The Negative Truth?

 One of the silly things many Amway IBOs are taught is to avoid negative. I believe this is taught today by uplines and it was certainly a point of emphasis even in my days as an IBO. The upline diamond would say that the world of full of negatives and that we as people take in too much of these negatives. Therefore, the IBOs were told to avoid television, newspapers and other forms of communication with the outside world. The group was also told to avoid people who speak negatively about Amway. For this reason, many people have considered Amway groups such as WWDB or N21 as cultish or cult-like. (information deprivation or information control).

I can agree that you surely don't want to only take in negatives as it can wear you down, but not seeing the news or reading about current events in the paper simply makes you apathetic and uninformed. For example, wouldn't you want and need to know if there was a storm heading your way? I live in Hawaii, and we occasionally have hurricanes. Avoiding news could be very detrimental to your family and home. If you lived in the midwest of the US, wouldn't you want and need to know if a tornado was headed your way? Do you avoid the doctor because his assessment of your health might not be "positive"? For these reasons, I believe that many Amway IBOs walk around wearing a mask with a false smile, trying to appear overly positive.

Another important thing that many IBOs cannot distinguish is the difference between negative and the truth. If your wife asks you if her new dress makes her look fat, the truth might be that the new dress indeed makes her appear fat. That answer may be uncomfortable for you to deliver, but the truth is the truth. The truth at times can be positive or negative but it is still the truth.

Most IBOs earn less than $100 a month. That is the truth. Most IBOs lose money if they participate in functions and standing orders and such. That is the truth. Most IBOs will never even sponsor a downline. That is the truth. Most IBOs, filled with motivation and dreams, will never see those dreams fulfilled. That is the truth. Many upline diamonds, who advise IBOs to purchase tools and attend functions, and fill the IBO's heads full of dreams, make significant incomes from the sale of tools and functions. That is also the truth. In a 1 year time span, approximately 50% of IBOs will quit in the first year. That is the truth.

Is it negative to tell the truth? Or can IBOs not handle the truth?

Less Time And Money?

 One of the things that uplines do when recruiting new IBOs is to talk about how jobs are dead end, that someday you may be fired, that you have no control over a job, or that you are never paid what you are worth. They convince you that working a job is a crime and that your boss probably works the longest hours. They may even say that those who make good money working a job often works so much that they don't have time to enjoy it. My former upline used to say that true freedom is the control of time and money. 

What I was also told that that in the real world, generally the guys who have enough money are usually so busy working that they don't have time. Or that a broke guy who's got time on his hands is broke so he can't do much of anything. That's when they would convince prospects that only through Amway can you have both. You can have both time and money. You build it right and build it once, and the (Amway) business will pay you for the rest of your life. That's how it was presented to me and looking back, it was a total lie. I have a challenge for any IBO or Amway defender. Amway's been around for more than 50 years. Can anyone name a dozen people who have actually built an Amway business and then stopped working it but continued to collect a significant income that was actually passed onto their heirs? Can anyone name even one or two? Keep in mind that tens of millions of people have come and gone through the business. Also keep in mind that Amway doesn't make these claims. Maybe someone should ask Amway?

It makes me wonder why crown ambassadors don't even walk away and collect money forever. These crown ambassadors are all old and have been around forever, yet they continue to work their groups and attend all the functions. Sure, maybe their day to day lives aren't as busy as a 9-5 employee with young kids, but still it makes me wonder why not even double diamonds and above (as far as I know) have exercised the option to walk away and enjoy mountains of residual cash rolling in. I also wonder why there are stories of diamonds quitting and resigning if there was an option to walk away and enjoy lifelong residual income. We also know that diamonds fall out of qualification, and we know that many platinums fall out of qualification, providing ample evidence that an Amway business is unstable and that without constant attention, your business is likely to fall apart.

Let me close with this. We know that a typical platinum business has about 100 or more downline IBOs. That doesn't include those who quit. Thus, a platinum is already in the top 1% of all Amway businesses and that platinums might not even make that much net income when considering that platinums have many expenses which may include eating losses on tools refunds for the upline diamonds.

Yes, true financial freedom is having complete control of time and money. The problem is that very few people ever achieve financial freedom, but it would appear that even fewer Amway business owners achieve that same financial freedom because of the Amway opportunity. Also, showing pictures of mansions and sports cars is not proof of financial freedom.

Money For Nothing And Your Chicks For Free?

 I'm quoting the show "Shark Tank's" Kevin O'Leary when he is referring to the upcoming election of the NY City Mayor.  The upstart Zohran Mamdani still leads the polls for this race and I believe some business leaders are rallying around just about any other candidate who might be able to beat Mamdani.  Mamdani has promised to turn NY into a socialist city with no jails and no police, among other things.

This could be a preview of someone destroying a once great city.  But if we just look at other similar candidates such as the mayors of Chicago, San Francisco and Minneapolis, you can see that these policies are bat sh@t crazy.  It's amazing that people actually vote for these candidates.  But as Mr. O'Leary says, you promise "money for nothing and your chicks for free".  The younger generation seems to be attracted to universal income where you get money for not working, and promises of free stuff.  I believe many universities have been infiltrated by bat sh@t crazy professors who teach this stuff.  Countries that turned socialist like Venezuala went from the thriving prosperous country into poverty and despair.

My sympathies go out to the victims and families of the victims in the recent NY city shooting.  But here's the point.  Mamdani wants no jails and no police, to replace the police with social workers.  How will social workers stop a gun toting crazy?  If you were a social worker in NY, would you want the job of handling what used to be armed police officers?   Now Mamdani is walking back some of his claims for no police because it seems unpopular.  I find it ironic that he walks the street with armed security while advocating for no police and no jails.  This is why I always say watch what politicians do, not what they say.

Mamdani also wants to eliminate billionaires.  But if there are no wealthy people, where does the city get the revenue to fund all the "free stuff"?  People not working but getting income, housing and free bus and/or subway service sounds great until you run out of money.  That's always the problem in a socialist society.   Something like 40+ % of people pay no net federal taxes now.  The vast majority of taxes are paid by the wealthy and the middle class.  The people getting "free stuff" eventually becomes an incentive for working people to not want to work and get free stuff. themselves.  Why work hard when you don't get ahead and the lazy get the same lifestyle as you for not working?  Why work extra hard to make money when there's no reward?

So yeah, promising "money for nothing and your chicks for free" might help you win an election, but be careful what you ask for.  you might get it.    As a little food for thought, try finding out where these politicians live as compared to the people they represent.  They aren't living in the lower income neighborhoods or walking around unprotected from the crime going on in the streets,

Living In Denial?

 It is a very sad thing indeed, to see so many Amway IBOs living in utter denial. Most IBOs are probably good and hardworking people, but they get taught misguided and unethical things by their upline and as a result, many IBOs end up living in denial.  Too many IBOs put too much trust in upline and don't actually scrutinize what they say. Many IBOs are losing money because of their dedication to the tools system, but they are taught that never missing a function or buying more tools makes you successful. Or they are taught to ignore facts if they have a big dream. These kinds of teachings are contrary to the basics of running a business. Even monitoring profit and loss isn't taught.  I recall our diamond saying he just made a big (accounting) mess, but it was worth it, because after all, he's now a diamond.  What about the rest who aren't?

Even when an upline leader may have been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, these leaders simply revise history or deny confirmed allegations, and the faithful downline simply ignores the issues. It seems that many IBOs believe that their uplines walk on water. Of course, these leaders are human, as many point out, but I will also point out that their perceived divinity is a big factor in their sale of training materials, thus they should be held accountable for their actions and their actions should be held at a higher standard than a rank-and-file IBO.   For example, some diamonds were found to have mortgages after saying they pay only cash for homes.  Or diamonds who pretend they never got divorced and tried to rewrite history.

For another example, I still see IBOs denying that a prominent diamond was in bankruptcy proceedings despite the fact that there are public documents confirming this. I still see Amway apologists claiming that certain things are not taught by upline anymore, but IBOs bloggers still talk about misguided teaching, such as how Amway or WWDB IBOs have a lower divorce rate than the general public, even when one of their leaders apparently got divorced recently. It's scary how many IBOs apparently don't believe their own eyes and ears.

It's apparent that many IBO are simply in denial. They believe they are successful even when losing money month after month. They believe that their leaders can do no wrong. They believe that they will succeed if they never quit. They often believe that naysayers of Amway are broke or losers. But the facts are there. It is a fact that the vast majority of IBOs on the system lose money. It is a fact that the average IBOs earns less than the minimum wage. It is a fact that most IBOs cannot or do not sell many Amway products. It is a fact that some upline leaders make most of their money selling tools to their downline. It is a fact that some upline leaders lied about tool profits in the past and may still be lying about it. These are some of the facts about this opportunity. You can believe it or deny it but look at your bottom line. If you are losing money, are you successful or in denial?

I Can Outearn My Sponsor?

 One of the humorous defenses that Amway supporters use to defend their business is that it must not be a pyramid or it must be legitimate because you have the opportunity to earn more than your sponsor. While many downlines in fact do earn more than their sponsors, it's likely "most IBOs do nothing" or because about half of all IBOs quit in a year or less those who stay for even a year, when you factor in the business expenses for those who are on tools, the reality of suffering business losses also causes people to exit the business. It's not that hard to earn more than people who quit. But even at that, someone who quits is often better off than IBOs who continue because those on the system are losing money.

An IBO at the 100 PV level will earn about $10 in bonus income from Amway.  If they are attending functions, buying standing orders and voicemail, they will almost guaranteed operate at a loss. Thus, unless their business grows each month (highly unlikely, even if they do as upline advises) then they will suffer losses each month and those who quit will be better off. It is why I have stated that doing nothing or staying home and watching television can honestly be better options than joining Amway and the systems such as WWDB, N21 or BWW. It is why reasonable people can conclude that working for minimum wage, even a few hours a week makes you better off than joining Amway and the systems.

The defense that someone can out earn their upline is silly. The true benchmark of this statement would be for a new guy to start a business, and in 2-5 years, out earn someone like a crown ambassador. It will never happen because upline has direct influence over the fortunes of their downline, even at the diamond level. It is why you have seen diamonds quit or split from their upline to start their own training systems. They cannot affect change from downline, without upline consent, thus the breaking away from their "mentors" or leaders. At times there have even been lawsuits between diamonds over the tools income. Do people really sue their mentors? Don't diamonds teach you that suing people is wrong? That you don't get something for nothing?

You can surely out earn your sponsor. All it takes is for your sponsor to quit. However, your sponsor quitting might mean you don't out earn your sponsor. See my example above. Taking losses is not out earning someone. Keep in mind that everyone in Amway is equal. You are all unpaid commissioned Amway salespeople, bound to Amway's terms and agreements. You don't own your downline. You don't really own much as an independent business owner. You can out earn your sponsor, but that means squidly diddly when your sponsor makes nothing or takes a loss. Come back and chirp when you out earn your upline diamond. Do I hear crickets chirping now? :-)

Excuses?

 I've been a blogger now for a number of years. I've debated with Amway apologists and they ultimately resort to excuses and/or personal attacks when they run out of defenses. Food for thought, when you have to make excuses about why your opportunity isn't a scam or a pyramid scheme, that should already make you stop and think for a minute. The easy excuse is to say that "my group isn't like that". Yet I see testimonies and statements that indicate to me that things have not changed, even in all the years since I left the Amway business myself.  And why would things change?  What significant changes has Amway made to the business model?  The compensation plan is the same.  

Even the product's prices need to be justified. That there is concentration or other factors that really make Amway stuff a better value. Strange how that better value doesn't seem to translate further once an IBO realizes that there is no residual income, and mostly likely business losses at the end of the rainbow. Many IBOs don't seem to mind paying for Amway stuff when they believe that they will one day walk the beaches of the world while more money than they can count will keep rolling in. When the dream fades, so does the desire to purchase these awesome products. If not, with tens of millions of former IBOs, Amway sales should be through the roof after all these years. But it hasn't.  Amway sales peaked at one point some years ago, (At just over 11 billion I believe) but it has never reached that point again, as far as I know,

Amway also reported some years ago that they have updated their average IBO income. While it is still miserable, ($202 a month, including diamonds) it has gone up, although a clear explanation as to how and why they calculated the "average income" was not apparently given. So, the debate continues. Critics analyzing and predicting how and why, and Amway apologists making excuses and justifying their position. Why not just be transparent and end the debate once and for all? I think most people know the answer. The bottom line for most is whether or not they make a net profit. For the vast majority of IBOs, especially the ones on the system, the answer is a net loss. It is predictable and easy to conclude. The 6-4-2 or any other version of the compensation plan clearly shows that very few people can make any decent money. If a platinum IBO typically has 100 or more IBOs, that is your answer there. It should be noted that a platinum might not even be very profitable if they are sold out on buying system tools.

So IBOs and Amway defenders, are you making money (net profit)? Or are you just making excuses?

Get Rich Slow?

 One of the things upline used to say was that Amway is not "get rich quick". I suppose they say this because most people would more likely think scam if they promoted it that way. (I believe Amway is a scam) Ironic, but when you stop and think about it, 2-5 years, build it right and you have willable, residual income for like while walking the beaches of the world? That's not get rich quick? Or is it more of a disclaimer so that the opportunity doesn't sound "too good to be true"? One thing is for sure, even if uplines tell you that it's not get rich quick, it's obvious that IBOs think they will eventually get rich, even if it's not quick. Amway leaders have said "Amway is get rich slow".

What most IBOs don't figure out quickly enough, is that they are unlikely to even make a profit, let alone getting rich from Amway. How many of these retired Amway people exist? Where are all of these retired Amway IBOs who built a business in 2-5 years and then walked away from their business and will be collecting a significant residual income for many years to come afterwards? I don't know of a single person who has done this and none of the Amway defenders and zealots I have encountered over the years has been able to supply this information either.

I can acknowledge that Amway is a business opportunity and will definitely take some work to be able to achieve something. But thinking realistically, what business could you actually be able to walk away in 5 years and not work again? More than likely that business doesn't exist, whether it's Amway or not. Say you opened a conventional business. There wouldn't be many scenarios where you could walk away after a number of years. The business would still require work and maintenance. But for some reason, people are misled to believe that you can do this in Amway where there is a high attrition rate and where your business can only expand by person to person, which is quite inefficient.

Sadly, many of the people who are attracted to the Amway opportunity are often young people looking to get more out of life. They are often ambitious but may lack a means to gain wealth, thus the appeal of the Amway opportunity is there. Unfortunately, these nice young people are more likely to end up channeling their hard-earned dollars into standing orders and functions which will almost guarantee that they end up with a net loss. The bottom line is that not only is Amway not get rich quick. The more likely scenario is that your involvement with Amway will very likely be not getting rich at all. A net loss is the most likely result. The real-life results and Amway's own disclosures suggest that I am spot on.