Here’s How NOT To Fall For These Manipulation Traps
…So you don’t get screwed over ever again.
It’s one thing to pretend like you are smart by giving out general advice (you know, the sort of thing that applies to everyone), but it’s another to say something that’s completely out of wack and present it as reliable information.
It’s outright dangerous.
…Especially if the audience isn’t that knowledgeable in the first place.
If you convince people that the government is out to get them, and that authority is just a system devised to limit people’s freedoms, what do you end up with?
Anarchists.
If you make people believe that they must serve God no matter the cost and that they should sacrifice everything in order to do so, what do they turn into?
Terrorists.
And worst of all…if you make a child believe that the world does indeed revolve around them and everyone else is just an NPC, what do they grow up to be?
Karens.
Information is power, and the worst culprits who abuse this power are the self-development marketers and fake online gurus.
Why?
Because even though what they do is completely legal, the effects can negatively harm an entire generation of young individuals.
They try and make their message seem as arcane as possible by selling it over and over again without ever getting to the point.
They steal money right under unsuspecting people’s noses.
And when people start to question their “courses” and “ebooks” because it doesn’t deliver the results they promised, guess what they do?
They use manipulation to make people believe it’s their OWN fault that they’ve failed.
Want to know what British people call them?
Wafflers.
Other more universally used synonyms include:
- Politicians
- Bullshitters
- Sleazy salesmen
- Cult leaders
As it turns out, people like this exist everywhere.
…And it doesn’t seem like they are going away anytime soon.
So, is there any way we can tell if someone is a “waffler” or not?
Well, yes…to a certain extent.
Luckily, they all exhibit a few common characteristics that make identifying them a bit easier.
However, the really good ones can even hide these characteristics from plain sight so it’s always good to take a sceptical stance whenever you’re presented with new ideas — no matter how attractive or enticing they seem at first.
Anyways, you’re probably dying to know what these characteristics are so let’s get right into it.
1. Their ideas are never specific or practical
If I’m going to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a brand new course, then it better be filled with insightful advice I can actually implement into my own life!
Or else why would I spend so much money?
A lot of people forget this point and just settle for a course that is packed with theoretical information but nothing that’s really applicable.
It’s like trying to learn how to ride a bike but all you’re given is a textbook to read. How is that supposed to help in any way?
People who’ve discovered innovative ideas wouldn’t hesitate to share them with the world unless there is a genuine concern that other people will steal the idea and use it to profit themselves.
But if that’s the case, they wouldn’t be any need to sell you the idea — it’ll sell itself!
Plus, if a piece of information is that powerful, the creators will obviously do everything they can to make sure nobody even knows of its existence!
Just remember the old adage:
If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is…
Another thing I hate is advice that is way too cliche, general or has little meaning behind them.
Some examples of this include stuff like:
- How to get girls: Just be yourself.
- How to become a better writer: Write more often.
- How to make more money: You gotta work smart, not hard.
- How to get rid of past trauma: Don’t let your past experiences define your future.
- How to get rid of anxiety: Stop caring about what others think.
I guess the common theme behind these shitty pieces of advice is that they all tell you WHAT to do but not HOW to actually do it.
It’s like saying to a homeless guy “Just get a house!”
Totally solved the problem now didn’t it?
Ultimately, in order for a piece of advice to be authentic and useful, it only really needs to satisfy two conditions:
- It needs to be practical, meaning that the recipient of that advice should know EXACTLY what actions to take after being given the advice.
- The advice actually has to solve a problem that the person is having rather than blame the problem on some uncontrollable external factor.
The first point eliminates all general pieces of advice and discounts them as being useful, and the second point gets rid of anything else that isn’t directly related to providing a solution for a problem.
2. They talk way too much
As someone who is in the sales industry, I know what this looks like.
For someone who isn’t that experienced with interacting with salespeople, here’s how you can tell if you are being sold something:
- They have this sort of mechanical like persistence about them and they never take no for an answer.
- They will mirror your actions and movements and copy the way you speak by matching your sentence pace, intonation, vocal inflexion, facial expressions, etc. You won’t realise it’s happening unless you’re actively looking out for it.
- They will present themselves as an expert in their field and when they don’t know how to answer a question, they’ll simply direct the flow of the conversation onto another topic.
- The most used words in their vocabulary are probably “Yup”, “Uh-huh” and “Ah, I see”.
- They will appear super charismatic and sympathetic and all of this will be conveyed through their body language. However in reality, what they really care about is the wallet in your back pocket.
I could list out probably 50 more bullet points, but I think you get the gist.
Am I a sleazy salesperson myself?
No.
In fact, I aim to save as much money for my customers as possible.
Does that mean that everyone else is also an angel?
No.
3. They’re always rushing
The quicker a salesman can be done with you, the quicker they can move on to another prospect.
For online marketing, this typically involves getting you to sign up for a free “limited-time-only webinar” right after they tell you how great their product is and how much your life is gonna suck if you don’t buy whatever they’re selling.
You’ll hear phrases like “if you want to get ahead, you have to start investing in yourself right now…” or “you don’t wanna regret missing out on this opportunity…” or “opportunities like this are what differentiates the rich from the poor…”
It’s all designed to press extra hard on your pain points and to entice you to make a quick purchase decision.
Jordan Belfort even came up with a name for it — lowering the prospect’s “Action Threshold”.
If they give you more time to think, you’ll come to your senses and start weighing up the pros and cons.
No professional waffler ever wants that.
Conclusion
The world is a big scary place out there.
To survive, we all have to make a conscious effort to process information in our heads instead of just accepting everything we hear.
I know it’s tough since we all want to be lazy and just follow instructions and trust that other people will have all the answers, but that’s the perfect recipe for getting screwed over.
99% of the time, everyone is super nice and friendly.
However, all it takes is one little mistake and BOOM, you lost all the hard-earned savings you’ve accumulated for the last 10 years.
That $70 could’ve got you a lot of things…
Anyways, I hope you liked this article and found it an interesting read!
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