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How gurus can fool you with screenshots.. without modifying them or lying at all

by mandark
5 replies
Here is a true story:

I had a site which was doing pretty badly. I applied my new SEO tactics and look what happened:



This is the part where, if I were a conniving guru, I would say the following:

"You should buy my SEO/Traffic service for the low low price of $97/month - because look what I did for this site! I brought its traffic up by 2800% in one month! At that rate, if you are getting 100 visitors per day, I can get you up to 2800 per day!"

Why do I say "conniving" guru? The screenshot is real (the numbers aren't doctored at all), and there wasn't a single lie in that sales pitch.

BUT here's the catch:



All I did was bring the traffic up from about 4/month to 116/month.

Be very aware whenever you see gurus using percentages to describe their success. Look at the real numbers. And watch out when they say things like "at that rate" - that usually means that the "rate" to which they are referring is not typical.
#fool #gurus #lying #modifying #screenshots
  • Profile picture of the author unlimitedmarketing
    Thanks for the tip! I will keep my eyes open.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Your title says "how gurus can fool you..."

    But in your own words, you admit they haven't lied or done anything wrong. In fact you say: if I were a conniving guru, I would say the following: then you go into your little thing.

    In my book a 2800% increase is great. No one is "fooling" anyone. So what's your point?
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  • Profile picture of the author ShadyRay
    Good point mandark.

    I think your example is perfect, it's one I see often. Had this marketer not blacked out the total traffic of 116, his claim of a 2800% increase would no longer be worth the $97 a month sales price. This increase in traffic could be attributed to just about anything, including doing absolutely nothing. I can do nothing for free. Show me a 2800% increase to 16,000 per month and I'll be the first to sign up.

    Travlinguy, the marketer may not be lying in this example, but he's not being honest either. He is essentially "fooling" the uninformed consumer into making a purchase based on incomplete information. Incomplete information that he intentionally manipulated in order to "fool" the consumer into buying.

    He hasn't lied, but whether or not he has done anything wrong is up to everyone to decide for themselves.
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    • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
      Sun Tzu would advocate the use of deception to ultimately "win". I'm not sure that this is the kind of 'deception' he was talking about though...
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    • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
      Originally Posted by ShadyRay View Post

      the marketer may not be lying in this example, but he's not being honest either.
      This isn't about any marketer. It seems to be about an imaginary conniving guru. So, this is yet another poke at the nebulous lying guru who's out there raping and pillaging.

      I guess I'm just tired of these silly and often unfounded rants on gurus. Maybe someone ought to define who they're talking about when they use the term 'guru' before starting another silly guru bashing thread.

      Oh, I actually do get the premise. It's called lying by omission, though the op says there were no lies. Geeeez. Carry on...
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