If this makes you unsubscribe from me, so be it.
Today I received an email from a subscriber:
If you’re curious about the video, here’s the link to that.
(Video’s 25 minutes long)
In a nutshell, the presenter, Ryan Lee, was talking about how it’s hurtful that many of the mastermind offer owners are basically pretenders.
They pretend to be your friend to hook you into their world…
…and when they find out that you’ll never join their high ticket mastermind, they’ll cut you off.
Ryan also used to be one of those people you see in those “sales-fest” events where there’s table rush tactics being used and so on.
He’s made a lot of money from such events, and have retired from the online space for nearly a decade.
So, he’s a veteran.
He’s intimately familiar with the mindset and manipulative nature of the industry.
He’s saying that some changes need to happen.
People need to wake up and not fall so easily to these tactics.
Offer owners need to do things which are more aligned with their soul; and something can’t be aligned when it is marketed so aggressively using manipulative tactics.
All in all, he’s saying that this pay-to-play model is unethical, outdated, and a change is necessary.
Some other points:
“Free strategy sessions” and “free coaching calls” aren’t really free strategy session; they want to SELL you something.
Those “free ebooks” are basically just bait to get people into the funnel.
And people need to wise up and stop falling for this crap.
Towards the end of the video, he also said that this mastermind industry isn’t really an ‘industry’.
And that basically people who run masterminds are all con-men.
I’ve been asked for my thoughts, so here it is.
Ryan raised a lot of great points.
A lot of people have been hurt.
And a part of me can’t help but to wonder why I’m asked to give my comments on a video trashing masterminds…
…when I have just finished a mastermind launch of my own.
But, hey, we get called out from time to time.
And I won’t be pulling no Jamie Oliver.
Here’s my response:
A lot of people have been hurt by high ticket coaching that don’t deliver.
But a lot of people have also been helped by high ticket coaching that DO deliver.
I am one of them.
For 4 years as I ran a gym, I spent the bulk of that being suspicious of high ticket programs.
And when I lost the business and signed up for a mentor, my life changed.
After that, I did sign up for a number of programs that don’t work.
And I spent quite some time being angry and resentful at the industry.
But you know what?
Lol.
Just because I met few bad people, doesn’t mean all people are bad.
Just because there’s a lot of pretender ‘gurus’, doesn’t mean all coaches are pretenders.
Just because SOME people misuses a tool (mastermind), doesn’t mean everyone will.
And personally, I don’t think there’s anyone who’s intentionally out there scamming people.
I once went into an event where 4 out of 5 people I spoke with said they got scammed by a local guru.
(Long story for another time. But fact is I didn’t ask. They volunteered the info.)
And I remembered having a strong sense of injustice and resentment towards this guy.
For a long time.
Someone I never met, and have never spoken to.
All because of what I heard.
And then over lunch one day, my late mentor Kenneth Yu and his wife Laura Yu told me that this guy is one of the kindest, most committed, and hardworking guy they’ve ever met.
Who also happens to be an amazing husband and father, and has helped them both a lot.
Also, he ran a team of dozens of staff that are incredibly loyal, who stuck with him through thick and thin.
So, what happened?
If it is true that this man is so great, why are there so many bad rumors about him?
The truth is that these ‘scam’ are not intentional.
They’re stupidity, inexperience, or general incompetence.
Which results in gross negligence.
Some people are better operators than marketers. And some are better marketers than operators.
When you pair marketing genius (what you signed up for), with zero talent as a teacher and the flakiness of a teenage boy, you get someone who’s being put on a pedestal, but panicked as soon as they realized the weight of the responsibility they just committed themselves to.
And because of those mistakes, people got hurt.
I’m not saying this is excusable (it is not).
But it is not right to paint the whole industry as a scam either.
There’s a LOT of great high ticket programs around.
And it’s a huge waste to spend our precious time and energy being suspicious and simmering in resentment.
If you don’t like/ready/want to buy high ticket offer, don’t.
If you don’t like/ready/want to SELL high ticket offers, don’t.
Whatever you want to do, do it.
If you don’t want to do anything, nobody can force you.
It’s just not healthy to hold so much negative energy over people.
As for me being called out:
In the first email of my automated welcome sequence, I made it VERY clear that I am selling stuff through my emails.
Look at this screenshot taken directly from my automated email sequence👇🏻
*credits to JK Molina - I stole this line directly from his email welcome sequence.
I don’t do marketing for fun.
I don’t write social media posts for fun.
I don’t send emails for fun.
This is why I created all these crazy prompts and AI processes.
This is also why I had the idea to create a service around this so that other who have the same problem I had, now have a solution.
No pretension.
No B.S.
It’s just that I do my best to entertain and provide value + insights so you all have a reason to stay.
But make no mistake - this is work.
And, might I suggest, that if you are subscribed to my newsletter you are probably thinking of, or already doing marketing, too.
If you judge people for selling to you, it only makes it harder for you to sell to others as well.
I am not going to apologize for selling my mastermind.
In the same way I’m not going to be ashamed of signing up for other masterminds in the future.
And if being pitched doesn’t sit right by you, I’m not going to beg you to stay.
I’m running a business, not a charity.
Ryan Lee said towards the end of the video,
“If you are triggered by this message, you’re probably playing the pay to play model, and you can go F yourself.”
Oh, I’m triggered.
But not because of that.
Over the past few years, I’ve never been without a high ticket coaching program, mastermind, or 1-1 consulting of some sort.
I’ve found them to be very useful for me, and I suspect I will continue to find them useful in the future.
I do buy low ticket products, but I always found high ticket to be a lot more helpful.
High ticket is what I believe in.
Yes I AM aware that there’s a problem with the industry.
Where can you find ‘no problem’?
Whether you sell high ticket, low ticket, or even doing stuff completely FOC.
There will always be some form of problem.
There will ALWAYS be something wrong with a solution, somewhere, with someone!
It’s just about what problems are you willing to live with, that’s all.
Choose your problem.
And for me, the good coaches more than make up for it.
If we mount the moral high ground and judge other people’s hustle, we are only eliminating options for ourselves.
And that’s exactly why I AM in the industry.
Because you can’t be part of a solution unless you’re willing to be part of the problem.
So I’m triggered.
Because Ryan sounds like someone I’d want to be friends with.
But what a blanket statement.
FELIX
P.S.
If you’re still here after all of that rant just now… thank you.
If you’ve decided to leave, thank you for the time that you’ve been here.
We find our tribe.
Life’s too short to hang around people we don’t like.
P.S.S
Regarding pretension:
If we vibe, that’s great. But if we don’t, I’m not pretending to be anyone’s friend.
I’m not going to open and reply to every email.
I only reply to emails I deem worthy of my time and energy.
I would want to spend energy on people who have already paid me, and people that I like.
That’s just normal, isn’t it?
Not gonna apologize for that.
