Guru Artist B.S. Detection Check list
1. Emphasis on luxurious lifestyle. “Look at my new multi-million dollar home”, “Look at my new BMW” etc., etc.
2. Subjective self description. “leading expect in the United States” “Number one, most-sought-after..” famous, spectacularly successful,” “authority,” etc. B.S. artists often use photographs or videotape of themselves hanging around executive jets, limos, yachts, mansions, five-star hotels, exotic resorts, or expensive cars to imply that they have achieved great financial success.
3. No pitfalls or dangers. There are dangers in everything. Everybody makes mistakes. The B.S. artists are self-proclaimed big on being “positive.” It’s better for you to learn from the mistakes of others than to reinvent the wheel and lose your money in the process.
4. No bad news. Any bad news just becomes a challenge.
5. Universally-applicable techniques. Any body and everybody can do it.
6. Claim to do lots of deals. Yes I do 50,000 deals a month!
7. Gorgeous packages. The prettier the package, the less quality it contains in general.
8. High prices. The B.S. artists want thousands for their “boot camps,” “training,” and “mentoring” services.
9. Too-good-to-be-true testimonials. B.S. artists never make absurd claims like, “You will make $400,000 in six months if you buy my course.” They just have Mr. and Mrs. Average go on TV and say it for them. " I made $24,000.00 in 24 hours!."
10. White-on-white words at beginning of their Web pages. In the Internet era, one of the things dishonest people do is put white-on-white or color-on-same-color Words at the top of their web pages to mislead search engines.
11. Use of the following words. These words are dishonest because they depict a degree of ease or exclusivity or certainty or absence of risk or amount of
profit which does not exist. They are fraud at worst and puffing at best. Puffing is a legal term. If the guru you are considering uses any of these words or phrases in his or her presentation, brochures or Web site, he or she is probably a B.S. artist.
perfect offer
confidential
sure-fire
removes doubts
secret (if it ever was a secret, it stopped being one when he sold the first copy)
cinch
always
lazy way
anyone can make a killing
removes risk
easy money
easily determine market value
air-tight
take the fear out
risk-free
judgment proof
insider
painless
fool-proof
safe
removes guesswork
easy
magic
bulletproof
gold mine
complete
riches
This is not a get-rich-quick scheme
automatic
dream stealer
no-brainer
12. Testimonials with incomplete names. I made $50,000.00 with MR. B.S. course is just 3 hours J.T. From Texas.
13. Prohibition against recording at free seminars.
14. Use of handles or screen names on the Internet
15. Citing meaningless or near meaningless “accomplishments” as evidence of good-guy status
16. Citing professed religiousness as a selling point
17. Simple rules covering complex matters.
18. Constant warnings that prices will be much higher if you do not buy right now.
19. Use of the sentence, “Failure is not an option.”
20. Awarding oneself a catchy title.
21. Pressuring you to get your credit card limit raised.
22. Giving you a fake name.