The Danger of Following Anti-Gurus

Posted by Antone Roundy under Internet Marketing Gurus
4 Comments 

A few days ago, I posted about the Danger of Following Gurus. Today, I need to expand on that a little.

A firestorm has been brewing around a group of the Old Gurus who call themselves “The Syndicate”. Jason Jones, a.k.a. The Salty Droid got his hands on a recording of two of them discussing business, and has been releasing parts of it on his blog.

Some of what’s on the recording is, at best, not good for the image of the Syndicate members, suggesting, for example, that they’re less concerned about the value they deliver than making as much money as humanly possible.

While I support alerting consumers about shady business practices, the problem is that Jason tends to misrepresent, sensationalize, and blow things out of proportion.

For example, at one point, the Syndicate members talk about how John Reese is such a smart guy, but hasn’t been doing any huge, high-priced launches lately. Jason says they’re stabbing him in the back. But to me, it sounded like they were complimenting him, and wanting to see him live up to his potential.

Jason calls innocuous things unethical or illegal. For example, in one part of the recording, the Syndicate members discuss pricing of a product. Jason calls it “price fixing”. What I heard was someone giving someone else pricing advice.

One other problem I have with Jason is the way he expresses himself — with foul language and hostility. I don’t know whether he’s really like that, or if that’s just the persona he’s chosen for this particular blog. If such things bother you, don’t visit his site, because you won’t be able to avoid them.

Which brings me to my main point: you won’t be able to avoid vulgarity and hostility on his blog, not only in Jason’s posts, but also in the comments, which often have the same tone and echo the same misrepresentations.

I’d imagine this is, in part, because a blog like The Salty Droid attracts vulgar and hostile readers. But that’s not the whole story.

Mike Filsaime, a target of some of Jason’s attacks, responded today with an interview and an extended note. I’ll leave it to you to decide who’s telling how much truth — I’m in no position to say. But I’d like to point out one of the comments that appeared under the interview and note:

Well that puts a completely different light on matters and I for one must apologize for getting caught up in the negative stuff that was posted on that blog.

… I feel ashamed at some of the stuff I said under an assumed name on the droid blog.

Hate is like poison and I can see the poison starting to spread … and I no longer want a part of it.

This is a perfect example of what I was talking about the other day — when you step into someone’s world, you risk falling under their influence.

Be careful who you listen to (whether guru, customer, or anti-guru), and how readily you accept what they say. Be careful how you respond. Keep your ears open for voices you can trust. And even be careful with them, because even honest people make mistakes.

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4 Responses to “The Danger of Following Anti-Gurus”

  1. Michel Fortin Says:
    October 8th, 2010 at 11:56 am

    Antone, I love your logic. You always have a sensible viewpoint, and this piece is no different. It’s reasonable and well said. I believe that education is important, too. But when facts are swattered with vileness and hostility, trying to make sense from the muckraking has become an increasingly daunting task. And in my opinion, for people who seek to be informed, it’s also counterproductive.

    Anyway, thanks for the levelheaded discussion.

  2. Clay Says:
    October 8th, 2010 at 2:11 pm

    You’ve referenced just ONE post on the Salty Droid’s blog.

    It’s like picking up a big book of 500 pages. You’ve opened it to page 328 and used that single page to evaluate the entire book.

    If you read ALL the posts (and the topics often stretch across many) and put things together with a truly open mind, a different picture may avail itself.

    Don’t be so quick to shoot the messenger because you don’t like his wardrobe.

  3. Antone Roundy Says:
    October 11th, 2010 at 11:15 am

    Clay,

    I guess I didn’t state this clearly above: I’m not taking sides (at least not in this post) on whether these people are involved in price fixing or other potentially illegal or unethical practices.

    My comments where meant to be limited to Jason’s characterizations of the content of the recording only.

    * What they were saying about John Reese boils down to “this guy’s smart — why isn’t he doing more?” I don’t know whether they attack him elsewhere, but the recording we heard certainly didn’t contain anything I’d call an attack.

    * Calling the pricing discussion we heard “price fixing” doesn’t fit my understanding of what price fixing is. Essentially Andy said “I’m thinking of pricing it at $X” and Jeff responded “I think you should price it at $Y”. They may be fixing prices outside of this call, but what we heard there wasn’t, in my (non-lawyer) opinion, price fixing.

    I’m not going to read all of the posts on the Salty Droid, in part because (and this was the main point of this post), I “don’t like his wardrobe”. I don’t immerse myself in the kind of vulgarity and hostility that fills his site. It’s offensive to me. I don’t want to get accustomed to it. And I certainly don’t want any of it rubbing off on me.

  4. Antone Roundy Says:
    October 11th, 2010 at 11:42 am

    Michael said:

    trying to make sense from the muckraking has become an increasingly daunting task.

    Right! If your goal is to educate, you’ve got to talk straight. Fight fire with water, not fire — otherwise, everybody just gets burned more.

    There’s no need to exaggerate, lie or use inflammatory language to turn people against someone who’s crossed ethical or legal lines — just expose the evidence. As soon as you start making assertions that misinterpret or contradict the evidence, you hurt your own credibility as much as the person you’re attacking.

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