Guru Bashing

You've got the right attitude there, Tim. Instead of ranting and raving against the Gurus, try to learn from them instead. I get annoyed when people just whine and complain about their email box being flooded, as that is actually an awesome learning opportunity for anyone who's willing to just take the time to observe things carefully.

You can pay some attention to what the Gurus are saying, but what's more important is to take note of what they're doing - there is a treasure trove of information right under your eyes, people. When you subscribe to their lists, you'll be able to see how they engineer their product launch sequence, what kind of squeeze pages they use, the emails they send out before/during the launch, how they communicate with their list after the launch is over, etc.

the bottom line is the "guru's" understand the power of personality and milk it to death. Frank Kern and people throwing thousands at him for things like "mind control" is a classic example.

Thats what I classify as a guru, someone who can sell general material to a crowd of raving fans through the power of the cult of personality.

I don't see the guys who have to pore over sales copy as in the same league to be called guru's.

How do I give thanks?

armandortega,

with prayer or on the forum? the forum is easy, there is a button for it. It is at the bottom right of the comment box.

if you are asking about prayer, then you are on your own.

You can use it on mine here for the first time.

Here is what I have learned.

I agree to 'watch' the other guys to see what is going on. Kind of like keeping your proverbial 'ear to the ground'.

I then now pay more attention to the forums to see the reactions of others to these tactics.

Here is where it can become tricky. It was for me for a while. This can become time consuming and take you away from your online business. That will mean making less money in the long run.

This watching can be expensive. You can also get hooked into a lot of the hype and buy products that you might not need, or are going to use. Some of them are just plain junk. NOT ALL are. I am not about to 'bash' anyone here.

I am about to launch a new product soon and I have been paying very close attention to these things.

My product stands on its own!

I am sculpting my sales process with an outline like the gurus do, but different. I am peppering in what I feel I would like as a buyer. I am incorporating what I am reading on the forums of other users and customers of products.

It is a work in progress. It will need to be tweaked and changed. The only constant in the universe is change. Business is no different.

For example:

I have made videos for the sales page. Nothing theatrical or 'demeaning'. I also have some copy, but nothing flashy or crappy rehashed hype.

I have 2 versions of the product. I tell you about it on the initial sales page along with the price.

So when you hit the 'buy now' button you are taken to the checkout and brought to the thank you download page. There is where you can upgrade OR just download.

NO OTO's or endless loops of upsell/downsell offers. NO exit pops.

I know people hate these. I understand that supposedly they convert more. My target audience is not necessarily the newbie, so I feel if you don't want to be there, then leave.

I also know how people hate the 'bait and switch' with the sales page and OTO. The sales page will seem to indicate that everything is automated for a certain price, then once you buy the initial product and sort of 'stuck' in the sale, you are kind of forced to buy the upsells to get everything that was talked about on the sales page.

That is why I tell you that up front in the initial sales page/video.

I have learned a lot from these gurus, most definitely. Some really good points of what to do and some of what not to do. Both are learned from them.

If more of them were active on the forums that a lot of their customers were on, this would also help with better customer relations. There might be some on here, but in my travels in here, I have not come across a lot of them of whose lists I am on.

I find it INVALUABLE to keep coming to the forum and read the feedback of this audience and to participate.

Greg

Armando,

Look at the comment box of your last comment.
You figured out how to put a signature in your profile and this is SOOOO much easier.

Look at your signature.
Right underneath the words 'to whole books' is a bunch of black buttons.
They say:
Quote Multiquote Quick Reply Thanks

The thanks button is the last one on the right, in the bottom right hand corner of the comment box.

Greg

Great Armando, now use it!

ITS-V

don't mind the soap box rant. at least yours made sense. I agree.

greg

Some of the best education I ever received has been free. No doubt about it. HOWEVER, I've also paid top dollar for products and benefited from them as well.

I've certainly made a few car payments for some of the gurus . . . but I also received info that I had previously not known. Expensive? Maybe. But worth it? Absolutely!

For example, I paid one guru $977 to be on his "list" for a year. Ended up learning about all sorts of websites, sources, strategies, etc. that I had never heard of before -- including THIS FORUM! An expensive, but great decision that I don't regret for an instant.

There's nothing wrong with Gurus. What's nice about the IM market is the fact that if you purchase an item that you are not satisfied with you can ask for an immediate refund and most of the time they will be more than happy to do so. I get refunds once in a while for my products and I realize it's just part of the game. I'd rather have a happy customer and keep them on for future products rather than piss them off and keep $19.