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Summary: Tapes, Books, Functions
Review: "The system is optional, but so is success". A quote I heard numerous times over my 4 year career in "the business". This book is an excellent behind-the-scenes read for anyone considering becoming an IBO or even for an existing IBO who wants all the facts and not just info that the uplines want you to see. Amway itself is an excellent corporation but as stated by many others, it's the motivational organizations that push their tools (tapes, books and functions!!!!) that are the true concern. ...
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Summary: Amway Motivational Organizations:Behind the Smoke and Mirror
Review: I found Ruth Carter's book to be very useful. It explained in great detail the problems that have been plaguing the Amway Corporation since the early 1970's. In this narrative, Ruth answers all the questions: How does a new recruit know where the big money is from? Is it from retailing products or selling the System of books, audio tapes and seminars? Are the motivational items useful, or do they keep a distributor in the business despite having dismal or marginal results; and in doing so, just lining the pockets of the big pins? Is it possible to separate the Motivational Organizations from the Amway Corporation, or do we accept the two as one? Is the organization practicing Direct Selling as outlined by the Federal Trade Commission, or have the Motivational Organizations pushed Amway into illegal territory? Overall, a well researched work.
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Summary: A great book....
Review: I'm not sure what to say. The author seems intent on tearing down the system for success in the business. The reason? In short- because some individuals she knew in the business exaggerated their own success, and because many of the 'higher level' distributors actually make money on the tapes, books, and seminars. I suppose she'd be shocked to find out that her doctor wrote a book, or recieved a fee for speaking or teaching another group of doctors? Happens all the time. In every field there is a system for success. The doctors that attend the seminars do so willingly andoften spend several thousand dollars. They know two things going in: This seminar is going to help them do their job better, and somebody is making money on it. Same with the books, tapes, and a decade at the University and $100K in student loans. Hey- SOMEBODY is making money on that, my friends.Translate the same idea to sales and marketing: All of the sudden you have a business opportunity whereby you get paid for getting people to purchase products and services like household cleaners, personal hygene products, water filtration systems, coffee, and about 8,000 other consumer products. Nevermind the advantages/disadvantages of the products- the idea is to assemble a customer base for these products. The opportunity is made somewhat better by the fact that a person may 'sponsor' others to do the same thing and recieve a small commision on their sales as well, and a smaller commision on the sales of the people that are sponsored by their recruits. This is an unusual style of business- but it's perfectly legal according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It takes a unique kind of person to be successful at this kind of business. A few individuals rise to the top- as they do in every field. Then they seek to motivate and inspire the troops to build bigger and more secure businesses thus making their businesses more secure. In the process- they are helping others. Their time and expertise is worth something, right? What is the big deal? What the author has done is to find a few allegedly unscrupulous souls and has set out to paint with a broad brush an entire organization whose objective she admits is 'to be the best business opportunity in the world'. I also note that the author has not succeeded in this business. [I was also intrigued by the few who have posted here claiming to have been at successful levels in this business 'emerald', for example- but there's no way to verify such a claim.] The author even admits that the couple she worked for had a gross income of about $3 million. That's pretty nice. Now, the fact that they don't pay their taxes (who knows if this is true?), and that they are in debt (again, who knows?), doesn't tell me much about the business, or the system. It tells me that this particular couple doesn't manage their money well. This entire book is an indictment by implication. It takes unverifyable facts about a few individuals and extrapolates it out to encompass an entire organization and a business. I'll grant that the author may well have had a negative experience with the particular people she was in the business with. I'll grant that the business is tough to succeed in and it isn't for everyone- it's not as easy as some would claim. Truthfully, most people would just 'get over it'. I wonder why the author hasn't? Let's go further. Let's say a person fails in this business. After five full years, the person didn't make one red cent- I mean nothin', didn't sponsor anyone, didn't sell one product- but spent $1,000 per month on 'the system'(way, way more than a person would spend) Guess what my math loving friends? That's $60K. Businesses start up for a whole lot more than that - and they fail. They fail with quarter million dollar loans attached to primary residences, people. There are bigger risks out there than not selling enough toothpaste and laundry soap! Nobody comes and takes away your house and car because you didn't sponsor enough people. You quit. You walk away. You move on! Read this book if you must, but take it with a grain of salt. Beware of people with an overactive sense of 'justice' and hypersensitivity to personal offense.
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Summary: Ayn Rand Fans Can Find Value in This Book
Review: Many free market advocates have held up Amway as a role model, a modern success story of how American free enterprise can allow anyone to rise to economic success. Amway, we are told, has created more millionaires than any other company. Amway is the bastion of "compassionate capitalism", they say. But is any of this true? The philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand identified an unbreakable link between nature, knowledge and morality. She said that the true is the good, and the false is the evil. In other words, valid knowledge helps people, while invalid knowledge harms them. Ayn Rand saw reality as a world open to our senses and comprehensible to our minds through logic. The foundation of her entire philosophy rests on Aristotle's principle of non-contradiction: A is A, reality is what it is, and wishing or hoping or praying will not affect the laws of nature. She called this metaphysical idea "the primacy of existence". Contrast this view with the one that religions advocate, especially New Age religions: the idea that your internal thoughts affect external reality -- not just your ability to focus and choose goals and take actions, mind you, but the idea that THOUGHTS THEMSELVES can reshape reality. Ayn Rand called this metaphysical idea "the primacy of consciousness", and she rejected this notion as completely mystical, irrational and destructive. Unfortunately, the idea that thoughts themselves reshape reality has permeated our culture in countless ways. They have especially made themselves prevalent in today's MOTIVATIONAL MATERIALS produced by such notables as Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, and AMWAY. What happens when private companies employ this mystical concept in their training materials? What harm is brought to people when they accept false ideas as true -- specifically, the New Age idea that "if the dream is big enough, facts don't matter"? Ruth Carter shares with us the many disastrous consequences Amway recruits have experienced. Students of Ayn Rand should especially appreciate what happens to people who attempt to mix mysticism with capitalism. Ruth Carter explains to us how one very wealthy private company has learned to promote and to exploit mysticism to its own advantage.
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Summary: Slow Down and Think
Review: Much of what Ruth Carter writes correlates with my own personal experiences during my brief involvement with Amway. I found this book to be perceptive, well-researched and thought-provoking. I do not agree with every detail and conclusion that she wrote. I do agree with her premise, though, that people run into trouble when they (gradually) abdicate their own knowing and follow others who seduce them not to think, and how that might have happened. This book deserves your attention if you are looking for more in life, not just with Amway, but through any organization you may now be in or be considering to join. It will help you evaluate how the organization functions so you can see if your situation is healthy or not. Many people joined Amway only to realize later that they were not truly happy nor experiencing loving friendships, positive family relationships, lots of money, radiant health and that they were not really helping others. They were not where they had intended to be by involving themselves with the program. This book will allow them to heal -- to understand what they experienced and to question beliefs they had taken on which do not serve them; to feel good about themselves and to rebuild their lives. I think Ms. Carter provides a good service. Ultimately we are each responsible for our own choices.
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Summary: The Truth is Finally Out
Review: Ruth Carter has done a great public service by exposing the deceptions, manipulations, and outright dishonesty of Amway Motivational Businesses. The corporation has a maligned reputation principally due to the operations of these "associated" businesses and their cultish-style tactics. From her position as assistant to a Diamond-level distributor, Mrs Carter's assertions are far more credible than lower-level distributors protestations of their "Upline's" integrity and character. The vast majority of distributors have no idea what "goes on behind the scenes" of the high level distributors they worship, and Ruth Carter exposes the wolves in sheep's clothing with pinpoint accuracy, based on over 10 years of personal experiences. Her examinations of the mind control techniques these organizations use is invaluable to former distributors like myself who spent 6 years in Amway and it's Motivational Money Drains. I hope that all current and future distributors will take an opportunity to "look at all the angles" of any business opportunity. That is, of course, what they advise you to do, isn't it?
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Summary: Excellent Inside Look at the Amway Distributor Network
Review: Ruth Carter has written an excellent book on the destructive practices of the Amway distributor network. This organization isn't about selling products, it's about "selling the system" and using mind control techniques without the informed consent of the members, and also deceiving people and outright lying to them to get them to join. Thanks to Ruth for having the courage to spread the word about this corrupt distributor organization, and warning others so they don't fall into the same trap. It's an excellent read for anyone who was involved with this organization or who knows someone who is, or who just wants to learn more about the (understandably) controversial practices of the Amway distributors.
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Summary: A Look Inside a Dangerous Cult
Review: Ruth Carter's book can be divided into three parts: a short lesson in basic finance; a lesson in what makes a group a cult; and her personal story. Ms. Carter shows quite convincingly, first, that Amway is in reality nothing more than a pyramid scheme, and second, that it has all the tell-tale signs of a cult: not a religious cult dedicated to an absurd theological proposition ("Jesus will appear on september 2nd 2005 in Troy, New York") but an economical cult to an absurd economical proposition ("if I just keep spending all my money on Amway, I will be RICH one day!"). She also has a useful chapter at the end about how to leave Amway--which is harder than it looks, as leaving any cult is. All this is intereting and important; however, it is available on the internet--just search google for "Amway AND bad", for example, and take it from there; be sure to visit Ms. Carter's own extensive web site, by the way. (If there is one thing cults HATE, it is the internet, for just this reason, but I digress.) If this was all Ms. Carter's book was doing, one could just browse the web instead. The really fascinating thing about Ms. Carter's book is her personal story. She tells, in fascinating, sad, and sometimes sordid details, what it REALLY means to be brainwahsed by Amway. It means losing your money, frieds, family, marriage, children, and almost your identity while becoming an "Ambot". Above all, it has a "behind-the-scenes" look at how sleazy, unethical, and manipulative the gurus (or "upline diamonds", as they are called in Amway) are, and how they manipulate their flock for their own personal benefit, while pretending to "love" them so much. The book is worth buying for that last part alone, and, indeed, it justifies the book's title. In sum, highly recommended.
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Summary: Amway-The side not publicaly known
Review: The book is an great review of what I have also found to be true in Amway. The real money is in selling the motivational and training system to dream hungry distributors who THINK the key to riches is in the Amway products business. Don Lorencz, a Diamond distributor from Canada, confirms on his site that 80% of a dimaonds income is from his side business ot tapes, books and seminars, and 20% if actually from the Amway products business. Anyone who has been in Amway should look around and see how much money they and their downline pumped into the "system", and then they might realize the real money is not in Amway product but selling the "Amway business system". Read the book or live in a sheltered world.
Rating: 
Summary: Look at yourself in the mirror
Review: This book is a far cry from what the title portrays.
A poor written book where the author tries to convict a business model for her failures.
I am not saying there is no truth in the book, but save your money and invest it in something more credible.
This book did not answer any questions for me. I suggest getting
information about any business from the people that are successful in that particular business.
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