I’ve just finished reading a book teaching people how to – well, let me not mince my words – con.
Of course that’s not what the American author said. (They are mostly Americans, aren’t they?)
He sugar-coated his message into something rather noble sounding.
Basically telling you how you can make millions by being a guru.
Get rich by helping others.
This is the gist of what he proposed:
- Identify something you enjoy doing.
- Find out more about it by reading everything you can on it.
- Write and publish your own book on the subject.
- Steal something old and give it a new twist, with a fierce-sounding name, then claim it as your own. For example, if you’ve decided that you are going to be an expert on helping people clear clutter from their life, you can re-design a questionnaire you came across in a women’s magazine and call it a “Cluttermatrix Diagnostic Instrumentation” or something equally awesome sounding. You can even trademark it. You then charge your clients a bomb for using it.
- Run workshops on your expertise – give it a hifalutin name, like NeuroPrionics or something. The more you confuse people, the more you’ll sound like some expert.
- “Coach” people on it.
- Speak as loudly as you can and swagger around like you are the king of the world – the gullible will think you are a real big time guru and you yourself will soon believe in your own bullshit. You might even become a full-time “internal consultant” to some multinational corporations. If possible move to another country – a prophet is seldom welcome in his own land.
- Use social media – Twitter, Facebook, blogs, websites, etc to promote yourself. Offer something free – an article, a self-published booklet, etc – and when suckers ask for it, you’ll have their emails which you can then use to sell them more shit.
- Become the number one result in a Google search. He even teaches you how to make that happen.
- Sit back and wait for money to flow in.
Yup, it’s that easy.
Do that and you’ll be on your way to your own private jet. Like everyone in America is flying around in private jets these days.
By the way, I’ve always agreed with the opinion that “guru” is easier to spell than “charlatan.”
This book confirms it.
Americans!