Seminar Disasters

Seminars can be good or bad.

Ever been to a seminar and feel you were fleeced out of your hard earned money.

“Yes, I can hear you loud and clear.”

Truth of what gives seminars a bad name

Shameful they make you harbor guilt if you don’t buy. Maybe you can’t afford to add more credit card debt. Unfortunate if we stick around long enough they pull us in and soon we sign on the dotted line. On an adrenaline high and won’t be back to earth for another 4 or 5 days after the damage is done.

What they don’t tell you is how much the cost will be to implement their training into real cash.

How many thousands of dollars did you lay at their feet? Mesmerized by this magical guru you should follow.

When I think back over the years of being swindled, it makes me sick. Not that easy to sway me, yet I fell for their tricks. I can only imagine how the people that are so inclined to buy into the next shiny object have gone into debt trying to pay for the dreams and promises of financial freedom.

They got our number, the smitten ones of the desire to be rich. With the promises of instant riches in a matter of months.

Buy a lottery ticket! It won’t hurt as much.

Their clever way of making you feel like one of the elite if you join them on the journey. If you chose not to, you lose out on the riches begging for your claim.

Do you remember the pang of regret for falling for the charlatans? Since you are not rich from their promises, you must lack the drive and didn’t follow their course. This could cost you thousands of dollars more. But they never told you at the time of purchase it would require more dollars. Much more than you already gave them for their well polished fancy course.

Oh, and they gave you a nice brief case to go with their shiny brochures. I suppose to make an impression you were now a professional right along with them.

Persuasive marketing in its ugly form. Yes, they had great copywriters!

Did they sell you something of value? Was their price reasonable? What were the extra add on packages they wanted to sell you? The further into this high price sales scheme the more resentful you become.

How many people get ripped off? After maxing their credit cards they realize they got taken to the cleaners. With the shame of being fleeced, they tell no one. They are in too deep. They may have signed documents of their own free will, but did they? The seminar speakers scripts cast a spell on their audience. They reel you in to be one of the pack and to not buy you are an outsider and a loser.

Does this resonate with you?

Sinking thousands of dollars in websites, when the fad was new. They have you revved up after two days of brainwashing. Then giving you time to cool your heels at home. And you wonder, “shall I ask for my money back?” But alas too late, the cooling-off period has expired.

Now they want to help you succeed! How? By enrolling you into a coaching program. Another hard sell tactic. The crime is if you are not smart enough to ask the right questions when you are given a coach. After many sessions of realizing more money you can’t afford will still be sunk in the system to make you rich… ?

But get this one…

The coach we received after getting smart enough to question him, we found out he had no websites now or ever. We canceled the coaching, picked up the pieces of humiliation and the “wool” from the fleecing!

Lesson: interview your coach.

Years may pass and up pops a different scheme. It looks different so it must differ from the last time we got sheared.

If you go to a seminar, they should inform you up front what will happen. The worst are invites for free with promises of a gift. You stay to the end to get your gift and then have high-pressure sales people pretending they are your newest friend. When you resist signing up, they have a routine that makes you appear to be an idiot for not doing so.

There are ethical seminars

The ethical seminars are ones you will most often have to pay up front to attend. Beware of unbelievable promises.

Sure you know they will try to up-sell whatever they have as their next program. But you should receive enough information from a seminar to give you more than the value of what you paid to attend. When the seminar is over, you should not  sense they ripped you off.

There should always be the option to purchase their up-sell product at a later date. Expect to pay a higher price after the seminar but never be pressured to go into debt. The pressure leaves animosity that will destroy a working relationship and any future possibility of being an advocate for the person putting on the seminar.

Note: Anyone wanting to put on a seminar needs to give value and respect for those who attend. Keep in mind bad experiences people have will travel fast.

Share if you care. Did you ever attend a seminar and feel you were ripped off?