Fake Gurus: Another Pandemic Rampant Among Us
From a million-dollar virgin showing off his Ferraris & Lamborghinis to the self proclaimed trillion-dollar man selling his “quantum leap advantage” course, we’ve all come across internet advertisements of such people with sky-high claims of success but little to nothing to show for it.
Then a question arises. How do we discern between the real deals and scams?
Well, this article will help you identify fake gurus and their predatory tactics. So you do not fall into their traps, save your time and money.
#1 — They will display their wealth as their sole Accomplishment.
This is the most important criterion that you should use to judge whether you should buy into anyone’s claims or not. We have billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk who are changing world trends. They run super successful businesses but we never see them flaunting their cars or talking about their jets. Why? Because they don’t need to. Everyone knows about their success stories.
And we have these gurus, who do just the opposite. Their display of wealth is a cover for not having an established business, having no verifiable financial history, or a genuine source of wealth.
#2 — Their teachings are rather just sales pitches.
Their teachings don’t add any value to you. Those are mostly just sales pitches to people, so people buy their books and courses. Now, we all take courses occasionally when we need to learn some skills, add value to ourselves. There are various platforms available for it.
Course costs mostly range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars depending on the complexity, value, and length of the course. But these gurus sell courses usually costing thousands of dollars and they still manage to sell the courses.
Why do you ask? Because they lure you in by claiming that the skills they are teaching worth every penny, will make you rich, and who doesn’t want to get rich? I do.
#3— Their courses/methods have incredibly high success rates.
OR should I say UNBELIEVABLY high success rates? You’ll always see claims like the course has a 98% success rate. Someone after taking a course has started earning 20000 dollars per month OR has been seeing 3000% profit returns. Do I need to explain it more? It’s a scam, people. Steer clear of this.
#4 — They have fragile Egos.
Have you ever wondered why these gurus are easily rattled when someone criticizes them? Why are they prone to censor what negative feedback they have on their platforms? Why do they try to silence their critics? Because their illusion of success can be exposed for what it is, an illusion.
#5— Now don't get me wrong. Some of them are now successful.
All thanks to the gullible people who fall into their traps. Pour their hard-earned money into their business programs and courses. These gurus then use that money to invest in actual businesses. Oh, the irony!
#6 — They will discourage 9 to 5 jobs.
They will try to convince everyone that 9 to 5 jobs are what made their lives miserable. And business is the only way how everyone can achieve prosperity, happiness, and freedom.
Well, just like 9 to 5 jobs aren’t for everyone, similarly not everyone has the acumen, aptitude, and will to run a business. Some people are happy with their jobs because they like the work they do. Also, who is going to do the research, nurse people back to health, treat people, maintain law and order, run cities if everyone is running a successful business?
#7 — Most of them will be under the age of 35.
To have done it all, you need to have years of experience under your belt. In most cases, decades, and several of us start their careers in our twenties. Yet, modern self-proclaimed gurus and coaches have done it all in their youths, and they are ready to transfer their valuable knowledge to us. They call themselves coaches and teachers even though they have never coached anyone in their lives. It is hard to make sense of all this if you think about it.
#8 — Most of them run Youtube & Facebook Ads.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
#9 — They All have Mentors.
They all have heartwarming stories. They all had deprived childhoods, faced tough times, hardships, but they never gave up. Until they found some mentor/guide under the teachings of whom, they learned tricks of the trade. Now they are trying to do the same for you. Because they understand what you’re going through.
They kill two birds with one stone. First, they implicitly convey to you that you always need a mentor for success, you should take them as your mentor and buy their offerings.
Secondly, they indirectly suggest that you have no excuse to not take them as your guides, and not buy their programs. Since they have gone through the same path that you’re going through right now, and they have come out as successful people.
#10 — Their tactics do get exposed.
I’m not writing this article to point my finger at anyone, but I’m against deceptive marketing and the business of selling worthless courses. People have lost thousands of dollars on these gurus. Now several fake mentors are getting exposed by people who bought into their lies.
We have honest and bright people in our communities who are helping people and not using them for profit. Such teachers should be cherished, and in the end, we should all be cautious about who we pick as our mentors.
