Many IBOs join Amway after seeing a presentation. These presentations are crafted to make people uncomfortable with their current situations and/or jobs. Some dream building is done where prospects are given thought provoking messages such as what would you do with an extra $40,000 a year for example. On the surface, it seems to make sense and it seems plausible. The problem usually occurs when IBOs get out in the world and try to build the business.
But in the big picture, is Amway itself needed? I mean you buy products and if you move a certain amount of volume, you get a performance bonus. The goal of many is to sponsor six (6) platinum legs and become a diamond. Some diamonds in the past spoke about how you could technically bury Amway products in your backyard, as long as you did your 100 PV. I guess in a strange way that is true.
In my opinion, the Amway business itself is irrelevent. The Amway business exists to legitimize the motivational businesses of many LOS's such as WWDB, BWW, N21, for example. The motivational business in itself is a huge business. However, the content of much of the material cannot be sold to the general public as evidenced by caseloads of these tools being sold for pennies on the dollar on ebay. The tools only serve to enrich the upline leaders who own the tools business off the backs of the Amway IBOs. Do the math. It costs very little to produce tapes and/or cds, seminars are big money makers. Check and see how much it costs to rent a convention center or arena. You could probably find one where $20 to $25 per person would more than cover the cost. Also, there is little evidence that the tools are effective, despite what upline leaders or Amway apologicts may claim.
There are also groups who have left Amway for other MLM businesses, which also suggests that Amway is a sidebar in the real business for these upline leaders. But still, Amway or another MLM is needed because LOS's cannot simply sell cds and functions without some kind of product to pimp. Thus, together with Amway, upline leaders and Amway handsomely profit together. Upline teaches 100 PV, and that tools are vital to your Amway success. But in the big picture, Amway is not relevent. Think about this seriously for a minute. Next time a function or standing order ir promoted, I urge prospects and current IBOs to digest this post and to think about this.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Amway - Sign Up With WWDB and Make $80,000 Easy!
This is a contact I received from a WWDB IBO a few months ago. Notice the tapespeak and wild income claims. And to think Amway apologists deny that this stuff still goes on..........
Hey, thanks for the reply, I would be happy to tell you what i do, and who i work for.
I am what you call an IBO or independent business owner, its a franchise you can buy in for only 60.00 dollars. Basically the key to making money and plenty of it is to recruit other people to sign up and start their own business. With starting your own business you sell Quixtar's products, and they have everything, so its not hard for anybody to find something they like, also Quixtar has 30 partner companies such as: Circuit City, PacSun, Nascar etc.
Sure, to start your own business you sign up with quixtar.com. WWDB or World Wide Group is a company that provides you your website plus learning and training materials to make sure you become successful in the business. They pretty much hold your hand until you become successful. As far as what i have accomplished in owning my own business i have only had my business for 1 month now and am very happy with it. My mentor or upline, the guy that sponsored me into getting my own business started is my girlfriends father, and he is very successful in the business, which is why i joined, if i told you how much he made a year you wouldnt believe me.
The plan that World Wide group puts you on is mapped out to make you earn 80,000 dollars your first year, which means you would become a platinum member, it goes all the way up to diamond members which make in the six figure incomes
World Wide is not free, but it pays for itself because you will see customers sign up to your website to buy products, you will sell to your family, friends etc., plus if your like me you will try to sign as many people up in your first month as you can, so no, world wide isnt free, but it will pay for itself.
Yeah I’m still in it, i probably work with it about 8-10 hours a week. No, I’m not on pace to make $80,000 in a year, but it’s my own fault, I did not work hard enough. One good thing though, I know I am a better person and getting a check every month helps, even if it’s a small one.
Hey, thanks for the reply, I would be happy to tell you what i do, and who i work for.
I am what you call an IBO or independent business owner, its a franchise you can buy in for only 60.00 dollars. Basically the key to making money and plenty of it is to recruit other people to sign up and start their own business. With starting your own business you sell Quixtar's products, and they have everything, so its not hard for anybody to find something they like, also Quixtar has 30 partner companies such as: Circuit City, PacSun, Nascar etc.
Sure, to start your own business you sign up with quixtar.com. WWDB or World Wide Group is a company that provides you your website plus learning and training materials to make sure you become successful in the business. They pretty much hold your hand until you become successful. As far as what i have accomplished in owning my own business i have only had my business for 1 month now and am very happy with it. My mentor or upline, the guy that sponsored me into getting my own business started is my girlfriends father, and he is very successful in the business, which is why i joined, if i told you how much he made a year you wouldnt believe me.
The plan that World Wide group puts you on is mapped out to make you earn 80,000 dollars your first year, which means you would become a platinum member, it goes all the way up to diamond members which make in the six figure incomes
World Wide is not free, but it pays for itself because you will see customers sign up to your website to buy products, you will sell to your family, friends etc., plus if your like me you will try to sign as many people up in your first month as you can, so no, world wide isnt free, but it will pay for itself.
Yeah I’m still in it, i probably work with it about 8-10 hours a week. No, I’m not on pace to make $80,000 in a year, but it’s my own fault, I did not work hard enough. One good thing though, I know I am a better person and getting a check every month helps, even if it’s a small one.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Amway - IBOs Help People? Not!
When I was still an IBO, we were taught that the business was really about "helping people". Thus many in the group believed we were helping people by showing them the business. That the world will collapse if only good people didn't do anything. Thus sharing the dream and sharing the business was indeed "helping people". It was after I left the business that it truly started to sink in that the AMO teaching was 100% wrong and we were never helping anyone.
The reason why showing someone the business is no help is because if the prospect joins, then that prospect has a fraction of a 1% chance of making any money, and if on the system, that same person has more than a 99% chance of losing money. Is that helping someone?
If someone declined to join or buy Amway products, chances are an IBO never saw or spoke to that person again. This same person, seen as "sharp" before the plan, is now seen as negative, or a loser because they did not see the business as their savior.
What I also realized is all the time I wasted in prospecting people, showing the plan, and attending meetings and functions, could have been better served in actually helping people. For example, when I was sitting in a weekend function, I could have been doing outreach with my church to feed the homeless. The Amway business, while it is promoted as part time, perhaps 8-10 hours a week, it is much more involving than that. If you are a business builder, chances are you spend nearly every waking moment trying to meet new prospects, or trying to show the plan to someone.
So how exactly do IBOs help others?
The reason why showing someone the business is no help is because if the prospect joins, then that prospect has a fraction of a 1% chance of making any money, and if on the system, that same person has more than a 99% chance of losing money. Is that helping someone?
If someone declined to join or buy Amway products, chances are an IBO never saw or spoke to that person again. This same person, seen as "sharp" before the plan, is now seen as negative, or a loser because they did not see the business as their savior.
What I also realized is all the time I wasted in prospecting people, showing the plan, and attending meetings and functions, could have been better served in actually helping people. For example, when I was sitting in a weekend function, I could have been doing outreach with my church to feed the homeless. The Amway business, while it is promoted as part time, perhaps 8-10 hours a week, it is much more involving than that. If you are a business builder, chances are you spend nearly every waking moment trying to meet new prospects, or trying to show the plan to someone.
So how exactly do IBOs help others?
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Amway - Duplication Works Better In A Copy Machine!
One thing many MLMers and Amwayers in particular think, is that duplication is the key to success. Just get others to copy you, I have heard. I remember upline leaders talking all the time that anyone can "copy". Copy is all you need to know and do and you will be successful. But it is very apparent that it is not an easy thing to get followers and to get people to copy.
It's not like you drive to a local UPS store or Kinko's and use a coyp machine to make duplicates. If Amway was such a great business opportunity, you would probably see diamonds breaking in 2-5 years. The fact is that since Quixtar, and now back to Amway, the number of new diamonds has been insignificant compared to the number of IBOs that have come and gone. I believe a year or two ago, an Amway sponsored blog stated that 160 "diamond-ships" attended the Quixtar diamond club in Hawaii. Those were suppopsedly currently qualified diamonds. I'm sure not all diamonds attended, but 160 doesn't sound like much after 48 years in business.
But back to the topic. Duplication doesn't work in Amway because people either already have a bad impression of Amway or the AMOs, or new recruits register and quickly realize that the products cost too much when compared to similar products they can purchase at their local grocers or WalMart. Then you factor in the additional cost for IBOs who participate in the "system" and you have what you have. A low retention rate for IBOs, and IBOs who sign up on the hype and do little or nothing, and IBOs who want to succeed, but simply cannot because of the baggae they carry associated with the Amway name. According to Amway (formerly Quixtar), only 1 in 5 IBOs are able to sponsor another IBO.
When you sit down and really think about these facts and numbers, you can easily see that the 6-4-2 or 9-4-2 or whatever is taught today is nearly impossible, let alone finding downline who can achieve and maintain a group based on these plans.
You can much more easily duplicate Amway by writing Amway on a sheet of paper and going to a copy machine!
It's not like you drive to a local UPS store or Kinko's and use a coyp machine to make duplicates. If Amway was such a great business opportunity, you would probably see diamonds breaking in 2-5 years. The fact is that since Quixtar, and now back to Amway, the number of new diamonds has been insignificant compared to the number of IBOs that have come and gone. I believe a year or two ago, an Amway sponsored blog stated that 160 "diamond-ships" attended the Quixtar diamond club in Hawaii. Those were suppopsedly currently qualified diamonds. I'm sure not all diamonds attended, but 160 doesn't sound like much after 48 years in business.
But back to the topic. Duplication doesn't work in Amway because people either already have a bad impression of Amway or the AMOs, or new recruits register and quickly realize that the products cost too much when compared to similar products they can purchase at their local grocers or WalMart. Then you factor in the additional cost for IBOs who participate in the "system" and you have what you have. A low retention rate for IBOs, and IBOs who sign up on the hype and do little or nothing, and IBOs who want to succeed, but simply cannot because of the baggae they carry associated with the Amway name. According to Amway (formerly Quixtar), only 1 in 5 IBOs are able to sponsor another IBO.
When you sit down and really think about these facts and numbers, you can easily see that the 6-4-2 or 9-4-2 or whatever is taught today is nearly impossible, let alone finding downline who can achieve and maintain a group based on these plans.
You can much more easily duplicate Amway by writing Amway on a sheet of paper and going to a copy machine!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Amway - Listen To Your Upline?
When I was recruited for Amway, one thing I vividly remember was how I should listen to my upline. That they had my best interest at heart and would never advise me to do anything that would hurt my business. In fact, one of the steps of "CORE" is to be teachable or be coachable. We were to submit to upline. People who can humble themselves to take advice from upline would be successful. I believe that in many groups, this is still taught and emphasized. There are pieces of evidence on the internet that some major groups still teach this.
What is interesting though, is how upline takes no resonsibility for IBOs who do what they are taught but fail. The system and upline are often credited for the few successes that they churn out, but they absolve themselves of any responsibility for IBO failures, which is almost all IBOs who get involved with Amway. In fact, upline "love" often turns to de-edification to an IBO who fails. If an IBO gives their all and fails, and subsequently quits, suddenly that once up and coming star IBO is now labeled as bitter, loser, or negative. Upline justifies this by saying that the IBO walked away from the group and the "friendship". Never mind that the failed IBO was faithful and did what was taught, only to be led astray by an upline who profited from that IBO's efforts. This also instills a fear in current IBOs. They fear quitting as they do not wish to be labeled or ridiculed should they decide to walk away from a business that is siphoning their bank account in the form of overpriced products, cds, function tickets and books.
For many if not most IBOs on the system, the upline leaders are ruthless conmen with nice suits and nice smiles. They will "love" you when you are gung ho and dedicated to their foolproof system, but will quickly shun you if you start to see the flaws and question the system. It is why I started blogging, to inform unsuspecting prospects and current IBOs of what they may be experiencing.
What is interesting though, is how upline takes no resonsibility for IBOs who do what they are taught but fail. The system and upline are often credited for the few successes that they churn out, but they absolve themselves of any responsibility for IBO failures, which is almost all IBOs who get involved with Amway. In fact, upline "love" often turns to de-edification to an IBO who fails. If an IBO gives their all and fails, and subsequently quits, suddenly that once up and coming star IBO is now labeled as bitter, loser, or negative. Upline justifies this by saying that the IBO walked away from the group and the "friendship". Never mind that the failed IBO was faithful and did what was taught, only to be led astray by an upline who profited from that IBO's efforts. This also instills a fear in current IBOs. They fear quitting as they do not wish to be labeled or ridiculed should they decide to walk away from a business that is siphoning their bank account in the form of overpriced products, cds, function tickets and books.
For many if not most IBOs on the system, the upline leaders are ruthless conmen with nice suits and nice smiles. They will "love" you when you are gung ho and dedicated to their foolproof system, but will quickly shun you if you start to see the flaws and question the system. It is why I started blogging, to inform unsuspecting prospects and current IBOs of what they may be experiencing.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Amway - Justifying Failures?
One of the things the speaker talked about when I first saw the plan at a big meeting was how people justify their position in life. For example, a father may say a certain school was good enough for him, therefore, that school is good enough for his children. Another example was a wife wanting to take an Alaskan cruise so her husband says look in the freezer if you want to see ice. The speaker went on to say that people justify their position in life to make up for a lack of income or resources.
Thus when you join Amway and go diamond, it was implied that you no longer have to justify these things. That you can now afford the Alaskan cruise, send your kids to exclusive schools or colleges. The sky is the limit for a diamond. All you need to do is find your six directs and life will be rosy. That message was loud and clear. You start to think that finding six can't be impossible. You start thinking that you will be the next diamond adn reap these rewards.
The point of this message however, is for IBOs. Are you justifying your losses in Amway? Are you spending $250 to $300 a month on Amway products and making $10 a month? Are you additionally spending $100 or more on tools? What justification are you using to assure yourself that spendi9ng $400 or more each month is a good idea in exchange for $10? Are you getting good value for your dollar or are you simply willing to part with that money in the hopes of going diamond? Are you on track to make some money in Amway or are you participating in a hobby that slowly drains your resources? Are you actually successful in Amway or are you faking success in the hopes of attracting new prospects? Are you really successful or justifying a business that is losing money?
Take a good look around yourself at your next meeting or function. Are people progressing or do you see the same speakers month after month, meeting after meeting. Are you growing or justifying your continued participation in the business? Are you justifying failure? Businesses exist to make a net profit. If you aren't, then what are you doing?
Thus when you join Amway and go diamond, it was implied that you no longer have to justify these things. That you can now afford the Alaskan cruise, send your kids to exclusive schools or colleges. The sky is the limit for a diamond. All you need to do is find your six directs and life will be rosy. That message was loud and clear. You start to think that finding six can't be impossible. You start thinking that you will be the next diamond adn reap these rewards.
The point of this message however, is for IBOs. Are you justifying your losses in Amway? Are you spending $250 to $300 a month on Amway products and making $10 a month? Are you additionally spending $100 or more on tools? What justification are you using to assure yourself that spendi9ng $400 or more each month is a good idea in exchange for $10? Are you getting good value for your dollar or are you simply willing to part with that money in the hopes of going diamond? Are you on track to make some money in Amway or are you participating in a hobby that slowly drains your resources? Are you actually successful in Amway or are you faking success in the hopes of attracting new prospects? Are you really successful or justifying a business that is losing money?
Take a good look around yourself at your next meeting or function. Are people progressing or do you see the same speakers month after month, meeting after meeting. Are you growing or justifying your continued participation in the business? Are you justifying failure? Businesses exist to make a net profit. If you aren't, then what are you doing?
Friday, May 1, 2009
Amway - What Early Retirement?
I recently read comments by an Amway IBO that totally cracked me up. He said when he was recruited, he was told up front that Amway is not get rich quick nor is it easy. Then in closing, this 22 year old said he will be retiring at the age of 27 and living large. It is very redundant for IBOs to claim that they think AMway is hard work and will not allow them to get rich quick. It that were the case, why would they join in the first place instead? Obviously something appealed to them in the pitch.
But it brings me to another point and that is this. Do IBOs actually know anyone who is retired early because of the grand Amway income? I do not claim that nobody has done this, but I have not heard of anyone, nor do I know anyone who can make that claim. In fact, apparently, even the "Crown Ambassadors" are all still working their Amway businesses. It may seem glamourous to travel the country to speak at functions, but I can see how that can be tiring and at times, boring.
If these folks could actually "walk away" from their Amway businesses and collect residual income forever, why don't you hear about anyone doing it? Let's examins this possibility for a minute. Amway IBOs have a very low retention rate. Thus once anyone "walks away" from their business, it will immediately decline unless you have growing downline leaders in each of your legs. I will guess that this is not true of most diamonds and above. This can be concluded by the fact that most diamonds and above are not of the "founders" variety.
So I will ask prospects and current IBOs. If you are in the "biz for early retirement, are you on track to accomplish that or are you only dreaming about it?
But it brings me to another point and that is this. Do IBOs actually know anyone who is retired early because of the grand Amway income? I do not claim that nobody has done this, but I have not heard of anyone, nor do I know anyone who can make that claim. In fact, apparently, even the "Crown Ambassadors" are all still working their Amway businesses. It may seem glamourous to travel the country to speak at functions, but I can see how that can be tiring and at times, boring.
If these folks could actually "walk away" from their Amway businesses and collect residual income forever, why don't you hear about anyone doing it? Let's examins this possibility for a minute. Amway IBOs have a very low retention rate. Thus once anyone "walks away" from their business, it will immediately decline unless you have growing downline leaders in each of your legs. I will guess that this is not true of most diamonds and above. This can be concluded by the fact that most diamonds and above are not of the "founders" variety.
So I will ask prospects and current IBOs. If you are in the "biz for early retirement, are you on track to accomplish that or are you only dreaming about it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)