Are The Online Marketing Gurus Ripping Us Off?

There has been a lot of talk around the forums and social media lately about guru bashing and how they just rip us poor innocent dumb suckers off. Well, I thought it was about time that I put all of this nonsense in perspective. I’m not saying that there aren’t bad people in the world, because there are. But just because somebody is a guru doesn’t make them a bad person or a con artist. They obviously did something worthwhile to get to the level where other people are even using the word “guru” to talk about them!

I understand that there are all kinds of people out there, as far as intelligence level goes. Some people are really bright and can spot a snake oil salesman a mile away. And then there are those of us who will believe anything that we’re told. So it’s not fair to put all the blame on the consumer. The merchant has to take some responsibility. However, and I’m going to use college as an example, there has to come a point where even if we’re as dumb as pet rocks, we have to take some responsibility as well.

Why do I bring up college? Well, when I was 17 years old, I graduated high school and was all prepared to go to college. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do. The only thing left to do was pay my tuition — which was a hell of a lot more than a guru seminar — take my classes, graduate, and (hopefully) get a job afterwards.

I spent a whole year after college looking for work. I couldn’t get one person to hire me. Now, did I go back to my college and tell them that they ripped me off because I couldn’t get a job? Of course not. I wouldn’t have thought of it. Nobody would have. Truth is, when you went to college, no promises were made. You were going in the hopes that you’d have a better chance TO find a job once you got out. But ultimately, there were no guarantees.

And yet, when we buy a $97 ebook or a $997 seminar, we expect to come out of it with enough ammunition to make 6 figures within a month. I don’t know where this entitlement mentality comes from, but it’s certainly isn’t the guru’s fault. Do they put up sales pages that make us think that all we have to do is buy their product and we’ll be rich? Maybe, but no more so than the college recruiter who comes to your high school and tells you how 75% of their students start out at $30,000+ a year. What they don’t tell you is that the other 25% don’t get any jobs at all and most of the others are still living in huge debt without a wage high enough to keep up with their bills.

Before we start pointing fingers at the gurus, maybe it’s time we took a look at ourselves. Are we putting in the effort we should be putting in? Are we spending the money we need to on advertising? Do we have the skills necessary to write compelling ads? If not, are we willing to learn?

Until we can answer those questions honestly, we might want to hold off on blaming the gurus for our failures.