Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!

Randy’s Ramblings 31st July 2010
HypeFree advice to help us all.

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* Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
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* Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!

A little different format in this post, No Catch Up today as I’m just going off on a ‘Ramble’

First a disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this post are just those of myself, Randy Smith, they are not based on any factual research and I don’t have any proven statistics to share. I’m not a lawyer, politician or super rich marketer! I am just expressing an opinion that could be extremely flawed and I invite anyone to comment and disagree if they should wish to.
Also – I am not intending to make (nor will I allow) any comments that lead to anyone being singled out for any slanderous remarks of hate campaigns…

There – now that’s out of the way let me tell you what I was thinking this morning as I started to write this post.
(and do bear in mind that I’m writing this off the cuff – so I may ramble off on a few tangents, as I do have a habit of doing that )

So why do I think Guru’s are like Governments?

Well let’s start with what I believe is a common trait among governments:
And I am generalising here….

I think we all think at some time or other that the givernment seems to be filled with politicians who are only interested in self preservation don’t we?
You see I love the American quote of “A Government of the people, For the people, By the people”. That sounds so cool and I think it’s what we’d all like to have.
What we believe we actually get in our varying ‘democratic’ systems though – would seem more like a bunch of people who care more about keeping their ‘money people’ happy…. the backers and fund raisers who smooth their way to office.

And once in office – it would also seem to me that regardless of which side they are ‘supposed’ to be on, a lot of the people we put into power spend a lot of their time ‘looking after each other’!

How many times have we in the UK seen politicians who are in opposition to the goverment of the day end up with titles, well paid speakinmg engagements, fancy highly paid jobs in Europe, etc. etc.
And how many times have we ever seen a government sit together, regardless of political views, and actually debate the fact that they claim to want to serve their country and that is their reason for doing their job….
Something along the lines of – “Hey – I want to serve my country more than anything, and I’ve just realized that I don’t need a second mortgage paid for from tax payers money, or the huge salary I get, or the first class airline tickets I can claim to save me taking a train at a quarter the cost to attend a meeting…. therefore I vote that we all take a pay cut to leave more cash for Pensioners, Hospitals, Our Armed forces who are dying daily to protect our freedoms (*and lets not even debate whether our brave forces are fighting to maintain our freedom or to gain rebuilding contracts in oil rich countries some would like more control over!)….
So lets. all agree to pay ourselves what the ‘Average’ man or woman would earn”

After all – who decides what is the most important job in the country?
The doctor who saves lives with his skills?, The Soldier who puts his life on the line for us all?, The Firefighters who risk their safety to rescue others?…. well how about the refuse collector without whom we’d have disease rising due to poor sanitation as rubbish builds up on our streets and vermin start infesting our homes?… How about the salesman who brings in orders to keep a factory full or workers employed manufacturing products he’s sold?…. Or what about the Teachers who nurture our youth so they too many become valued members of society contributing their tax dollars for the benefit off all?

My point being that each and every job that anyone does is equally important to society as a whole… well in my opinion it is!
So if our politicians really wanted to help – would they not universally decide to pay themselves enough to get by on with a little extra for luxuries, to take the cheapest forms of transport to meetings, to rent a small house near government buildings if they really needed to be close by and their constituencies were too far away to travel (instead of using taxpayers money to fund a mortgage that they could then profit from when voted out of office) ???

Heck – even at lower levels of public service, How many ‘Public Servants’ get an allowance for lunch and end up bringing a packed lunch so they have more in their wage packets, and how many send the extra cash back due to the savings they make by prepared their packed lunches?…lol

In fact – let’s get really political for just a moment:
How many people who would do all of the above would ever stand a chance of being voted into power?
I think it’s safe to say that they wouldn’t get sufficient funding to even be noticed come election time….
Can you imagine the scenario?

Here we are reporting live from the elections for our countries new leader:

Standing today is the candidate for the right, backed by his/her huge political party and a budget of $500,000 for media coverage and advertising coming from the business owners and shareholders of the city…
Opposing him today we also have the candidate from the left, backed by his/her huge political party and a budget of $500,000 for media coverage and advertising coming from the trade unions and workers of the city…
And finally we have Mrs. I. M. Nobody, backed by the ladies of the village ‘people power committee’ and a budget of $257.24 for media coverage and advertising, raised from local garage sales of brickabrack and home made apple pies with a few posters drawn by the children of the village school!

Now let me think – Oh, lets all vote for Mrs Nobody ‘cos we saw the poster and immense press coverage she got from saying she just wants to help….. But wait… Darn it she needs to stand in every constituency to actually get sufficient votes to gain power… oh well – maybe next year she can get a few friends standing and form a political party….lol

OK – Enough on the Governments, I’ll move on to the Guru’s with these final words about our beloved politicains:
1 – I once saw some graffitti in a public toilet that has stayed with me all my life….
“No Matter Who You Vote For – The Government Always Win!’
2 - Regardless of everything I’ve said, I’d still rather live in a democratic country with all it’s flaws, greedy politicians, and rogues… than to even comtemplate living under the circumstances so many in the world have to endure!

So yes – I believe our system in severly flawed… but it’s still so much better than many alternatives and I’m grateful for that!

So how are the Guru’s like Governments?

Well I suppose I better explain where the idea of this post came from, and how my strange rambling mind came up with the idea of writing it….
It’s based on something I’ve thought for a long time due to my own position in marketing online.

I’ve been online for around ten years now, failed miserably for the first five chasing all the get rich quick schemes, and then finally learned from my failures and was lucky enough to find a mentor or two who taught me a great deal…. and from then on I’ve done OK.
I started doing well in 2005, and after my offline business failure caused my banruptcy in late 2006 I got the kick in the pants I needed to make all of my living online.
I’ve met and made friends with a lot of marketers, and one criticism they’ve always offered – is that I care too much and sell myself too cheap. But once they get to know me they accept that I have different motivations to most.

I know a lot are money motivated, and that’s fine by me – each to their own.
For me, I love the internet for the freedom it gives me. I’ve had a career in sales and sales management where I had the 6 figure salary - but I also had the hours and constraints that went with it… So I already know that it’s not the money that brings happiness for me… it’s the freedom of time to enjoy the passions of my life that do it for me
That said – I will never criticise anyone who is in it for the money! – They work a lot harder than I do …lol
(and naturally a certain amount of money is need to enjoy the time freedom I crave!)

But what I think I can moan and rant about is when the money becomes the most important thing to them!
Again – don’t get me wrong … if they make it perfectly clear that that’s their only interest from the off – then that’s fine…

But here’s where I think many are like governments:
A great example popped up today on facebook, and that got me thinking about one of my mentors blog posts from a few days ago, which then lead me on to thinking about how some of them operate their business models….

I did say my mind wanders off on some tangents didn’t I? …lol

Tell you what – let me quote (ish) without naming names, ‘cos as I said, each to their own and far be it for me to dictate how anyone should run their lives or business….
But I can have my opinions, and if sharing them helps someone else to find a good mentor, or at least decide what sort of mentor they’d like, then I feel justified in expressing my views (so there…hehe)

Here’s what I saw on facebook:
A Big Name Marketer (GURU) Asked if anyone knew of a high converting, money making offer he could promote, as he didn’t want to waste any valuable clicks on stuff that doesn’t sell so well!

What followed was around 40 replies by other Gurus/Big Names with big lists all quoting which offers were making the most money!
One even suggested an offer I’ve promoted myself in the past – which happens to be a freebie with a one time offer on the back end. This is a great program because even just taking the freebie is very helpful to a lot of newbies… However – it was rejected NOT because the quality of it wasn’t a great help – but because it didn’t make enough money!!

My personal reply was long the lines of:
“Well I guess this confirms I’ve always done things wrong….lol
There’s me looking at products and launches that I believe will benefit my subscribers, with no regard to how much I’ll make…..
So the lesson for wannabe gurus is to look at the bottom line!
Personally – I stick to my way cos I’m too lazy to look at all the figures…lol”

Again – let me emphasize that I’m not here to tell anyone who makes more than me, works harder than I do, and has a different business model than I do, how they should run their business…..

BUT - (and here’s another tangent)
It all reminded me of one of my own mentors whom I hold in very high regard, John Thornhill.
You see John is in business to make money, and he is considered by many to be a top UK marketer/Guru (though he hates the title himself)
He also runs one of the best coaching programs I’ve seen, where a heck of a lot of his students end up finally acheiving the success they were searching for, and he has a $4.95 trial available for that… You can check it out here and see the bonsues I’m offering anyone who joins here … because I know John, have been helped by him, and I know a lot of his successful students – hence my massive bonus as a bribe to stay on the course after the trial…. either way – it’;s nice to take a trial before committing these days (In fact – here is a free report from John you can take right now, called Why You’ll Never Succeed Online No Optin Required!)

So back to John and his business model:
Like I mentioned – John doesn’t hide the fact that he is online to make money… heck he came from a background of doing a mundane, labor intensive, repetitive job in a car factory, to online guru status …. But…
What John does when he’s promoting isn’t to see what is converting best and giving the best dollars per click!

He looks for products that he believes will help his subscribers first…
Then – When he does promote, it’s rare to see him send a straight forward email just pitching the product… NO – He actually tries to show examples of different marketing elements incorporated into the product or salespage, and uses those to highlight a lesson that can be taken from just looking at the promotion!

Which on reflection is very clever (and shows why he deserves his guru title) – because even those who don’t buy are benefiting from John showcasing the product! (and clever – because it means a lot more people will take a look – so his sales end up being on the higher conversion side of things...lol)

To me – that represents the politician who does wnat to help his country…. Whereas the ones who just care about how much they’ll make represent those who are purely in it for themselves!

Worth noting also is the fact that John is happy to promote products that don’t carry a high ticket price and heaps of commissions JUST BECAUSE he believes they will be of benefit to his list…. And I can vouch for that personally , as John has promoted some of my products like MagicAuctionWords, Headpaint – both only $10 and hardly worth him mentioning, and SalesLetterABC, my 10 Step Guide To Writing Sales Letters – which is too cheap, but hey, I set the price…lol, And Even WizardResponder which pays him a lot less than Aweber does… but again he promoted it because not everyone can afford the likes of Aweber, and John knows me personally and therefore knows WizardResponder to be a great service at an affodable rate!

(excuse the self promotion, but it did seem an apt time to make mention of some of my products…lol)

To demonstrate an example of another guru who is in it for the money, BUT – once again has his subscribers interest at heart too – is that of Lee McIntyre.
Lee doesn’t promote mush of anyones products but does have a lot of his own to shout about… But once again, rather than just pitch it like crazy and sell sell sell, he gains his customers by giving away immesly valuable content for free and encourage his affiliates to do the same, thereby winning the trust of subscribers and turnng them into customers of his paid for products…

A prime exaple is his latest free offer – A video training of How to make $7,230.95 in 30 days from scratch?, which he did …even though he had NO list, NO contacts and NO technical skills when he started in the IM niche!

I could go on and mention others who have my respect, people like Tony Shepherd, who also tends to teach people to enjoy life and only grab what they need rather than pitching every big earner going. And who also gives some great freebies first to gain trust and respect. Like his Quit Your Job In Ninety Days and his Perpetual Motion Marketing System.
I love Tony ‘cos we share the belief that life is for living with passion first and foremost!

Hey – I’ve got to stop with naming people I like and why or this post will never end…lol
Plus it started because I wanted to have a rant about those who only promote for the money with complete disregard to whether the product is of any use to their subscribers….

My Gripe with their model is mainly this:
They sound just like politicians… who tell us how we should be doing things, but then do everything themselves for completely different reasons!

Things like – they teach that we should all be helping people, giving good quality info and promoting products that will genuinely help our readers etc.
Then they get together and discuss how to maximize their profits by ignoring great products that don’t make as much cash, and promoting others that do (which incidentally, I’ve seen reviews of expressing opinions that they just aren’t worth the money!)
That tends to remind me of something my Dad would always say when he was caught out doing wrong…. “Son, do as I say not as I do!”

There are a lot of great people out there who are making a living online and (in my opinion) have some great business models that you could replicate… like the examples above – they each do things differently, but always do them with their subscribers interests first. So if you want to be a guru and make the big bucks, can I be cheeky and suggest you learn from these?
Or even check out some of the ‘friends’ links on my sidebar for others who share similar views?

Now I wont condemn you if you choose to follow the money and become like the gurus who only care about what percentage they’ll make, as I’ve said – it’s their business and they make a heck of a lot more than I do, and work a heck of a lot harder too. And business is business at the end of the day….
But do we really have to join them in order to beat them?, Is the only way to make it big to become one of them and get their backing?, To tow the party line etc.

Between you and I – I’m always gonna think of them as being just like the government….
Telling us what’s best for us – whilst always watching their own backs and ensuring themselves and their buddies never suffer the fate of the rest of the nation!

So what do you think?
Are the majority of Guru’s just like the Government? – or am I just getting very synical with too many old fashioned values to survive in todays business world?
I’ll leave you to decide that for yourself!

Thanks for listening to my rant, and I hope I’ve caused you to look at all those emails you get with new eyes and ask yourself - “Are these guru’s really helping me?”
Just like the politicians, I guess our only option is to choose to follow those whose actions seem to us to best fit what we believe they should be doing!

For myself, I’ll continue promoting products I believe will help people regardless of profit, and naturally I’ll hope my readers trust my own judgments and buy enough for me to continue enjoying the lifestyle I do, but I’m not sending in any applications to sell my conscience for more dollars, and I hope the interaction I get from my readers and friends keeps me on the same path. Just like those whom I’ve mentioned – I’d rather stay on the path of being a respected marketer and prefer not to aim for the guru title!

And hey – if you’re a guru who wants to defend your actions – two things…..
1 - You don’t need to , I understand it’s just business in todays world
2 - Feel free to add your comment, as I do believe you have a right to free speech and your own opinions providing niether of us intentionally sets out to harm anyone

And to my friends who I haven’t mentioned – sorry… Hopefully you’re in my sidebar list of friends, but hey – leave a link in your comment

OK – I’m done (for now)

Chat soon
Randy

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Til next time
To You and Yours,

Here’s hoping you’re
Loving Life, Living it with Passion, And Passing it on!

Warm Regards
Randy
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Filed Under Personal, Rants, Recommendations · 135 Comments

Comments

135 Responses to “Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!”

Gert Chappell on July 31st, 2010 12:03 pm

Hey! Randy.
Wow!! What else can I say? This is a post no one should miss, especially the “Guru’s”. I think maybe, they would rethink their own reasons for being in this business if they were to read this post.

I agree many are like the government, in it for just the money (and the glory of “Guru” status) but telling a different story to sell their wares.

But as you say not everyone is like that. Thankfully.

I’m glad I have found the likes of you, John Thornhill and many others who’s lists I’m on, cos if I hadn’t I would have given up long ago thinking that some only want to take my money and not really help me at all.

And I found a few of that type along the way…

I love your rants and rambles Randy but this one is one to get many rethinking what they’re really doing it for.

Keep ‘um coming.

Your just great.

Gert.
Daniel Sumner on July 31st, 2010 12:05 pm

Hi Randy,

Nice post, you know think the same as you and you are right. I hate it when I get an email from a so called guru ‘Make 1 million in 24 hours’ CRAP why and more to the point how could you? Yeah it’s an email opening title but the stuff inside has little value and the upsell’s are usually astronomical too to suck you in.

I must admit we are all in this business to make money, but provide a service with it and give value to your subscribers rather than just take money from them.

We all do things in a different way. I prefer marketing crusader rather than marketing politician as we are on a mission to help and provide the best for people

Dan
Randy Smith on July 31st, 2010 12:10 pm

Hi Gert,

First reply
I’m glad the 1st reply ‘gets it’ and even more so that people who I respect have helped you to not quit and realize that some marketers business models do actually involve genuinely helping people

Here’s hoping it’s enough t get you to where you want to be Randy
Randy Smith on July 31st, 2010 12:13 pm

Hi Daniel,

Cheers mate:)
“I must admit we are all in this business to make money, but provide a service with it and give value to your subscribers rather than just take money from them.”

You hit the nail on the head for me with that line….
I think most of us WANT people who follow this advice to make money – so that they can keep on genuinely helping us.

Randy
P.S. Good to hear from you – how is that family of yours – all well I hope
Dr.Mani on July 31st, 2010 12:14 pm

Randy, time and again over the last 10 years, I have set out to prove (to myself), in short bursts of time, that I *can* make the “big money” without compromising on values… and done it. Once, pulling in $14,000 in a week, then five figures in 3 days, and then once more, in 24 hours.

But, as you say, it’s hard work. And it’s my personal choice not to continue being focused on doing it. Plus, I completely agree with your overall view (of how the attitude of being obsessed about profits at the cost of all other things) may not be the best route to overall success and satisfaction.

After all, if you CAN make as much money providing value as not, the only reason you’d opt to follow one path over the other is PERSONAL CHOICE!

Also, strange as it might seem, I’ve known quite a few politicians (on a personal level) who genuinely care about making a difference – and do it. Come to think about it, I think I know more politicians like that than ‘gurus’!

All success
Dr.Mani
http://www.niche2.com/valuefirst.htm
Randy Smith on July 31st, 2010 12:25 pm

Hi Dr.Mani,

Fantastic you found time to pop by
And I certainly hope people notice the links on my blog to some of your sites – particularly http://www.chdinfo.com/

You’re a brilliant example of someone who has a passion, and although money is needed to fund it – I doubt anyone would object to you making more and more of it when they see what it’s used for!

And hey – it’s good to hear there are still some politicians who care too…lol

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Barry Wells on July 31st, 2010 12:33 pm

Hi Randy, I’ve always had respect for you and that has just increased 10 fold.

I’ve wanted to sound off about our goverment for some time now, especially since the expences scandal.

I totaly agree with you about the bin men, services personel, nurses, teachers etc etc.

I would put them all on the same pay structure: 1 years service to our country gets the same rates of pay regardless of the job they do, they’re all part of the same team. 2nd year’s service they all get the same pay rise, 3rd year the same again all the way to their 30th year.

Why should some suit in a safe office get 4 or 5 times more than those putting their lives on the line? Or more than those educating the countrys future, or saving our peoples lives, or those that stop us being over run with the rats (with fur suits rather than cotton ones).

I’m also pleased by you saying about the guru’s that act in the same way, and i agree with you there as well. I’m a student of JT’s and he’s a straight up fella that looks after his people. Maybe we could all get him to stand for office and show the Goverment how to gain Trust and Respect.

Randy, I take my hat off to you mate, Barry
Barry Wells recently posted..Bloggers- Need A Little Lift
Randy Smith on July 31st, 2010 12:38 pm

Hey Barry,

Now there’s a thought
JT for PM …lol

Naturally I realise that some trades require a lot more years of learning, and therefore probably deserve a slightly higher pay structure….
But the concept of everyone in a society playing an equally important role shouldn’t be forgotten.

Likewise the gurus should remember that it’s the little people who give them their massive paydays – and therefore the service they give in return should be more about helping than making more.

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Mandy Allen on July 31st, 2010 2:13 pm

Wow, Randy, very powerful post here! And so very true. I am always astounded that we let our own government get away with so much. And the analogy with some of the ‘gurus’ is so very apt. Very well said!

Enjoy the journey.

Mandy
Mandy Allen recently posted..How do you relax
Randy Smith on July 31st, 2010 3:10 pm

Hi Mandy,

Thanks for popping by
It’s just a shame that the ‘government quote’ I mentioned is probably also true of the guru’s…
For no matter how many see this – they’ll still keep making the big money cos they have the power…
But hey – if just a few people start taking notice and get taught by the people I have mentioned – then we will have made a difference no matter how small

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Art H on July 31st, 2010 3:12 pm

Hi Randy,

I just recently discovered WizardResponder, and very happy that I did. Great article on the similarities of Government and many big name Gurus.

It’s funny, but I have often found the best and most usable information coming from some of the lowest cost products. I’ve even found real value in many free products being offered.

On the other hand, more often than not, I have been extremely disappointed with the super hyped products that have costed me $77 and over. It seems the higher the cost, the less satisfied I am with the product, just like the higher the cost to me in the form of taxes the less satisfied I am with the crap the government hypes as being what I need to make my life work.

I’ve been online a couple years now in a number of different niches, and in all honesty haven’t made anything approaching what I had hoped to be earning in the one niche that I really hope to make a difference in (quitting smoking)…but guess what?

I really don’t care. I created a number of sites with the intent to make a lot of money helping folks quit smoking when I first went online, but over the past two years it’s changed for me.

While I haven’t made any money trying to help smokers quit their deadly habit, I’m doing something I believe in and am really enjoying by just giving information away and sounding off against all the crap being foisted on smokers, by the government, the tobacco industry, and the medical and pharmaceutical gurus looking to line their pockets selling death.

So it’s obvious, that just like your example of “Mrs. I. M. Nobody, backed by the ladies of the village ‘people power committee’ and a budget of $257.24 for media coverage and advertising” I don’t stand a chance of getting my message out there, it doesn’t matter.

I’ll probably never make a dime offering real help for smokers looking to quit, but that sure isn’t going to stop me from spreading the truth. I’ll just continue doing what I know is right.

I just wanted to say, I appreciate your analogy, it made me once again reaffirm that marketing with morality is of far more importance to me than playing the guru/politician game.

Great analogy and thanks a bunch for taking the time to ramble on!
Art H recently posted..Quit Smoking Through Hypnosis – Learn To Use Hypnosis To Quit Smoking
Randy Smith on July 31st, 2010 3:22 pm

Hi Art,

Wow – you can Ramble as much as me….lol
Great reply

Hopefully you’ll get some luv from the comment luv to your post…

And feel free to send me a complimentary set any time…lol
I just need to hypnotize myself to wanting to stop first!

As the pseudo latin phrase says:
“Illegitimi non carborundum”

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Doug Prentice on July 31st, 2010 3:35 pm

Hi Randy
A brief comment on politicians. People who should be our politicians would seldom survive in politics. Perhaps we get the politicians we deserve?

Now, gurus – I’m old enough to remember when the word guru first became popular in English usage. It was generally used to describe someone who was knowledgeable AND would provide enlightenment. Nowadays it would appear that anyone who knows a lot about stuff is referred to as a guru. You see I’m really with you when you mention John and Lee (both gurus) because my contact with both of them has been one of enlightenment. That is, them showing me the way to a better future.

Some people should be referred to as great marketers and a select few achieve the status of guru.

Anyway must dash. Promised to get the chicken in the over before 5.00pm and still have a lot of prep to do!

Randy, keep up the good work.
Best regards
Doug
Randy Smith on July 31st, 2010 3:51 pm

Hi Doug,

Yes – it’s a shame that the word Guru has nearly become one of a derogatory nature as opposed to it’s real meaning…..

And you’re so right on the politician quote… what a shame!!

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
John Thornhill on July 31st, 2010 4:17 pm

Excellent post Randy, I actually know about the Facebook story you talk about and thought exactly the same thing. In fact I did want to say something along the lines of ‘shouldn’t you be thinking of providing value to your subscribers instead of looking for high converting products’ but couldn’t bring myself to do so. It’s certainly not the right way to operate and I think over the long term marketers who don’t provide value will be found out. Just like the greedy politicians got found out over the expenses scandal here in the UK.
John Thornhill recently posted..I’ve Been Suffering From Promo Overload
John Thornhill on July 31st, 2010 4:23 pm

To add to my comment I decided I would air my views in the Facebook post
John Thornhill recently posted..I’ve Been Suffering From Promo Overload
Randy Smith on July 31st, 2010 4:26 pm

Hi John,

And thanks for taking the time out to pop by

Yeah – it’s OK for me to comment on the FB thread…. If I ruffle feathers and get blacklisted by them it’s not such a great loss…
Most of them don’t have my phone number.

Now you’ve added your comment – you’ll probably get your phone line jammed and poor Alex won’t know what to say to them…lol

You’ll have to tell him to tell them you’re just being you mate, and that’s how you feel!
As you can see from the comments already… People prefer your style of genuinely helping the little guy with both the way you promote and the fact that you are a genuine bloke!

(That said – what is it now 5, 6 years?.. I’m sure you’ve only bought a couple of rounds… or was that Dave?…hehe)

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Justin on July 31st, 2010 4:56 pm

Hi Randy,

I have been following you for a few years now. Sorry to say I have not been paying more attention. Truth is, I have stayed with you because you answered some questions I had long ago about some html to php page conversions from one of your free trainings you had/have on site. (I never did get it to work )

I think there is something said about the Love of money is the root of all evil. And maybe one even more important, Not having any gods before ME. When money becomes our god we are in trouble.

I have lived my whole life helping other folks, mostly without pay, and glad of it.

Our politicians are like you say. in it for the money and the glory. The word service never entered their head. Most them don’t have two bb’s rattling around in there. The sad part of it all is, and the worst part, we the people have exactly what we deserve. It is the few who suffer because of the masses.

You and most like you may never die super rich or even rich, but what does it matter in the end? My best friend died about year ago. He was collector of stuff. He had his house full and his yard full of STUFF.

He unjustly accused me of selling some of it off and not telling him. (I was playing nurse maid to him as he was ill.) The point being, I was with him when he died. I noticed he did not take single thing with him when he took his last breath.

I can ramble to .

If we can do no good with what we have, of what good is it? Just sitting the bank so we compare clickbank accounts and bank accounts to see who has the most. What was said once? He dies with the most wins or something like that.

I think he has like maybe Mother Teresa how given their lives to helping others wins. I think there is place in heaven for those who reach out to their fellow man give with no thought of getting anything in return. I also think there is a place for those who make their fortunes off the backs of the poor.

Thank you Randy for the man you are the example you set for the rest of us. May we all take a page from you book and live life with passion and make enough to enjoy it and help someone else along the way.

Have a great day and may it get even better.

Justin
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Randy Smith on July 31st, 2010 5:06 pm

Hi Justin,

Thanks for popping by

Yes, we have exchange a few emails over the years and then nothing for a while…lol

Good to see you’re still around
And yeah – I should set up a rambling group and we could take turns in writing the posts…lol

You’re right about the Biblical quote… It is “The Love of money is the root of all evil”, so many get it wrong and think it’s Money that is the root of all evil… Money is just a tool – and for the religious … even those wanting to do their Gods bidding seem to need it

Religion apart – As I’m not getting into a debate that sits in peoples hearts…
I do believe that most the religions I’ve read about or studied – seem to have similar principles of helping others and harming none….

So it should be possible for everyone to “live life with passion and make enough to enjoy it and help someone else along the way.”

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
John Counsel (non-guru) on July 31st, 2010 5:12 pm

Hey Randy

Great rant, and too darned true.

Here are two variations on your quotations that I’ve written about and used for decades:

1. On US Government: “government of the people, by the lobbyists, for the vested interests.” (Example: Big Pharmaceuticals currently maintain 28+ lobbyists for EACH member of Congress and the Senate.)

2. “No matter who you vote for, a politician still gets in. Vote X”. (This appeared above a photograph of a pig in election posters in the 1960s. Voting is compulsory in Australia — the ‘Vote X’ was intended to encourage people not to vote for any of them.)

We’re singing from the same page of the same hymnbook when it comes to “Gurus”, too. I actually wrote an ebook in 2007 titled “What the ‘Gurus’ WON’T Tell You! (How to separate the ‘ah-ha!’ from the rah-rah, ga-ga and ca-ca)” that I’m giving away free of charge from the link in my name, above.

Keep up the passion, old mate!

John
Randy Smith on July 31st, 2010 5:18 pm

Hi John,

Crikey, not seen you since Tony let his forum near die…

Great quotes, and yeah – anyone who see’s your comment should visit your site.
I’ll pop along tomorrow as I’m getting ready to go out…lol
But I do remember you having a lot of good (and common sense) advice on your sites in the past

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Adwello on August 1st, 2010 3:50 am

First, Randy, well done on speaking your mind and not being afraid!
Second, I have to agree it seems like most IM experts who are the guys we newbies are desperate to learn off really milk the situation by selling us more and more high priced exciting but crap info products designed to keep us poor.
So if you want to make the gurus income then take a good long look: how are they really making money? You see the exciting unbelievable clickbank shot, wow, how do they do it? By developing products – the figures you see are the sales of their own products along with their “takings” for promoting their guru colleagues launch products.
I am on many IM lists and my email inbox fills up daily with the same launch offer from ten marketers: not very exciting really!
So quit wondering and just create your own product, get pro graphics for the sales site and start promoting your product – shoot off emails to many IM people and ezine owners and focus on using trad free traffic methods to build your email list: you can then send out snippets of your product as a free course to whet the potential buyer’s appetite!
Offer something original and try to avoid being a copycat. Build rapport with your list. Offer a quality free ebook from time to time. Expect solid slow growth and profits. Be in for the long haul. You will succeed step by step, just the way you’d eat an elephant: bite by bite and never give up – just come back next day with your appetite renewed
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Randy Smith on August 1st, 2010 10:19 am

Hi Adwello,

Thanks for stopping by, and hey – let’s hope someone reads your comment and realizes it’s a mini-course on making it

Of course the big bucks wont be there in a hurry – cos those same gurus do tend to support each other, and getting them to take notice of someone who can’t send them huge commissions is like the old “Getting blood from a stone” saying

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Brian Ripley on August 1st, 2010 2:48 pm

Hi Randy, Wow, that has been brewing for a while, eh?
Good job and very well said. I think everyone who has been oversold on the Internet ( which is all of us) is now yelling “Hear, Hear.”

Best wishes to you and keep punching,
Regards, Brian.
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Randy Smith on August 1st, 2010 2:53 pm

Cheers Brian,

If we all ‘Persist and Persevere’, we should get there

lol

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Keith Alston on August 1st, 2010 3:54 pm

Hey Randy, Explosive post but true in every sense. If there is one thing I have learnt from my IM experience is do plenty of background research, especially when we are going to part with money. I had followed JT for about 3 years before I invested my hard earned dosh with him and I’m really glad I did. Way too many marketers out there promise you unimaginable riches for your ‘one-off’ payment with over 90% being garbage (IMO)
I love your straight talk and can admire your commitment by how you put your feelings into words. As long as there are marketers like you and JT to name but a few out there then us newbies can always hope to aspire to your levels.
I’m in this game for a better life with a comfortable living – not the trappings of international bulls****er who earns more millions in an hour than the U.S. government (or so they will have you believe)
Keep up your fab way of doing things and maybe one day I will be in the same position as yourself and feeling pretty damned grateful if I am
Randy Smith on August 1st, 2010 5:10 pm

Hi Keith,

Yeah – I have to be honest… Once upon a time (around 27 years ago ish) I too wanted to be a millionaire….

I nearly got there on paper – but lost the lot…lol

But hey – I discovered along the way that our goals, ambitions and desires change as time goes by….
With personally knowing a good few millionaires and some very close, I know now that it’s not what I really wanted – I wanted the perceived freedom that comes with the status…

I say perceived because there really isn’t any from what I’ve seen.

So now I’ve realized what I really wanted – I am grateful that I have been able to get it without the need to have millions

But hey – I would never knock anyone who wants different goals to me… just the means by which they get there

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Dawn Kay on August 1st, 2010 5:35 pm

Hi Randy

We can always rely on you to tell it like it is and what I love about you is that you will help anyone out and you always put your subscribers needs first before the big commissions.

You don’t see many gurus doing that do you apart from John Thornhill and Lee Mcintyre of course.

Take care

Dawn Kay
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Randy Smith on August 1st, 2010 5:55 pm

Hi Dawn,

And thanks – it’s nice to be mentioned in the same breath with the likes of John and Lee

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Lynn Norton on August 2nd, 2010 12:18 am

Hi Randy

Wow, that was some ramble Great analogy but there is one important difference between governments and guru’s. We can get rid of gurus with a click of the mouse button on the ‘unsubscribe’ link and I must say I’ve been doing a lot of that lately. If only we could get rid of our politicians that easily

As for money, all we really need is enough to pay the bills and have a little left over to enable us to ‘live life with passion’.

Keep on rambling

Lynn
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John Reed on August 2nd, 2010 1:55 am

Just what I have come to expect from you Randy……..
Rambling, Ranting, Raring to Go – but refusing to give up Nicotine!!
I enjoyed the post because I could just see you delivering that address in person, despite my having to miss yet another Northallerton gathering.
As you have said, we’re not mentioning the names of those we’d all like to see sent to work in the restoration of the Haiti Sewage System…
so I won’t nominate anyone!!
But I do agree with the general trend of your Replies, we all like and trust the “Experienced Marketers” who genuinely try ot help and encourage the rest. That would be just where I’d also like to be, if I could only prove that I can make it all work. I just haven’t succeeded well enough yet, but I’ll get there……. and thanks for your help.
John O’York
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Stan Young on August 2nd, 2010 3:51 am

Hi Randy
It sounds as though you are really passionate about politics I agree with some of your views. I believe in the Western world we are over governed ie there are too many politicians Fat Cats.
If I were in charge of Government I would have a lot less politians.
I would also have a higher degree of scrutiny on how tax payers money is spent.
Look at Switzerland for example from what I understand they have only 9 politicians that run the entire country and guess what they are one of the richest countries in Europe! As for the guru’s I think it is up to each and everyone of us to become our own guru that way we can make informed decisions about which direction to go.
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Randy Smith on August 2nd, 2010 7:42 am

@ Lynn, …Hmmm – I believe it was in ancient Greece, the forefathers of democracy, where it took just 1000 stones with a politicians names written on them to oust him… sort of like an unsubscribe…
Maybe we should adopt a similar strategy in our systems??

The problem with unsubbing to gurus is that their friends will continue to promote round and round so we end up back on their lists due to the latest ‘must have’ freebie leading to yet another high ticket pitch.
–

@ John, Shame you can’t make the Northallerton Meet Up – maybe when we change the day it might work out easier – don’t forget to add your name at http://randysmith.co.uk/NorthallertonMeets/ to be kept informed
—

@ Stan, Making informed decisions is key – but where does one get informed… usually by the inner circle of gurus promoting their friends high profit sites … rather than the sites that will really truly help??

Thanks a bunch for adding your thoughts guys… I appreciate it

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Terry Conti on August 2nd, 2010 11:02 am

Hi Randy, since becoming a student of the John Thornhill Masterclass program I’ve stopped with the information overload I had in my brain. I’m not infected anymore.

I’ve learned, give and you shall receive is the best way to do this business. I can certainly see if an advertisement has a funky smell to it now. Sometimes I see some gurus use tactics that are as low as you can get.

I’ve seen email subjects saying anything to get you to open it. Then when you open it the email says, how would you like to see this in you mail box everyday bla, bla, bla……. when you actually thought it was from XXXX,

Other tactics I’ve seen is when you go to a sales page and x out, you are bombarded with pop ups and a ton of one time offers so much you forget what you were interested in the first place.

I’m not against this strategy( done correctly) but come on big guru governments stop making me go through your maze of #%& and let me get back to my browser home page. I keeping on clicking on the OK button and still get #%& thrown in my face.

The more down to earth, honest and giving marketer you are the more people will get to know who and what you are. Terry Conti
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Randy Smith on August 2nd, 2010 11:28 am

Hi Terry,

Thanks for stopping by

And yeah – I know what you mean about those constant pop ups….
Used correctly they might tempt us to take a longer look…. but when each leads to yet more distractions it can be very annoying…lol

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Michael Pedzotti on August 2nd, 2010 2:15 pm

More power to the little bloggers I say.

If we all stick together and stick it into the gurus then one or two of them might get the message but it will not change the way gurus behave anytime soon.

Consider for a moment how you might be able to vote your local government representative out of office. It might change the face of the person now drawing a wage from your taxes, but does it change much else?

Gurus will unfortunately be with us till the death of the internet. The trick to learn is how to tell them apart from the genuine marketers (like John said) who really do want to help and are not just in it for the $$$.

Michael
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Randy Smith on August 2nd, 2010 2:36 pm

“The trick to learn is how to tell them apart from the genuine marketers (like John said) who really do want to help and are not just in it for the $$$.”

Hi Mike, thanks for stopping by
Your quote above is the key for many trying to learn…. The problem is how to help a newbie find people like those mentioned!!

Randy
John Edler on August 2nd, 2010 4:58 pm

Hi Randy

How thought provoking and good to know that others have these kind of thoughts.

I guess it all comes down to ‘Words are Cheap’. Picking a politician or a Guru comes down to who did I trust? Don’t you think?

Nobody buys anything without trust and the more trustworthy we demonstrably are, the more we can aspire to succeed.

Regards

John
Randy Smith on August 2nd, 2010 5:38 pm

Hi John,

I tend to agree with your comment John – “Nobody buys anything without trust and the more trustworthy we demonstrably are, the more we can aspire to succeed.”

But my reservation is that just like the politicians – those who genuinely are trustworthy may not be heard above the noise of those with the most power…

It’s easier for us who have been around a while, as we can judge people on our own experience… But for the newbie (who are most often the target customer) it must be a lot harder??

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
JasonSer@The Most Powerful Inspirational Quote Of Your Life. on August 3rd, 2010 3:37 am

Hi Randy,

Governments or Gurus, there will always be the good, the bad and the in-betweens. They are all made up by people, and all people each have their own flaw on their own.
If only more people can have “your eyes” here and see things in such a clarity, I believe that it will be More Difficult for the fake gurus and governments to survive

I really like the part you write about how the 2 types of Gurus , one who only believe in providing real value to their customer in return for a profit VS those who only want high profit and fast return , even if the service or product they provide or recommend are way under deliver.

Your post remind me of an Buddhist theology that Buddhist rarely discusses, it is believed it is originated by DiZhangWang, a well known Bodhisattva (An enlightened being who, out of compassion, forgoes nirvana in order to save others) that goes like this…..

If You Meet The Buddha On The Road…Kill Him!

Controversy!? Not at all… if we know the real intention and meaning why DizhangWang said this.

He is actually trying to remind Buddhist Practitioners the danger of over relying to any figures of power, especially the so called gurus along your way. That we must keep our eyes wide open at all times and see things with wisdom from our heart.

Guess this is what you are doing here in this post.
And I am sure you had enlightened others at the same time.
I am enlightened for sure!
Thanks again

Cheers
Jason Ser
Randy Smith on August 3rd, 2010 9:47 am

Hi Jason,

That’s a thought provoking comment

I have to be honest and admit that though I have read a lot on various religions and beliefs of the world. (I like to be able to respect others rights to their own beliefs), I don’t know much at all about Buddhists.

But that analogy makes a very good point about not blindly following everything we are told!
I guess it’s up to each of us to question everything and compare it to what we believe to be the truth!

And frankly – I guess that’s why I still do things my own way – even when most advice says to keep posts short, or have only one link etc.
Which obviously doesn’t mean I’m right (or wrong) – but at least I do think for myself…lol

Rather deep after just waking up…lol

Thanks again for your comment

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Steve King on August 3rd, 2010 10:11 pm

Hi Randy
Hope you are well.
Good to see you are still rambling on as good as ever

You’re bang on the money with your analogy… I can’t see things changing anytime soon though, money always talks…although surely there must come a time when people have enough if the stuff.

It’s also one of the reasons I don’t heavily market in the make money online niche…another salesman with a conscience…

Take it easy Randy and I look forward to future rants
Cheers
Steve
Vance Sova on August 3rd, 2010 11:28 pm

Hi Randy,

That was the most ranting post I’ve read in a long time.

The politicians and the Gurus and you too all claim to be out there to serve.

Some are truly serving, some aren’t. Seeing that you too are selling things, however cleverly, I’d need more from you than just reading your rent to believe that you are the serving kind.

If you are in the 100 comments contest, I believe that is for sharing too. Having a keyword luv plugin was one of the requirements in order to participate I believe.

Will you install it?

It’s possible that you overlooked this but I’m not convinced. As someone who wants to serve first and foremost you would have likely noticed.

As for government employees I think that they should all have a decent pay but not outrageous. At the same time I don’t believe in the same salaries for everybody. That has never worked and never will.

Vance
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Lisa on August 4th, 2010 4:03 am

Oh My Gosh Randy!
All of these wonderful comments and the only thing I can think of is I am glad I met you!
You are the coolest and always tell it like it is!
Government? I live in a bankrupt California, so don’t get me started! We are supposed to be like the 6th or 7th largest economy in the world and the politicians have run us into the ground!! Our taxes are way high and folks who have never put any money into the system in the first place are milkin it over here!! BOO!
Gurus?? I have to admit, I bought a few things that weren’t worth it, but hey we all do. Even asked for a refund once (oh my!!) Remember that?
Well, I am not a prospect anymore, I am a marketer, so there!! Stop trying to sell me stuff!!
HAHA! just kidding, you are too kind!

I wanna know how you got the big dog John Thornhill over here….been wishin he would stop by my blog for ages! Maybe he will be one of my 100 commenters! (John, what do ya think? I talk about you all the time!)

So Randy, good luck with all you do!! Skype ya on Saturday, k??

Mama Roo~ <<<<<<(you call me that, you DIE!!)

p.s. I had to search out the FB post and found it. Y'all ROCK! and so gracious!!
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Randy Smith on August 4th, 2010 7:27 am

@ Steve, lol – yeah… It makes life a little harder being an ex salesman with a conscience doesn’t it….
(and where was your link to your golfing blog??)

@ Lisa, hehe Mama Roo had such a good ring to it… every time we think of a new name for you … you kill people! – You’re beinginning to sound like the dead terrorist character
(Catch ya Staurday)

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Randy Smith on August 4th, 2010 7:35 am

Hi Vance,

Nice to meet you.
I guess you’ll have to read more of my posts to form your own judgment about me

I got the comment luv plugin added, and I’m stumbling all the posts I visit.
I think the keyword one might have been the one I struggled to install??
(I’ll check when I get home)

As for me selling things… Yep – but I do think I covered that in my post. We all need to pay our bills, but I do like to think that I sell products that I believe will help my readers?

AND – I always have the line ***As ever – only spend your ca$h on things that WILL help you
(Not the stuff that Might One Day!)**** on every post.

So my conscience is clear on the selling
But do feel free to ask around and see what others think of me

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Steve King @ Weekend Golfers on August 4th, 2010 6:17 pm

Hi Randy
Oops…you’re quite right I missed the link
I’m still a non-techy really…

It’s good to see that even you haven’t quite met everyone…yet

I’ll be back in your forum in the not too distant future…end of Aug hopefully, I’ll fill you in on the details another time.

Thanks for always being around.
Cheers
Steve
Steve Deerfield on August 5th, 2010 3:52 am

Hey Randy, a well said rant upon those in government and the pseudo-gurus among us. I once studied eastern philosophy at university and I never heard the words money and guru in the same sentence let alone the same lecture. Gurus, ninjas, samurais and all the other hijacked pseudonyms of cyberspace are loaded terms that carry a lot of pizzazz and sizzle and I imagine they’ll be around for another millennium or two. My personal favourite is swami but I haven’t come up with any good product titles except Swami Slapper, lol. …on rye Steve D.
Jose@Notes on Blogging on August 5th, 2010 4:33 am

Hi Randy,

But you what’s most terrible? The fact that people in governments actually come from… the people! When people change because they get to office, that speaks bad of society as a whole.

Cheers to your writing capability!
Jose
John McNally on August 5th, 2010 5:09 am

Excellent ramble Randy.

Like you, money doesn’t turn me on. But is that also because like you I’ve had loads of money in the past, and became bankrupt. So we both know money doesn’t buy happiness. It “Can’t buy me love” (Beatles) either.

I just wonder if the majority of the money-chasing gurus are youngish people who haven’t had a lot of money in the past, and have got over excited by the money-making potential of the Internet?

In some ways I feel sorry for them. They have lost sight of ‘the big picture’.

Just my 42p worth.

John
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Randy Smith on August 5th, 2010 7:53 am

@ Steve ….lol – Don’t be surprised if someone uses Swami Slapper now…lol
But you’re right – all those terms has zero to do with making money, yet we all use them due to the ‘sound’ of them….lol

@ Jose, – Society will never be perfect, all we can do is try to do our bit and hope enough others do the same…. There will always be those who take advantage – but if we can educated just a few more each time….

@ John, Yep – I’ve often wondered the same, and also whether they will see one day what really matters, or if they will always believe that cash is king??

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Vance Sova on August 5th, 2010 5:04 pm

Hi Randy,

Another stab at a comment since I may have been a bit too harsh in my first one.

Some people when they first run for office are very sincere and resolved to serve their constituents.

When they are elected they are then faced with the reality of how things work on the inside. There are internal politics and hierarchy which makes it far harder to change anything than first imagined.

It’s almost impossible to do anything differently from what has been established. It certainly can’t be done fast enough as the old boys and bureaucrats resist any change vigorously.

Thus most new politicians that manage to get in government succumb to the harsh reality that either they adjust to the prevailing culture there or be forced out very quickly.

In addition to this should a new face manage to get to the very top and start telling people the truth about the state of things and the necessity to perhaps tighten the purse strings, people who voted for him or her will not like the truth. They after all like good sounding promises even if they are financed by debt.

It has been said that people tend to have the government they deserve. I’m talking here of democratically elected governments.

I suspect that it may be similar with the gurus. If somebody fresh and new somehow gets to be one of them he or she is heavily influenced by their culture if he or she wants to hang around with them.

It takes extremely strong and principled people to stand out from the rest.

I’ve tweeted an bookmarked your post on Reddit so that others may have a look at it.

Vance
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Randy Smith on August 5th, 2010 5:13 pm

Hello again Vance,

Yay – you came back…lol

Actually – THAT is a VERY valid comment for both politicians and Gurus alike…

And I do feel for those who finally get to a place where they believe they can make a difference, only to be overwhelmed by the traditions and workings of the systems that cause them to give up trying and go with the flow

I personally know a local counselor who would love to change things – but is a lone voice in a party lead council… and therefore has no real input other than speaking his mind only to be out voted by the rest who tow the party line!

Likewise – I have been told time and again if I want more success (and Money) I should ‘tow the guru line’ – which I also resist to my cost….

Unfortunately – Others are seduced by the massive paydays, and do as they are told

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Keith Purkiss @ Business Building Made Simple on August 6th, 2010 3:03 pm

Hi Randy,

Congratulations on your post and spreading rambling to so many people. I’ve never seen so many long blog comments

There are very few people who will promote one of their subscribers products when they could have chosen something else and made much more. Both John and you did this for me with my first product and when I’m a Guru I’ll be able to pay you both back
[Unless there's something more profitable I can promote instead ]

It’s very difficult to get the balance right, but I think if someone is doing IM just to make money it will be hard to succeed because they wont keep going long enough to get through the tough times when they make nothing or make a loss.

Personally even if my current project ends up making nothing at all I will still do another one. The only difference it will make in the long run is to determine if I am able do this full time or just keep squeezing it into whatever gaps I have in my day, evening and weekends (which is still quite a lot of time!)

Thanks

Keith.

P.S. Could you make your next post shorter as this took a long time to read
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Randy Smith on August 6th, 2010 3:08 pm

Hi Keith,

LOL… I think I was just saying on your blog how I figured you to be a genuine guy who would always stay that way

As for promoting your product – that was easy…. Good products that help others are always great to promote

Chat soon

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Vance Sova on August 6th, 2010 5:57 pm

Hey Keith,

Nice to see you getting involved in the 100 comments challenge.

What product was it you had Randy help you promote? I didn’t know you were launching something. Was it recently?

Hey Randy,

Knowing that you and Keith know and help each other helps a lot in feeling at ease with what you said in your post.

At first I was suspicious because a lot of people who claim to be there for you first and the money second are not really that way but use it to gain trust and make sales.

Being suspicious can help until one gets to know the person better.

It’s good to meet you.

Vance
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Randy Smith on August 6th, 2010 6:10 pm

Hiya Vance,

(almost a regular reader now…hehe)

I’ve actually promoted a few of Keiths products over the years…
But in terms of his first – it was a good while ago now, his free ebay listings report I think?

But we have promoted for each other since back in 2007 I think.

We’ve since met each other on several occasions at seminars and my Northallerton Meet Ups,
Here’s a picture from around a year ago:
http://www.keithpurkiss.com/blog/building-the-business-networking-and-traffic

and I gave Keith admin powers in my forum at MoreMonthly cos he knows so much more techy stuff than I do….lol
AND he is a very helpful poster who always helps (and motivates) other members with his facts and figures

So I can vouch that Keith is a good guy for anyone who doesn’t know Keith….
And hopefully Keith might say I’m OK (not very techy – but an OK guy)

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Pete Carr-Blogging Genius on August 6th, 2010 9:38 pm

Hi Randy,

I enjoyed your ramblings.
I won’t mention politicians, I am in the UK also. They just wind me up.
I can’t help but notice though how many labour mp’s there are on question time lately. They do have balls, I will give them that.
Now Guru’s.
The reason they are rich is they don’t really care. (some do as you mentioned).
There was a recent guru who launched a $1000 dollar coaching program a few months back, and then not long a go put it on clickbank, rehashed for $39, now that is criminal.
That person is a multi millionaire so doesn’t care any more.
Sad.
Pete
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Mike on August 8th, 2010 9:15 am

Hi Randy
I’m exhausted after that……..:)
Mind you, it is Sunday morning and the night before, well!
I knew you rambled on a bit from sitting next to you and Paula in that taxi in Bristol, but that was some ramble!
Actually, genuine people are the only people I’m interested in on the internet, although I’m sure we’ve all spent a lot of time and sometimes money finding out who they really are.
Thinking about it, that Bristol LFM balti was a powerhouse!
Best wishes
Mike
Masterclass 2009
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Carstarphen on August 8th, 2010 11:58 am

Hey Randolf,
Interesting analogy…In my experience I have found that a some of the gurus were crooks, others had information that was actually worth what they were charging…and then you had others who seemed to care a little bit…they were just terrible teachers….lol:)

J
Make Money Fast
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Randy Smith on August 8th, 2010 12:16 pm

@ Peter… Yeah – some of these politicians have more front than Katie Price…lol

@ Mike… Wow Bristol seems so long ago now…. Shame Mr. Puddy isn’t planning another one (I guess too many of us decided not to buy products from the speakers?… but the networking was a heap of fun)

@ Jeremiah… That does wrap them up pretty well, and thanks for stopping by

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Rob Corrigan on August 8th, 2010 3:46 pm

Hey Randy some great points here, you hit the nail right on the head when you talk about marketing, we should all really watch and imitate the guys we trust and respect they show us the way to ethically market products with putting the customer first.
Cheers
Rob
Rob Corrigan recently posted..What Is The Cheapest Way To Start A Business Part 1
Randy Smith on August 8th, 2010 3:53 pm

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the comment
Yes, it can seem like hard work at times – especially when we promote people who don’t have a big name (just a good product)….

And – it doesn’t always pay off in short term cash – I could say it does in the long term… but frankly the cash is never as big for me personally…BUT, I do know marketers who have worked harder than me and are benefiting from big paydays whilst keeping their integrity… and for myself – I like the clear conscience

Wait til you see my next email later today if I get it finished…lol
It might not make me much – but it should help people, and if they value the saving from my personal advice – they may be able to buy something that will help

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Susan Owen-Thursfield on August 8th, 2010 8:03 pm

Hi Randy –

First time here but it won’t be the last – just signed up to receive updates…

You said “…one criticism they’ve always offered – is that I care too much…” LOL! I once left a company who advised me that I was too honest (I was in sales) and that I should change my ways if I wanted to “get on”. I feel you HAVE to be true to yourself! I believe honesty is one of my defining features, so I left.

Like Governments and their policies, I think many “gurus” act as if their biz model is the ONLY one which works and that unless you do it their way you will fail. Not so. There are several different biz models for making money online -all of which are proven money makers. You just need to find one which suits your personality/ethics/lifestyle etc and copy it to the letter. Took me time to find that out tho… LOL

Are gurus like governments? Well both can be untruthful about an idea they are selling. How many “gurus” sell the idea of “life freedom”, “more time with the family” etc. Yet they have simply exchanged their former office lifestyles for…. an office, staff and the chains of a laptop in their hotel room! I call it work, not holiday, if you spend all your time blogging, making videos and taking helicopter flights to a luxury cruiser for a mastermind brainstorming with your IM buddies… nomatter how luxurious the destination! Lucky for them they have someone willing to do all the childcare whilst “holidaying”… – my husband wouldn’t stand for it!

Do the super gurus ever cringe when they read/hear the sucking up which goes on to them do you think?

Fantastic post Randy. I don’t think I’ve even written this much for one of my own blog posts… LOL

Susan
.
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Rob Corrigan on August 8th, 2010 9:42 pm

Hi Randy got the e-mail, top stuff as usual many thanks for the promo I really appreciate it like I said its the people you respect that market ethically and you are one my friend!
Cheers
Rob
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Bryan McHeyzer@The Internet Intern on August 8th, 2010 10:06 pm

Hi Randy,
Wow! what else can I say…. that was so refreshing and true.
Reading the Sunday n’paper yesterday(yah that was yesterday for us here downunder) there was an article about our polies and their expense accounts…get this one guy spent over 640,000 in a 6 month period.
Noticed John Councel left you a comment…love that guy he tells it like it is.
Cheers
Bryan
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Randy Smith on August 8th, 2010 10:10 pm

@ Susan, Thanks for stopping by
Re quitting your job… yep, I’ve done the same…lol (sales too)

Re super gurus ever cringing… actually some I know do hate the attention and ‘fame’ of it, and would rather enjoy a drink and a chat…
(Not many… but some..lol)

@ Rob, I hope you get some traffic (and sales Rob),, as it is a good product

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Randy Smith on August 8th, 2010 10:14 pm

Hi Brian,

Yeah – we had the whole ‘expenses scandal’ here last year… loads of ‘who har’ and strong claims about the future … and then brushed it away ASAP!

Yeah – John Always seems to have been a straight talker… A style I like

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Stuart Turnbull on August 9th, 2010 12:26 am

Hi Randy

I believe that the cream always rises to the top and the genuine operators (like yourself) will grow and prosper whilst the ‘quick buck’ merchants will eventually be seen for what they are.

Keep up the honest work!

Stuart
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Randy Smith on August 9th, 2010 9:47 am

Hi Stuart,

Cheers for popping by
You know yourself how someone like you can and has stayed ‘non guru’ but managed to achieve great success without having to resort to the usual tactics

Congrats on your own success

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Laura Davis on August 9th, 2010 10:12 pm

This is a very interesting outlook on the matter. You frequently see gurus promoting their products and others all over the internet, but I never thought about in quite this way. Thanks for the thought provoking post!
Laura Davis recently posted..What You Didnt Know About Wall Street Reform
Randy Smith on August 9th, 2010 10:45 pm

Hi Laura,

And thank you for stopping by

I doubt my post will make much of a difference in the world… but then if none of us spoke up – there definitely wouldn’t be any change… But if a few do speak, and a few listen… hopefully in a few hundred years we may learn something

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Dave Smith on August 10th, 2010 1:55 am

Hello Randy,
To echo everyone else, what a great post! Certainly got everyone talking, and agreeing, which gives me hope for the country as sometimes you wonder if everyone else thinks differently to yourself.
I would also add to the rant and include many of the people who run public companies as in the same category as the government and guru types (or the bad ones anyway). I have never ceased to be amazed how many companies manage to make any money when they’re run so badly, then the people in charge who have failed just move on and get another job running an equally high profile company and make a mess of that also, this goes on and on until they retire with a title. Strange world.
However I fully agree with you that despite all the poorly run governments and companies, ours is still a great country to live in. I have personally worked in many countries which are very restrictive for their residents, and if we think we have corruption, its nothing compared to some countries I’ve worked in.

I’m glad you have a good attitude to business too, as does JT, and be assured that an attitude of helping people (while still making some money) is how business should be, in the business I work in if we didn’t help customers there would be no business. From all the comments above its clear everyone else thinks that way too.

Thanks for a great post and discussion.

Cheers

Dave
Dave Smith recently posted..Mobile Monopoly – Internet Marketing Hype Alive and Well!
Carolyn on August 10th, 2010 2:21 am

Randy,

I agree with you, but the people have more power over the gurus than the politicians It is when people like you speak out and let us newbies know who the good guy are, that helps the most. That way we are steered in the right direction. As word gets around the gurus will either have to change or stop making money because buyers leave.
Thanks for all the help you give us so freely.

Carolyn
Craig on August 10th, 2010 5:42 am

Blimey Randy,

Stop Stop, I am going to be late for work if you don’t stop writing. But you did say you can ramble on a bit. No rambling here mate. Oh it started getting my back up when you talked about Governments.

Our Government has gone into a hung parliment over here in the UK, where two apposing leaders have to work together. The leading candidate who got the most votes then the 3rd. How the hell does that work. “A Government of the people, For the people, By the people”. Errrrrmmm! Not here in the UK. It is just in a bad state. I am going to stop now as I really will be late for work.

As for IM, I do feel many marketers are in it for themselves and if they succed then fair play to them. I am with you Randy as freedom is my main goal. The money is just to get us by. I like to try and nurture my list and help them. If I do promote a product or service it is because I have actually used it and think it would be of value to them.

Thanks for sharing this amazing post.

Cheers

Craig
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Steve Wilkins on August 10th, 2010 11:04 am

Hi Randy,

Spot on with the anology although I do agree I would rather live under our rather flawed democractic system than in some of the other shall we say ”3rd world” countries.

I might have an idea of who you are talking about on facebook as I once was on their list and received many many many outragous offers that were of no use to me until I decided to unsubscribe, infact I think I hate some fo the greedy gurus out there more than I do the tax fiddling politicians but hey I won’t rant on too long as I am sure everyone has been stung by one of these so called ”gurus” at one point or another!

I also totally agree about what you say about JT and Lee Mcintrye as I follow them both religiously, infact I was on fantastic free webinar call last night with Lee where he gave away over 90 mins of free content on outsourcing that was absolutly top notch.

I try and follow a similar model to both Lee and John by thoroughly reviewming products I recommend on my blog before promoting them and showimg my readers/customers how I benefited from the product instead of just sending hyped up promo’s with a link!

Anyway great post Randy – perfect for the 100 comment challenge, keep em coming!

Regards,
Steve Wilkins.
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Randy Smith on August 10th, 2010 11:16 am

Thank you :
Dave, Carolyn, Craig & Steve…

I hardly dare go to sleep with the 100 blog challenge…lol
Every time I wake up there are new comments, and I do like to reply to all usually….
But for once in my life I’m actually running out of things to say..LOL

I did think there may have been the odd negative, especially a guru or two coming to defend themselves??
It seems they’d prefer to ignore….. Possibly better that way then less people would see the post…haha

Anyway – a big thanks for stopping by guys (& gal:))

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
100 Blog Comments Challenge August 2010 | thatgirlisfunny.com on August 10th, 2010 7:35 pm

[...] http://www.randolfsmith.com/warning-gurus-are-like-governments/ [...]
igor Griffiths on August 11th, 2010 7:34 am

Hi Randy

Thanks for the rambles.

You are right of course, politicians are a fantastic bunch of people, they spend 4 years (3 in USA) making a complete mess of things. Then in the last year they give out massive tax breaks and, everyone think how generous, lets vote them back in!

Of course if all goes well, the ruling party get back in power and unpick the tax break. If the opposition win, they struggle to understand the tax break and get blamed when it mucks up the economy!

Now as for the successful marketers, I promised myself to never use the word guru as it elevates them to a special non human position, they are the same as us, they just got to their 1st point of success before us.

I have been marketing online for 4 years and I recently wrote about the changes I have seen. Thankfully now you rarely ever see the sales pitch with the red Ferrarri and the women in beach wear, times have moved on and double opt-in is now the norm.

To protect yourself from the greedy marketer who is bucking todays trend, which is content first, profit second. Have your own system in place and, stick to it. Once that is working you can explore other avenues.

Stay focussed, there are still many wolves in sheeps clothing out there.
igor Griffiths recently posted..Cor blimey Guv’nor look Whatcha Gone ‘n’ Done
Alex@disaster preparations on August 12th, 2010 12:33 am

Hi Randy

Good objectivity. Luckily with the internet you can use your wisdom to do the end run around the mainstream. You can run your own little world.

Thanks

Alex
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Randy Smith on August 12th, 2010 11:27 am

Hi Igor & Alex,

Thanks for stopping by and adding your comments

I appreciate the time taken to read my post…. never mind add a thoughtful comment of your own!!

Cheers – much appreciated!

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..A Negative Review- MobileMonopoly – Don’t Buy It! Plus other news
Martyn Boaden on August 12th, 2010 11:49 pm

Hi Randy.

Great post. Very dear to my heart. I am ambitious, but not greedy! I think that the very fact that someone wants to be a politician should preclude them from being allowed to be one! My eyes were opened recently when I was seriously considering investing in a “guru’s” latest $1,997 product launch. But when I did a bit of digging, I realised it was just very cleverly packaged information that I could get for free elsewhere if I looked hard enough. This has prompted me to decide to produce a free course for newbies. The problem is, I may go bust in the meantime!

I’ve posted a link to this page on identi.ca for you.
Martyn Boaden recently posted..What Was Your Biggest Challenge
Randy Smith on August 13th, 2010 9:52 am

Hi Martyn,

Thanks for the link
And yes, I read your post with interest and am looking forward to seeing your products….

Interesting comment on the $2k course – I’d be curious how much effort was involved in finding all the elements free (I bet my subscribers would have been too…lol
But hey – I may well end up sending them to yours once you’ve found time to get it done…. I just hope you do have some monetization when you’ve finished so that you get something back for your efforts

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..A Negative Review- MobileMonopoly – Don’t Buy It! Plus other news
ElizOF on August 16th, 2010 3:24 am

Hi Randy,
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
You covered a lot of territory in your post here …yet it made sense about the real spirit behind being a master sales pitcher… Give to get!
I dont know enough about what you do so I don’t a strong opinion about the gurus and how they compare to piliticians…
What I do know is that it sounds like you are enjoying the process and doing well from it. Keep going!
Best,
Eliz
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ElizOF on August 16th, 2010 3:26 am

On yes, I posted this on Facebook!
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Kathy Dobson on August 16th, 2010 11:01 am

Hi Randy,
Great post! I think the first “real” year in this business for anyone includes sifting through the myriad of emails one has signed up for and narrowing it down to the true marketers…marketers like yourself who are truly concerned about the value they are giving their subscribers.

I’ve gotten pretty good at eliminating the “money only seekers” and I think their colors come through pretty clear if you pay attention.

For me…its all about personal freedom. Personal and financial freedom…
And, the Internet offers us opportunities that simply were not there 10 years ago. Why not take advantage of working in this exciting age…we can live anywhere in the world we can get an Internet connection…and still run a thriving business. A true “location independent lifestyle.”

I agree totally about John Thornhill and Lee McIntyre. Both these marketers are making bundles and bundles of money but they do it with integrity and conscious.

But there is no better marketer to connect with in my opinion than you Randy. You are honest, patient, kind, funny….educated and giving. My kind of marketer. It’s kind of interesting…I was attracted to you and your way of marketing very early in John’s class last year…and we have been friends a long time because of it.

Sometimes my intuition is so target on…it scares me!
Good luck with the challenge Randy…

and, thanks for everything you have done for me in the online world! You are an excellent marketer and a true friend.
Kathy
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Randy Smith on August 16th, 2010 11:13 am

Hi Kathy,

Crikey – you’ll make me blush…lol

Thanks for the kind words!
I agree that we can make some great friendships online with people right around the world…. the only downside to technology and all these connections is meeting so many great people!
It can sometimes be hard to stay in touch on as regular a basis as I would like

That said – it’s also easy to learn quite quickly who isn’t worth trying to build relationships with too….lol
As you said – we all go through that period of discovering who really does help and who is are the “Money Only Seekers”

Thanks again for popping by and commenting. I for one am glad to know you

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..A Negative Review- MobileMonopoly – Don’t Buy It! Plus other news
Randy Smith on August 16th, 2010 11:31 am

Hi Eliz,

Thank you for stopping by and commenting
It’s nice to meet new people, and hope they do get the chance to get to know me….

Which it seems you are doing by your comment.

Yes – I truly believe that if you can have fun with what you do to make a living – then it’s not a job anymore!

I know I could do better if I treated my whole business as a business – but for my lifestyle, I’d rather make less and keep it fun. That allows for me to continue to live my life with passion – which is more satisfying to me than having a heap of cash in the bank!
(I’m not saying the cash wouldn’t come in handy – but it doesn’t buy happiness…. a certain amount does sail you closer though…lol)

And cheers for the FB link

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..A Negative Review- MobileMonopoly – Don’t Buy It! Plus other news
Justin on August 16th, 2010 6:52 pm

Hi Randy. Excellent post. If you lived the USA I would vote for you for president, if I voted. Actually if you ran I would vote.

I am glad I found you and your web presences years ago. You do over deliver and under promise.

I am not going to go on a rant today. Just to say howdy and great post, as usual.

God speed my friend.
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Fran Aslam @kw LUV on August 16th, 2010 6:53 pm

Hi Randy:

In my six years of markting I did not read a post like this. Amazing
and woderful. I am really enjoying the 100 comments challenge here. I am getting lots of good feed back for John Thornhill. He must be a great person. Randy I will like to read more of you.

Talk again
Fran Aslam
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eamon@affiliate internet marketing on August 16th, 2010 10:30 pm

Hi Randy
I have always been taken in to some extent by politicians and more recently by gurus and to try and do something about it I bought a book called Influence by Robert Cialdini. I have just now dug it out and put it on the shelf opposite me between Ewen Chias How I made my first million on the Internet and Bill Glazers Outrageous Marketing.
Now I have a decision to make
shall I continue with the 100- blog comment challenge
or shall I take the time to study the gurus.
Its a no brainer Ill just continue with the challenge
And Ill certainly be back for some more of your ramblings
I wish you all the best
Eamon
Randy Smith on August 17th, 2010 9:39 am

Hi Guys,

@ Justin – If I was President I’d be voted out in weeks – the people with the real power would soon get fed up of me doing things for the people instead of for the money people! lol

@ Fran, Thank you – yes John is a good guy, and I’m happy to have come across you – we should thank Jacinta for that. She has put so much effort into helping everyone get the challenge together

@ Eamon, Cialdini’s book is a real eye opener! But as with all tools that can harm or help – it’s the individual using them that causes specific results

Thank you all for stopping by and commenting, it’s appreciated

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..A Negative Review- MobileMonopoly – Don’t Buy It! Plus other news
Ed on August 18th, 2010 12:35 am

Hey Randy,

You know I like to think of the politicians and Internet Marketers, as two completely different entities, however I feel that as the years go by I tend to think the two worlds are merging, more so that most novice wannabe IM`S are pulled further into the sales funnels of unscrupleous Marketers!

Now I feel like boardroom politicians, if you have not got a seasoned nose fot the world of internet marketing, you are going to remain a buyer and never evolve into a seller!

Thats the message I want to relay as regards to your content in this post, fantastic subject Randy….Ed.
@natural cleanse on August 18th, 2010 4:02 am

Hi Randy

Great ramble I too like to have upfront honesty in my online efforts. Anyone who is operating a business online is of course trying to make money but as you say giving your customers ‘useful’ information or products is what matters. I used to have a site that was a paid membership but I changed the name and offered it all as a free membership site. I have products on their that members can buy or not and I will offer products that I come across that I think will be of value and benefit to them.
This way I have found everyone is happy.
Anne
http://www.selflearningclub.com
Vivien@Internet Marketing on August 18th, 2010 9:43 am

Hi Randy

Wow, what an interesting post! I’m always compelled not to read long blog posts, but yours really kept me reading till the end! What you’ve mentioned makes lots of sense, which Govt and business entrepreneur is not out to make money yah? Whatever their intentions or hidden agenda, not many would want to put in extra efforts if the ultimate aim is not because of a commercial gain. Even philanthropists donate generously to charities to fulfill their own agendas.

Of course, it’s not wrong to want to do something for commercial gain. But the question now is, are you genuinely interested to help people out as claimed? It seems that we are both following the same “nice” gurus. Like you, John and Lee are two gurus whom I hold in high esteem and have lots of respect for.

Keep those interesting posts coming!

Rgds
Vivien
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Randy Smith on August 18th, 2010 12:20 pm

Hi Guys,

Thanks for stopping by

@ Ed – yep , good point at the end there…. The sooner people become sellers instead of buyers, the sooner they will save some cash as their action plan wont allow time to read a lot of the promos doing the rounds…lol

@ Anne, Providing useful info will always have people remembering you and speaking well of you… It’s a slower road to success sometimes – But far more satisfying too

@ Vivien, I’m glad you managed to stick around and read the post… Hopefully I wont bore too many people with my long rambles – And yes – we all do this to make some cash… but as you say, it’s not just about the cash… it’s about how we feel about the people!

A quote I remember from my offline selling days:
When asked what business we are in – a bunch of sales guys started relaying their products…
it could have been:

Info selling business, Video creation business, Online marketing business, Site building business… etc.

The speaker then corrected them all with this quote:

“We are in the People Business by way of ……….”

I’ve always remembered that whatever I’ve been selling

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Helping the Doc Help the Kids Helps YOU!
Abizer on August 18th, 2010 3:48 pm

Hi Randy

Very nice post and very straightforward .. I like the way you express your opinion in a very clear and neat way.

Yes, I agree to most of what you have mentioned. I feel it is okay to be in any LEGIT or ETHICAL business for money, however providing value to your subscribers / customers should be key and your primary goal – again that’s in my personal humble opinion.

Nice to meet you and glad to read your post via the 100 blog comment challenge. Happy to be part of it and meeting wonderful folks like you.

Cheers!
Abizer
Randy Smith on August 18th, 2010 4:12 pm

Hi Abizer,

Likewise – the 100 blog challenge is great isn’t it.
Poor Jacinta – I don’t think she had any idea how much work she created for herself with it…lol

Cheers for stopping by and commenting, and yes – if people offer legit and ethical solutions to others problems – they do deserve the success they get!

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Helping the Doc Help the Kids Helps YOU!
Andreas Spyrou @ Free Online Marketing Tips on August 19th, 2010 7:18 pm

Hi Randy,

Superb post!

Internet marketers started internet marketing because they first wanted:
a) to make money and
b) to have freedom.

I don’t believe that anyone is in this business just to help people.

But of course only those who are helping people are successful. I believe this is the same for the politicians. They became a politician to help their self’s first and then people! But there are good politicians that will help people no matter what they can gain. And a respected “politician” in internet marketing is definitely John Thornhill, Lee McIntyre and Randy Smith of course!

Although I believe that many internet marketers act like the Government, most internet marketers help each other but most politicians are “fighting” and disagree with each other just because they have different personal gains.

Oh and by the way there are a lot of politicians that understand the power of internet marketing! They are collecting leads (email and phone number) and know the value of following up.

Take care,
Andreas Spyrou
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Daniel M. Wood @ Sales Techniques, Motivation and Success on August 20th, 2010 11:34 am

A fun analogy I must say.
Everyone screws us over, but we need them
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Jess Webb on August 20th, 2010 6:51 pm

Hi Randy!

Great rant here! You brought up some of my pet peeves, as well. lol. Great thoughts on all of this – it’s soo so so important to actually give a shit and care about the people you are trying to reach, sell to, etc. And I think it’s the best way to make money too! I’d much rather make money actually helping people and making a positive difference in their lives, than just trying to make a quick, big buck with no regard for how I am affecting people…
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Lauren Lionheart on August 20th, 2010 7:06 pm

Hey Randy,

Interesting comparisons. I enjoy hearing the analogies that people come up with and that they resonate with. Thanks for sharing yours.

The politician analogy is pretty universal. It could probably be applied to any group of people. The old school mentality of competition – versus cooperation – is still dominant in the world. It’s encouraging to hear about those who shine for their efforts to help others. Congrats on finding some examples whose methodology you resonate with!

The Internet is a true democracy: everyone votes with their clicks, tribes, and dollars. How liberating is that?

May you find success in whatever you feel called to promote.

Peace,

Lauren
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Tom Harvey on August 20th, 2010 10:54 pm

Randy

Great post provoking some interesting debate and thoughts. i guess the bottom line is we all here to make some money and it comes down to your morals/ethics and motivations hoapproach your marketing.

Some people like to just peddle everything under the sun and go for volume and conversions, accepting that they will lose subscribers along the way – which seems a myopic short term strategy.
Whereas others will deliver value and promote things that are genuinely going to help their subscribers, which is the model that my mentor Alex Jeffreys teaches (adding value and working with people), which is in the long term a much more sustainable, lucrative and rewarding business model, one which I will certainly subscribe to!

All the best, Tom
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Bill Murney on August 21st, 2010 11:12 am

Hi Randy,

Apologies for the delay in visiting – I have been walking and sunning myself in Madeira, it’s almost becoming my second home.

I’m afraid I have no time for politicians or gurus whose only thought is to stick their snouts in the trough. They ALL get found out eventually.

Honesty and ethics are the only way to achieve lasting success in any business, as you and JT can testify to.

I can understand the younger marketers who perhaps have never tasted the high life, wanting it badly, but as you said in the post, money doesn’t buy happiness.

With regards to your comments on equality in employment – here’s a thought – in Cuba a factory worker receives the equivalent of $17 a month and a doctor $30 a month. 75% of the production is owned and run by the government. The population receive low housing and transport costs, free healthcare, education and food subsidies and seem happy enough with the system. So who has got it right them or us?

Regards,

Bill
Contributors to The 100 Blog Comment Challenge | Mark Sherman's Blog on August 22nd, 2010 1:08 am

[...] 21, Randy Smith: http://www.randolfsmith.com/warning-gurus-are-like-governments/ [...]
Thu Nguyen on August 22nd, 2010 7:39 am

Hi Randy,
I didn’t know you made so much products. I’m interested now and comparing gurus to politicians, that’s really hilarious but it’s true to an extent. As with money, you’ll never know the consequence. Overall, I like your sense of humor here as well. I’ve learned more about you, your mentors and marketers who have inspired their students as well. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

Thu
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Brian Alcock on August 22nd, 2010 3:20 pm

Hi Randy,

I enjoyed your very interesting analogy, it is so very difficult to distinguish which polititian or guru is honest.

Fortunately when electing our polititians we don’t do it alone totally alone. Whereas, choosing which guru to follow is something we have to decide very carefully ourselves if we are not to end up blowing our hard earned cash.

It is totally wrong in my book to purposely rip off inexperienced people with promises of easy money, only to sell them products that don’t deliver.

Fortunately I have come accross some good guys like JT and now your good self. So I am very pleased to meet you Randy and will thank Jacinta for pointing me in the direction of your excellent informative blog.

Rest assured as Arnie says…”I’ll be back”

Regards,

Brian

I look forward to joining you on your ramblings in the future.
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martin on August 23rd, 2010 12:41 am

good post – great insights, rambling or not.

John Thornhill – see I come from the great self absorbed continent of America so I am not aware of John – must check him out.

Frank Kern is my hero of the moment – “the secret if the value you give, first”
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Pierre Trudel on August 23rd, 2010 4:57 am

Hi Randy, This is Pierre and I am on the 100m comment challenge athttp://theequest.com/?p=3018.
I am thinking of joining John’s Masterclass and I joined the challenge to see who was part of it.
I do say I am astounded as to the quality on the people here.You are all very opinionated and that is great. You are all unique and your comments and viewpoints are indeed your own. More power to you.
Nice post,
Thanks,
Pierre
Connie Chen from Seed Of Magic -True Beauty Tips on August 23rd, 2010 9:40 am

Hey Randy,

I guess the politicians are all the same world widely, I live in Taiwan, and I do understand your feelings about the government and the politician.
You see, in my Dad’s funeral, those legislator and politician “emerged” at the same time, some of them we don’t even know they have “close” connection with my Dad, but they appear in the service anyway and wear the vest with their name on it. When they come close to us and shake our hands, I was all confused and thinking if it’s not for the election they won’t even bother…
Now after the funeral, we would like to settle some complicated tax or the heritage stuff through Tax Administration. However, the formalities and complicated procedure just make thing more difficult. I think if these legislators can spend more time on the real responsibility than attending people’s wedding or funerals, we can live easier life. I don’t know if the politicians do this at your country, but I do believe they only care about the immediate interests of their own.

Cheers.
Connie
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Alex Fyfe on August 23rd, 2010 8:34 pm

Hi Randy

Love the post & the site is great!

I would like to make lots of money but would also like to help others along the way..

I’m glad i’ve got good teachers like your good self & John Thornhill.

Stay healthy

Alex
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Kat@eBayLearning on August 24th, 2010 8:35 am

Randy,

Wow! What a post! And comparing politicians with the Gurus…wow!

I agree with you and, therefore, I’m going to my email and start unsubscribing from all the “gurus” (big and small) who are filling my inbox with offers without any regard to me. I’m speaking of the ones who send offer after offer and never any content.

Thanks for an eye-opener. I needed that!

Kat
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Jacinta Dean on August 24th, 2010 12:57 pm

Hi Randy,

I finally got here!

Have been a little busy! Actually I think everyone has been a little busy! Oops on that one for a bimbo moment!

Nothing like getting a bunch of people together and get them to work a little harder than usual. I feel like a school teacher again!

What a read about the governments and guru’s plus what amazing comments. You have one big conversation going on here!

OK now for my 2 cents since I have just spent the last 30 mins reading!

Re governments, well they suck!

Right now in the last 3 months our country has seen a prime minister overturned and sacked, our first women prime minister in our history and now a hung Parliament for the very first time in our history! Not a bad effort for screwing up the country and completely confusing everyone!

However in saying that I love my country and do believe it is one of the most beautiful on the planet!

Now re Guru’s. Many shall remain nameless, they remind me of sleezy car salesman! Can pick them a mile away, but I guess that comes from my history in the nightclub industry too. Same lines different medium!!

So far I have been fortunate enough not to have wasted massive amounts of money. Yes I have bought the odd product or 6 that have been a waste of money, however they have not been the high ticket items. If I think about it I have probably wasted a couple of grand, however that is not a lot in the bigger scheme of things.

In my history there was a time I had a lot of money and I lost the lot.

I have no interest in being one of those guru marketers. Yes I would like to make money from this industry however it is not all about the money for me.

Over the years and different career paths I have taken I have been surrounded by women and have often been a teacher or helper in some form. This is the path I want to go down. I want to get out there and go to the regional areas and show other women out there that they can create an income online for their family. And these women that I will be targeting will not have the thousands to spend on coaching. Most of the seminars only go to the cities. There is a very big country out there and there are a lot of people that live in the country that I am sure would love to be taught this stuff in person.

I love teaching and I love helping people. When I was teaching beauty school I used to get my girls to write a couple of goal list of what they wanted to do in life. They were 15 year olds and all they cared about was what they were doing on the weekend!

Some of the girls thought I was nuts considering I was meant to be teaching them artificial nails and manicures, however some of them I know I changed. I had a few of them always approach me at the end of my course telling me thank you for inspiring them to believe in themselves.

That is my passion and that is why I am studying creating a business online. It is so I can eventually give my family a comfortable lifestyle as well as help and change the lives of other women like me!

Thank you for being a great mentor too! I have always liked the fact that you have only promoted the products that you feel would benefit your subscribers.

I know the guru road is tempting to most, however I also believe in the laws of karma and I know that at some point if people have acted unjust they will pay a price at some stage in their life for their previous actions. It is inevitable. It is the universes way of evening things out!

On that note I think I just wrote a blog post on your post and I have to continue my blog hopping!!! Have 80 to go!! Oops on that one.

Where is the coffee and chocolate! I am feeling an insomnia night coming along!

Cheers

Jacinta
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Joelle Hughes on August 24th, 2010 7:34 pm

Hi Randy,

Truly excellent post – and to make my response short – Ditto across the board!

I feel truly blessed to have found John Thornhill’s Masterclass course right away. Week one started us off on the right foot with reading “The Go-Giver”. I knew right away that I was ‘home’.

Ever since I started the course (about 30 weeks ago) I have been telling everyone what a wonderful, giving, supportive community John has created and what an excellent business model he is teaching.

I count you among the priceless ‘gems’ and have promoted your books in both of the products I have created so far (only one is launched to date) as well as on my blog. I promoted them because they have great value, not for the affiliate income that I might earn.Your work is excellent and from the heart. I so appreciate it and refer to your books ‘Magic Auction Words’ and ‘ABC SalesPage’ over and over again.

Thank you for being there, coming from the place you do, and providing excellent information and support to help me on my journey.

Guru’s are like governments – some perhaps – but lucky for me I have avoided those.

Warm Regards,

Joelle
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Rick Byrd on August 24th, 2010 9:12 pm

Randy:

Wow! That was a rant that you have been thinking about for some time. I can not argue any of the points you make because I have similar thoughts as well.

This all reminds my of want can sometimes be referred to as the “good ole boys club”. The whole idea of letting only certain people in and then only scratching each others back instead of helping others.

For me it comes down to my heart and my heart tells me to help people and not worry about being rich. My ideal life would be to repalce my regular job incomce so I can spend more time with my family. I don’t need to make any more than that but if I do it’s gravy. But I wont’ do it at the expense of fooling people or making claims that I can not meet.

I could go on and on about this issue as I am sure youcould as well, but I won’t.

Thanks again!

- Rick
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Mark Sherman on August 24th, 2010 9:22 pm

Hi Randy,

Wow; I was starting to make some progress on the “100 blog challenge, until I got to your post. You’ve written a masterpiece here!

I totally agree with you about government. I also have several problems with America’s government, but I will keep it short. Do you know that if a Senator or Congressman serves one term of 4 years, they get a life pension of roughly $120,000 plus full medical benefits? That’s just not right, but they write the rules. OK, that’s all…..

I also agree with you about many of the “Gurus” these days. I have opted-out of many lists for the reasons you mentioned. Some of the CR@# they’re trying to pull off is enough to make you sick!

Keep up the great work and I will be back soon. I am out to get a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome today by commenting on as many blogs as I can.

Take care,

Mark
Lorina Noble on August 25th, 2010 12:12 pm

Hi Randy,
Great read! Wow! I enjoyed you going off on a tangent. lol! I can definitely see where you are coming from. Although I’m new to internet marketing. I can definitely see a lot of the things that you were stating. I agree with what many of your other readers have said. You post is a must read!

Much Success,

Lorina Noble
Miss Mindset Makeover
Millionaire Mindset
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Michelle on August 25th, 2010 7:55 pm

Hi Randy,

What a fantastic rant, you must feel great getting that off your chest. You’ve stated precisely what most people think and more than likely say in private.

Fortunately both the internet Guru’s and politicians are having to change their ways if they want to survive as the masses are getting wise and demanding them to be so much more accountable.

I’m very lucky to now have Alex Jeffreys as my mentor and aspire to create my online business while providing great content and value to my subscribers.
Prior to this I’ve spent a fortune on expensive products that don’t do what they promise, fortunately I wised up and no longer fall for the Guru’s promise ( I know I’m not alone on this).

Thanks for a wonderfull rant – I feel better just for reading it (LOL)
Michelle
Amy Steelman-Prueter on August 28th, 2010 1:40 am

Yes you absolutely have to provide value! thanks for sharing its a real eye opener.
Randy Smith on August 28th, 2010 3:34 pm

Just a quick thanks to all the latest comments

Sorry I didn’t reply individually, I’ve just got back from a vacation

I hope you all enjoyed the read and come back often. Either way – I appreciate the time you’ve taken to visit and comment.

Warmest Regards
Randy
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Sally on August 28th, 2010 4:02 pm

Hey Randy,

Thats me just getting round to visiting all the blogs on the 100 comment list ha ha.

Have to say I do not particularly like some so called gurus nor politicians lol.

That really is disgusting what you wrote about fb, I cannot beleive some people would be so selfish, gets on my nerves that people like that make money online, shame on them!

Sally
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Randy Smith on August 28th, 2010 4:09 pm

Hiya Sally,

Yeah – John did post on those comments and the initiator ‘Claimed’ he just wanted some good products to tell his list about….lol

Strange as it did mention the conversions and profits , and not once asked if it was god… and also strange because the one good one that was recommended was dispelled due to poor conversions….hehe

But hey – who can argue with the guys policy?… he makes millions, so he wouldn’t listen to the likes of me making just enough to pay my bills

(And I doubt the big guys will ever change – they’re either people like John or people like that guy… period!… I once thought one had changed… but it was just a strategy to take him to a new level.. and once completed he reverted to his old self)

Randy
Randy Smith recently posted..Helping the Doc Help the Kids Helps YOU!
Barbara Harvey on August 29th, 2010 11:02 am

Hi Randy

USA or UK the governments are all the same. I always try to give my lists information they want most of the time for F’ree. Of course we all want to earn money in our business but not just push and push our subscribers to buy the next best thing to sliced bread, if the quality of the product is rubbish.

One other ‘Guru’ marketer I would like to mention, he is my mentor, is Alex Jeffreys. He is really passionate about his students and over delivers big time.

Good luck with the challenge.

Take care

Barbara Harvery
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Gwen Tanner on August 29th, 2010 8:32 pm

I agree – there is always someone telling us what’s best for us! Its time for us to ask our subscribers what they want from US, dont you think? It’s always great to read your honest and passionate posts, Randy!! LOL

Thanks again,
Gwen
Jorge Bento on August 29th, 2010 9:45 pm

Hi Randy

Great post, loved the analogy… after all, government and gurus are all trying to get our money from us, lol!

I found very few “gurus” that really cares for their subscribers or even customers… poor products, horrible help desk, not answering to your doubts or questions… once they have the money, they forget you.

Just like the government, huh? Once the politicians are elected they tend to forget us, right?

Fortunately there are some nice people around. And some times I feel that we’re so hungry with the bad guys that we also don’t treat well some of the good guys.

But we keep moving, right? Searching, exploring, learning, failing, rebuilding… we just keep moving on.

Cheers

Jorge
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Vince on August 30th, 2010 12:26 pm

Hi Randy
Great stuff, it’s good to know others feel the same way.In the words of the song….” Here comes the new boss same as the old boss”.

Politics are a dirty business, full of self serving people… look at the recent expenses scandle in the UK…. Power currupts and all that. Not all are bad though
You and many others on the 100 challege have mentioned John Thornhill, I have just signed up to that as a result,
Vince
Randy Smith on August 30th, 2010 12:42 pm

Hi Guys,

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to add your views

@ Barbara, yes… there do seem to be a good few positive comments about Alex’s training. I know Alex but have to admit he doesn’t seem to have time for the little guys when it comes to helping them promote their products where JT does. But the feedback from his course always seems positive.

@ Gwen, you reminded me of Kennedy there – “The Question Is – What can you do for your subscribers…” …lol

@ Jorge, yep – they forget all too easily… that’s one of my biggest gripes about the ones who start on our level and then get too big to talk to us!

@ Vince, I’m glad you’ve seen more than just me praising JT – I hope you find he’s as good a guy as we all say

Randy
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Patrick Lynch on August 30th, 2010 7:56 pm

I agree 100%! My “full time” job deals with people in the continuancy industry, and we have those that are out there to make as much as possible with little regard to whether or not what they’re selling is “good”…and then there are those that are really trying to make a legitimate business out of it.

Both make a lot of money…the “honest” ones tend to stay in business longer…imagine that.
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Randy Smith on August 31st, 2010 8:52 am

Hi Patrick,

“Both make a lot of money…the “honest” ones tend to stay in business longer…imagine that.”

If only that were all true…..
It seems to me that there are those who fail miserably at what they are supposed to do… and when that happens, instead of getting booted – they get a golden handshake of millions, and then walk straight into something better!!

I wish that worked for us normal folks…lol

Randy
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Mike Fleming on August 31st, 2010 4:38 pm

Hi Randy,
Man this blog hopping is really time consuming I’m getting down to the last few blogs to visit in this challenge. I started from the bottom and working my way to the top. Well better get going so keep on rambling Randy.
Enjoy the Challenge.
Mike
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Randy Smith on August 31st, 2010 5:23 pm

Hi Mike,

I thought that too and I did it daily from the start of the month!!!

Well worth it though – met some great people and my rankings have come down around 25,000

Randy
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Cheryl from thatgirlisfunny on September 1st, 2010 1:07 am

Hi Randy,
I’m still trying to figure out how to balance profit and service. I’m more on the service end than the profit end right now. Interesting rant!
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Fran T on September 1st, 2010 4:08 am

Hi, Randy,
I do quite agree with on a lot of points. First I like it that this particular group of people are all focused on helping each find success. I am so glad that I have been a part of this challenge. I have learned so much from so many. I thank you for sharing your info with me,
Fran T
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Randy Smith on September 1st, 2010 12:54 pm

Hi Cheryl & Fran,

Cheers for stopping by
Glad you’ve enjoyed the challenge… it was a lot more work /effort than I initially anticipated – but well worth it

Randy
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Clare on September 4th, 2010 12:24 pm

Hey Randy – this is a very thought provoking post, especially the point you make about gurus only wanting to promote products that make them money. There is one well known guru who promotes every single big ticket product going, even when simultaneously one contradicts the teachings of the other. I hate this approach. There are some really great products out there that don’t get promoted enough as the commission isn’t deemed to be worth getting out of bed for.
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