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Bill Britt – The Man, the Myth, the Legend

A brief history of Bill Britt, Amway legends of the rich and free:

Before becoming an Amway legend, Bill Britt lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was a frustrated and broke city manager. Immediately after getting involved, he started breaking sales records, and his organization hasn’t slowed down in more than 30 years. More than 2 million distributors are involved with Amway today as a direct result of Bill Britt building a solid foundation in his business more than 30 years ago.

One of the things that has grown faster than Bill’s business is the revenue predictions on it. For three years beginning in 2002, I was an active Amway distributor (then known as Quixtar), at which point I had the privilege of attending various events where Bill Britt was the keynote speaker. I remember hearing people speculate that he makes anywhere from $ 10 million per year to $ 300 million per year. (As a special note, this is not an income statement, as I have no affiliation with Amway – I’m just saying that no one really knows how much you earn, except that it’s probably A LOT.)

Bill Britt’s Amway team loyalty is second to none in the MLM profession. He was the keynote speaker at a major conference I attended in 2005 in Long Beach, CA. As he spoke, the room fell silent with one of the most persuasive speeches I have ever heard. Bill Britt was revered as being part man and part God, similar to how I imagine the pharaohs of ancient Egypt are revered by their devotees. As we sat on the edge of our seats hour after hour, late into the night, Bill Britt kept talking about politics, religion, how bad jobs smell, and I think he mentioned Amway once or twice.

The methods used by Bill to develop his business are those of traditional network marketing: home meetings, hotel meetings, and weekend events. Mainly, the foundations of his business were laid in the late 1960s.

Bill Britt also runs one of the largest international personal development companies, Britt Worldwide, which distributes millions of audio CDs monthly on a standing order schedule recommended to all Amway distributors. Estimates of his income from his personal development tools business range up to 90% of Bill’s total income.

Bill’s teachings seem to resonate in a world that has almost passed away: he talks about limited government, family values, and the possibilities one can achieve by having a dream.

Because it did not adapt to more modern strategies, Bill Britt’s organization went through a period of extreme struggle in the late 1990s, where checks dwindled and distributors were frustrated.

I failed at Amway while working on my butt for over 3 years from 2002 to 2005. During that time I did over 1000 presentations and nothing seemed to work for me like it did 30 years ago. Which, to be honest, wasn’t working that well for a lot of people anymore.

As a result of this massive frustration, I eventually left the Amway business in favor of a more streamlined business system that is more suited to the 21st century market, and the results have been nothing short of miraculous. However, there are some important insights we can learn from Bill Britt. However, the biggest idea is this:

The financial possibilities of building a thriving MLM organization are virtually limitless if you do it right.

In short, Bill Britt is nothing less than an icon in American business. Think what you can about Amway – this man has done something quite remarkable and we can all learn a thing or two from his success.