Guru gets arrested for lying through his teeth

The least favorite aspect of what I do is constantly having to smash down my clients’ bright object syndrome, thanks in large part to sociopathic gurus who lie through their teeth to promote the new next big thing - whether that thing be TikTok Shop, so-called AI, chatbot marketing (RIP), social media, heavily-designed HTML email junk, short-as-sin emails, new funnel software, new websites, and the list goes on forever.

Part of the problem is my clients aren’t marketers, and so, they haven’t internalized the principles over tactics mindset. But the more annoying part of the problem is the sociopathic gurus who lie through their teeth and trick otherwise innocent business owners into making foolish mistakes. 

Long story short, it ain’t always easy or peachy or fun to be on Team Client. But that’s a principle I have, and that means I’m forced to be the voice of truth more often than I’d wish. 

But I do always get a hearty ole chuckle when I catch wind of the sociopathic guru types being exposed, arrested, and getting an order of restitution to the tune of $57M. 

Like, for example, what recently happened to a guru named Josh Coleman. (I just saw one random tweet… I have never heard of him before this.) 

Anyway, here’s the story:

This Coleman jabroni, I’m assuming a few years ago, pleaded guilty in a $72M wire fraud scheme. After this, he decided to tone down his scummy and scammy ways - but only by a tad. He reinvented himself as an ecom owner whose superpower was being an absolute stud of a TikTok Shop entrepreneur. Or so he claimed. 

(If this liar was truly so great at TikTok Shop, methinks he wouldn’t have needed to get involved in any kind of wire fraud scheme at all… )

The claim?

After coming back from literal fraud, he and his wife started an ecom store, got set up in TikTok Shop, and according to them, made $250k from TikTok alone in just three measly weeks. 

More:

Coleman claimed more than $650k in sales in total. He would’ve gotten away with it too if it weren’t for those meddling financial reports. But the financial reports showed a net loss of $25k. 

From the little I understand about the legal process, I see one of two possibilities: 

Either he lied to his audience and claimed to make $650k when he really lost $25k or he did actually make $650k but lied to the probation office and claimed that he actually lost $25k. 

I don’t know which one is more accurate nor do I care. 

My point stands: 

Gurus will lie through their teeth at every step to pry your hard-earned moolah from your warm and tingly hands! 

The good news about this story in particular is that he ain’t getting away with it. He’s currently facing up to 5 years in prison and a large order of restitution fee of $57M. 

The bad news?

Most gurus lie through their teeth and get away with it. 

This is especially rampant amongst marketers and so-called entrepreneurs. 

I think these sociopaths literally get off by cheating and lying and stealing for money. The worst part is that they’re ultra-persuasive because they’re sociopaths and, thus, able to wield all the unethical persuasion tricks too. 

Moral of the story?

Do your due diligence. Always. 

Stave off your shiny object syndrome. As boring and unsexy as fundamentals are, they’re fundamentals for a reason. 

And hit reply if you want to work with one of the rare non-sociopathic marketers (while also growing your email revenue). 

John