Amway Diamonds - Traveling Salesmen?

If you have attended a big Amway function put on by one of the Motivational Groups such as BWW, WWWDB, or N21, you probably saw video clips and/or pictures of diamonds living the good life. Waking up at noon, taking fabulous trips, retiring at the age of 30, fancy cars and suits, etc etc. These are all recruiting tools for the Amway leaders. Afterall, the Amway Opportunity would not sound quite as attractive for a diamond or higher) to mention that their Amway business might take up to 50 hours a week, that they don't have time to "hang out" with family and friends, or that they have a 30 year mortgage on their homes, and possibly lease or rent the fancy cars that you see them drive up in at functions. Many IBOs simply assume that diamonds and above has unlimited money pouring in from the Amway corporation. And many IBOs think that diamonds do not have to work. That diamonds work out of love for their downline. I believe nothing could be further from the truth.

Based on the average diamond earning just under $150,000 a year (gross), and the diamonds constantly having to travel to do functions and open meetings, as well as working a personal group and helping their platinum legs to maintain their qualifications, a diamond probably spends full time hours and then some, maintaining their Amway business. Additionally, there is a need to keep recruiting downline as IBOs quit every day. The moment you stop working, your group is likely to backslide. Even a minor scandle within the group can wipe out an entire leg. There are many stories of this happening. If you really believe people can walk away from Amway and collect tons of money while doing so, I challenge you to name some of these nice people.

So do diamonds actually live the lifestyle they portray at functions? It is my best guess that diamonds live a middle class lifestyle. I believe that a regular diamond, or perhaps higher, but without the founder's designation, probably lives life like a traveling Amway salesman. The only difference being that these folks sell dreams and hopes more so than Amway products. I would guess that contant traveling to and from various functions and meetings can get to be tiring and cumbersome. Also, when you are away from your home base, your personal group may suffer a bit. This can cause great stress if the diamond IBO is borderline on re-qualifying for their current level. But the diamonds travel because they must. In order to earn some of their tool money and honorariums for speaking, they must continue to work the functions. The diamonds are traveling salesmen. They sell the Amway opportunity, they sell you tools and motivation and they sell you dreams and hopes. Sadly, very few reap the rewards promoted by the diamonds. In fact, in the US and Canada, it sppears that the diamonds are becoming extinct.

Also, my understanding is that much of a diamond's income comes in the form of an annual bonus, thus a diamond's monthly income may be relatively small, with a lump sum coming at the end of the Amway fiscal year in the form of a bonus. Thus a diamond bonus must be carefully budgeted ro the diamond can easily get into financial difficulty.

Does the lifestyle of a traveling salesman appeal to you? If not, re-read this blog post and take a second look.