All About "Free" Money Making Seminars

Here's an excerpt from the book The Frugal Millionaires: 70 millionaires anonymously share their ideas about money to help each other and you. It's about the all the "free" seminars that are available these days.

With the economy going south the free seminar racket is on full tilt. What better time to separate fools from their money than when there is a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt in the marketplace?

NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE...LIKE A “FREE” SEMINAR

You haven’t lived a completely full life until you’ve seen the dark side of marketing in action. Yes, I’m talking about those “free” money making seminars that promise you financial freedom.

R-i-ight.

Let’s be clear up front: These seminars are far from free. At a minimum they cost your time (which for most of us is worth more than money). They also cost fuel, parking and food, and, possibly, airfare, lodging, rental car, credit counseling fees and a psychotherapist bill.

These types of marketing vehicles aren’t 100% bad if you can separate out the bits of good info from the gratuitous sales pitches. But there’s only about 15% of the “good stuff” intertwined with the subtle (and often hard) selling. Sometimes you can see the difference, other times you can’t. It’s hard to tell if what they are “teaching” you for free is just a set-up to sell you something later. You also have to be able to remember the little jewels of wisdom they impart and put them to use if you expect to truly see a benefit. That is often easier said than done.

These presentations are polished to a smooth, super high-gloss finish, and delivered in a folksy, personalized kind of way. That allows
the slime to slide right off them and down on to you. If you go to one of these seminars wear your foul weather gear because you are going
to get slimed. I subjected myself to one of these free seminars “for the sake of research.” I took a bullet for you.

Here is my story:

The seminar I attended started with two announcements for…you guessed it: an upgrade offer from the “free” seats to paid ones right up front. At least they were smiling about it. It didn’t get any better from there. From that point on the presentations were fast, furious, deliberate, and designed to catch you in a weak emotional moment and sell you something. And typically right before a meal. Manipulative? You bet!

The motivational presenters (or should I say: carnival hawkers?) ask your permission to pitch you by making the content being delivered appear to be something extremely valuable and life changing. And because they’ve been bending your brain, heart and emotions for hours (sometimes days) you react to their “no-option but yes” request to tell you more about their paid programs. I watched people cheer them on like lemmings. Pricey self-improvement and financial growth programs get heavily “discounted” just for this seminar with the added pressure that “there will be only a limited number of seats available for these programs, at this special price.” And since these programs will bring you love and happiness, make you rich and set you free financially how could you NOT be jumping up and down for this heck of a deal, they ask? What is wrong with you? That’s the implied and sometimes obvious message anyway. The pressure continues…don’t you know that by saying no you will be missing a huge opportunity that is being offered because we love you and want you to help us change the world? (Insert the “We are the World” hand holding sing-along here.)

As the pitching escalates, the room starts buzzing and the announcement is made that whatever they are pushing (um, offering) is “first come – first serve.” Don’t miss out! Only limited seating at these programs is available – right now! Now, Now, Now! The feeding frenzy tilts to a fever pitch. Buy now! You can hear the suckers in the audience agreeing under their breath by mumbling, “Uh-huh…That’s right! Yes, that’s right! Yes, Yes, Uh-Hum!” The fire and brimstone yelling and screaming is working…and you are now hooked…or at least considering it! I witness people jumping out of their seats and heading to the back of the room before the meal break to capture the deals before they are sold out and gone forever! Forever! You can almost see dollar signs in the hopeful eyes of these people…like they have just found the key to financial nirvana…and it was oh so easy. It was like they were the only ones on the planet who were going to have access to this miracle financial cure. All they had to do was just show up today and all their financial problems (among others) would be solved. As long as they bought the seminar package! Quick, quick, run to the back of the room before you blow the opportunity of a lifetime! Get moving. Have your credit card ready please! And if you can’t afford it right now we will let you make payments! Yikes!

I am not making this up!

You are told that to be successful you will have to fight your brain’s default mode of trying to protect you and break out of your comfort zone (while your bank account gets broken into…) to commit to this life changing opportunity. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda…

“Not so fast!,” the conscience of many of the frugal millionaires would say! They didn’t get where they are by falling for this kind of stuff. Why so? They are a financially savvy group, and hardly the target audience for these slicksters. That’s why they don’t go to these “free” seminars. All this “we’re helping you to be a better person” stuff is being offered by the promoters with no substantive proof that these programs help the majority of the people who ultimately pay to attend them…even though some obviously positive testimonials are offered (of course!). A handful of success stories become the poster child for everyone’s dreams and hopes. It’s an all emotional “you can be smart like us” pitch which, as the frugal millionaires know all too well, is a sign to hold on to your wallet…with both hands.

The pitch continues to be made for the paid programs right before the lunch break is announced. The motivational presenter is winding down the pressurized pitch as the quotas in the back of the room are being filled. He is notably ignoring the people in the audience who are raising their hands right in front of him to ask questions. He continues to ignore them. Don’t these attendees know this is a one-way presentation with only controlled interaction? No hard questions please! Just hand over your money.

What I saw was astounding. But you can’t be a naysayer in this crowd or you will be labeled as someone who doesn’t want to change their life for the better. Well, there are plenty of ways to change your life for the better, and for all but one of the frugal millionaires who attended these events this isn’t one of them.

I’d personally like to thank all the people who collectively spent hundreds of thousands of dollars (!) during the seminar I attended so it could be offered to me for “free,” relatively speaking anyway. But next time can the organizers at least comp the parking if they are going to relentlessly try to sell me their paid programs for hours and days on end?
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I've seen these seminars advertised on TV and have received mailings for them, but never attended any. Have any of you? If so, were your experiences like those of the author?

Comments

[Paul Williams @ Crackerjack Greenback]

FMF, I have a question for you and your readers.

I'm going to be starting my own fee-only, hourly or flat fee financial planning firm, and part of my marketing plan is educational seminars. I have a passion for teaching people about personal finance, and I feel it will build my reputation over time.

However, I don't want to be lumped in with these scam artists and the brokers who give "free" seminars with a "free" dinner. How do you think I could differentiate an educational seminar (that really has no strings attached at all) from these "free", hype sales pitches? What would convince you to come listen to me?

[Kevin M]

Paul - I've been to a few seminars like you're talking about doing and you can tell the difference between those and the sales pitches described in the blog. You should be OK as long as you don't go for the "hard sell".

Good luck with the venture.

[F]

The "don't miss out!" is so stereotypical. Whenever I see that phrase, alarm bells go off. ("Don't miss the upcoming market recovery!")

[Aya @ Thrive]

That's pretty remarkable...and appalling. I always see those ads but have never thought twice about going to one because it's so clearly a scam. It's terrible that it still speaks to such a large crowd; why are we so easily decieved by get rich quick schemes?

Paul - I agree with Kevin, if what you're doing is genuine, it will most likely sound genuine and not get lumped together with scams. Speak honestly and don't push too hard. Good luck :)

[Josh]

My wife and i got invited to one right after we got married. It was like they looked up the marriages that month and invited all of them. They pressured us hard to buy these excellent pots and pans. We said no and took there "FREE TRIP VOUCHER". Little did i find out that you couldn't use the voucher for anything but at least i got a meal out of it.

[LC]

Paul - I agree with others that it should be obvious your intent. I would also market it differently, maybe with smaller groups in a more intimate setting (obviously you won't be having thousands of people in an arena telling them to get their credit cards ready). Maybe offer a class at your home or a church and only charge a minimal fee for materials if you want.

I went to an all day motivational seminar of which one part was one of these spiels. I clearly knew to stay away but many of my coworkers flocked to the tables to sign up even when I told them (nicely) how dumb it was. Even if I am tempted, I tell myself that I can always buy it later through their website or something. It's not like they are going to refuse, so I don't give into their pressure to hurry up.

[Tarah]

The one I went to was endorsed by Donald Trump. They had a lot of really good information in it, but I could tell right away that it was a sales pitch. I took notes and applied the information they gave me at the "seminar," and did it on my own for free.

I guess the reader only saw the lemons. I used the seminar as an opportunity for networking, got some good knowledge, got a free lunch and Trump's latest book. I also realized that there are a lot of suckers out there who buy all four of the $3,000 seminar packages.

[Sarah]

No offense, but why would you want to "network" with people goofy and/or desperate enough to go to these seminars? Frankly they'd be stamping themselves for me as people you'd not want to waste your limited networking resources on.

[Gia]

My very first exposure to the concept of "financial freedom" and "financial peace" was three years ago. I'd read a book and received a free pair of tickets to one of those seminars. I went with a friend.

It was an amazing (and frightening, in hindsight) experience because I learned that I could be wealthy. Up until that point, it never occured to me that I could.

It was a frightening experience because there was a lot of pressure to buy the main speaker's products and classes. What the author said in the article is true. There were thousands of people. For three days, we sang together, held hands, listened to and repeated the speaker's words (when instructed). People dashed to the back of the convention hall and whipped out their credit cards in droves when he offered "discounted" prices. Our hopes were raised to the stars. We were told that we could do anything, and we believed.

I'd deliberately left my credit card at home (I commuted daily to and from the seminar). However, by the third day I'd remembered the number somehow and signed up for two of the courses. One was $900+ and the other was approximately $2,000.

After the seminar ended, I was on a high. But when I sat down and look at my financial situation, I realized that I couldn't pay for the classes and pay down my student loan debt. I felt like a total loser when I called to cancel the classes within the one-week grace period. We were told over and over again that only fools would not take advantage of the offers that were presented. I felt relieved afterwards. I was a happy "fool."

About two weeks later, I ran into someone from the seminar. He'd signed up for one of the $3,000+ classes because he wanted to get out of debt. He wanted my assurance that he had done the right thing. I actually don't remember what I'd told him, but I remember the fear rolling off him. He was terrified for having spent so much money when he was already in debt.

99% of us who attended the seminar were hypnotized by the speakers' talks of "financial freedom." We were never really given any concrete means of achieving that freedom. Instead, we were led to believe that we had to attend the once-in-a-lifetime, too-good-to-pass-up discounted, yet still expensive, classes to learned the secrets. Some, like myself, fell for the con and handed over our credit cards and hopes. Fortunately, some of us regained our senses and cancelled the subscriptions before the charges went through.

[AdamCO]

Sounds like a service in one of those evangelical churches

[Everyday Finance]

Hmmm. reminds me to Shop to Earn. I was coerced by a friend to check it out, listened in on the telecon, decided not to join after identifying red flags in the program (turned out to be an MLM) did a post about the downsides of the program, started getting "cease and desist" notices and legal threats from their head counsel. Quite an ordeal. I'll have to do an update on that one, it's been a few months. Thanks for the reminder...and thanks for highlighting to readers that nothing in this world is really free!

[Paul Williams @ Crackerjack Greenback]

Thanks for the suggestions all! My initial thoughts were the same as yours. People will see that my intentions are honest and I'm actually being genuine. It'll just take me longer to really get going. However, once word starts spreading it should snowball from there.

I feel for people who fall for those scams though. Those cons work off your emotions. Most people who go to those seminars are either not emotionally prepared to make a decision or they're in a financial situation that makes any "opportunity" seem golden.

I'm hoping real financial education through free seminars will allow me to fight against these scams and help people make good decisions for their future.

[thomas]

I'm always suprised by the amount of people who succumb to such nonsense.

[ghuraba]

I also went to the Donald Trump one, the free one where they give you his free book. I went with a friend and we were both aware that it would be a sales pitch. I told my friend that if I actually fall for it and decide to waste my money, that he talk some sense into me. We were actually kind of interested in watching how they would pitch it. After the seminar we talked about how that was such a great sales pitch. You can learn a lot about selling and delving into people's emotions from these seminars. There was some good information given too. But you have to be aware of their intentions before walking into one of these things.
Usually, even a free seminar is a ripoff because it is not worth your time.

[VC]

Do that many people really buy into these things? I always saw them as so cheesy.

Paul, I agree with the others. I think if you market in a different way, not hawking free money, but teaching a lifestyle change you'll stand out as legitimate.

[Leroy Ang]

I agree the notion on nothing is really free in this world.

However, when i first started out on my financial edu journey, i did not have the money to attend paid seminars. I tried attending free seminars, which are actually the prelude to a paid edu programme or product.

From the experience of attending so many free introductory seminars, i cannot help but noticed that in order to entice the participants whom were attending the free seminars to sign up or buy the "hidden" products embedded in the seminar, the speaker usually does offer at least one workable idea.

I pick up at least one free idea in each of the free seminar i'd attended previously. It works well for me.

For shairing, pls.

Regards,
Leroy