Mindset question

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Little Mike

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Hey folks,

One of the marketers that I subscribe to recently offered a paid mentorship program. I know mentorships are not allowed here, so that's not what this is about. But it got me thinking - are paid mentorships ever legit? I have a feeling that despite it being common in the corporate world, in the IM space it's not and that's why they aren't allowed here. I was just curious.

Anyway, back to the original question I had in mind. I emailed the marketer about it because they wanted you to go through an application process before they would even tell you how much the mentorship cost. To me that screams red flag. When they answered me, they told me if I have to ask, I'm not ready. That I don't have the right mindset. Then they went on about how if your child is sick, you beg, borrow, or steal to get the money to pay for the hospital. You don't worry about the how.

Does that sound like BS to anyone else? If my kid got sick and I was suddenly in debt to the tune of thousands of dollars, that wouldn't motivate me to pay an additional $10,000 to some dude that promises me he'll work with me until I'm making $3,000/month.

I guess I just want to know if I'm missing something here or if we should stay away from people like that.
 
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Little Mike said:
Hey folks,

One of the marketers that I subscribe to recently offered a paid mentorship program. I know mentorships are not allowed here, so that's not what this is about. But it got me thinking - are paid mentorships ever legit? I have a feeling that despite it being common in the corporate world, in the IM space it's not and that's why they aren't allowed here. I was just curious.

Anyway, back to the original question I had in mind. I emailed the marketer about it because they wanted you to go through an application process before they would even tell you how much the mentorship cost. To me that screams red flag. When they answered me, they told me if I have to ask, I'm not ready. That I don't have the right mindset. Then they went on about how if your child is sick, you beg, borrow, or steal to get the money to pay for the hospital. You don't worry about the how.

Does that sound like BS to anyone else? If my kid got sick and I was suddenly in debt to the tune of thousands of dollars, that wouldn't motivate me to pay an additional $10,000 to some dude that promises me he'll work with me until I'm making $3,000/month.

I guess I just want to know if I'm missing something here or if we should stay away from people like that.
Click to expand...

What's the name of the program? Did you search it for free?
 
Definitely sounds like bullshit to me.
 
A mentor is someone you give money to, in exchange for them telling you to work instead of slacking off?
 
yes someone who holds you accountable, easy money

a lot of investors ask those questions because at end of day they want their money back.
 
Last edited:
eddiedoidao said:
What's the name of the program? Did you search it for free?
Click to expand...

I did. I believe it's website-based/membership program, so not available.

Vagr said:
Definitely sounds like bullshit to me.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought. If you won't even tell me the price before you make me fill out an application to "see if we are a good fit" then I can already tell you that we won't be a good fit.

ExperimentalSEO said:
A mentor is someone you give money to, in exchange for them telling you to work instead of slacking off?
Click to expand...

Not many details are given, but it sounds like they are going to hold your hand while you build up a business, so that's what you'd be paying for. The guarantee is a little nebulous, though. "Until you make xxx of money." So for example, they will work with you until you make $3500. But if the program costs you $10,000, who is to say that you'll ever make more than the $3500?

jasonrat said:
yes someone who holds you accountable, easy money

a lot of investors ask those questions because at end of day they want their money back.
Click to expand...

Well that was my point to the mentor - they advertise it as an investment in yourself. Okay, sure. But if I'm investing, I need to know how much money I'm going to be investing, what my ROI is going to be, etc.
 
"Well that was my point to the mentor - they advertise it as an investment in yourself. Okay, sure. But if I'm investing, I need to know how much money I'm going to be investing, what my ROI is going to be, etc."

You pay me $10k up front and I'll work with you until you are making $3.0k, then after that it's upto you to make that each month.

Month 2, 3 and 4 you make $1k, will they make up the shortfall? He's met his obligation and got you and the other 9 members up and running, but months 2, 3 and 4 he's starting with his next guinea pigs

If I was making $50k a month why would I want to promote to competitiors, unless it's easier to sell the coaching.
 
MisterF said:
"Well that was my point to the mentor - they advertise it as an investment in yourself. Okay, sure. But if I'm investing, I need to know how much money I'm going to be investing, what my ROI is going to be, etc."

You pay me $10k up front and I'll work with you until you are making $3.0k, then after that it's upto you to make that each month.

Month 2, 3 and 4 you make $1k, will they make up the shortfall? He's met his obligation and got you and the other 9 members up and running, but months 2, 3 and 4 he's starting with his next guinea pigs

If I was making $50k a month why would I want to promote to competitiors, unless it's easier to sell the coaching.
Click to expand...

I think that's exactly it - he won't make up the shortfall. He's promising he'll make you $3 grand or whatever and that's that. You'd be on your own and he's moved on to selling his coaching program to someone else. So he is making bank and you're stuck 7k in the hole.

I'm just guessing, of course. Like I said - he won't even tell you how much the program is unless you apply. Doesn't that sound shady by itself, or is it just me?
 
Little Mike said:
I think that's exactly it - he won't make up the shortfall. He's promising he'll make you $3 grand or whatever and that's that. You'd be on your own and he's moved on to selling his coaching program to someone else. So he is making bank and you're stuck 7k in the hole.

I'm just guessing, of course. Like I said - he won't even tell you how much the program is unless you apply. Doesn't that sound shady by itself, or is it just me?
Click to expand...

It's marketing partly - creating that fear of missing out. He's also list building too, you'll need to opt in to apply. Then you'll get the downsell if you don't apply such as a one time offer to pay in 3 installments. Either way you opted in to his/her list.

Steer clear because the T&Cs will be 40 pages of the smallest font and any refund will have 20 pages of must have criteria.
 
MisterF said:
It's marketing partly - creating that fear of missing out. He's also list building too, you'll need to opt in to apply. Then you'll get the downsell if you don't apply such as a one time offer to pay in 3 installments. Either way you opted in to his/her list.

Steer clear because the T&Cs will be 40 pages of the smallest font and any refund will have 20 pages of must have criteria.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. The weird part is that I'm already on his list. I guess maybe he's segmenting it into "big spender" vs his other cheaper products. He hasn't tried to downsell me on anything, but then again I didn't apply either.

Maybe I'm just not a fan of his marketing style. If I ask you how much and you tell me "apply to find out," then I tell you "if I'm going to part with my money, I want to know how much first" and he replies with "if you have to ask, the program probably isn't a good fit for you" then that's probably my answer right there.

It looks like this deal is more sizzle, less steak. Thanks for the input.
 
Little Mike said:
I think that's exactly it - he won't make up the shortfall. He's promising he'll make you $3 grand or whatever and that's that. You'd be on your own and he's moved on to selling his coaching program to someone else. So he is making bank and you're stuck 7k in the hole.

I'm just guessing, of course. Like I said - he won't even tell you how much the program is unless you apply. Doesn't that sound shady by itself, or is it just me?
Click to expand...
Last big scam I saw online was Digital Academy, then after that was smaller guys who post ads but the funniest video ad I saw was a 18 year old black skinned guy counting his cash money and saying he made it from doing marketing. Then the ad w ent on saying that "this can be yours".

Who's trying to school you?
 
cwbhood said:
Last big scam I saw online was Digital Academy, then after that was smaller guys who post ads but the funniest video ad I saw was a 18 year old black skinned guy counting his cash money and saying he made it from doing marketing. Then the ad w ent on saying that "this can be yours".

Who's trying to school you?
Click to expand...

I mean, should I name names? This is a person who is on WF and is big in the Kindle space.

Incidentally, I dug around and found an older version of his program. I'm pretty sure what he's selling now is basically the same thing but with online modules instead of just a Word doc.
 
What are you selling?

Service or Product?

Service - is this a local service?
Product - is this a digital product?

I could make a marketing blue print right now and turn around and sell it on Fiverr for $5 but sell it here for $25.

It would be a digital file that I could sell anywhere. I just have to craft and design it one time, but then market it. I would choose BHW and Fiverr for marketing it. I priced it based on the value it would be to the target audience. Also before I sell I will add this big watermark so some sucker who I sell this too won't resell it after they "get the point".

We know his course won't be like that but hopefully you can understand my point. Others have stated too that it's just a coach pushing you to do something. He could even have some virtual assistant hired up to push people for him while he is on this nice vacation, and that's even if he will go as far as telling you to work. It's the money that matters to him. He is in it for the money. His course that he is selling is making him the money. He's marketing his course out.

You can read through BHW threads and write up a nice course on how to market and not even have any experience. Just take notes and rewrite everything around to make it look like their getting something. They will read all this nice info and also on top of that they will send you money! Be sure they send you the money as family and friends or they might ask for a refund and then you say sorry.

You can market your course online to people on facebook and Instagram. You could have a video ad. You can hire a short ad maker from Fiverr to make you one.

Demographics for your facebook ads?
Let me really help you out with this!
You almost got screwed by someone so write in all the demograpics about yourself and target people like you.

I did this and made money but I wasn't selling a get rich course. I sold a product (CPA) and made commission from each sale. I stopped because I moved on to better things. Better money making opportunities and you realize to spot them once you get into the game but first you must get into the game. Don't sit outside of the door. The door is unlocked. Once you look you will see no door as there is no entry point for this field. You was already here in it. Everything around you online might be IM. Have you wondered about what an advertisment was? Banners, google sponsored post, facebook ads, even YouTube (I got YouTube red).

You know what's going on. Trust me you don't need someone to tell you what to do.

Find a CPA offer and take it up! Make a website for it and market that site. Weight lost is easy. You can make $5,000 a month and spend 1/3 on ads from one CPA offer. Just have to go out there and do it and test. Wash/repeat. It's a job
 
jazzc said:
Run away, now. Seriously.
Click to expand...

That was pretty much my thought after reading the pitch, but I figured I'd bite and ask. Then when I got his answer, I thought, yeah, no thanks.

jazzc said:
No, why would you want to advertise them?
Click to expand...

You mentioned Digital Academy before. I thought maybe that was a product or something. I wasn't sure if "outing" this person was the right thing to do or not.

cwbhood said:
What are you selling?

Service or Product?

Service - is this a local service?
Product - is this a digital product?

I could make a marketing blue print right now and turn around and sell it on Fiverr for $5 but sell it here for $25.

It would be a digital file that I could sell anywhere. I just have to craft and design it one time, but then market it. I would choose BHW and Fiverr for marketing it. I priced it based on the value it would be to the target audience. Also before I sell I will add this big watermark so some sucker who I sell this too won't resell it after they "get the point".

We know his course won't be like that but hopefully you can understand my point. Others have stated too that it's just a coach pushing you to do something. He could even have some virtual assistant hired up to push people for him while he is on this nice vacation, and that's even if he will go as far as telling you to work. It's the money that matters to him. He is in it for the money. His course that he is selling is making him the money. He's marketing his course out.

You can read through BHW threads and write up a nice course on how to market and not even have any experience. Just take notes and rewrite everything around to make it look like their getting something. They will read all this nice info and also on top of that they will send you money! Be sure they send you the money as family and friends or they might ask for a refund and then you say sorry.

You can market your course online to people on facebook and Instagram. You could have a video ad. You can hire a short ad maker from Fiverr to make you one.

Demographics for your facebook ads?
Let me really help you out with this!
You almost got screwed by someone so write in all the demograpics about yourself and target people like you.

I did this and made money but I wasn't selling a get rich course. I sold a product (CPA) and made commission from each sale. I stopped because I moved on to better things. Better money making opportunities and you realize to spot them once you get into the game but first you must get into the game. Don't sit outside of the door. The door is unlocked. Once you look you will see no door as there is no entry point for this field. You was already here in it. Everything around you online might be IM. Have you wondered about what an advertisment was? Banners, google sponsored post, facebook ads, even YouTube (I got YouTube red).

You know what's going on. Trust me you don't need someone to tell you what to do.

Find a CPA offer and take it up! Make a website for it and market that site. Weight lost is easy. You can make $5,000 a month and spend 1/3 on ads from one CPA offer. Just have to go out there and do it and test. Wash/repeat. It's a job
Click to expand...

I appreciate the advice. I wasn't really looking for something to get into (though I guess that's always relevant.) I was just asking if this sounded as much of a scam as I thought it did.

The pitch was basically what I hinted at before. You apply for this mentorship program (that will be at some predetermined price to be revealed if you are accepted.) The program teaches you how to completely outsource a Kindle publishing business from start to finish. You get access to their "rolodex" of outsourcers and he will teach you how to pick a niche, post an ad for an outsourcer, book cover, etc. None of the work is done by you. Then how to scale it. He will "hold your hand" until you make $3500. *Note, he doesn't say a month, just $3500. Where he pulls that arbitrary number from, I have no idea.

The guy is very well known on WF. He's considered an expert in the Kindle field, so at least in some circles, he has credentials, so to speak.

I just thought that it was really weird that you would ask someone to apply for a mentorship program without even telling them the price beforehand. The whole thing raised warning signs for me.
 
Mentorship = changing lives in a long long process (probably lifetime)
Coaching = improving you to be better in a timed manner.

So what you're getting isn't mentorship but coaching.
Coaches usually look forward to make money by increasing the skills
Mentors wants you to change inside out
 
faithjhung said:
Mentorship = changing lives in a long long process (probably lifetime)
Coaching = improving you to be better in a timed manner.

So what you're getting isn't mentorship but coaching.
Coaches usually look forward to make money by increasing the skills
Mentors wants you to change inside out
Click to expand...

I would say that most people use the two words interchangeably. I wouldn't say you are wrong, though. On both accounts. He's not selling a mentorship. He's selling a coaching program that he tries to pass off as a mentorship because the "income potential is life-changing." Yeah, except after the students make a couple of bucks, he will never be heard from again.
 
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