That's Not a Coach. That's a Thief. - The Truth About Guru Culture
My unfiltered opinion on the free webinar industrial complex and why I'm done with all of it.
Let me paint you a picture.
You see an ad. Someone confident, successful looking, probably sitting in front of a ring light or a luxury car, telling you that they want to help you change your life. For free. Just sign up for their webinar. No cost. No catch.
So you do it. Because you genuinely want to learn. Because you are hungry for something real. Because you are trying to build something and you just need someone to show you how.
And then you show up.
And for the next 45 minutes to an hour you watch someone talk about themselves.
How much they make. How hard they worked. How they cracked the code. How prestigious their program is. How busy they are. How many people want access to them.
And you sit there waiting.
Waiting for the actual information.
Waiting for the teaching.
Waiting for the thing they promised you.
It never comes.
The Formula They All Follow
I want to be clear - this is my personal experience and opinion. But after sitting through somewhere between 10 and 20 of these webinars I can tell you they all follow the exact same script:
Step 1 - The Hookπ― "I make $X amount a month and I want to show YOU how"
π― "This free training will change your life"
π― "Limited spots available" - spoiler: there are unlimited spots π
Step 2 - The Glory Storyπ 45 minutes of their personal success story
π How hard it was before
π How amazing it is now
π Lots of numbers. Lots of lifestyle flexing.
π Zero actual teachable content
Step 3 - The Value Stackπ¦ "This program is normally worth $5,000"
π¦ "But I'm throwing in these bonuses"
π¦ "AND you get one on one access to ME personally"
π¦ "Do you know how prestigious that is?"
π¦ proceeds to remind you how busy and important they are π
Step 4 - The Offerπ° "You can have ALL of this for just $997"
π° "Or 4 easy payments of $297" - which is actually $1188 by the way
π° "And if you REALLY can't afford it we have scholarships"
π° A scholarship. For an online course. Let that sink in. π
Step 5 - The Fake Urgency⏰ "This offer expires in 10 minutes"
⏰ It does not expire in 10 minutes.
⏰ It never expires. π
What You Actually Get If You Pay
In my opinion here is what a lot of these programs actually deliver:
Someone hands you a glimpse of their rolodex. Their contacts. Their network that they spent years building.
But it's not really handed to you. It's shown to you. Watched over. Monitored.
And then when you start building your own momentum? When you start finding your own people? Suddenly the goalposts move. Suddenly you need another session. Another payment. Another level of access.
And the whole time you are being asked to do exactly what they did to you - go find your own people and bring them in.
Sound familiar?
I'm not saying it's intentional in every case. I'm not naming names. This is just my experience and my opinion.
But in my opinion a real coach doesn't need you to stay dependent on them forever. A real coach teaches you skills you can take anywhere and use without them.
What I experienced felt less like coaching and more like paying someone for the privilege of doing their work for them.
Who These Webinars Actually Target
And this is the part that really gets me.
These webinars don't target people who already have it figured out. They target people who are:π Genuinely hungry to learn
π± Trying to build something from nothing
πͺ Motivated and hopeful
π° Maybe not in the most financially stable place
They find you when you are at your most motivated and most vulnerable and they sell you hope wrapped in Canva graphics and ring light confidence.
And that in my opinion is the most frustrating part of all of it.
What Actually Works Instead
Okay so I'm not just here to rant. I'm here to be actually useful. Because that's the whole point right? You just want to LEARN. Without paying someone your entire bank account for the privilege.
Here is what has actually worked for me:
π€ Free AI tools
Seriously. I have built my website, fixed my blog posts, developed digital products and learned more in conversations with AI than I ever did in a single webinar. For free.
π₯ Specific YouTube tutorials
Not general "how to make money online" videos. Specific searches. "How to do X in Y platform." Actual tutorials by actual people showing you actual steps.
π Free courses from legitimate platforms
Microsoft, Google, Coursera, HubSpot - these companies offer genuinely free courses with real certifications that actually mean something.
⏰ Your own time and consistency
I know that's not sexy or exciting. But showing up consistently and actually doing the work will always outperform any guru's program.
π Communities and forums
Reddit, Facebook groups, Discord servers full of people actually doing the thing and sharing real information for free.
The Bottom Line
You don't need a guru. You don't need a $997 course. You don't need their scholarship or their payment plan or their precious one on one time.
You need real tools. Real information. Real consistency.
And you deserve to get that without someone exploiting your ambition to fund their lifestyle.
So the next time you see that ad - the ring light, the luxury car, the "free training that will change your life" - just remember:
Real teachers teach. Real coaches give you tools you can keep. Real mentors want you to outgrow them.
Everything else is just a very expensive conversation.
And in my opinion? That's not coaching.
That's just theft with a Canva presentation. ππ€
You see an ad. Someone confident, successful looking, probably sitting in front of a ring light or a luxury car, telling you that they want to help you change your life. For free. Just sign up for their webinar. No cost. No catch.
So you do it. Because you genuinely want to learn. Because you are hungry for something real. Because you are trying to build something and you just need someone to show you how.
And then you show up.
And for the next 45 minutes to an hour you watch someone talk about themselves.
How much they make. How hard they worked. How they cracked the code. How prestigious their program is. How busy they are. How many people want access to them.
And you sit there waiting.
Waiting for the actual information.
Waiting for the teaching.
Waiting for the thing they promised you.
It never comes.
The Formula They All Follow
I want to be clear - this is my personal experience and opinion. But after sitting through somewhere between 10 and 20 of these webinars I can tell you they all follow the exact same script:
Step 1 - The Hookπ― "I make $X amount a month and I want to show YOU how"
π― "This free training will change your life"
π― "Limited spots available" - spoiler: there are unlimited spots π
Step 2 - The Glory Storyπ 45 minutes of their personal success story
π How hard it was before
π How amazing it is now
π Lots of numbers. Lots of lifestyle flexing.
π Zero actual teachable content
Step 3 - The Value Stackπ¦ "This program is normally worth $5,000"
π¦ "But I'm throwing in these bonuses"
π¦ "AND you get one on one access to ME personally"
π¦ "Do you know how prestigious that is?"
π¦ proceeds to remind you how busy and important they are π
Step 4 - The Offerπ° "You can have ALL of this for just $997"
π° "Or 4 easy payments of $297" - which is actually $1188 by the way
π° "And if you REALLY can't afford it we have scholarships"
π° A scholarship. For an online course. Let that sink in. π
Step 5 - The Fake Urgency⏰ "This offer expires in 10 minutes"
⏰ It does not expire in 10 minutes.
⏰ It never expires. π
What You Actually Get If You Pay
In my opinion here is what a lot of these programs actually deliver:
Someone hands you a glimpse of their rolodex. Their contacts. Their network that they spent years building.
But it's not really handed to you. It's shown to you. Watched over. Monitored.
And then when you start building your own momentum? When you start finding your own people? Suddenly the goalposts move. Suddenly you need another session. Another payment. Another level of access.
And the whole time you are being asked to do exactly what they did to you - go find your own people and bring them in.
Sound familiar?
I'm not saying it's intentional in every case. I'm not naming names. This is just my experience and my opinion.
But in my opinion a real coach doesn't need you to stay dependent on them forever. A real coach teaches you skills you can take anywhere and use without them.
What I experienced felt less like coaching and more like paying someone for the privilege of doing their work for them.
Who These Webinars Actually Target
And this is the part that really gets me.
These webinars don't target people who already have it figured out. They target people who are:π Genuinely hungry to learn
π± Trying to build something from nothing
πͺ Motivated and hopeful
π° Maybe not in the most financially stable place
They find you when you are at your most motivated and most vulnerable and they sell you hope wrapped in Canva graphics and ring light confidence.
And that in my opinion is the most frustrating part of all of it.
What Actually Works Instead
Okay so I'm not just here to rant. I'm here to be actually useful. Because that's the whole point right? You just want to LEARN. Without paying someone your entire bank account for the privilege.
Here is what has actually worked for me:
π€ Free AI tools
Seriously. I have built my website, fixed my blog posts, developed digital products and learned more in conversations with AI than I ever did in a single webinar. For free.
π₯ Specific YouTube tutorials
Not general "how to make money online" videos. Specific searches. "How to do X in Y platform." Actual tutorials by actual people showing you actual steps.
π Free courses from legitimate platforms
Microsoft, Google, Coursera, HubSpot - these companies offer genuinely free courses with real certifications that actually mean something.
⏰ Your own time and consistency
I know that's not sexy or exciting. But showing up consistently and actually doing the work will always outperform any guru's program.
π Communities and forums
Reddit, Facebook groups, Discord servers full of people actually doing the thing and sharing real information for free.
The Bottom Line
You don't need a guru. You don't need a $997 course. You don't need their scholarship or their payment plan or their precious one on one time.
You need real tools. Real information. Real consistency.
And you deserve to get that without someone exploiting your ambition to fund their lifestyle.
So the next time you see that ad - the ring light, the luxury car, the "free training that will change your life" - just remember:
Real teachers teach. Real coaches give you tools you can keep. Real mentors want you to outgrow them.
Everything else is just a very expensive conversation.
And in my opinion? That's not coaching.
That's just theft with a Canva presentation. ππ€
✨π · ˚ ⋆｡°✩°｡⋆ ˚ · π✨
Have you ever sat through one of these webinars and felt completely robbed of your time? I would love to hear your experience in the comments. And if you are out here building something real with real free tools - you are my people. Stick around. π€✨
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