The source of our most prolific conversations here at the Alpaca Burger Forum has been, unexpectedly, our series of posts on Andy Willoughby's Three Step Plan. (Click that link to read through the entire magnum opus.)
Andy's business is multi-level marketing of Xango, which is juice from the mangosteen fruit. His radio ads are ear-catching, thus my interest and probably everyone else's. We've received a pretty substantial amount of traffic and comments as a result; of the latter, I think it's been divided pretty evenly between the pro- and anti-Andy factions. Andy himself has dropped in a few times, and I personally was impressed with him. He makes no excuses for his business model, a business model which I happen to find puzzling because I am not a salesman.
It all started with a throwaway joke line that brought dozens of google hits per day. After many months of watching the stats - all the poor folks who came here looking for real information and finding a stupid joke - I was beset by an uncharacteristic spell of conscience and decided to do some actual research to provide some useful information for our visitors.
The first real post was this one, which also happened to evoke the Mother of All Andy Willoughby Comment Threads.
My semi-serious investigation began here, and a very good discussion follows, including a visit by Andy himself.
Andy checked in with us again here, for a friendly back-and-forth. A good discussion follows.
More comments from Andy here and here.
The discussion got a bit more heated here.
Reader Bruce just posted this comment on another forum.
The most recent post brought this comment:
Thank you for the work you are doing. There are many women needing to make extra money for their families that fall prey to rats and vultures. Keep your eagle eyes open--- protect them. You are needed, wanted and loved for your good works.
I expect some of our commenters will jump all over me for it, but I have to take exception to this commenter's point. While there are certainly rats and vultures in multi-level marketing, I don't think Andy Willougby is one of them.
The more critical point is this: MLM presents something of a Rorschach test. If you go into it expecting magic or with the unrealistic idea it offers easy money, you could be in for a very rude surprise. Especially if you have a lot of eggs in the basket. Sales is hard, and the radiation-referral model of MLM is very hard if you are not committed to constantly working the system and getting new people involved, and particularly if the product you happen to have signed on to sell is not a viable, worthwhile product.
Mary Kay has been very good to a lot of salespeople because it is a valuable product and there are a lot of women in the world who might buy it. Tupperware was the same type of deal for decades. You may not be able to say the same thing about all the products typically marketed via a "downline." Tea tree oil, vitamins, kitchen products and, yes, Xango may or may not be as viable.
If you are naturally inclined toward sales, and you believe in the product, Andy Willoughby's Three Step Plan may be as valid a source of income as any. If you don't have the mindset nor faith in mangosteen, it could be a real waste of time and money. The many links in the complete thread present a bunch of resources you can use to research the product if you wish.
Happy New Year and, if it be your destiny, happy selling.
