Gurus... gurus... gurus

Thanks for that post. I actually laughed out loud at the Kevin Riley crack. I'm assuming you know him pretty well and that he can take a joke.

You're right about people giving the term guru a make under so to speak. Guru bashing is a sales tactic as I'm sure you know. People try to use it to get people to believe that they are on their side. Like "it's you and me against the big bad gurus, buy my product and we'll stick it to those guys who have been lying to us and keeping all of the money to themselves".

I think it's pretty lame but it probably works because it's such a common tactic.

Chris, you have such a way with words. I so love reading your posts. They
are quite entertaining.

I for one NEVER want to be a guru.

But I'd love to be a rock 'n roll star.

Hi AdamV,

You're giving away the fact that you've seen the Kevin Riley G-String Mankini 2009 Pirelli calendar, which a friend told me does also include some shots where he's looking seductively over his shoulder

Hmmm. Maybe I better cancel my order for a long, flowing white robe trimmed with gold. Although I know that Sutton loves kissing the hem of my old bathrobe in obeisance.

However, if you would kindly look over there in the left-hand corner, you'll see that I am not a guru -- I AM A KING. OK, Ok, so my subjects are kind of small but do not underestimate their power. If I were to command them all to stop running on wheels today, the world would be plunged into darkness. Muhahahah

Sorry, got sidetracked.

As for Roger revealing the 2009 Pirelli calendar, there is a rather sexy shot where I am looking seductively over my shoulder. There's even one where I show the very legal limit of leg. Roger, you can get a copy at http://DropDeadSexyHamsterKing.com

Oh Christie (shaking head), you poor misguided soul. Chris a guru? That would imply some wisdom, which I can assure you is one trait Mr Sutton has never been cursed with.

If you spoke English then we wouldn't have been confused, cause I thought you said guru as well

The only guru I know is the hillbilly marketer and nobody understand him :rolleyes:

Well we could start a Enquirer type scandal about the relationship of Dana and Chris!!! Muhahaha

Shoot fire an burn yer butt... I dun tole yew whut! thut thar Kevin Riley an his butt crack ain't gots no place in this hear forum AN on top of thut thar, thut pitcher of him makes him look like thut thar Sammie Ben Louden!

As fer thut thar gooroo, ain't thut whut yew git over thar in Australee when one a them thar Kangarooties gits hit by a vehicle?

Ms. Dana, Kevin Riley draws thangs like dookie doodoo draws flies. Thut thar is jest a fact a nature!

Shoot Kevin, I always did knowed thut yew wus royalty ceptin' I always thought yew wus the Queen. I mustve been mistooken!

LOL!

Ken,

Anything showing off Riley man crack is bad...


Steve,

Sorry I know you're trying to make this thread serious again
The one thing I think we all need to keep in mind is that when someone is labeled as a "Guru" whether it's right or wrong they are probably reaching a mass audience.

Anytime you project yourself in front of a mass audience you come under more scrutiny than ever before.

Think about it. When a president starts out as a governor, senator, or any other political rank they are under much less of a microscope than when they become president.

It's like this any any group even outside of politics, for instance churches, school social clubs. The higher up you climb the more attention you draw, the more people critique what you do. On the same hand the more praise you also receive.

If someone doesn't send a you a pissed off email every once and awhile you may be doing something wrong. If you never face any type of scrutiny whatsoever you might be doing something wrong. It's really impossible to please everyone and this goes for the guys/gals at the top too. What I think people need to look at is who they are putting their faith in rather than what so and so's product is going to do for them etc.

If anyone is expecting any Guru or anyone else for that fact to carry them through earning their paycheck online they honestly need to cash out of the industry. Instead they need to believe in themselves.

Now, the other group are the ones who constantly bitch publicly about every labeled Guru. Instead, I'd say let it go - unless someone is committing an outright scam on unsuspecting people I think it's really nobodies place to complain. I honestly believe there are more important things to worry about than what the next Guru is up too.

On a final note I also believe in general people are too quick to label someone as a guru. There aren't many industries where you can have very little experience and get a Guru acclaim status. Being good at something doesn't make anybody a guru, being great and never making mistakes in your field should however, warrant that title. In my belief of the term just being friends with a "Guru" or tugging on the tail of one doesn't make you one and too often we credit by association.

While this thread has taken a serious comedic turn (is that a paradox or
an oxymoron or both?) I want to inject a bit of seriousness into this
discussion coming from both ends of the spectrum, because I have been
there.

When I first began my IM journey, I was like a deer in the headlights. I had
no idea what I was doing. Heck, I didn't even know the term guru existed.

And then I saw my first sales page with the term "guru" on it. I will never
forget it because it left such an impression on me. As a matter of fact,
here is a quote from that very site.

I believed all those Internet "gurus" when they said that all I had to do
was join this ONE more program or buy just this ONE more piece of
software to become an astounding success

I immediately got visions of some gangster character mumbling some
stuff like, "I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse". The term took
on an immediate negative connotation for me. I have no doubt that for
most new people starting out, because of all the "guru" bashing and
showing them in a negative light, they probably got the same impression
from seeing pages similar to this one.

Now, up until this point in time, I had never "met" a guru. For that matter,
I didn't even know any of their names.

But that changed quickly. I started getting the names. And I started
seeing the photos too. And for some reason, some of these people just
looked like crooks to me. Doesn't anybody know how to take a sincere
looking photo? I know it's business and I know you have to put on your
"professional" face, but some of these guys looked like used car salesman.

In fact, one guru was a car salesman.

So needless to say, I had a very negative view of these people.

However, I hadn't bought any of their stuff and couldn't say for sure that
what they were selling was snake oil.

So, I got a few things. Not many, but a few.

Guess what?

They worked for me. I started seeing results.

I then began to scratch my head.

Why were all these sales pages "bashing" the gurus? Was I just lucky to
get a few products that helped me? Were most bad and I just happened
to run into the good ones?

As a result, I quickly lost the "guru" bashing feeling that I had inside of
me.

And then...I actually interacted with a few of these so called gurus. I've
never met any in person, but the ones I've spoken to, either through
email or over Skype have been very friendly and very helpful.

When I did my radio interview with Willie Crawford, I never felt more at
home. He was so easy to speak to.

Ironically, I have been given this label by a few people. The odd thing is
that I don't feel any different than I did when I first started. Oh sure, I'm
a bit more confident but I'm still the same person. I still genuinely care
about people and will even go out of my way to tell them not to buy my
product if I don't think it will help them.

I honestly have very torn feelings about wanting or not wanting to be
labeled a guru or anything for that matter. I'm just a marketer with a wife
and a 20 year old daughter who's trying to do the best for his family while
at the same time provide value to others in the process.

Some people have written to me and told me that they appreciate my
down to earth no nonsense style. Others have written to me telling me
under no uncertain terms that it's just an act and I'm full of crap just like
all the other gurus.

I don't know how I can act in any way at all and keep it up for 6 years. If
I'm that good, I should go to Hollywood.

And how can the same act bring about 2 completely different responses?

Because of that, I don't dwell on what people want to label me as or not
label me as. I just try to be the best husband, father and businessman
that I can. To that, some will call me a guru and like me, some will call me
a guru and hate me and some won't even think of me in any way at all
other than just another insignificant spec, which is fine too.

I just want to coexist with other human beings in this world and get along
with people.

If I can do that...it doesn't matter what people call me.

Gurus? If they exist, they're not talking.