How To Be a “Fake” Online Guru

“There’s a sucker born every minute!”

– Multiple attributions

The euphonious catchphrase fueling the inner-sanctum of the treacherous mind.

We all have heard it. We know its meaning.

And even the learned of us bunch still believe that it must have come from the mouth of a man we have no proof of him uttering the words in the first place.

Still, we hold onto its origin… for dear life, hoping that we never fall prey to its shear, raw truth.

In the mid-19th century, P.T. Barnum may have been the world’s greatest showman, but not even his ego was so twisted as to delude himself; or to try and sell what Brad and I like to call “opportunity vaporware” — experiences, promises and information sizzling on the outside, but so empty and fleeting underneath.

As depicted in 20th Century FOX’s The Greatest Showman (trailer), starring Hugh Jackman, Barnum was a promotional genius and business man; a legit one selling legit experiences to a public hungry for fanciful displays of entertainment.

He took no pause for his bigger-than-life ideas and creative exploits (what now would simply be put under the umbrella of “guerilla marketing”).

“There are various trades and occupations which need only notoriety to insure success, always provided that when customers are once attracted, they never fail to get their money’s worth.”

– P.T. Barnum (ref)

Public perception is often wrong, riddled in half-truths and twisted context, about people who operate outside the norm; what Apple’s infamous Think Different campaign called…

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, individual wit and discernment is often clouded and, yes, fooled when sucked into the lair of the debonair scammer — that personality-disordered soul who is plain okay with faking it till they make it.

Somewhere along the way, somebody (mostly likely somebody of parental origin) didn’t teach them values like authenticity, honesty and quid-pro-quo. Or the golden-rule basics: You get punished when you lie, steal and cheat!

So, like a Billy McFarland or a Carissa Carpenter, they knowingly swindle you; try and sell you on them versus truly what you’re after: a genuine product or service with true value.

And never has it been so easy to play “pretend guru” — wise teacher, altruistic coach, do-gooder influencer, or self-labeled wealth master — as it has over the past half-decade.

Of course, not everyone who peddles their courses, their how-to info online, is fake. Not everyone who has glitz marketing is unscrupulous or deceptive. however, as the creator of the excellent video below points out:

“There’s nothing wrong with selling a course on dropshipping, but marketing it as a lifestyle product, and framing it as though everyone who buys the course has a high chance of gaining ‘financial freedom’ is just clear deception. The majority of students will NOT attain that goal, and yet guru’s will pedal their courses as though it is nearly guaranteed.”

– James Jani

I think James, via his excellent exposé above, does a great job showing you the ins and outs of the 4-step method that ALL “fake gurus” will use.

It’s a guaranteed paint-by-numbers method (for them) to turn the ambitiously-susceptible into their next SUCKER!

Let me know what you think of this entire post by commenting below, either with your own experience and/or general thoughts.

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