One of the many things that IBOs are badly misguided on is the concept of dreams and fighting for dreams. A dream is basically a long term goal. Someone might dream about playing in the National Football League. To accomplish that dream, one might play high school and/or college level football. For most, the dream will end. No matter how much someone wants to play in the NFL, only so many people are proficient enough to be able to make the team. Even fewer are elite players that become stars. So while you might fight for your dreams, there is also an alternate reality.
In the Amway business, via the "systems" such as WWDB or Network 21, the leaders will often sell hopes and dreams to the downline. That the downline can be retired at the age of 29, walking the beaches of the world while the income just rolls in forever and ever. These kinds of "dreams" would be the same as hoping to win the powerball lottery. You may have seen a few who did it but the chance of you duplicating it is very unlikely. Slim to none is your chance in reality. Even those who might achieve diamond will find it difficult to maintain.
Another things uplines will often do is tell anecdotal stories about crabs keeping each other in a bucket when one tries to escape, or about monkeys preventing each other from grabbing bananas at the top of the pole. While the stories may be interesting and even true, it doesn't necessarily apply to the Amway business. While it is true that an IBO may have friends and family who are skeptical about Amway, it is with good reason. Many people have gone through the Amway business with no success. Many people have lost money doing everyting they were advised to do by upline. There is a track record of financial disasters associated with Amway and the attached "systems". It's not like there's a long list of people who have walked away from Amway with the cash rolling in and not a care in the world. Ever wonder why none of the crown ambassadors have exercised the option to "walk away"?
I think people should have dreams. I think people should pursue their dreams. I also think people need to know that certain dreams can come true. There also needs to be a degree of reality in their dreams. There will always be some inspirational person such as a "Rudy" who overcame great odds to accomplish a dream, but the untold reality is that there were probably many many young men who dreamed of playing for Notre Dame that year. Likely, no one else accomplished the unlikely dream like a Rudy. What I am saying is that earning a nice income and having the option of early retirement can be acomplished in many ways. You might be choosing to use Amway to accomplish your financial dreams and that is your right. But the reality is that very few people have made all their financial dreams come true due to the Amway opportunity, as compared to the tens of millions who have tried.
Keep fighting for your dreams, but keep in mind that you might need a plan B and a dose of reality.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Amway IBOs Are Successful!
Success is subjective. Someone making ten dollars might be considered successful. For others, nothing less than a barrel of cash will suffice. One other important point is that there are undoubtably some very successful people in Amway. I am sure that some Amway diamonds are quite well off and enjoy some of the finer things in life. But the reality is that these successes are very very rare and many of these success apparently are not sustainable as many people are led to believe. The more likely scenario is is an IBO making a few dollars a month while spending more than that on training. They are losing money but they think they are successful. The reality indicates otherwise.
But the bigger issue in the Amway opportunity is where the success comes from. Sure, many people want to "go diamond" and live in luxury while barrels of cash roll in. But what is unknown to many, is that the few who enjoy the lifestyle and trappings do so at the expense of their downline. The downline move the volume and the downline purchases the system materials, both of which is profitable for the upline. Because Amway products, admittedly are not commonly sold to people who are not IBOs, then anyone can conclude that upline success comes from the pockets of the downline. Most downline would be better off writing a check for $100 each month to their upline and not participating in the business or buying products at all.
This in itself would not be such an issue if the system actually churned out new successes frequently AND if the downline were not led to believe that the system is the key to their success. But less than one half of one percent of IBOs ever reach platinum and out of those who do, only a tiny fraction of one percent ever attain the diamond level. But the business has tens of millions of people who tried and could never achieve what was promoted. Lack of effort may be a factor, but when that many people try and fail, it's evident that the system is flawed as well. The rate of success is comparable to a lottery, which is sad when you consider that Amway is not a game of chance.
To summarize, it is possible for someone to achieve a level of success in Amway, but it is so difficult and so rare that IBOs probably have a better chance of winning the lottery or being struck by lightning than they do of achieving a significant level in the Amway business. Some people are successful, but it is usually at the expense of their downline. The catch is that uplines will teach their faithful downline IBOs that attending a function or buying a standing order is success, regardless of whether an IBO is earning a profit. So many IBOs think they're successful but they are simply fooling themselves with the help of their upline.
Success is undeniable, but sadly for the vast majority of IBOs, it is also unattainable, at least in the Amway opportunity.
But the bigger issue in the Amway opportunity is where the success comes from. Sure, many people want to "go diamond" and live in luxury while barrels of cash roll in. But what is unknown to many, is that the few who enjoy the lifestyle and trappings do so at the expense of their downline. The downline move the volume and the downline purchases the system materials, both of which is profitable for the upline. Because Amway products, admittedly are not commonly sold to people who are not IBOs, then anyone can conclude that upline success comes from the pockets of the downline. Most downline would be better off writing a check for $100 each month to their upline and not participating in the business or buying products at all.
This in itself would not be such an issue if the system actually churned out new successes frequently AND if the downline were not led to believe that the system is the key to their success. But less than one half of one percent of IBOs ever reach platinum and out of those who do, only a tiny fraction of one percent ever attain the diamond level. But the business has tens of millions of people who tried and could never achieve what was promoted. Lack of effort may be a factor, but when that many people try and fail, it's evident that the system is flawed as well. The rate of success is comparable to a lottery, which is sad when you consider that Amway is not a game of chance.
To summarize, it is possible for someone to achieve a level of success in Amway, but it is so difficult and so rare that IBOs probably have a better chance of winning the lottery or being struck by lightning than they do of achieving a significant level in the Amway business. Some people are successful, but it is usually at the expense of their downline. The catch is that uplines will teach their faithful downline IBOs that attending a function or buying a standing order is success, regardless of whether an IBO is earning a profit. So many IBOs think they're successful but they are simply fooling themselves with the help of their upline.
Success is undeniable, but sadly for the vast majority of IBOs, it is also unattainable, at least in the Amway opportunity.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
IBOs Cause Amway The Most Damage?
What I observe very frequently is new IBOs posting about the virtues of Amway and the Amway business. I believe most of these IBOs are not profitable and have only learned what their upline has taught them. They do not have adequate knowledge to defend the basic criticism about Amway. The often wind up diverting and deflecting the conversations on forums and blog, and then eventually when the new IBO runs out of ammunition for defense, they resort to name calling, insults and/or extolling Amway's virtues such as their 10.8 billion in sales last year, which is great for Amway, but does nothing for the IBOs. Amway's increase in sales have nothing to do with an individual IBO's sales. Also, if I remember correctly, Amway increases have primarily come from foreign countries such as Korea and China. What good is that for a North American IBO?
What some of the Amway IBOs don't realize is that there are many former Amway IBOs or critics who have direct experience and are quite knowledgeable about the Amway business and how the basics of the business works, including the compensation plan. Therefore, when a new IBO tries to tell tall tales or to stretch the truth about their earnings and expenses, it sticks out like a sore thumb when the situation is analyzed and examined. Often, the IBO, now cornered, has nothing left but to leave the discussion or dig in and insist that they are correct. Because basic math often tells the truth, and IBO might be stuck with no answers. Then the broke losers, quitters, jealousy and other insults come flying.
What these IBOs don't realize is that prospects or information seekers can see and follow the discussion and more often than not, the IBOs are making monkeys out of themselves with silly unrealistic claims of success, or outrageous claims such as being in Amway for 6 weeks and they are already making $6,000 a month for example. When you factor in these tidbits along with IBOs who trick people into attending meetings, and other deceptions and lies told about the Amway opportunity and you have a recipe for disaster. IBOs may not know it, but they themselves are causing the most damage to Amway's reputation. They think they are defending Amway but they are actually making things worse. Many companies have critics. Walmart for example has many critics who think Walmart is evil, for various reasons. But Walmart employees don't go online to battles the critics and the criticism of Walmart is for putting other businesses in peril, or slippery floors, or not paying their employees enough. They aren't criticized for being a scam or a pyramid. Something that Amway continues to be criticized for. Whether Amway deserves that much criticism is up for debate, but Amway IBOs and defenders who insult and sling mud do more damage to Amway than a critic.
What some of the Amway IBOs don't realize is that there are many former Amway IBOs or critics who have direct experience and are quite knowledgeable about the Amway business and how the basics of the business works, including the compensation plan. Therefore, when a new IBO tries to tell tall tales or to stretch the truth about their earnings and expenses, it sticks out like a sore thumb when the situation is analyzed and examined. Often, the IBO, now cornered, has nothing left but to leave the discussion or dig in and insist that they are correct. Because basic math often tells the truth, and IBO might be stuck with no answers. Then the broke losers, quitters, jealousy and other insults come flying.
What these IBOs don't realize is that prospects or information seekers can see and follow the discussion and more often than not, the IBOs are making monkeys out of themselves with silly unrealistic claims of success, or outrageous claims such as being in Amway for 6 weeks and they are already making $6,000 a month for example. When you factor in these tidbits along with IBOs who trick people into attending meetings, and other deceptions and lies told about the Amway opportunity and you have a recipe for disaster. IBOs may not know it, but they themselves are causing the most damage to Amway's reputation. They think they are defending Amway but they are actually making things worse. Many companies have critics. Walmart for example has many critics who think Walmart is evil, for various reasons. But Walmart employees don't go online to battles the critics and the criticism of Walmart is for putting other businesses in peril, or slippery floors, or not paying their employees enough. They aren't criticized for being a scam or a pyramid. Something that Amway continues to be criticized for. Whether Amway deserves that much criticism is up for debate, but Amway IBOs and defenders who insult and sling mud do more damage to Amway than a critic.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
It's None Of My Business?
One of the things I heard as an IBO, and still witness today, is IBOs telling prospects that their income is none of your business. That you can refer to the compensation plan and see that you are compensated for volume. That your effort will yield different results than their efforts. All I can say is what a load of baloney. If you are researching the Amway business opportunity and the person contacting you won't disclose financial details of their business, red flags should pop up all over the place. Sure if your potential sponsor is new, they may not have much to share, but are they willing to share or claim that it's a trade secret?
Remember that your sponsor will receive a financial benefit from your purchases and/or sales for the life of his/hers and your business. Volume that you move, plus your downline volume will be a part of your sponsor's and upline's volume. For that kind of reward, you'd think that people would be open to sharing. Now I'm not suggesting you ask to see the sponsor's personal job income, but surely, you'd want to know what kind of time, effort and expenses you might expect, along with the kind of expected results that your potential sponsor may be experiencing so you can decide whether it's worth the investment of time and money, especially if you will be encouraged to purchase training from the upline.
If your potential sponsor has a downline, and has been around for a month or more, wouldn't you want to know what their results and expenses are? It's perfectly reasonable to ask and expect a response. Since Amway leaders often talk about duplicating, wouldn't you want to know what you would be duplicating? I wouldn't want to put in 12 hours a week plus a few hundred in expenses if the likely result would be a net loss. Now I understand that a new business might not prosper right away but what are the indicators that a profit is coming? If you have trouble selling and sponsoring downline, you will more than likely never make a net profit. If you are selling and sponsoring, but still not profiting, then what? Are the tools and training expenses eating up all your profits?
It is my conclusion that uplines and potential sponsors don't share this information because it would not be attractive to prospects. Most IBOs run at a loss, especially if they have tools and training expenses and they might be putting in a tremendous effort. We know that some diamonds have financial difficulty. We also know that some, possibly many diamonds make more money from the tools and training than from Amway. I believe that the Amway opportunity is a far cry from how it's presented with the mansions and sports cars. I believe the reality is a sad one. If you are told by your potential sponsor that their business income and/or results are none of your business, you should pack up your bags and run!
Remember that your sponsor will receive a financial benefit from your purchases and/or sales for the life of his/hers and your business. Volume that you move, plus your downline volume will be a part of your sponsor's and upline's volume. For that kind of reward, you'd think that people would be open to sharing. Now I'm not suggesting you ask to see the sponsor's personal job income, but surely, you'd want to know what kind of time, effort and expenses you might expect, along with the kind of expected results that your potential sponsor may be experiencing so you can decide whether it's worth the investment of time and money, especially if you will be encouraged to purchase training from the upline.
If your potential sponsor has a downline, and has been around for a month or more, wouldn't you want to know what their results and expenses are? It's perfectly reasonable to ask and expect a response. Since Amway leaders often talk about duplicating, wouldn't you want to know what you would be duplicating? I wouldn't want to put in 12 hours a week plus a few hundred in expenses if the likely result would be a net loss. Now I understand that a new business might not prosper right away but what are the indicators that a profit is coming? If you have trouble selling and sponsoring downline, you will more than likely never make a net profit. If you are selling and sponsoring, but still not profiting, then what? Are the tools and training expenses eating up all your profits?
It is my conclusion that uplines and potential sponsors don't share this information because it would not be attractive to prospects. Most IBOs run at a loss, especially if they have tools and training expenses and they might be putting in a tremendous effort. We know that some diamonds have financial difficulty. We also know that some, possibly many diamonds make more money from the tools and training than from Amway. I believe that the Amway opportunity is a far cry from how it's presented with the mansions and sports cars. I believe the reality is a sad one. If you are told by your potential sponsor that their business income and/or results are none of your business, you should pack up your bags and run!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Keep On Working - For Amway?
http://expeditionoftruths.com/2012/02/22/keep-on-working/
The funny thing is, build a solid platinum business with proper width in the Amway Business Opportunity and you could make just over double that pathetic pension of a RN. (not including Q-12 bonus) The benefit of that outside of monetary compensation is that you’ve helped some individuals or families have an opportunity to do the same as what you have. Again I’ll maintain we will never convince anyone to do what we do but the proof is in the pudding with the people we are working with and the many semi-retirement parties that happened last year."
**Our good friend Shaun over at WWDB - Expeditions of Truth has written an article about how people are in debt and that they will be working for a long time and then receive a paltry pension so they can basically live in poverty when they "retire". Shaun's proposal is to build a Q12 platinum business. Now a Q12 platinum business sounds great. But what exactly is a Q12 Platinum Business. Basically, a Q12 business is one where you have moved at least 7500 PV in volume, or about $22,000 in sales for all 12 months in the Amway fiscal year. According to the information on www.amway.com, the average compensation for a Q12 Platinum business is $51,437 annually. "
Now $51,437 gross income is a pretty good supplement to your investments and any other sources of income you might have. But there are things to consider. Someone who runs a Q12 platinum business is very likely to be involved in the training and tools. The costs associated with this can be significant and can eat up a lot of that Q12 income, especially if that Platinum business is a married couple or if they have children. Another thing to consider is what is the likelihood of someone achieving such a business? "
According to www.amway.com, there were 300,000 North American IBOs who received a bonus. Out of those, approximately 0.25% achieved Q12 platinum. One fourth of one percent. One percent would be 3000 IBOs and one fourth would be 750. SO there might be about 750 Q12 platinums in North America. So to earn $51,437, you need to be out showing the plan and helping new IBOs because many IBOs quit, and many do little or nothing and quit. You also need to spend money to train and motivate your downline. And for that, there is about one fourth of one percent who are able to achieve this status. "
For those who can evaluate a business, this doesn't sound like a very good prospect. We know that this takes a lot of effort by the platinum. There are expenses associated with running this type of business so yrur net might be $30K or less. And to maintain this business with no assurances, will take a lot of time and money. Is it worth your time and effort? For me, the answer is no. There are easier ways to supplement my retirement income. I wonder if Shaun is anywhere near a Q12 business?
**Our good friend Shaun over at WWDB - Expeditions of Truth has written an article about how people are in debt and that they will be working for a long time and then receive a paltry pension so they can basically live in poverty when they "retire". Shaun's proposal is to build a Q12 platinum business. Now a Q12 platinum business sounds great. But what exactly is a Q12 Platinum Business. Basically, a Q12 business is one where you have moved at least 7500 PV in volume, or about $22,000 in sales for all 12 months in the Amway fiscal year. According to the information on www.amway.com, the average compensation for a Q12 Platinum business is $51,437 annually. "
Now $51,437 gross income is a pretty good supplement to your investments and any other sources of income you might have. But there are things to consider. Someone who runs a Q12 platinum business is very likely to be involved in the training and tools. The costs associated with this can be significant and can eat up a lot of that Q12 income, especially if that Platinum business is a married couple or if they have children. Another thing to consider is what is the likelihood of someone achieving such a business? "
According to www.amway.com, there were 300,000 North American IBOs who received a bonus. Out of those, approximately 0.25% achieved Q12 platinum. One fourth of one percent. One percent would be 3000 IBOs and one fourth would be 750. SO there might be about 750 Q12 platinums in North America. So to earn $51,437, you need to be out showing the plan and helping new IBOs because many IBOs quit, and many do little or nothing and quit. You also need to spend money to train and motivate your downline. And for that, there is about one fourth of one percent who are able to achieve this status. "
For those who can evaluate a business, this doesn't sound like a very good prospect. We know that this takes a lot of effort by the platinum. There are expenses associated with running this type of business so yrur net might be $30K or less. And to maintain this business with no assurances, will take a lot of time and money. Is it worth your time and effort? For me, the answer is no. There are easier ways to supplement my retirement income. I wonder if Shaun is anywhere near a Q12 business?
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Amway Spring Leadership Functions?
I read about this topic on another blog and was inspired to write about my experience with Spring Leadership. I attended a leadership function as an IBO and I remember it quite well even though I've been removed from Amway for years now. The leadership function was where the upline diamond would have all of his new leaders (platinums and up) speak. Kinda makes me wonder how this function is going these days when it sure doesn't seem like a lot of new leaders are emerging, at least in my old group. Based on what I can see and hear, I don't think much has changed.
These new leaders would talk about their trials and how they stuck to the system, never gave up or quit, and now they have arrived. Some of them spoke about how they were able to retire their wives who now stay at home to care for their children. A noble task indeed. I had thought this was the great part about the business. It might interest my readers to know that not a single one of those leadership speakers from my IBO days are at the platinum level anymore and in fact, all but one or two of these nice folks are even in the business. My former sponsor was a platinum and he is one of the few holdovers from the old days, but he is no longer at the platinum level. Last I heard, he was somewhere around 2500 PV, which means he is likely operating at a loss if he is still dedicated to "core".
Spring leadership is the beginning of a run of functions that can really bankrupt IBOs. I'm from Hawaii and leadership was held in March, followed by family reunion (summer conference) in July and Free Enterprise Day (FED) in October. All of these functions are held during expensive travel times, thus IBOs who need to fly to functions pay a premium price to travel. Sadly, there was no visible or significant growth in the groups after these functions. Looking back, the major functions were just quarterly paychecks for the upline diamonds. If you do the math, you can easily discern that these diamonds may have made millions for a weekend of speaking and showing off their "diamond lifestyles". It apparently didn't benefit the masses of IBOs who attended.
I hope this information can help a prospect or an IBO to understand how some of these things work and allow for informed decisions to be made about joining Amway or for deciding whether or not to attend that next function. IBOs need to honestly assess their risk versus reward in making these decisions.
These new leaders would talk about their trials and how they stuck to the system, never gave up or quit, and now they have arrived. Some of them spoke about how they were able to retire their wives who now stay at home to care for their children. A noble task indeed. I had thought this was the great part about the business. It might interest my readers to know that not a single one of those leadership speakers from my IBO days are at the platinum level anymore and in fact, all but one or two of these nice folks are even in the business. My former sponsor was a platinum and he is one of the few holdovers from the old days, but he is no longer at the platinum level. Last I heard, he was somewhere around 2500 PV, which means he is likely operating at a loss if he is still dedicated to "core".
Spring leadership is the beginning of a run of functions that can really bankrupt IBOs. I'm from Hawaii and leadership was held in March, followed by family reunion (summer conference) in July and Free Enterprise Day (FED) in October. All of these functions are held during expensive travel times, thus IBOs who need to fly to functions pay a premium price to travel. Sadly, there was no visible or significant growth in the groups after these functions. Looking back, the major functions were just quarterly paychecks for the upline diamonds. If you do the math, you can easily discern that these diamonds may have made millions for a weekend of speaking and showing off their "diamond lifestyles". It apparently didn't benefit the masses of IBOs who attended.
I hope this information can help a prospect or an IBO to understand how some of these things work and allow for informed decisions to be made about joining Amway or for deciding whether or not to attend that next function. IBOs need to honestly assess their risk versus reward in making these decisions.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Amway Or College?
One of the things I've seen in recent years, is some examples of young people being discouraged from attending or looking into college. Instead they are told, to simply run an Amway business. These motivated young people may also be told that Amway is simply on the job training. Why bother paying tens of thousands of dollars for a formal education when they can join Amway and learn what they need for a fraction of a cost.
I honestly believe that uplines who discourage a young person from going to college in order to build an Amway business should be run out of town. These uplines obviously have their own interests at heart and not that of their downlines. They may cite an example of perhaps, a Bill Gates who left college to run Microsoft. While that is a great example, how many Bill Gates are there in the world? These uplines always want to promote the bext case scenario as if that were the norm. However, in real life, the likely scenario is just that. In those big functions, there are a handful of people on stage and masses of people in the audience. That's how it has been and that's how it will always be. Dreams and delusions on grandeur do not change the facts.
It is well documented that a formal college education will result in greater earning power for most people. Yes, there are exceptions but as a whole, college graduates fare much better that those who do not attend college. IBOs and information seekers should pay special attention to this next line: There is no unbiased documentation to indicate that running an Amway business and participating in a teaching system such as WWDB or BWW, or Network 21 provides any tangible and sustainable financial rewards. If you don't believe me, try putting BWW or WWDB as credentials when applying for a job and see what happens.
Amway's fiercest defender, IBOFB made a claim that over the years, hundreds of thousands of people have made full time incomes via the Amway business. This was a claim that Cindy Droog, an Amway representative said cannot be substantiated. Who are you going to believe? I trust what Amway says, not some foaming at the mouth pro Amway blogger.
If you are being discouraged from participating in college by an upline, please look very carefully at this post and please do ample research before making a decision that could negatively affect your life. While you may be shown picture of yachts and mansions, you have no way of knowing who owns those yachts and mansions. this has been proven beyond a doubt for me in light of some diamond home foreclosures and a triple diamond who was involved in chapter 7 bankruptcy.
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