I recently read three long blog posts about the connection between Amway and the Prosperity Gospel preachers of today such as Joel Olsteen.

https://seanmungerhistory.substack.com/p/the-tools-cult-the-history-of-the

https://seanmungerhistory.substack.com/p/the-tools-cult-the-history-of-the-201

https://seanmungerhistory.substack.com/p/the-tools-cult-the-history-of-the-bdc

These are long articles so I will try to summarize briefly.

"Amway didn't make much money for anyone who weren't founding it. A different group of people popped up (Dexter Yager and Bill Britt) discovered motivational records and tapes. They started to sell these motivational tapes to those who were involved with Amway. These were Amway tools. They were inspirational more than informational.

The REAL money was made selling these tools. They supposedly would teach one how to be successful, but in reality were just there to make someone feel good and hopeful about the future. The real money being made were from these tools being sold. They made FAR more money than any Amway seller did.

Dexter Yager was part of a Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International. It is also the organization the Bakers and Olsteens belong too. The same ideas and principles taught by the Amway tapes are now taught by the propserity gospel teachers, but tailored to the prosperity gospel ideas."

When reading these I remember I had to sit through a "inspirational" bunch of hooey when I first moved to the Morridor for my work. It was called the "Speed of Trust" by covey's son. It's a bunch of feel good/inspirational type stuff...just like the Amway stuff sounds like.

That got me thinking...a LOT of people out here praise Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Successful People...but does it really teach anything new? Is it really actually useful...or is it more of that same type of BS that is given by all those other "inspirational charletons?"

It seems to me that the way Covey REALLY made his money wasn't from his pyramid scheme of selling planners, though that may have gotten his foot in the door, but from selling the "Tools" just like the Amway guys did. His tools...the Book and his entire lecture circuit built around it along with the company that still does this stuff (hence how I had to sit through that entire day of lecture from his son).

That makes me think that Covey was actually more like these Amway tools people than anything else. In that light, just like the Prosperity gospel is connected to the Amway tools...is it possible that Mormons today are in a way connected to the Covey tools type scenario?

That's a really good connection. I'm well informed about MLMs, and I didn't see the possible connection. Although I will say that Covey's products (the planners, etc.) were more useful than most, and oriented to the business community. But he wrote lots of books, and the "7 Habits" book sold more than 25 million copies. That's a chunk of change in profits right there.

Some MLM companies align themselves closely with the more conservative brands of Christianity. Their MLM conferences can resemble revival meetings in some ways. Amway is probably the most notable in that regard, but I would also count Lularoe and Bravenly in that group.

>> The REAL money was made selling these tools. They supposedly would teach one how to be successful, but in reality were just there to make someone feel good and hopeful about the future.

That's religion in a nutshell, isn't it? -- Trying to make people feel good and hopeful about that future. There's a reason that first world countries are rapidly exiting relgion, because people have a much greater ability to have a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. Prosperity has a way of making people feel good and hopeful.

An interesting note about Amway -- the company is starting to clamp down on the tools scam to a degree. They don't allow new members to buy the tools (motivational recordings, etc.) for at least the first year. I'm guessing it's to stay within the bounds of the law.

ETA -- there are multiple reasons that MLMs flourish in Utah. The lax regulatory environment makes the state a hospitable home for MLM companies. The companies mainly appeal to SAHMs, which the state has in abundance due to Mormon encouragement of same. But often overlooked is the quasi-religious tone and structure of the companies, which provide a familiar environment to Mormons and other conservative Christians.

As you point out, Betty, it is nearly impossible for most people to make money participating in a MLM. The average failure rate in this regard is something like 96%. The few people who do make money are the early adopters, the extremely well-connected (i.e. popular influencers,) or those who initiate tools scams.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/29/2024 06:18AM by summer.

I have been a prospector of the Dollar Wise Market Service. Well worth my 199.99 fee for 10 years. I make 300 dollars working two spare nights a month.

https://youtu.be/faZadaGV6AE?t=423

I watched the video and at the half way point I was ready to join you on this road to riches. Who couldn't use an extra $544 every month? Then I watched to the end when the Dragnet men arrested her.

Steve Covey was a popular business/motivational speaker while I was at BYU back in the early 1970s. Some of his presentations were printed up by BYU Press and sold at his departmental office. I still have one of them somewhere. Material in those presentations later showed up in his 7 Habits book.

Covey's Spiritual Roots in Human Relations came out in 1970. His 7 Habits book came out in 1989. The Covey Institute merger with Franklin Planners was in 1997. His fame, if anything, had already peaked by the time he was associated with Franklin Planners.

My reaction to the names Wead and Yager was "who??" Methinks they were attempting to be like Covey, not the reverse.

I remember back in the day I had an Elder's Quorum leader who was heavily involved in Amway. He tried mightily to strong arm me into joining up. I refused and told him to look me up when he was rich and I would join then.

I also remember when Steven Covey's book about the seven habits of highly effective people came out. Unless you purchased this book, you would never be effective. Sunday school teachers touted this book as part of their lesson materials and quoted passages from it.

When the Franklin Day Planner was introduced the same thing happened. Everyone immediately had to have one of these to properly organize their lives. The members of my ward would proudly display their Day Planners along with their scriptures.

I always wanted the book and day planner but I also had six kids to feed and a looming mortgage.

You can still buy the Franklin Covey Day Planner on Amazon for under $90 and it still looks amazing. But I'm retired now and my day planner would list having a delicious cup of coffee every AM on every page in that planner. I'd probably get writer's cramp if I had one.

Thanks to these people I earned $178
in the past five years and achieved the financial freedom others can only dream about.

It was a sister in the ward who had actively recruited my mom and every other sister in the ward. I went with her to the meeting because my dad wanted nothing to do with it. I saw the presentation MLM and the emphasis on setting goals on selling and bringing in new people.

I think my mom got cornered into buying several grosses of their brand of laundry detergent. It was sworn to be the same quality of Tide. My mom used All or Cheer because it was always cheaper than Tide (the gold standard in home laundry).

The Amway brand was a very poor detergent (at that time, maybe it's better now). My mom's decision to buy Amway products of which I recall were ok, but nothing great came at a critical time of my life~ middle school and puberty were not kind. And wearing clothes which were neither clean looking nor smelling clean really hurt me when I was in need of school friends.

I think my mom had to pay a 50 dollar penalty fee to leave Amway early because I think it was supposed to be a 3 or 4 year contract with minimum yearly purchases.

Their products are very expensive, especially in comparison to other brands. Some are okay in quality. That's interesting about the Amway detergent. It's hideously expensive. And I remember reading a Consumer Reports article that raved about Tide. How Amway can compete with Tide is beyond me. (I personally use Purex because it's cheap and usually gets the job done to my satisfaction.)

There's a free online book called "Merchants of Deception" which is an eye opener. The man who wrote it rose to an upper mid-level position with Amway. He ended up working 100 hours a week, and he never earned more than about $30-$35K per year. As fast as he could recruit someone to Amway, another of his recruits would drop out. There was no winning. Yet his upline (superiors within the organization) had he and his wife dress up in formal attire and parade down a carpet at conferences as symbols of Amway success. It took him a long time to figure out that the tools scam (conferences for which fees were paid, motivational recordings, etc.) was where the real money was being made. This is a great book because not only does it expose Amway (along with MLMs in general,) but also shows the religious underpinnings of Amway and selected other MLMs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/29/2024 05:43PM by summer.