get paid. The same as the guy with a job.  Let that one sink in for a bit. 

The poor retention rate of Amway IBOs would suggest that even a sizable Amway business could fall apart rather quickly without a constant replacement of IBOs. It is for this reason that I suspect that Amway folks never retire. They need to keep working or their businesses will fall apart. If you are a diamond, one downline platinum falling out of qualification could drop you to emerald status. Diamonds are not forever, especially in Amway. They may carry the diamond pin, and could be speaking at functions, but they might be a former diamond with a small downline group.   A former diamond still wears a diamond pin and is recognized as such, after all.

I ask this of IBOs. Is your upline diamond, or someone in between you and the diamond retired because of (primarily) Amway income? Do you as an IBO have a projected date when you will "walk away" from the business and retire? When I was an IBO, I always wondered why nobody "walked away" from their business after they went diamond. I believe the answer is crystal clear. Because IBO turnover is so high, if a diamond were to walk away from the business, he would probably fall out of qualification in less than a year. The bonuses would disappear, and the diamond would probably have to look for a job. There are many examples of diamonds who have quit, and in some cases, went back to work.

Many unsuspecting prospects may be lured into the Amway business with the hope of an early retirement. Amway recruiters may mention that control of time and money is the key to success, but ironically, for most who sign up, will end up with less time and money than if they did not join at all. For many people. especially young people, it might be a good idea to seek financial advice from a professional and to make long term investment goals. Am investment of about $200 a month can net you close to a million bucks after 30 to 40 years.

Yes, there may be "some" people who retired early due to (primarily) Amway income. But I don't know any. And not a single Amway defender has ever been able to name one. It reminds me of bigfoot/sasquatch. Many reports and allegations are there that these creatures exist but there is no real evidence to support that such a creature actually exists. 

Trust Upline?

 One of the disturbing things I have noticed about Amway IBOs and IBO leaders is how they will tell downline to trust them. To trust them 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 fail, upline will shun them and tell them that the failure is their own. That they are personally responsible for failure. 

This lack of accountability by upline leaders is astounding, especially given the fact that the leaders are profiting off the efforts of their downline, as well as selling them training materials that upline claims is foolproof.  It's more disturbing when groups and group leaders talk about how their uplines have a high level of integrity, which is BS in my opinion.  These leaders have the gall to tell the group to make sacrifices, put off time with their families and to spend their discretionary money on ineffective training.  In other words, it appears that these integrity laden leaders are simply defrauding their downline and will never suffer consequences. 

Now when speaking of being defrauded, I am (generally) not talking about IBOs who sign up and do nothing or never place an order. I do believe that the fact that many IBOs sign up and do nothing brings concerns about how these IBOs were recruited, but I do not recall ever seeing many IBOs 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. Factor in that time spent by husband and wife and these folks are breaking even or making a fraction of minimum wage. 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 millions. As I said, some succeed, but very few in relation to the number who try. Going diamond is probably less common in the US than winning the lottery. 

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? I will pass.

Why People Believe?

 Many IBOs cannot be convinced that Amway is not the best opportunity in the world, because they want to believe the lies/deception that is often used when they are recruited. They want to believe that 2-5 years of part time effort will result in lifelong residual income and that they will be traveling to the beaches of the world while cash keeps rolling in. They want to believe that they can ditch their (often) less than adequate jobs. They want to believe that a part time soap business will make all of this possible. The people (upline) who claim to have everyone's best interest at heart will sell them a proven system of success and all they need to do is follow the steps to success.

Many people sign up for Amway and do absolutely nothing. They may not ever order or try products. But these folks do not complain about Amway and the expenses they may incur are minimal. Most do not even bother to seek a refund on their starter kit. It makes me wonder why these folks even bother to sign up. Although, there are stories of people being pestered into registering. Anyway, the part where this business gets dicey is when people register and do put in an earnest effort, only to end up with financial losses. Sometimes the losses are in the tens of thousands of dollars or more. You get squeezed for a couple of hundreds of dollars a month and after a few years of effort, you can find yourself drowning in debt, even after doing everything your upline advised. The fact that uplines don't disclose their business financials speaks volumes. Former uplines who have come forward have shown that most of their income was from hawking standing orders and seminars, and not from Amway sales as they would imply.

I bought into the hype at one time. I believed the lies. I believed my upline that no profit was made from tools. At the time I was an IBO, I too, wanted to believe that I could work part time for 2-5 years and ditch my job. That I would retire at the age of 35 and live in luxury forever. I wanted to believe that. But having reached the 4000 PV level, the precipice of platinum, I also realized that I had no profit. I sat down and did the math and realized that they would be little profit at platinum. I came to the realization that a second job would have suited me better. I finally quit when I realized this, along with my upline wanting total control of my life. But I hung in as long as I did because I wanted to believe that Amway would be the vehicle that delivered my financial freedom.

Having dropped out of Amway, my life quickly got back to normal. Friends that I had avoided returned to my life. My disposable income increased, and my cash flow was positive once again, now that I was no longer obligated to purchase tools. I also noticed years later that the same old leaders on stage were still working as hard as ever, and none of them had taken the option to retire and walk the beaches of the world. Perhaps these leaders also want to - or have to believe in Amway because they have already invested too much time and effort to call it quits and start something else. I wanted to believe, but the fact is that people were not succeeding. People were not getting free. What I saw was home foreclosures, bankruptcies and financial struggles made worse for people because of Amway and the tool systems. And apparently, these same issues apply to the diamonds. Do your research and you will likely find the same conclusion that I did. That Amway is an impossible dream.