Even if you are not particularly interested in digital media, you must be familiar with the alluring world of marketing gurus. Ever since Ty Lopez and others sparked the plug, social media has become the perfect platform for online entrepreneurs to promote their services and courses.
Some of these gurus have popularized the notion of the perfect method. A “10 Step Do-This-And-You’ll-Win” sort of magic that will make you quickly and effortlessly rich. The problem with many of these campaigns is that they provide little insight on what a true business model needs.
By presenting their methods in a simple way and appealing to certain emotional responses (who doesn’t want to make fast and easy money after all?), these campaigns often target low-level entrepreneurs, also known as wantrepeneurs. People who surely want to make some side money, but often end up not starting a business at all.
How To Spot a Fake Marketing Guru
Granted, there is a bit of everything out there, and not all these courses are to be dismissed as a scam or a waste of time. Paying attention to potential red flags is always worth your while though. Be especially wary of entrepreneurs who:
- Focus heavily on showing off their lavish lifestyle (mansions, cars, Me in My Garage!)
- Invite you to live webinars that turn out to be prerecorded
- Constantly run YouTube or Facebook ads
- Present themselves as masterminds
- Insist that they became wealthy very soon with little effort
- Disparage standard 9-5 jobs
- Do not seem to have real businesses outside their training programs
- Make wild claims on financial history with little evidence
- “Join for a FREE copy of my book!”
If several of these warning signs match, you might have found one of those cases where it sounds too good to be true.
What They Don’t Tell You About Starting a Business
There is no perfect system that guarantees success. That’s the only truth. While some strategies and advices are better than others, many marketing gurus focus too much on sales, numbers; the financial results they know you want to see.
However, if getting wealthy were a simple matter of following methods and adjusting numbers, we would all be wealthy, is it not?
If we want to produce meaningful sales, making money cannot be the only objective. Our product must connect with people. Therefore, our business must offer true help for our customers. That is what ultimately makes a product successful in the long run, and what drives people to require our services consistently.
This is not only good for the clients: it is also important for us. Any entrepreneurship will face harsh obstacles at some point, and some stages will be darker than others. When moments like these hit us, it will be crucial to have a deeper motivation. Something that really drives and fulfills you.
Awareness and positive thinking are a necessary balance to the stress of sales, numbers, and strictly material objectives. Ups and downs will always come your way, so do not pay too much attention to “mastermind” methods and, instead, focus more on you!
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