Is There An Amway Quota?

 Most Lines of Sponsorship (LOS) groups that I know of, such as WWDB, N21, or BWW 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 nutrilte 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.  But Amway IBOs are taught fierce product loyalty.   It's how uplines help Amway, and in turn, Amway keeps their hands off the leaders who teach this method, in my opinion.

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 the eagle program.  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.

Brainwashed Amway IBOs?

You may have herd the term "brainwashed" IBOs before.   The idea that Amway uplines teach their downline IBOs basically nonsense, but IBOs trust and believe in their upline because they so want to believe that they are 2-5 years away from retiring at the age of 29.  To not believe upline is to admit that you will be working until you're 65 years old to retire.  Most people are young, motivated and often hard working individuals looking for a shortcut to retirement and not much more.  They've been told that Amway provides that vehicle for them.  Sadly, part of the brainwashing is to ignore obvious facts such as net business losses month after month.  Uplines will often say you need to be "brainwashed" to think positively and more about business.  (It's all a bunch of hooey)

Sometimes it happens to the nicest of people and it often happens slowly and subtly. These are the signs that you are becoming indoctrinated, and you are likely annoying your friends and loved ones at this point. I hope this helps you. But seriously, the Amway IBOs begin to believe anything upline tells them and they begin to act out what they are taught and are in danger of becoming Amway zombies. Here are some warning signs:

*You're driven to recruit everyone you know. You may even resort to deception or outright lies to get people to meetings. Before you know it, your family and friends avoid you like the plague. You end up spending time at malls and other public places such as Starbucks desperately stalking and scouting for "sharp" recruits. Much of your time is spent doing this activity when you're not getting more brainwashed at rah rah meetings.

*You're encouraged to develop an unreasonable, irrational zeal for the products. Even so far as to justify the quality of toilet paper or to call the products prestigious. You may even argue the quality of energy drinks or about phytonutrients, something you may not even know about. You even argue about concentration values in dish soap or laundry detergent.

*A whole bunch of demands, promises, subtle threats of failure if you don't try hard enough are made in the promotional material and motivational seminars. i.e. If you quit, you are a loser destined to die broke and unhappy. Or you let someone steal your dream. These ridiculous claims are how your upline keeps you hooked. There is constant pressure to never quit and to keep on pimping Amway to recruits.

*Because the system is touted as the way you're going to make yourself fantastically rich, you're under constant pressure to drop any conflicting or competing interests such as your softball or bowling league or golf club. Nothing else in life has importance except for the quest of financial freedom. All activities in your life must enhance your Amway business and have an affect on your financial future. No other activities matter to you unless it affects your dream filled Amway financial future.  Even the money you spend must be spent to achieve that end.

*Your upline soon becomes your most trusted friend. Your thoughts and feelings are shaped in large part by the cds, meetings and functions.  Thus you may have heard the term "tapespeak", when groups of IBOs parrot irrational thoughts shared by upline at a meeting or hear on an audio.

Do you recognize these behaviors? Hopefully you aren't displaying these behaviors.

IBOs 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.

Why IBOs Fail?

 Over the years, there must have been tens of millions of IBOs who had some experience with Amway. Obviously, not all of these folks got involved in a system or had the intention of trying to make millions of dollars. But looking at the business as a whole, the number of people who make a significant income from Amway is a tiny fraction of 1%. If a typical platinum has about 100 IBOs in a group, then you can conclude that platinum is in the top 1% of all IBOs. And we know that many IBOs quit and go through the business each year. The attrition rate can be staggering for bigger pins who need to keep working to replace those who quit.

But the question that seems to be ignored is why so many IBOs end up failing? Now for the sake of this discussion, let's exclude IBOs who do nothing and quit. Let's talk about IBOs who make an earnest effort. Often, the serious IBOs will be on the system consisting of voicemail, standing order, functions, books and other meetings. These all come at a cost, therefore, IBOs need to make several hundred dollars a month or more just to break even. I might add that a rank and file IBO who earns about $200 a month from Amway is way above average and the vast majority make far less than $200. Amway reports that the average income of active IBOs is about $200 a month but that includes the diamonds and other big pins. Therefore, the average business building IBO is operating at a loss.

Let's look at some of the reasons why IBOs cannot succeed. In general, Amway product pricing is higher than local big box retailers. Amway pays bonuses, therefore the bonus payout is included in the price of the products. I suppose a platinum gets a good deal, being at the 25% level, but a platinum is in the top 1% of IBOs. The majority of the rest receive a paltry 3% which leaves them at a loss when business expenses are factored in.

Past IBO abuse and past IBO behavior makes it nearly impossible, at least in North America, to find potential downline IBOs and customers. Seems everyone knows of someone who was tricked into an Amway meeting or was deceived about Amway in some manner. I believe Amway has seen a decline in sales in North America, with foreign countries being responsible for any current growth in business.

Another factor is that IBOs are taught by uplines to engage in too many activities that do not produce income. Attending meetings, listening to cds/audios, reading books and other functions cost the IBO money. They do not result in more sales to customers. These non income producing activities seem to be the majority of an IBO's activities, thus it's easy to see why so many IBOs fail. While system leaders claim that their system works, there is no reasonable evidence to support this claim. Just the fact that new diamonds and emeralds are so rare these days suggest that the system, with their severely limited success is producing less success these days.

All told, an IBO's chance of succeeding in earning long term sustainable income is so tiny that IBOs seriously would be better off buying lottery tickets instead of buying tools such as standing orders and function tickets. At least buying lottery tickets would not use up 10-15 hours per week of your time, and your chance of winning is about the same. The system doesn't work, it is why most IBOs fail.

The Amway Pyramid?

 Let me start out by saying that Amway is a very likely a perfectly legal company, and therefore I am not saying or implying that Amway is illegal.  However, I believe however, that the way Amway businesses are run, are like pyramids. In most groups, you will have the lowest level IBOs efforts and tool purchases being responsible for the upline bonuses and tools income. Many many IBOs are fooled into thinking that the ability to surpass your upline or that you don't get paid to recruit downline makes this a good deal. This doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of IBOs lose money. The lottery is legal in most states, but I'd say it's not a good investment for your money.

Unless you have a very very rare group where actual product sales to non IBOs are sufficient to cover the costs of running your business, functions and all, then it is true that the lower level IBO's jobs are likely the source of income for the uplines. How many groups are like that? None that I have ever seen or know of. In fact, how often do IBOs even sell enough products to cover their expenses for even one month out of the year? The groups that teach "buy from yourself" end up doing the most financial damage to their groups because the downline's expenses are then covered exclusively from the downlines jobs, bank accounts, or drive the downline into debt.

I've seen and discussed group structures in forums many times and I can only conclude that tool sales wipe out what little profits/bonuses some of the downlines might receive. Only when an IBO is able to sponsor enough downline to absorb the losses for them will they finally break even or make a little profit. I would guess that the 4000 PV level or platinum is where a dedicated CORE IBO would just about break even and possibly start to make a real profit. But if you are hard core dedicated, you can still lose money at these levels. We also know that most platinum groups have 100 or more IBOs in order to generate 7500 PV. Thus we can also conclude that less than 1% of IBOs make a net profit. The only way IBOs can earn a net profit at a lower level is to avoid purchasing tools and to avoid paying for functions. Those who get involved in a system such as WWDB or N21 almost guarantee that they will have a net loss because of the expenses associated with these systems.

Sure, my job may have a pyramid structure with the CEO making the most money. But the difference is that in a company, even the lowest paid employee still receives a paycheck and has money at the end of the month. The same claim cannot be made by IBOs. For these reasons, I believe Amway to be a legal pyramid, where money flows from downline to the upline. IBOs and information seekers are free to participate, but I challenge them to sit down and really analyze their ability to make a net profit. In most cases, the analysis won't be favorable. If you are in the US in particular, you may have great difficulty in even being able to discuss "Amway" without getting strange looks your way from others. Do you have to shy away from using the name Amway? Do you have to use the curiosity approach? If you do, ask yourself why. The answer is obvious.

Alternate Reality?

 One of the things that keeps some IBOs going is the "alternative 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 may have been 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. 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 founders crown ambassador 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 nearly as impressive as I would have thought.

But what is the 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 nite owls when you need a good nite'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 much 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. I recently sent some information to Amway about some unethical behavior by an IBO. Not only did they not publish my concern on their now defunct "Answers" blog, they also did not respond and apparently did nothing to the unethical IBO. So much for not turning a blind eye.

For active IBOs or prospects, these are the realities that may be attached with the Amway opportunity. Much of it is because of motivational groups such as WWDB or BWW, 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 moe efficent 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

Why Join Amway?

 For people who have already joined Amway and are trying their best to make a buck, only to see net losses month after month, you have to wonder at times why you joined Amway. As an IBO, I initially joined as it was pitched to me that I could easily earn a couple of hundred dollars a month, which could make a big impact on my life at the time. Of course, it made sense that I needed to invest a little bit of money to get started and to learn about how to run a business.  This believable and reasonable sounding pitch convinced me that I could do this.  Start a small Amway business to make a few hundred bucks a month.

When I got started, there was a lot of hype and excitement in my business. I quickly managed to sponsor people and my business was on its way. I was touted as a mover and shaker and even got to attend some "exclusive" home board plans with my upline diamond. Even though I did as I was advised, had the parameters in the business that were recommended, I noticed that any cash I had earned still resulted in a loss, or if I made some money, the "next major function" ate it up and then some. As you should know, there are four major functions and a bunch of regional ones. But for many, the major functions take place out of your area, requiring travel, sometimes by air.

It was at the function in July called "family reunion" where I started to figure out what was happening. My upline platinum was having us "hang out" after the function at about 1:30 am. He started talking about how the business has nothing to do with money. That we made friends, became nicer people, better spouses or parents, and that money was the least important aspect of the business. While many nodded in agreement, I was thinking what the heck??? I wouldn't have joined and "invested" that much time and money into a business where I was "moving and shaking" but not making money.

Many IBOs are at a point where it may be hard to quit. You may have invested some time, money, and effort into your business, and you may have been programmed to think that quitting is failure or that success is right around the corner, and you don't want to quit too soon. But I urge you to look at facts. What is your bottom-line net income? It is red numbers? Is it a recurring loss, primarily because of tool and function purchases? If that is true, ask yourself why you joined?   Was it to be a nicer person or to earn some money?   The recruitment meetings are pitched as a way to become uber-rich, yet the very reasons most people join, to have more time and money, is ironically what they end up with less of.

What are your prospects of making a net profit soon if you are breaking even or taking losses? Amway leaders themselves have often said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Where are you at?