This is an attempt to bring the Andy Willloughby project up to date; the following is from my responses to commenters on the various Three-Step Plan posts:

Post number one.

Post number two.

I hope you have taken the opportunity to read what the real-life Andy wrote (see "What Andy Willoughby Wrote..." in the right sidebar at the top). It adds another dimension to my understanding of this, which I hinted at in the other Andy Willoughby post when I referred to Mary Kay and others.

There are some big problems with the entire Xango enterprise and its pedigree, as I think the links in this and the other post illustrate well. MLM is not for me. Tying ANY business into the 'Christian' community also has "icky" written all over it.

That being said, I don't think Andy Willoughby is a bad guy or trying to rip people off. I've made a bunch of jokes at his expense here and Andy's response was, well, pretty darn Christian. As was his explanation of his business.

Here.

also

Here.

After reading these, I honestly believe Andy is simply trying to make an honest buck, and saw a logical opening with the Christian radio advertising angle. His is certainly not the first ad campaign on Christian radio to use that 'one Christian to another' message.

I also think he would have been WAY better off if he did not thoroughly mask the nature of the business which is at the root of the 'Three Step Plan.' The further I dug into it, the more curious I got, just because I hate multi-level marketing and could not believe there was another Amway at the bottom of all this. It sure looked like he was trying to hide something.

But it also makes business sense to take the 'secretive' approach he took. I would not have done it, but I can understand why others would.

If I was counseling Andy, one thing I would recommend is to get out in front with what he is asking people to get into. At least say "You'll be selling a great product most people don't know about, and you'll have the added benefits of earning commission from the sales of people you get involved with the business, and a unique program for sharing leads that come in response to our radio ads."

Such a statement would eliminate the notion of deceptiveness.

If he had said that, I can tell you right now I would not have delved into this research assignment with so much gusto. I've known people who did multi-level marketing who were decent people, who did not badger me to get involved. Heck, I buy some of that kitchen stuff once in a while when one of the neighbors hosts a 'party' and usually appreciate it. Of course, I always say to myself, "I'm sure glad I don't do that for a living."

The presenters usually seem to like it though, which I simply attribute to different personality types.

Of course, the reason I would counsel a more transparent approach in Andy's marketing is because it's what I would like to see - and no matter what, I still could never ever do MLM. Andy will never make a penny off someone like me. Thus, maybe Andy does not want my advice on how his promotions would best appeal to me, if the way he is doing it now happens to be working.

I'll also note: From a purely selfish perspective it helped me out to bash the 3-Step Plan and those annoying radio commercials. It brought me a lot of Web traffic, which as a Web site owner I like to see (though purely for entertainment purposes: I do not make any money from this site whatsoever - it costs me a few hundred dollars a year. Fun money.) I'm posting this more 'positive' take on Andy Willoughby, and placing his personal message on the sidebar, in the hope it will cause visitors to give him a look-see.

I'm not repenting exactly, because I stand by the research on MLM in the earlier posts. Andy's 'folksy' commercials are fair game for snarky comments because I have to listen to them all the time and though I now understand why he uses them, I can't deny they evoke sarcastic thoughts from the evil side of my nature. And I think Andy deserves a slap on the wrist for a promotional campaign which has caused some of us to hear our BS detectors going "whoop whoop whoop."

But I do not think Andy Willoughby's Three Step Plan is a scam. Multi-level marketing can be a legitimate business. So to anyone who has read the earlier posts and enjoyed any sense of triumph over a 'scam' revealed, I must say I was wrong to give that impression. If you have a personality amenable to the Mary Kay or Pampered Chef concepts, you might be able to make money with the Three Step Plan.

That's my current take on this topic.