by Glenn Cutforth

There is a lot of talk online about Internet Marketing "Gurus". So what exactly is a "guru" anyway?

The dictionary definition of guru is as follows:
1) A spiritual teacher.
2) A charismatic leader or guide.

Okay. Now what does this mean in terms of The Internet?

As far as I can tell, both of these definitions do apply to Internet Marketing in that once a person gets hooked on a particular "guru" it's almost like a religious experience.

You buy all the eBooks; you buy all the "recommended" products; you buy all the software you never actually get around to figuring out how to use; you wait anxiously every day for your gurus email, so you can suck in all that new information.

You start to visualize yourself making "money while you sleep" while suppressing any thoughts about the real amount of work it actually takes to pull off this kind of success. I call this the "newbies dream".

Is it a religious experience? Perhaps, but my advice is this: if you are following a "guru" and keep falling into the "newbies dream" it would be much wiser to stop immediately and think carefully about what you're doing because unless you're actually applying what you're "learning" there is no guru on earth who can help you.
So how does one become an "Internet Marketing Guru?" There is no doubt the  way to get this label is to make lots of money (I mean LOTS!) and to "help" others learn how to do the same thing. But is making money the only thing that people are obsessed with on the Internet?

No, but sometimes it seems that way, especially if you are someone who has decided to try to figure out how to make some money online. Once you make that decision, something very eerie begins to happens. You immediately begin searching for ways to go about reaching your goal and before long, you find yourselve under the spell of one guru or another.

Now, if you've discovered a guru that teaches you everything you need to know about making a living online, then congratulations. There are a few out there but they are not always easy to find. Unfortunately, for many of us, the search for the "Ultimate" guru was never ending when we started online.

The reason? Because there are so many classifications of "gurus" — you've got "semi" gurus" — "self-proclaimed" gurus — "I'm not a guru yet, but I will be soon so you'd better buy my new eBook if you want to succeed" gurus — "I'm going to sell you every product out there" gurus — "You'd better buy this deal now at this low price because you'll never get this chance again!" gurus ... and so on and so on.

Since I've been studying how to make money on the Internet I've realized there is only one correct way to do it, but there are many variables to that correct way. You can become an affiliate marketer, you can offer a service, you call sell digital products, you can get involved in MLM and "business opportunities", and you can also lose yourself a lot of money trying figure out how to do things the "correct" way.

The job of a Guru, as far as I can tell, is to help you make money the correct way. However, if you've come across some of the "self-proclaimed" or "I'm going to sell you ..." etc. type gurus and try to follow their methods, what you end up getting is "information overload" and a very big headache trying to find your way through it all.

So what is the best approach when following an Internet Marketing "Guru"? For me, it's determining first where you are on the learning curve and then seeking out specific information on a need-to-know basis that will get you to the next level without causing too much confusion. If your chosen Guru is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at you, the danger is you will get so frustrated and confused you will just give up.

Don't do it! Just be careful. Internet Marketing Gurus tend to care about one thing — selling their product to as many people as possible. And you know what, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that … they are not babysitters and they are definitely not responsible for your inability to find your way through all the confusion.

The bottom line is to carefully choose your "guru" or mentor or whatever you want to call them, because they are probably an essential part of the learning curve. If you can stick to one or two good ones, all the better. Jumping from one to the next to the next is guaranteed to give you a massive headache and, in the long run, jeopardize your chances for success.

Remember, not everyone has the talent, desire or stamina to become an "Internet Marketing Guru" but you know what? You don't have to be one to make a living online. If fact, millions of people all over the world quietly make at least a portion of their income from their Internet businesses. If that is your ultimate goal, it is doable if you have patience and a keen desire to succeed.

John Delavera

What can you say about John Delavera. He's a virtual dynamo of new ideas and clear, understandable writing that is sometimes blunt, but always entertaining and let's face it, when it comes to learning, entertaining helps.

John's main forte is programming. His products are some of the best scripts available for keeping track of all your products and affiliates and he has some great scripts for running product sales and even a script that let's your customers buy you a drink. He also writes one of the very best ezines on Marketing (Turbozine) that is a must read for any budding newbie.

My introduction to John came through his short, but extremely enlightening eBook, "My Early Days on the Net". This is a powerful eBook with a series of articles on different aspects of owning and operating a website — information I had never come across before that was so helpful, I bought several of John's other products ... and they have helped me enormously in getting my sites up and running efficiently.

If you are ready to join the Ultimate Membership site, John's Turbo Membership is absolutely the best way to get your Internet Business setup and running with ALL the tools you will ever need to create a Business and not just a website. There are just too many features to list here, but do yourself a favor and read about John's Turbo Membership. This is NOT for newbies. This is for people who have got beyond their state of confusion and have a good idea what they want to accomplish online. If you're ready, this is for you.

A few words about Mike Filesaime and Marketers of his ilk ...

What can I say about Mike Filesaime? I guess I would call him the used car salesman of Internet Marketing — and a very successful one. His technique is to always be selling and sometimes one gets a bit weary of the sales pitches. Mike and Internet Marketers like him, use a lot of gimmicks, such as Fire Sales and One Time Offers and "Butterfly Marketing" techniques and he has a lot of products that are packages of many different products sold at one low price, which tends to devalue the worth of everything in that package.

Keep in mind that any product that shows up in one of these package deals has probably already been squeezed for every sale by someone else and you will likely have a difficult time doing the same thing. Many of these products are outdated anyway, so unless you have the knowledge to update them yourself, it's probably better to leave them alone and put your dollars into one quality training course or eBook.

What I've realized is the whole "Butterfly Marketing" crowd seem to have one thing and one thing only on their mind ... figuring out how to exploit the innocence of "newbies" at any cost. They don't really care whether they provide a decent quality product, all they care about is lining their pockets with as much of your cash as they possibly can. So beware, especially of all the "One Time Offers" and "Free Memberships" that turn out to be not so free if you get sucked into their network.

My advice ... be very careful who you're dealing with and who's advice you're taking when it comes to Internet Marketing. This crowd is always coming up with a new "gimmick" in order to sell the same recycled, crap products to an unsuspecting audience.

The gurus I've mentioned above as my favorites are there for a reason ... they consistently deliver more than expectations. I've learned over the past few years exactly how rare that really is when it comes to Internet Marketing.

For those who are just starting out, please remember, once you own one ebook on say "Viral Marketing" or "List Buiding" or whatever the latest product craze is, you've probably got everything you need, so when the next ebook is released claiming to divulge new "secrets" about these same topics, you can safely put away your credit card because I guarantee you, the new ebook is just a reworking of the same old information that's been around for years.

To get the full picuture of how these "gurus" operate and why they're so good at squeezing you for cash, get a copy of my eBook Truth, Lies & Dirty Tricks.

Are you tired of getting suckered by Internet Marketers? Don’t Get Fooled Again!

Truth, Lies and Dirty Tricks will teach you everything you need to know before you pull out your credit card to purchase another Internet Marketing product.

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