TrafficVibe

I've found a foolproof way to get rich. All I need to do is ask for £5 every time someone says one of the following:

1. Is it Amway?
2. It's just a pyramid scheme

This time next year I’ll be a millionaire.

When I was about ten I used to hear my parents muttering in hushed tones, "Better steer clear of her. She’ll get you involved in Amway". Amway was – apparently, to an innocent ten year old – some kind of cult from which there was no escape. It would destroy your family and steal your children. Over 40 years later I'm sitting at my Mum's kitchen table suggesting she takes a vast array of nutrition supplements every day. We just lost Dad and we don't want to lose Mum too. "Is it like Amway?" AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

The irony is that we wouldn't have the network marketing industry we have today without Amway. They're the ones who fought the powers that be to establish that network marketing is not a pyramid scheme and is in fact a legitimate business.

There are whole websites devoted to Amway "cry babies". Forums full of people saying things like "I had to leave my children alone so that I could drive 200 miles to go to an Amway meeting". Are you some special kind of stupid? Who does that? Who joins a company they don't like? Even worse, who stays with a company they don't like? Who was forcing you to buy products, buy tapes, buy Amway branded clothes? Ok that last one is a bit weird. Apparently there was/is a catalogue of clothes you were expected to order. Lovely.

Oh .. I just thought of another money maker. £5 for every time someone says "I've been caught so many times by these schemes!" Response (ie my mental unspoken response!):

1. If you hate "these schemes" so much why do you keep joining them? (and by the way please don't join my team …)
2. Who is it who is forcing you to join something?
3. Did you do any work once you joined? Did you put any effort in at all? Did you just expect money to flow in?

It is true that there are vulnerable people and unscrupulous distributors will pounce on them and persuade them to join their company. I can't think why as you are introducing a liability into your team structure by doing that. But equally a fool and his money are soon parted AND there are plenty of people who want what they see as a get rich quick scheme that requires no effort.

I digress … back to Amway! When I started my research into companies operating in the UK I deliberately didn't ask for any info from Amway. I was determined to avoid it. Not because it was a bad company but because it would cause me problems in SEO terms, it would attract the ex-Amway whingers to our forum and it generally would make life complicated. It was a surprise then to receive not one but two information packs from them. Obviously another company – or two – I had written to was under their umbrella or was passing on information. They sent full information, which was impressive. They gave me contact details of someone locally AND someone at head office but did not call me. Impressive. Well, sort of. Maybe they should have called once to follow up. There are loads of obviously high quality products and it seems to be an OK company apart from the stigma involved. Maybe they should reinvent themselves.

My response to someone asking "Is it Amway" is to tell the story of the ten year old. My response to the pyramid question – which we will cover in more detail in a later articles – is "Pyramid selling is illegal. There are 500,000 people in the UK working in network marketing. If they were doing something illegal they would be stopped. Have you been to a Body Shop party, bought something from the Avon lady or the Kleeneze guy? Did you think they were acting illegally?"

When I invite people to join me in my network marketing business I always warn them that many people they know will be against what they're doing. It goes something like this,

"when you join my business team you will be derided and abused and will lose a few friends. It will be the hardest work you have ever done but it will all be worthwhile."

As Ricky Shroeder says "when you've made a whole lot of money you can stand up in a room and people will listen to what you've got to say."

Or ….. they will be jealous and hate you. Sometimes you just can't win.

(c) Sharon Horswill