Snake oil or gold?
Most of my life I have avoided anything that even hinted at being a scam. My family avoided timeshare seminars, we muted commercials, we ignored salespeople. Being taken advantage of and being a “fool” were some of my worst fears. I still ignore most ads, but in the past year or so I realized this fear of doing something wrong really limited what I was exposed to. In marketing my own show, Cold Open, I realized how necessary ads are, and how hard it is to get people interested in your product. Some people, including people I know, are lucky enough to find great success without having to do marketing. I have never been one of those people.
We all want to make money, and some people are willing to get it by any means. A popular way to make quick money these days is to sell online courses. Write your lessons, record your videos, and put your product out to the world. It’s infinitely scalable, and once the initial work is done, you can sit back and watch the money roll in. Add some high-pressure sales tactics to increase your profits and you’re laughing.
A high pressure tactic that I’ve been noticing more lately is live online events. I registered for one last year for anxious dogs because it was free, but I ended up not being able to attend most of the sessions. Of course they had the “access all the recordings forever for only $77, but only if you do it now” or whatever it was. I did not purchase it and do not regret not doing so. I hate these tactics. I think it’s much more ethical to entice people than leaning into their FOMO. Besides, a lot of the exact information can be found for free. However, knowing how to find it and weed through the bad information is a skill in itself.
Lately the universe has been gleefully slapping me in the face, with my abhorrent lack of direction. After quitting acting, which deep in my heart I really thought was going to be my career, I’ve had a lot of desire and no aim. So I decided to jump on board a couple of these “free” seminars that some already wealthy powerhouses are offering. I’ve got the time at the moment (only because I’m avoiding the things I should be doing), and I’m really curious as to why these people, who are already immensely successful, want to put on these seminars. Are they fiscally irresponsible? Can they not get enough money? Or do they actually just want to help people? The last one is doubtful, but I endeavour to take good notes and to give a decent review of each.
Why do I seem to be drawn to these things in April?
wanderingfawn 