The Perils of Paying for Coaching
I write this having just come back to the surface from a rabbit-hole dive down the EtsySellers subreddit. The topic I was delving into? Etsy coaching and course scams, or put in a more nuanced, “politically correct” way, courses with incredibly high (though murky) value propositions that also charge A LOT of money up front.
For example, someone tells you that they’ll teach you how to start making $25,000/month - they’ll provide you everything you need to get started, to be successful - they’ll even coach you one-on-one, and, as a super-duper bonus, you’ll have access to the ever-so-valuable private Facebook group where everyone supports each other and shares inevitable wins.
The catch? An eye-watering price tag. Think thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars.
You may wonder, ‘How would anyone fall for that?’ or ‘Why would anyone pay that kind of money?’ The answer lies in the value proposition of the coaching or course. If a so-called guru tells you that they’ll change your life and help you start to bring in serious theoretical cash, you may be more open to parting with your real life cash. And, as cruelly counter-productive as it is, the more desperate you feel to get ahead financially, the more susceptible you may be to giving your hard-earned money to questionable sources.
So how does this have anything to do with technology? While snake oil salespeople have existed for pretty much all of humankind, the platform and reach of them has increased by huge magnitudes with technology. Scammers use all the same technology as legitimate businesses - marketing emails to email lists, sleek websites with eye-catching “BUY NOW” buttons, enviable social media presences, raving customer reviews. It’s important to be skeptical when presented with too-good-to-be-true offers, and to never take anything you see on the internet at face value.
Fortunately, technology (the internet, mostly!) can be the scammer’s undoing as well. Check for company listings on Better Business Bureau, scrutinize communications from anyone trying to sell you coaching or courses, or take a dive down a Reddit rabbit-hole to see what folks are saying online. You could save yourself thousands of dollars and a great deal of heartache.
