First of all, I just hate the word “guru”. I’d get upset if someone would call me a guru, and I’d shoot myself if I ever got caught calling myself a guru. Anyways, I have a spam email address that I use to spy on mailing lists and other marketers, just to see what kind of techniques that they are using, and for what’s going on in the verticals I’m involved in. If you don’t have one, you should get one right now.
Every day, I get these “Guru”-launch notifications, and 99% of them are just rehashed crap, old stuff, or untested stuff. The interesting question here is of course: “Do people really buy this crap?” You bet they do.
Most people, especially in this economy, can relate to the “rags” story, where you’re flooded with bills, the credit card companies are knocking on your door, and life in general just sucks. In comes the “guru” with his/her own story about how he/she went from rags to riches in a ridiculously short time, and it was all automated, and everyone can do it, and it’s really cheap right now.
Let me tell you this: VERY few people can just start online marketing, stumble upon the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and live happily ever after. The reason only a few ever make money is because the ones that do, they have skills, and they take action.
That’s right, you NEED skills. If you can’t sell, you’re not going to sell anything, online or offline. You have to study marketing, sales, and sales psychology if you want to be successful, period. Sure, some people have a natural knack for these things, but talent only gets you so far. Then you have to take action. Don’t sit and read forever, but make some time every day to develop your skills.
Take f.ex. one of the most successful internet marketers out there (no I’m not gonna name this person), who very often tells the story about being poor, in debt, blabla, and all of a sudden this large check came in. I don’t think so. If you do your research, you will see that this person is a very experienced copywriter… Go figure.
Most of the “get rich quick”-stories you hear come from people that are already established, or they have experience with selling, copywriting and marketing. Haven’t you noticed how, when some of the big marketers release a new product, ALL the other big marketers spam you about it? That’s how you make money. Establish partnerships, learn how to sell, and blast it out.
There is no other way. You need training, and you need it from the pros. So, f.ex. if you’re into email marketing (or want to learn about it) let me blatantly pitch the ListPlayBook training forum while I’m at it, because there you WILL learn how to make money. Nuff said.
Good pitch to your own “guru” product
HA, just kidding.
I do need to get me a “guru email” thought, good tip.
Haha I’m going to ask Brian to change your handle on this site to ‘Guru Sam’.