Thursday, October 25, 2007

Australia - The world wants your Amway stories

We are pleased with the traffic that the site has generated since it came online earlier this month. Since Scott at amquix.info.com mentioned our site, awareness of the site has grown and the traffic has increased significantly. Thanks Scott!

It is amazing to see all the different parts of the world that visitors are coming from. The great majority are from the US, UK and Canada. Australia is well represented but some of the more surprising countries are Moldova, Seychelles, Latvia, Turkey and Thailand to name a few. A great number of visitors are frequently returning to the site with the most popular pages that are being revisited is the Testimonials pages.

It will take some time to build more awareness of the site and as such the testimonials have been slow coming in. However, the first two testimonials have been received and have now been posted on the site. We hope that this will now inspire more people to share their stories.

So c'mon Australia, if you have had any involvement with Amway/Network 21/IDA, in any way shape or form, then we want to hear from you. And based on the returning visitor count on the site so does the rest of the world!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Some Numbers to Ponder

In our earlier post we mentioned that Amway has approximately 80,000 IBO's in Australia and New Zealand today. Considering that New Zealand has approx one-fifth of the population of Australia, we could estimate that the number of IBO's in Australia are about 65,000.

Have you wondered how many of those IBO's have made it to the desired pin levels where the real money starts to kick in, that being Platinum, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire and the coveted Diamond and above levels? The answer is found in a somewhat surprising place which is very accessible to the public, in fact just about every household has access to it. It's the Phonebook.

In Australia, all IBO's who are Platinum and above are listed in the White Pages under "Amway of Australia". Take a look for yourself and see how many IBO's there are listed in your area code. Are you surprised? We sure were. So you now know how many there are in your area, does it make you ponder as to how many there are Australia wide?

The answer is 291. No, that's not a typo. Out of an estimated 65,000 IBO's in Australia, there are currently 291 Platinums and above listed. That equates to 0.45%.

We will leave you to draw your own conclusions as to what these numbers mean.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Amway's Reputation

Mention the word "Amway" to anyone who has walked the earth for more than a few decades and you'll find that in the majority of cases, the two words that will likely to be heard in reply are "scam" or "pyramid scheme". Whether those opinions are based on personal experience or through the experience or on the words of others, it's clear that the Amway name has the stigma of disrepute amongst the minds of the masses.

Being a word-of-mouth business where the continual recruitment of more people is required in order for one to succeed, one would think that no-one would join Amway with the reputation that it has. But people do join and lot's of them, though that number has declined over the last several years.

According to Amway's figures, there are approximately 80,000 registered IBO's in Australia and New Zealand combined today. Considering that the number of IBO's in Australia alone in the year 2000 (when Amway went online) was 100,000, this illustrates a significant decline overall, however, what is more significant is the number of IBO's that have joined and resigned within that period. Amway has a staggeringly high attrition rate, reported to be as high as 65% within the first year.

What is the reason for the such appalling retention rate of IBO's? Why do the majority of IBO's quit? One would think that if the majority of IBO's were successfully making money then there would be a continual annual growth of IBO numbers and lower attrition rates. As can be seen from the above statistics, this is not the case. So why aren't the vast majority of IBO's making money? Is it because they are not "working the business" properly? Perhaps. Is it due to lack of skills or effort? Perhaps. Are they themselves to blame for their failure in the business? Perhaps. Or is it the failure of the Amway business model itself that is largely to blame? Definitely. Whatever the reasons are, the labels of "it doesn't work" "scam" and "pyramid scheme" ensue and thanks to the growth and accessability of the internet, these thoughts and opinions are now also expressed publicly for all the world to see. The more people that join and subsequently fail in the Amway business and who share their experiences, the more that Amway's reputation generally takes a hiding.

Who suffers the most from the bad reputation? Yep, it is the IBO's who are trying to recruit new IBO's. So much so that the word "Amway" is rarely mentioned up-front to prospects. Instead the "curiousity approach" is taken where the terms "business opportunity", "e-commerce business" or the name of their associated AMO system is used in order for the IBO to have a chance in generating any interest. However, inevitably the "Is this Amway?" question often comes up. It is the single biggest objection an IBO faces when pitching the business. An objection that the majority of IBO's attempt to overcome by skirting around or downplaying the true importance, role or connection of Amway in their business. More often than not even this tactic does not work as the mere mention of the word Amway is enough to scare the majority of prospects away. Such is the power of a bad reputation. Easy to get and difficult to shake off.

So this is just our opinion on Amway's reputation. Do you agree or disagree? What are your perceptions and opinions about Amway?..... We'd like to know! Feel free to leave your comment here and/or visit our website at www.ozamwayvictims.com where you can share your experiences, thoughts and opinions and read what others fellow Australians have to say.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Australian Amway experience?

Welcome to the ozamwayvictims.com blog which is the support blog for a new site about the Amway experience and solely from the Australian perspective.

Amway and it's two major AMO's currently operating in Australia, being IDA and Network 21, has impacted on the lives of thousands upon thousands of IBO's (Independent Business Owner's - the term that Amway distributors are known as) and their families. The primary purpose of the site is to give the opportunity for the Australian public to submit their stories about their own Amway/AMO experiences so that a clearer picture can be revealed as to what the Australian Amway/AMO experience is really like and how it has impacted on the lives of those involved.

So whether your an ex-IBO, a current or potential IBO, have family, friends or loved ones who are IBO's or if you have had anything to do with Amway, IDA or Network 21, then we invite you to check out the site and share your story. The site also contains general information, research suggestions, links to related websites and more.

Visit - http://www.ozamwayvictims.com/