Amwayish

Many, many years ago, in a land far, far away, I knew a person who sold Amway. Well, let me clarify- this person didn’t exactly “sell” anything. He bought products to sell and ended up with maybe 2 sales for 100 items he purchased, so essentially he had a storehouse of this merchandise and was a high rated salesman. His dream was to “climb the ladder” of success and get other people to do the real work of selling the product. So, he went from family member to friend to bare acquaintance trying to use his persuasive powers and they were mighty- to get a fleet of salesmen under his “branch” of the company. His goal was never to sell anything, although he truly believed in the goodness of the products he sold or would sell, if someone came to him and asked outright to buy a box of laundry detergent for twice the usual grocery store price. I saw that situation unfold from a very close position, so I am familiar with the marketing tools, ideas, emotional influence, and the natural course of the experience. I am not alone in this assessment, as the marketing tool, Buy from your Own Self is still alive and well.

So, fast forward 40 years and another earnest, sincere, if misdirected friend is trying to sell Organo Gold products. Yes, I know- that mushroom dust that is in the coffee and tea has been proven to help people be healthier. Proven? I guess so, why not? All mushrooms are good for you, right? I take a mushroom extract in a supplement with AHCC Gold, so what’s so different with Organo and AHCC? The frenzy. The allegiance to a packet of product- not for your own enjoyment or your own health but for the health of others. Really? If so, why not advocate and refer these friends and family members, AKA “contacts”,  to buy from vendors that are not directly linked to your bank account?

So, when I get this email advertisement forwarded from this friend with a plaintive plea- “help me build my business”, I just feel like screaming. What business? He has NO sales experience or skills. He is an engineer type- check, check, check- contact, let’s go.  I admit I am not “a salesman”.  Have you ever heard that old saying, ” She/He can’t sell red off a red bugs tail”? I have been trying to be nice and hoping that if I keep waiting long enough, maybe he will figure it out for himself. I did share my concerns on the legitimacy of the business model with the Organo Scam reports early on, but I received a counseling session, ie: sales rhetoric repeated verbatim like a child reciting their mathematics tables for my troubles.

I do object to his continuing talk of “finding a job” and action of “building his business”. How can you politely say, ” Most people work a real job, until, and if such time arrives that this wonderful opportunity pays off?” How do you say, ” if it costs you $1200 to join this direct selling club and you buy $500 worth of products and you have not sold anything, maybe this is not the best plan for you?”

You can’t. You can’t say it, because the stars of hope glitter brightly in the “I want to be rich” eyes of the true believers. It is a wonderful story of hope and dreams that come true. It is impossible to dash those hopes with reality, without hurting the dreamer. I don’t think anything you say will matter, but worse, would be remembered later more than the actual experience and end results. So, I bite my tongue and wait. I won’t even argue about that “forwarding” of those advertising emails. I will stay quiet and  maintain my position. I do not want to buy or sell these items, Thanks anyway.

I wonder if one day, I will be looking up this company and find that they have built an international enterprise on the scale of their earlier look alike. I didn’t know that we had the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. I do see a similarity with the Organo Gold distributors.  Hands raised in the air- for a sales conference or a concert.  Let me know if I have been missing a boat- the boat to true success and living the fantasy in the land close to Mickey! I do have a fanciful way of looking at things, but even I cannot overlook the words listed below : The Amway Center is a sports and entertainment venue in Orlando, Florida, located in the Downtown area. It is part of Downtown Orlando Master Plan 3: a plan that also involves improvements to the Citrus Bowl and a new performing arts center.

Let’s think about this. Who built this? Corporate? Who gets the revenue? Corporate? Who gets the positive image marketing? Corporate? Who plays their games there? NBA Orlando Magic and other sports teams. Wow, what a great marketing tool. This is genius!! Why can’t I think of things like this? 🙂 Or maybe, I should have worked harder to sell things for that friend all those years ago??? Maybe not!