Are The Sharks Going Broke?

[James Klymus]

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.

HOT! - Rich Dad Seminar Exposed (FINALLY!)

Posted in the other thread too... Hidden cameras, suckers paid $500 to receive ten bucks of information and 3 days of hard upsells ... but didn't Fastlane expose this almost a year ago? http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2010/road_to_rich_dad/main.html RK, a man who claims "due diligence" in all...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

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.

 

[eliquid]

Kevin O'Leary is doing exactly this in my town here in Kentucky.

Saw the others too come here. All of the Shark Tank gang is making their rounds.

 

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[Brrr]

Seems like everyone has said what needed to be said. But here is another even more relevant video by the same Mark Winnet of contrepreneur fame on the actual event coming up in the UK.

I do think these events are going to fall in popularity soon as the formula gets "exposed".

I'll be honest, I'm 100% their target audience. Young, male, starting up in business and trying to learn and grow. I've had all the target adverts and for 60 quid and my time I thought I'd likely get some value and there might be some other interesting speakers too. If it weren't for my time on the forum and the videos from Mike I likely would have taken a punt, but now I am very happy to give it a miss.

I think we are going to see less of this, as these events start to lose credibility because they are just a long sequence of pitches, I think the gurus and social media entrepreneurs like Gary or Grant are going to see that their brand actually starts to get damaged. Events are either going to have to step up the value proposition (how can they for £50 without the sales funnel) or just book second rate appearances (who would turn up?).

Do you think people are waking up to this?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I feel sorry for anyone who would pay $X,000 for a picture with your favorite guru. And if someone is allowing that to happen, they're taking advantage of you. To be honest, I don't know how they do it with a straight face. SMH.

 

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[Dan_Cardone]

Agreed, Patrick Bet-David provides amazing value, watch the videos on his youtube channel and you will learn a lot of action steps to build a business. Jordan is awesome at sales. I was one of the first to buy Grant Cardone's Cardone U, it has great sales content (better at the 1k price I paid vs the 10k price it is now thought Russell Brunson's products at 2k to 3k and less are also good. If you provide a service like online lead gen, then Consulting.com's Sam Ovens is also solid at 2k. I've probably bought them all and honestly, I would have a 7 figures business now if I hadn't read all of their books, watched all of the videos and even sponsored events with many of them.
I will say this though, none of them has created a more clear and powerful path to wealth creation and dream business building than our one and only @MJ DeMarco I consider Unscripted and the Millionaire Fastlane to be Entrepreneurial scripture, I read both every 4 to 6 months to check my progress.

Im going to play devils advocate and somewhat agree with you.

While I do HATE scammy tactics and high priced seminars that only give you 1% value and 99% upsell BS, ill also go on record as saying that some bigh priced courses a d seminars are pretty amazing.

Dan Kennedys Info Riches program made me well over six figures. I think I paid $497 for it.

Back in the day Belfort had a 10 dvd sales training program and I probably made my money back MANY MANY times over from it.

A 1k course from Eban Pagen? I actually knew most of what he taught in it but something he said gave me a really good idea that I ran with and also made a ton of money from.

When it comes to high priced courses and live events be sure to do due diligence. Some are really good, some are just stealth sell events trying to get more money from you, and some are just rehash of whats in their 9.99 kindle book. But some are truly good.

Edit: as far as these massive "pitch events" the sharks throw for like $50 a ticket... If you are a consultant or copywriter or even just want to network and look for opportunities, go buy a ticket. Ignore the presentations and spend your time, before, during, and after meeting people and networking with them. Quickly weed out the wanna bes with the real entrepreneurs, form a connection with them, and follow up with them after the event.

 

[Lion Identity]

Im going to play devils advocate and somewhat agree with you.

While I do HATE scammy tactics and high priced seminars that only give you 1% value and 99% upsell BS, ill also go on record as saying that some bigh priced courses a d seminars are pretty amazing.

Dan Kennedys Info Riches program made me well over six figures. I think I paid $497 for it.

Back in the day Belfort had a 10 dvd sales training program and I probably made my money back MANY MANY times over from it.

A 1k course from Eban Pagen? I actually knew most of what he taught in it but something he said gave me a really good idea that I ran with and also made a ton of money from.

When it comes to high priced courses and live events be sure to do due diligence. Some are really good, some are just stealth sell events trying to get more money from you, and some are just rehash of whats in their 9.99 kindle book. But some are truly good.

Edit: as far as these massive "pitch events" the sharks throw for like $50 a ticket... If you are a consultant or copywriter or even just want to network and look for opportunities, go buy a ticket. Ignore the presentations and spend your time, before, during, and after meeting people and networking with them. Quickly weed out the wanna bes with the real entrepreneurs, form a connection with them, and follow up with them after the event.

The thing that's funny is that I have probably invested over $100,000 in books, online programs, mentoring and sponsoring events that didn't really make that much for my business and all of that has not given me a more clear path to create a $100 million dollar business than "the Millionaire Fastlane ," and the Unscripted books have. It is so vital to be able to build a business that you can sell. Even when I had 50 employees in my previous business, it was the type of business that would never be able to scale and would constantly prostitute my time. I would never be abel to sell it and the profit margins were always tight. The commandment of scale and time have been violently broken by all of my businesses until my new venture I'm launching now. And it was right there in front of me for years, it took MJ's books to give me clarity to realize the perfect fastlane business and utilize everything I've learned for years and I paid what $40 for his books and got more clarity than the $100k in programs I invested in over the last 5 years. I've said it before and I will again thank you MJ.

 

[Dan_Cardone]

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.

 

[Kid]

You guys have it all wrong!

... he's in RE events because he wants to become President one day!

 

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[Tourmaline]

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/

ha thanks for the links.

I really just wanted to hear him speak and feel his presence. If they hadn't hassled me I would have gone! It was taking place at the biggest event center in town too.

 

[PizzaOnTheRoof]

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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[Kung Fu Steve]

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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[RazorCut]

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

Yes. I don't think Gary Vee is broke. I'm getting this in my feed at the moment. Pay £59 for the event, an extra £360 to get into a Q&A with Grant Cardone and/or an extra £2460 if you want to do that with Gary Vee (and get a photo with him):

 

[jon.M]

Funny thing, I went to a talk by Nassim Taleb this Monday. I had this thought in the back of my head the entire time I traveled there, "is it going to turn out a scam and upsell fest?". I mean, he was in finance and I've seen enough gurus in my day to have become a bit cynical.

Luckily enough, the only type of upselling was his publishing company asking the attendees if they'd be interested in eventually buying the Incerto Deluxe edition.

 

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[Dan_Cardone]

This forum is AMAZING of course. If you do some digging in the subreddits of Reddit, it is another great resource for free information. Lastly, I would even say that Udemy is a great resource. I have not used it personally but have heard great things and spending $10-$20 is a very small investment/risk compared to what you would have paid for attending one of these "sales pitch seminars".

You're not wrong but be careful with Udemy; a lot of bad advice on there from people who have NO idea what they are doing.

 

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[Lion Identity]

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.

I recommend you read it, he's built a business that generates $150MM+ in recurring revenue, that is the quintessential CENTS business right there. Building a culture and a group of like minded people is a powerful way to create a CENTS business and one that is worth studying and learning from. You don't have to follow any successful entrepreneurs blue prints, but it would be foolish to call it a scam and not learn from it. I've worked with many of his clients who have become my clients and strategic partners, not one of them regrets using his products or working with his team.

 

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[luniac]

I feel sorry for anyone who would pay $X,000 for a picture with your favorite guru. And if someone is allowing that to happen, they're taking advantage of you. To be honest, I don't know how they do it with a straight face. SMH.

Wait.. so at the fastlane summit we can't pay you 2000 bucks for a group selfie?
what a scam!

 

[BellaPippin]

So did you buy the platinum diamond ultra ruby capricorn seats?

I took out a personal loan and upgraded to the 1 on 1 coaching with the mystery guest.

 

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[Guest12120]

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.

Exactly!

 

[SamuraiRod]

Seems like everyone has said what needed to be said. But here is another even more relevant video by the same Mark Winnet of contrepreneur fame on the actual event coming up in the UK.

I do think these events are going to fall in popularity soon as the formula gets "exposed".

I'll be honest, I'm 100% their target audience. Young, male, starting up in business and trying to learn and grow. I've had all the target adverts and for 60 quid and my time I thought I'd likely get some value and there might be some other interesting speakers too. If it weren't for my time on the forum and the videos from Mike I likely would have taken a punt, but now I am very happy to give it a miss.

I think we are going to see less of this, as these events start to lose credibility because they are just a long sequence of pitches, I think the gurus and social media entrepreneurs like Gary or Grant are going to see that their brand actually starts to get damaged. Events are either going to have to step up the value proposition (how can they for £50 without the sales funnel) or just book second rate appearances (who would turn up?).

Do you think people are waking up to this?

Unfortunately, I disagree with this. The current nature of the scam will fall in popularity, but the scam itself will live on. As long as humans continue to be humans (greedy, lazy, unmotivated), then someone will find a way to reach their hands into their pockets.

I'm in the same boat as you, young 21 y/o male that actively reads & watches content on business. I've began to study scams like these though because there is a process to all of it which teaches you a lot about human nature.

 

[ProcessPro]

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.

HOT! - Rich Dad Seminar Exposed (FINALLY!)

Posted in the other thread too... Hidden cameras, suckers paid $500 to receive ten bucks of information and 3 days of hard upsells ... but didn't Fastlane expose this almost a year ago? http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2010/road_to_rich_dad/main.html RK, a man who claims "due diligence" in all...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

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

I would have never figured this out on my own. You're so smart.

 

[ecommercewolf]

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.

Yup exactly. I love Gary Vee but let's not act like he's not doing the same thing here, but in a less sleazy way and the difference is I'm sure Gary Vee can deliver on value unlike some of these other characters selling their $3997 course.

4Ds | Immersive consulting session with Gary Vaynerchuk

The Sasha Group's one day immersive education and consulting session with Gary Vaynerchuk and VaynerX leadership. Unlock explosive growth for your business.

vaynermedia.com

He's been pushing this lately. $12k for a full day of consulting and you probably interact with him for 1 hour of the whole day.

 

[BellaPippin]

Speaking of

 

[Guest12120]

Now Daymond is available on demand for 6 easy payments of $299!

Daymond On Demand - Success Training For Entrepreneurs

Daymond on Demand is the only online training that shows entrepreneurs how to start, build and scale your business from the ground up.

www.daymondondemand.com

 

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[Champion]

If only many people could find this thread before investing into any of these programs...

 

[Kid]

No wonder this seems to be the hot trend in Instagram these days.

View attachment 27830

So they found another shiny object.
That's good.
That "Self claimed entrepreneurs" thing was getting tiring.

 

[Grinder20]

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).

View attachment 27774
​

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.

View attachment 27772
​

Now Robert Hejavec is doing the same thing. Read more on Reddit

View attachment 27771
​

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.

@pkom79, to be either that greedy and/or that desperate...why don't they just sell that Lambo and/or helicopter? Time is obviously running out. Sad. Notice you don't see Mark or Barbara.

 

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[SkyLake]

I actually started getting ads on Instagram about the Gary V and Cardone seminar coming up in the UK. They advertise it for like £69. But that actually gets you the shittiest seat and no photos. It's probably useful for networking though.

Gary Vee or other Sharks will probably just tell you that it's worth it simply because you get to hang out with other like-minded people and get to do some networking.

I'm surprised Gary lets others use his name just so they can sell £2,500 tickets for a VIP seat and a photo with him.. but I guess that's just supply and demand. If people are willing to pay for it, why not? At least he doesn't outright organize premium events for 5k to pitch his Diamond Premium 50k course.

If you have 2,5k laying around, invest it in your business. Don't go to a 2.5k pitch seminar.

 

[ecommercewolf]

There is no magic plan nor secrets to be revealed at these sales-pitch-classes. They are a hoax to steal your money. The information is readily available. How-to books and on-line courses are cheap and sometimes free. Taking a local person to lunch -- who is doing what you want to do -- is also a cheap lesson. Offering your services for free to learn a business is an honorable route. You can learn a lot just hanging out and lending a hand. Attending a local investment club is another cheap way to glean information. You'll have a whole group to query. Joining an online forum is many times free, except for the value of your time to sit in front of your screen. The information is all out there for the taking. Start with asking questions. Then ask another one, and then another. Take notes. Draw yourself a picture of how it all works. Figure out the first step. Take that step. Try and then try again. Fail. Correct. Keep going.

This forum is AMAZING of course. If you do some digging in the subreddits of Reddit, it is another great resource for free information. Lastly, I would even say that Udemy is a great resource. I have not used it personally but have heard great things and spending $10-$20 is a very small investment/risk compared to what you would have paid for attending one of these "sales pitch seminars".

 

[MattR82]

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.

Dunno about that. Kiyosaki has been known for this fir a long time yet I just saw ab fb ad for his seminar in my city in a few weeks (Brisbane, Australia).

"Please note, Robert Kiyosaki will not be attending." Lol.

People will still fall for it.

 

[ADayattheRoxbury]

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.

This is what happens, when they are no longer making money.

Or when they are no longer well-respected.

See it's easy to SAY you are rich, but it's another, far more difficult thing to consistently increase your revenue stores over time and deploy your capital in ways that make sense. Whether that be intellectual capital or greenbacks, we all have a finite amount. Clearly, this shows that they are going down the tubes, have made some really awful investments, and are now using their publicity to scam hard working people out of their money. That's really sad. I liked Rob Herjavec or whatever his name is. But I always thought Daymond was a creep after the way he's spoken to others previously in the show. The only people who seem like actual "Sharks" in my estimation nowadays would be Mark Cuban, far and away, followed by the woman who thinks she's the Real Estate Queen of New York and the Queen of QVC, respectively.