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Are The Sharks Going Broke?

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Guest12120

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A couple of months ago I saw this billboard advertising and event hosted by Daymond John at a local strip club (this is the image from the local newspaper).

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It eventually got canceled but nonetheless it looks pretty desperate for "The People's Shark" to even consider appearances at venues like this.

Last year, I saw ads for a free wealth building summit hosted by Daymond.

I signed up to attend (as it was literally across the street from where I live), but never went after I found out it was a one big pitch fest for some get rich in real estate program for a few thousand $ + some more upsells farther down the road. I actually know someone who paid $2k for the first offer and said the event they paid for was a total waste of time.

Here is the ad similar to the one I saw. He's been doing it all across the country.

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Now Robert Hejavec is doing the same thing. Read more on Reddit
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Is there really so much money in these events? Aren't these guys worth hundreds of millions of dollars? Are their Shark Tank investments not doing so well and they need some quick cash.

It seems so sketchy! They're preying on struggling entrepreneurs and scam them out of their money without providing any value.
 
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James Klymus

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I saw ads similar to these and had the same question. I googled them and found that some people on reddit attended some of Robert's "events".

Of course it was a 2 hour pitch fest and Robert wasn't even the one speaking. He apparently only spoke for like 20 min at the end, and it was on canned Q&A questions and wouldn't answer any live questions from the audience.

Besides a cash grab I have no idea why well known and respected entrepreneurs would do this. After hearing about them doing events like this, I definitely lost some respect for them.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Of course it was a 2 hour pitch fest and Robert wasn't even the one speaking. He apparently only spoke for like 20 min at the end, and it was on canned Q&A questions and wouldn't answer any live questions from the audience.

They're leveraging their personal brand and fame by plucking low hanging fruit. I'm sure they see it as "money left on the table".

A) Hire sleezy seminar firm who will charge $10K for an event.
B) Promote "FREE" seminar, promoting $10K seminar (Boom, instant $1,000,000 (100 attendees))
C) Show up for 20 minutes to grease the sale after attendees heard a 2 hour pitch.
D) Sleezy seminar firm pays the shark a royalty to simply put their stamp on their BS "training".
E) Rinse, Repeat in 50 cities. Boom, instant $50,000,000.

Not a bad return on their time, which is why they do it.

Unfortunately this type of operation is a racket, and it's why got Kiyosaki in trouble.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv6feHB0AE4
 

Dan_Cardone

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These events make way more money on the backend then you would imagine.

Dan Kennedy, who was no where as famous or as well known as these guys, would sometimes still make $100K+ from doing speaking events so I can only imagine how much these guys are pulling in.

Plus you have to factor in that these guys aren't even doing most of the speaking. Like one other poster said, they show up at the very end and then go on their way.
 

Tourmaline

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I signed up for a free seminar with Kevin O'Leary. They had an entire call center dedicated to calling attendants to make sure they'd show up and go. They texted and called me several times for the two weeks before the seminar. Serious pressure! Raised a million red flags for me and I didn't end up going.
 
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100ToOne

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Even though I believe the owner of Clickfunnels is a great entrepreneur, however he teaches you how to hold these webinars and make money with it.

When you listen to his model, you'll be like damn man, that doesn't seem an honest way to make money. Even though it totally works and people make millions with it.

Basically it's like give them all the course value upfront for free, and when they sign up thinking: "if this was the free version, I can't believe what the paid version would be", then he just tells you to provide the same value in the course and try to upsell other courses.

I personally hate this model. But damn it works in every online coaching sector.
 

Dan_Cardone

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Even though I believe the owner of Clickfunnels is a great entrepreneur, however he teaches you how to hold these webinars and make money with it.

When you listen to his model, you'll be like damn man, that doesn't seem an honest way to make money. Even though it totally works and people make millions with it.

Basically it's like give them all the course value upfront for free, and when they sign up thinking: "if this was the free version, I can't believe what the paid version would be", then he just tells you to provide the same value in the course and try to upsell other courses.

I personally hate this model. But damn it works in every online coaching sector.
Yep! This is exactly it.

People are starting to catch on though and I don't see this strategy lasting more than a few more years.
 

SDE

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I signed up for a free seminar with Kevin O'Leary. They had an entire call center dedicated to calling attendants to make sure they'd show up and go. They texted and called me several times for the two weeks before the seminar. Serious pressure! Raised a million red flags for me and I didn't end up going.


Good choice.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/bgvhmm View: https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/bgvhmm/warning_kevin_oleary_event_workshop/


https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/75u6eb View: https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/75u6eb/this_kevin_o_leary_sponsored_investment_seminar/
 
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Andy Black

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Even though I believe the owner of Clickfunnels is a great entrepreneur, however he teaches you how to hold these webinars and make money with it.

When you listen to his model, you'll be like damn man, that doesn't seem an honest way to make money. Even though it totally works and people make millions with it.

Basically it's like give them all the course value upfront for free, and when they sign up thinking: "if this was the free version, I can't believe what the paid version would be", then he just tells you to provide the same value in the course and try to upsell other courses.

I personally hate this model. But damn it works in every online coaching sector.
Yeah, I think he’s a smart businessman, but I don’t like his focus on creating a “cult”-ure as he calls it. I’ve got one of his books but haven’t read it.
 

MJ DeMarco

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People are starting to catch on though and I don't see this strategy lasting more than a few more years.

It's been around for 30 years, what makes the next few years any different? Greed and stupidity ain't goin' no where.
 
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Fastlane Liam

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Theres an absolte Gem of a channel popped up exposing these scammers. Because thats all they are. Gurus who sell the dream and their $3997 course.

Funnily enough its a re-upload because Russel Brunson put a copywrite strike against it.

Mike has been to hundreds of these "free" pitch fest events and they play out the exact same,

In the video he describes all the techqinues they use to extort people of their money.

View: https://youtu.be/C2mpW8cnewA

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2mpW8cnewA&t=227s
 

TreyAllDay

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I've always wondered this too...

I follow Daymond on instagram and he's pedaling a lot of odd low-priced courses - even did a weird "motivational" album....
 
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PizzaOnTheRoof

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Even though I believe the owner of Clickfunnels is a great entrepreneur, however he teaches you how to hold these webinars and make money with it.

When you listen to his model, you'll be like damn man, that doesn't seem an honest way to make money. Even though it totally works and people make millions with it.

Basically it's like give them all the course value upfront for free, and when they sign up thinking: "if this was the free version, I can't believe what the paid version would be", then he just tells you to provide the same value in the course and try to upsell other courses.

I personally hate this model. But damn it works in every online coaching sector.
Now imagine if an honest person used webinars as a TOOL for selling their products rather than being the product itself!

Provide actionable REAL value in the webinar and offer the course as an expansion on that knowledge for a reasonable price.

Set it up on autopilot and you’re golden.

Unfortunately many of these webinar gurus get greedy/lazy.
 

CPisHere

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They aren't doing it because they are broke, but because it's the easiest way to capitalize on their fame.

Sure, they know these programs don't actually help anyone but "a fool and his money are quickly parted" - if they don't take it, someone else will. At least, that's the justification. Your morality may not be so lenient.

Personally, after having bought many courses over the years, I've concluded selling information is fundamentally incapable of producing the results it claims except in occasional edge cases. It is preying on the market's belief that what they are lacking is some secret knowledge, but that is rarely true.
 
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minivanman

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It's been around for 30 years, what makes the next few years any different? Greed and stupidity ain't goin' no where.

That's exactly what I was thinking. As a matter of fact, as the IQ of America seems to be dropping (go drive around for 15 minutes) , I think these might pick up!
 
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MakeItHappen

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That's what I like about Gary Vee.

He could have sold many expensive courses but the only thing he sold are a couple books.

He is also a speaker and makes a lot of money with it but he isn't selling you any uber expensive shit.

Instead he used his audience to build legit businesses.

No matter what you think of Gary Vee... you have to respect that.
 

GoodluckChuck

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The reason why these events are so prevalent is that they work. Really well...

Brunson teaches people exactly how he makes this work. You give a presentation that focuses on the tremendous value that could be obtained with x program including tons of case studies where people were successful with it, then people buy that program. He literally draws out the formula in his books.

He admits that in the beginning, he tried to do it the logical way which is give a speech that teaches and gives away tons of value. According to him, he found that:
1. People wouldn't buy the course or program, so he couldn't afford to keep giving these speeches.
2. Since they got all this information for free, they didn't value it and instead of using it to be successful would forget about it after a few days and continue their search for the "secrets".


It's a weird quirk of human nature that if we get all the "secrets" for free then we won't value them and will continue hunting for more "secrets'.

Sometimes the only way to get someone to really make good use of what is given to them is by making them invest a ton of money into it. (Sunk cost fallacy)


For that reason, I don't totally hate this stuff. On one hand I can see how people are taken advantage of, but on the other hand, I see thousands of people that really found success after investing in one of these programs for the simple fact that they invested a ton of money into it and felt like they really had to make it work. This feeling is more powerful than any information one could get.

Personally I look at Daymon John and see a friend of mine who is super insecure and lazy, though ambitious. That smug look on his face tells me that he's a soft little bitch. I could be wrong, but that's just the impression I get from that picture of him with his hands together. He looks like he likes the smell of his own farts.
 

Beijing

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Basic economics dictate that anything that involves conference rooms full of attendees is a really bad idea. In any area that has a high level of competition, profit margins are going to shrink. Why would I want to use a business model that is intentionally being shared with thousands of people?
 

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That's what I like about Gary Vee.

He could have sold many expensive courses but the only thing he sold are a couple books.

He is also a speaker and makes a lot of money with it but he isn't selling you any uber expensive shit.

Instead he used his audience to build legit businesses.

No matter what you think of Gary Vee... you have to respect that.
While others are using social media to SELL, he's using it to GROW his businesses and brand.
 
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James Klymus

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They're leveraging their personal brand and fame by plucking low hanging fruit. I'm sure they see it as "money left on the table".

A) Hire sleezy seminar firm who will charge $10K for an event.
B) Promote "FREE" seminar, promoting $10K seminar (Boom, instant $1,000,000 (100 attendees))
C) Show up for 20 minutes to grease the sale after attendees heard a 2 hour pitch.
D) Sleezy seminar firm pays the shark a royalty to simply put their stamp on their BS "training".
E) Rinse, Repeat in 50 cities. Boom, instant $50,000,000.

Not a bad return on their time, which is why they do it.

Unfortunately this type of operation is a racket, and it's why got Kiyosaki in trouble.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv6feHB0AE4

Is it really that hard to make an honest living not selling get rich quick bs? I know it's low hanging fruit, and the shark tank guys and robert have other business ventures that make them money, so why the hell do they need to do this? Do they need the extra money that badly that they're willing to border line soil their name for a buck?

I really dont understand why guys who seem so busy with their other ventures need to sell seminars.
 

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Shocking: Rich people like to do things that make them richer :duh:

I dislike 99% of gurus who set up constant events/seminars/courses to teach people their garbage fluff, but there's a few of these internet public entrepreneurs that come to mind that actually provide valuable content (IMO) no matter what level you're at:

Patrick Bet-David
Jordan Belfort
... uh, that's it actually. Add MJ to the list but he's not even that public, in terms of making videos and whatnot. These are guys that were clearly wealthy before their internet fame (even though Belfort was a criminal, he's still a super smart guy).

Stay away from the Tai's, Grant's, Kiyosaki's, Robbins', etc. Basically, stay away from anyone who has "entrepreneur" in their bio and is explicitly advertising their courses 24/7 to you on Instagram. If you can't find any tangible success before their internet fame, they are probably definitely phonies.
 

Kung Fu Steve

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There's a ring of bait-and-switch "seminar businesses" that license names of popular folks and then create a pitch-fest with no value.

I battle this stigma every single day. Hell, even here on the forum.

As much as I'm not a fan of Robert personally (I still love the books and cashflow) -- I don't think he really knew what he was signing up for when they started pitching "his" course.

Which is why he seemingly took back control over that part of a business a few years back.

But who knows what's really going on with all these guys. Who knows if they even have permission to use any of the "sharks" images -- or if they're just trying to get away with it as long as they can.
 
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Kyle T

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That's what I like about Gary Vee.

He could have sold many expensive courses but the only thing he sold are a couple books.

He is also a speaker and makes a lot of money with it but he isn't selling you any uber expensive shit.

Instead he used his audience to build legit businesses.

No matter what you think of Gary Vee... you have to respect that.
Gary Vee isn't a saint in all of this though, He is a headline speaker for thousands of events just like these...

He allows these conferences to use his brand, to pull his fans to these events. These people attend 15 hours of Scamming Gurus just for 30 minutes of Gary Vee.

While he isn't selling the same crap as them. He is supporting their 'businesses' every time he headlines a ticket.
 

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