Why is Network Marketing Bad?

Today I am going to take a break from the usual Amway and N21 stuff, and talk generally about the following question... why do some people dislike network marketing?

Is Network Marketing BAD?

Let us NOT talk about network marketing for a while, and ask ourselves...

What if, there is a business, where:

1. Your start-up capital is less than $10,000;
2. Your earning potential is more than some CEOs;
3. You have 100% market demand;
4. You can work at it part-time, until your income exceeds your current salary;
5. You have experienced consultants to coach you;
6. You are not restricted by location - whether you choose to work on the commute, from home, in an office or at the local Subway;
7. You are not affected by the economy, whether it is up or down, your business is always UP;
8. You need not employ employeess - it is all outsourced to a coordinating firm;
9. You have no risk;
10. You need not have qualifications to succeed; and
11. You will experience great personal development?

What would YOU do?

a. Go for it!
b. No, I don't believe in it.
c. I don't know.

A New Leave-Behind Brochure/Booklet

This was posted on Kia's blog... it contains my desire for a one-booklet/DVD-does-it-all-yet-not-bulky tool to introduce our contracting corporation Amway to candidates.

Hi Kia, reading your blog since the days of your early anonymity has always been rewarding. I am NOT part of TEAM but I would like to say that:

1. There IS a vast difference between Selling Amway/Quixtar products through the 3S, and duplicating your business franchise-style through leveraging on a System.

2. It is GREAT that Amway/Quixtar will now acknowledge the existence of the Systems in a leave-behind brochure. For too many years, Amway/Quixtar materials has either failed to mention or glossed over this fact and not given enough public education about the Systems. Yet this is what makes Amway/Quixtar stay ahead of the competition - the System leaders. Without Dexter Yager, Bill Britt and other great System lords (hehe), where would Amway/Quixtar be today? Please implement this idea in the whole world!

While I will not get to use the QBOB brochure because I am operating in Singapore, here are some further suggestions that you might find useful:

1. Have group pictures of the various products categorically displayed. (sort of like a mini catalog/display, without the wordings!) Much like those A5-size catalogs you find in other MLMs. (I think you call it Pocket Size in the States.) This way, those who want to travel light, and especially those who are building with System tools, need not lug a gigantic, heavy, 1000-item catalog around the meetings. Think Japanese...

2. Pictures of the Facilities, especially that Google Earth pic of Ada HQ, NHI/COH, Farms, inside pictures of the factories, Scientists, Patents etc. Not to mention other Alticor assets such as Interleukin, Fulton, Laura Mercier and Peter Island. Oh, the Amway/Alticor planes too, if you still have them. : )

This should be very useful to every IBO because it gives confidence to the audience about the stability and track record of the company.

3. Graphically show BOTH the 642 and Depth Building strategies, so that either groups of IBOs can offer the choice to their prospects, and then there will be no dispute about stacking and such.

4. Pictures of where Amway/Quixtar is going, such as Nutrigenomics, space travel with PV etc.

In other words, make it like a mini "Amway/Quixtar Overview" type of booklet with 4 sections - History, Facilities, Products, Partners (IBOs), Strategies, Future... better yet, why not provide a companion DVD as well that can be used around the world? (Amway Australia has something very similar DVD called "Break Free" DVD/Brochure set.)

Thanks for listening!

The Salesman vs. The Business Owner

There was this loudmouth fella from India who was posting declarations of his love for Amway, admiration for the manufacturer's high integrity and work standards, but went overboard by criticising the Systems and asking for their extinction. Like him, we love Amway and the products. But unlike him, we love our Systems and our Counsel just as much as we love Amway.

If you have listened to Network21 CD, "The Four Pillars of Partnership", by Bob Andrews, you will know that Amway, the System and our Counsel are our three equal Pillars of Partnership - each deserving respect and balanced cooperation.

Posted on Alticor Blog:

I had refrained from commenting here until I see our dear fellow IBO Chaitanya shouting away his “I love Amway” slogans, so loud to the exclusion of others who also love the Systems as much, if not more, as they love Amway.

Chaitanya, if you enjoy being an Amway salesman, that is fine and wonderful. You will earn a great income (25% profit + up to 21% bonus), go Platinum and Incentive Trips.

Heck, you can even reach Ruby and then Founders Ruby Platinum just by selling Amway products alone! Without even a single downline!

However, like Jim Dornan once said, “It is not about what works, but will it DUPLICATE?”

If you want to sell products forever, do it and I am sure you have the blessings of all other IBOs, but please do NOT sprout the nonsense that the Systems are entirely unnecessary and negative.

Where would Amway be today if not for the Systems? Let us see, if ALL the Systems pull out of Amway/Quixtar worldwide today, and all IBOs are required by Amway to sell their products without business support materials or profiles of success, functions etc. where would the company be in 10 years’ time? You would like to know? Just look at CHINA.

Oh, I forgot to mention, there are pseudo “Systems” in China too… where they attend seminars outside of the country and speak about motivation and network in a hush hush manner.

Possibly like you, I have been retailing Amway products for FIVE YEARS, many times pulling a TROLLEY of Amway products along to conduct product demos - WITHOUT a car, taking crowded public buses, day in day out, night in night out. Have you done so?

If so, then you would know that it is NOT a duplicable experience. None of my customers wanted to do what I was doing. They were scared of my “lifestyle” - peddling Amway products everywhere.

Now, a good friend from a System once told me this, so hear it: “Building an Amway business without the System is a Curse.”

I heartily agree.

Why Network21?

AFTER seriously reading and re-reading (almost) all the anti-System websites, books (Merchants of Deception, anyone?) AND building my Amway business for 5 years without using any System BSM, I made a decision.

I joined a System founded by a wonderful couple called the Dornans. ;)

Why?

Because I came to the realisation that raw enthusiasm, love for Amway, product demos, retailing/sponsoring/servicing and meetings alone just cannot duplicate effectively. Nor do people, especially professionals, want to duplicate them.

People were coming in by the front door and leaving by the back. People loved the Amway products and expect you to be their servicing Distributor (salesman?) for life. People did not want to go around conducting product demos as it does not befit their professional image. People would also argue about why they need to pay for entry to meetings.

So those who do choose to stay, be an Amway "salesperson" and not mind being seen with a trolley full of Amway products, usually end up with lots of frustration about why they seem to "fail" to attract the professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, architects, bankers etc - who usually do NOT hesitate to pay for their own tickets too.

As it is said in the System, "It is not about what works, but will it duplicate?"

In fact, one non-System Crown Ambassador, who did not quite understand that it is a strategy problem, mentioned that the ego of a professional is too strong, and thus we would be better off not trying to sponsor them.

However, there are tons of professionals indeed in the System groups, and ever since I understood how to build the Business with the use of tools (yes - CDs, Books and Functions - so? Oh, automatic ordering of BSMs through CEP too, LOL) I have not looked back, and cannot find myself going back to the days of peddling LOC and SA8 to everyone anymore.

Allow me to end this post with an educational quote from a System book I bought...

In the early days of the Amway business, people simply sponsored others, developed customers and "hoped for the best". They were full of enthusiasm and optimism but had little strategy except to keep sponsoring and selling until someone else did it along with them. While some success was available that way, it was frustrating to many that there wasn't a more professional program available.

As groups became larger, the need to duplicate effectively was recognized. Leaders noted that teaching given to a distributor frequently became "watered-down" as it was passed from person to person. Also, they saw the need for ongoing motivation, as distributors became discouraged at times.

The need led to the development of Business Support Materials (BSM), "tools" that could be used to communicate information and equip the growing organizations. These tools proved to be so effective that the concept was picked up by many other industries and professions. Experts agree that the most important business support tools are books, tapes and seminars.

It became obvious that supporting and equipping people was as important in the long term as product knowledge, perhaps even more important, since most Amway products were basic need items, not technical. (System For Success, pg. 13)