Amway Global - Life At The Top?

Go diamond! That is the battely cry of many thousands of IBOs who participate in a system. These starry eyed IBOs want to be on stage as diamonds so bad that the cry thinking about it. The truly believe that they will be there one day and that they will be the objects of adoration like the diamonds they currently worship. The diamond lifestyle is portrayed as fabulus wealth. They show scenes with mansions, fancy sports cars, jets and other indulgences that most people only dream about.

But the problem is that most downline IBOs don't realize how the diamonds attain these goodies. They think that Amway just rolls in barrels of cash to diamonds. That the money rolls in an will never stop. It is why you hear the term "walking the beaches of the world". This is because many IBOs think they will go diamond, walk away from their business and Amway will keep delivering these barrels of cash, month after month, year after year. Sadly, you don't see or hear of any diamonds engaging in these kinds of activities. Instead they are busy flying around the world rushing off from one meeting to another and continuing to recruit new IBOs. It is because about 2/3 of IBOs never even last a year in the business. Anytime you stop working, your income will shrink, and eventually dwindle down to nothing.

But sadly, IBOs also do not realize that for many diamonds, the lifestyle comes from their dedication to KATE, standing orders and functions. It is these streams of income that will fund the toys that diamonds show in their slideshows. Think about it, you sell Amway products and get a percentage back, but you sell a cd that costs about 50 cents to produce, and sell it for $7.00, that's over 1000% profit!. Or, upline may sell you a cd for $2.50, but have you pay $49 for the priviledge of buying that cd for $2.50. They also make a lot of money on functions as convention centers and city owned arenas can be rented cheap or even free in some cases, if the conventions will fill the city's hotels with visitors.

I believe that for these reasons, the Amway business is slowly shrinking in the US. People know the deal and aren't signing up. In order for there to be more diamonds, you need to have more and more people joining Amway. Because information is easily available, prospects find out the truth and either don't join, or they join because they think they are heroic enough to overcome overwhelming odds. I believe there is now ample evidence that "life at the top", or diamond and above is not all that. Diamonds are getting divorced, having homes foreclosed, going bankrupt, getting in debt, and some quit or resign. (So much for that lifelong residual income claim)

For those aspiring to go diamond, be careful, life at the top may not be all that you think. $150,000 to $200,000 may seem like a fortune compared to what you earn, but try minusing half of that for taxes and medical insurance. Then see if you can buy a mansion in cash, own a top model Mercedes Benz, and some other goodies. What you'll find is that you will simply have higher limits on your credit cards which might still be maxed out and you will have to pretend to be wealthy while living
bonus check to bonus check.

Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

Amway Global - Go Platinum Then Go Broke?

I read about an investigation conducted by Bruce Craig, attorney general (at the time) of Wisconsin. He concluded that the average platinum in Wisconsin (in the 1980's) lost an average of $918 per year. Granted the study is now a bit dated, but even though Amway bonuses may have gone up, the prices of Amway products and the prices of functions and other related expenses have also gone up, therefore we can reasonably conclude that if a platinum lost money back then, it is quite reasonable to conclude that it still happens. In fact, due to the heavy emphasis on the use of cd's KATE, functions, books, websites and other tools that cost money, I would guess that a platinum's losses could be much more today!

I have seen many testimonials from former platinums who said they lost money or perhaps, broke even at best. I was at a fairly high pin level with recommended parameters, and I was at break even/small losses. I was not privvy to, but have also read of additional functions and expenses once you reach the platinum level and above, such as go diamond weekend.

Based on my understanding of tools expenses and some very believable testimony, I can reasonably conclude that it is quite possible for a platinum to lose money, mainly due to system expenses.

IBOs who are checking out the business or who are new, should take this information and think about it. If platinums make little or possible lose money, is this truly a viable business option for you? Also, keep in mind that only a fraction 0f 1% of IBOs ever reach platinum. Can you overcome these odds? Can you build a platinum business without the system? It is possible, but highly unlikely.

More food for thought, IBOs claim that platinums start to share in tool profits, but can anyone explain why platinums only share in profits from standing order and not all the other varieties of money making tools that upline peddles?

Amway Global - Statues Of Critics?

I recently heard a humorous comment from an Amway defender asking where are the statues of critics if they know so much about everything. I had to chuckle and ask myself, where are the statues of Amway diamonds? There aren't any that I know of. And why would there be? I mean think about it, what has a diamond accomplished? They have done nothing of note. They are only legendary because that's what IBOs have been taught. These diamond leaders mean squadoosh outside of the Amway business.

Have diamonds invented a cure for cancer, or have they achieved something of greatness? The answer is no, all they have done is achieve a level in a multi level business. And if I may add, they have achieved it in many cases, by deceiving and or outright lying to their downline. Instead of a statue, some of these diamonds should be sitting in jail for fraud.

A critic is often just simply sharing an experience or pointing out the obvious, which is that Amway is not a good opportunity as some diamonds would have you believe. And if you sit and think about it, an Amway diamond or an Amway defender has something to gain by duping their prospects and downline. A critic gains nothing.

My only goal in running my blogs is that I hope to inform information seekers so if they still decide to join Amway, they do so with full diclosue that it may not be the greatest business opportunity as they may have been led to believe. The facts speak for themselves. The average active IBO earns just over $100 a month, and the average figure is inflated by some bigger diamonds pins. My guess is that the median income of an IBO is probably less than $35 a month. And that income is instantly eaten up and more, if you are an IBO on the "system".

Amway Global - Uplines Are Outdated?

One of the things many Amway defenders like to use in defense of Amway is that critics are outdated. That experiences that are a few year old or older are no longer valid. Yet when you examine the Amway opportunity, not much has changed. At least in North America, IBOs are still deceptive about presenting Amway to a prospect. Many diamonds who ruled the Amway world in the 1990’s are still around teaching today, with few new diamonds emerging. The emphasis for many IBOs is still to sponsor people and not on selling Amway products. Most business building IBOs are told they need the system to succeed. If Amway enthusiasts are going to say that someone’s experience no longer applies, at least state what is different.

In fact, I will cite some specific items that could greatly reduce the cost of running and Amway business and can be done with great efficiency. Of course none of these would ever be fully implemented because the upline leaders would not be able to profit from them as they do now.

Why does anyone need voicemail now when Amway is a web based business? Get rid of KATE and replace it with free email. A leader can very efficiently and without cost, send a message to all downlines with one punch of his keyboard. Everyone has access to a computer either at home of by internet café’ or by laptop or iphone. This could save an IBO possibly more than $30 a month plus charges for excess minutes. In fact this would be an upgrade to the current KATE system.

Even standing orders can be streamlined to mp3 messages or some kind of email based transcript to get information to downline. It doesn’t have to be free for those who believe that upline should be paid, but it would eliminate the need to pick up the material from your upline and it would be able to greatly reduce the cost to IBOs.

So I will contend it is my opinion that Amway leaders are either outdated themselves or simply refuse to make technology upgrades because they make a nice profit charging downline for these outdated materials.

Amway Global - Why Is Amway So Divisive?

One thing that seems pretty clear about the Amway business opportunity, it is ver divisive. I believe it is this way because of how uplines advise or teach their groups. Amway is often promoted as a way of life. That anyone who disagrees with the Amway opportunity is the "enemy", so to speak. I don't mean that literally, but in some cases, it gets pretty close. It isn't that uncommon for IBOs to shun friends and family members simply because they disagree with whether or no to be involved in the Amway business.

A lot of IBOs are taught to "avoid negative" which may also include friends, family and even news in general. They are to fill their heads with only positive information coming from upline's meetings or standing orders. (And they wonder why some people call Amway a cult?) Often, IBOs will be told that they are winners for being in Amway, so obviously, those who don't join Amway are "losers", or "broke"?
Then conversely, some IBOs might be called Ama-robots because they repeat what they hear on tapes and it sounds like a tape recording.

In no other business, even other MLM businesses do you see such a presence of online critics and supporters. More often than not however, I see critics posting factual information and Amway apologists attacking the critic rather than the information. Also common is for IBOs to make income claims that are hard to believe. Then when called on their bluffs, these IBOs disappear or start the name calling. Other supporters might try the drive through method of jumping into a blog, calling everyone a liar and then disappearing. The worst Amway trolls though, monitor the internet with google alerts or other mechanisms and seek out any discussion on Amway, and then drop into the discussion, whether wanted or not. They disrupt peaceful online communities thinking they will get the group to change their minds or opinions about the Amway opportunity.

Rarely are solutions ever discussed. I have in the past, offered real and viable solutions, but of course, none are ever considered by the other side. But I have yet to see any Amway supporters do much more than to critisize and attck those who disagree with their business.

Amway is a controversial topic. But the real question should be why that is so?

Amway Global - Passive Residual Income, An Amway Myth?

I recently had some discussion about the Amway opportunity and the ability for IBOs to build a stream of passive residual income. I would say that it's possible but highly unlikely. For one thing, how many diamonds or corwn ambassadors for that matter have "walked away" from Amway to jetset to beaches around the world?

I believe it is nearly impossible for IBOs to achieve this dream of income flowing into thei bank account after they leave Amway. I believe that this doesn't happen because most IBOs do not build a repeat customer base. On an Amway corporate blog, it was admitted that less than 5% of Amway goods are sold to non IBOs. Repeat customers, with a genuuine need for goods and services can lead to the possibility of repeat or residual income.

IBOs are trying to build an income that is dependent on keeping IBOs flowing through their business. But that is flawed since less than 1/3 os IBOs last only a year, and the vast majority of these same IBOs are gone in less than 5 years. You cannot build and maintain a business with residual income when people are coming and going. You would need a consistent customer base and a genuine need for these products and services.

I believe that the low sales to non IBOs, coupled with the fact that former IBOs do not appear to remain as loyal customers once the "dream" has faded away is a telltale sign that residual passive income from Amway is simply a myth that is used to promote the business. Why would any diamond ever quit or leave the business when he or she could simply collect check and bonuses month after month, year after year. I believe it is because there is no residual income as IBOs like to claim.