Life Coach Scam: The Easy Multiple Six Figures A Month Pyramid Scheme

The new coach webinar scam is like the plague. Don’t catch it!

Hey you! Yes, you.

I know you’ve probably seen a gazillion ads on Facebook telling you that you can make $10,000+ your very first month of selling your non-existent course!

I know you’ve probably even watched some of those live webinars or attended some of those live launches and fantasized about having the dream life said coach is selling. A life of having all the freedom in the world to do whatever the heck it is you want to do, including working from anywhere in the world and traveling 2,344 days per year.

I know you want to believe it, and you want to try it, if only it weren’t so expensive.

I’m glad you think it’s expensive. Otherwise, I’d question your sanity. I’m also glad you haven’t signed up yet (and hope you are doing OK if you’re one of those who fell for it).

Is It Really A New Life Coach Webinar Scam?

If it waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck…

I’m sure there are coaches out there who are genuinely interested in helping you. I’m also sure that there are coaches out there who are using webinars and live launches who are legitimate.

Many of these currently paying for Facebook ads to entice you in joining the new life coach webinar scam are phonies. It is a pyramid scheme model where everyone and anyone is qualified to be a coach, and everyone’s dream can come true like, yesterday.

But that doesn’t sound like reality, does it?

Integrity in Business

Can a business be successful if it operates with integrity? To answer that, we first need to define integrity.

the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

– Thank you, Google!

I’d say yes. Business does not require going against your morals to make money. What it usually requires is authenticity and meeting your clients’ needs. If you have to use sketchy sales tactics and encourage people to sell an arm and a leg to buy your product, it makes you sketchy. Plain and simple. And that’s what I’ve found is going on here.

I’ve watched a countless number of these webinars, and I’ve even scheduled several of the “breakthrough”/”clarity” sessions. I ended up finding clarity. Clarity that this is a scam and everyone is just trying to make a buck off of me. These coaches for coaches are trying to squeeze all the juice out of bitter lemons before they all shrivel up.

Often there’s little to no actual coaching involved in this new life coaching webinar scam. Many of the courses are delivered in a college-style module-based course. Many of them cost WAY more than a college course. Most of the time, you can find the information for free on YouTube or in a Kindle book. Not only that, there are people who are really selling courses as courses on Teachable, without charging you “high-ticket” prices for non-existent coaching. And a course does not have to be high-ticket to truly be worth it. Don’t be fooled.

The Power of the Ad Copy

Advertising is all about getting you to buy NOW, NOW, NOW! It’s not always a bad thing. That’s how businesses make money, after all. It’s not bad to make money and it’s not a bad thing to want to make money, either. This is the role of the ad copy. To turn people who see the ad into customers.

[The headline] will either appeal to a fear or desire, or it will inspire curiosity. The goal of the headline is to stop readers in their tracks and inspire them to read the rest of the copy. – Laura Lake

Many of these new coaches are using great copies. They get you to want to watch the webinar. They get you to want to sign up and live that fabulous life starting next week. But that is rarely the reality.

Common Tactics

The webinars are often full of dreams and a degree of vagueness where you are really not sure what you are going to be getting, but you still want to work with the coach because you view him or her as the authority and the answer to your dreams. The answer that you’ve been looking for your whole life. They are the dream come true.

Some of them make you feel bad or incompetent for asking the right questions. I’ve seen things like:

• “If they want to know the details of what the course is about, they’re probably not really interested in buying anyway,”
• “you want to attract your ideal client who loves you and wants to drop six figures on you, no questions asked,”
• “if someone is too broke to spend 4 figures on a course, they are not an entrepreneur, they need to go get a job,”
• “not investing [a million gazillion] dollars on a coach while you’re broke is the mindset that is going to keep you broke.”

Others try to convince you to make poor financial decisions to line their pockets while you dig yourself into a hole, promising that you’ll make it back and then some in a month or two once you join this new coach webinar scam.

• “Don’t have the money? Put it on a credit card.”
• “Don’t have a job? Borrow the money from family/friends.”
• “Only have 2k in your savings account? Use it all to pay for my course!”
• “Living paycheck to paycheck and have a bill due this Friday? Prioritize and pay for this course so that a few months down the line you can kiss your day job goodbye!”
• “Invest in yourself right this very second, whether you have the money or not. Find it someway, somehow. Pay for this course and don’t worry about checking in with your husband first, or you’ll be stuck in that situation for life.”

They try to convince you that you shouldn’t have any fear because the only reason you’ll fail is if you don’t do the work. As if life were always so simple.

Plus, there’s a 7-14 day money back guarantee so what do you have to fear? <Insert fine print here that refunds are at their discretion after you jump through a million different hoops to prove that you did all the work, which would generally take you more than the time allotted for requesting a refund>

Why Does It Appeal To Me So Much?

Freud was the one who realized that people’s insecurities drove them to excess and overcompensation. Freud was also the one who understood that people are, at heart, animals and are easily manipulated, especially in groups. – Mark Manson

Put simply, these coaches and wannabe coaches are using your insecurities to manipulate you into buying their programs. Once you sign up, you’ve lost your money and therefore even if it feels wrong to you, you still want to at least give it a try so that you can at least make your money back. And on and on the pyramid goes.

5 Things To Keep In Mind

• It is not wise to dig yourself into debt in the hopes of making the money back soon. Nothing is guaranteed.
• Even the best coach will not be the right fit for everyone. Not all life coaches are frauds. Some coaches offer lower-priced services where you can test them out first.
• If you cannot find independent reviews of a coach you are considering using, you might not know enough about the coach to hire him/her as yet. This is not to say that only well-established coaches deserve to make money. But unless you have the cash up front to make the purchase, and are aware of the risks of losing that investment, then you should be a wise steward and not go into debt for something you think is a sure cause.
• Read this article on “Bro Marketing.” I’ve linked to page 2 as that has the details I find most relevant, but it won’t be difficult to find page 1. This greatly highlights the rise and issues with the new coach webinar scam.
• If you are feeling anxious about spending so much money on something that is supposed to benefit you, it may be a warning sign. Learn about taking control of your anxiety by clicking here, and come to God in earnest prayer.

I want to leave you with a verse of scripture. Do not be discouraged, because through your hard work, dedication, and faith, The Lord will provide a way for you to complete His will. He will lead you to business models that resonate with you and the clients you will serve. Your Lord Father in Heaven cares about you.

“The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.” – Deuteronomy 28:12