Listening To Gurus: What They Don't Want You To Know
108: Keeping it real.
Quick update regarding the Substack chat: We have been bombarded with questions from multiple platforms, and not all readers have a Telegram account. Taking that into consideration, we activated the Substack chat again. Unsure how well it will be received, we will try to keep it alive - ask your questions here. Another thing worth mentioning is that we will share the unique material we shared earlier in our group chat. Starting the list with a few PDF files full of marketing methods and thoughts that all the paid members should get access to. If you have two extra minutes, give us feedback by completing the survey.
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Welcome reader! In the Telegram group, we asked readers what topic to cover next. The answer was straightforward. You can be sure that if you offer someone a way, method, or insight that they don’t know about but will help them make money. They will choose that over everything else. No surprises. We are not talking about a method but more of an angle they should be taking going forward. There are no methods here. What modern gurus won’t tell you? How they are making money. They claim what they tell you is the best way to make money. But are they following the same advice themselves?
Modern Age Gurus
New Age Gurus: Before going further, we want to ensure that our goal is not to bash anyone. Just pointing out the trends and what is happening around all of us participating in the WiFi money game. Modern-age gurus are not worse or better than the old ones. Jeff Walker, Frank Kern, and even Dan Kennedy are all old-school gurus. Some desire to help others. Others only care about the cash flow - getting it from those who think they will hit it big with their method. Gurus? Everyone has a different term, but the easiest way we would describe is those who claim they are experts in certain fields. The old-school ones were. Now that everyone has access to the internet… Things have changed. New-age gurus mostly play on materialistic items and mindsets. instead of the knowledge. Using them as tools to exploit the insecure side of individuals. When you gain the ability to understand what is happening. You will understand why it works well and how it makes money. It's all about psychology and marketing - both worth diving deeper into. Mandatory is the better way to put it.
Selling Point: What is a modern age gurus selling point? Shortcuts, methods, zero morals, and material goods. Starting with the shortcuts. They claim they know them. They claim they are the only ones who know them. They know it's a lie. The real shortcut is realizing there are no shortcuts to making money. Similar principles apply to unique methods. You will often hear this being thrown around. Everyone knows they might work for a month or two until a certain change in the market. Average is always hoping that it is their golden ticket. If your gurus are pushing those or playing FOMO manipulations. They are not worth following or listening to their advice. Morals? The less, the better. How can you guarantee everyone that they will hit 10k/month using your method? When you know the same individuals can’t use Google to search for basics. Yet you expect from them that they will be able to deliver. Last point? Material goods. How else do you plan to drive traffic if not by exploiting the insecure individuals? There is nothing easier to exploit than a man hungry for material possessions. We mention common examples and no one should be surprised - they are part of the guru game. Old ones used to do things differently. One could argue that it was better overall. Times were different, with less emphasis on material goods. There are still decent gurus who are helping and giving out actual knowledge. To get to those, you must spend hours in this field and learn how to separate the good advice from the bad. Understand how the funnels operate and what matters and what doesn’t. When it comes to making money, things are different. Most gurus only teach you the process - sequence. There is nothing wrong with the process. The big problem is that only experienced understand what is going on. The process only works for a limited time. There comes a saturation point - everyone is trying to pull off the same thing. The buyer's sophistication kicks in - they start understanding what you are trying to do. Result? You end up with everyone doing the same thing. What happens next? The method doesn’t work anymore. Modern-age gurus will always tell you this is the best way or this is the best business model. Not considering the mentioned problems at all. Smart ones know what they are doing. That statement? Far from the truth. There is not only one business model. There is not only one method that works. There are a hundred ways to make money.
What Gurus Won’t Tell You - Catch 22 Edition
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What Modern Guru Won’t Tell You: Understand this is not a process article. There is no guide on how to make money or what you should copy to make money. We also hope that you understand how modern gurus operate. Our goal with this article? To make you think and understand what is going on. Not only to make you think but also to give you an angle on how to make money. A solid number of readers will take this article as no-guru propaganda. That is not true. Gurus are here to stay. What will happen in the upcoming years is that you will realize they have become more sophisticated. Better one could say. Learning new tricks from which we all can take something out. This article's biggest and most important takeaway is that 80% of gurus are not teaching you a long-term sustainable business. Neither are they teaching you what they are doing. Quite the opposite. A standard example: a guru says that sales are the best way to make money (trading time). That same guru is not doing the sales but pushing the offers around the same (not trading time). You won’t be able to unsee it once you see it. Realiazing they are running a business teaching how to do a job. That is the reality gurus don’t want you to know - the real leverage they have. Building out their business model and not doing what they are teaching you. Another part of the story is that most gurus rebrand every few years. Chasing the next big thing. A few years after that? The next big thing. They are masters at recognizing the trends and pushing offers around the same. Individuals doing this often make ridiculous amounts of money and can live off that. Many examples follow the same patterns even when looking out through history. Oil back in the day, finance system or commodities. Those who can recognize where the next big thing is are the lucky ones.
If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business - you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic! - Michael E. Gerber