[HN Gopher] The influencers getting rich by teaching you how to ...
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The influencers getting rich by teaching you how to get rich
Author : herbertl
Score : 39 points
Date : 2023-04-03 21:58 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.vox.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.vox.com)
| TrackerFF wrote:
| Whenever I see FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)
| influencers, almost without fail, the "hidden" story is that
| they:
|
| - Inherited money / property / etc.
|
| - Started to dabble in stock 5-10 years ago, right before /
| during the greatest bull-run so far
|
| - Work in tech / finance / law / general high-paying white collar
| job
|
| - Dual income, spouse in similar profession
|
| But the big talking points are of course how they like to make
| coffee home, and how you can save 2 bucks a day on doing that. Or
| how hustling 2-3 hours a doing some menial online job will bring
| you extra 10-20 bucks a day
|
| edit: Also, related to the article, I have noticed a considerable
| uptick of these "YOU NEED TO KNOW THESE 5 [insert some software]
| TRICKS" tidbits. Just 10 minutes ago I was scrolling Instagram
| and got a bunch of vids like that promoting excel tricks, chatgpt
| tricks, etc.
| paxys wrote:
| This is a profession as old as time. "Get rich quick" books and
| seminars, MLM schemes, the entire "hustle" culture in general.
| Remember the most profitable venture during the gold rush wasn't
| digging in mines but opening inns and selling shovels.
|
| If there is a true secret to building wealth people who know it
| aren't going to go around telling everybody for $50/mo.
| __derek__ wrote:
| In your analogy, the folks selling these courses are probably
| more like the people selling claims to gold-less plots. Maybe
| some gold-finding sticks, too.
| [deleted]
| boeingUH60 wrote:
| "How to make money from crypto/NFT/AI/[insert current thing
| here]...buy my online course!"
| galacticaactual wrote:
| This is a long standing internet grift. Not sure why it's HN
| worthy.
| catchnear4321 wrote:
| Older than the internet.
|
| Not worthy, but society is having a conversation about what to
| do with these types. Especially with how easy technology has
| made it to grift. That's a little more on topic.
|
| So, maybe worthy.
|
| Pitchforks and torches for grifters with Porsches.
| giantg2 wrote:
| Yes, and the people getting rich during the gold rush were the
| ones selling pans, shovels, and _jeans_. A tale as old as
| civilization.
| exogeny wrote:
| Simple: never listen to influencers about anything. They are not
| your friends. They are paid to sell you things, and in almost all
| cases, with zero disclosure of that.
| hn_throwaway_99 wrote:
| I don't think the article's title really matches up with some of
| the examples outlined in the article.
|
| That is, most of the time when I hear "influencer giving advice
| on getting rich", I think of it as total bullshit, and that type
| of advice ("Dropship on Amazon!!") is nearly universally BS.
|
| But I think it's fine, and actually great, to get real technical
| advice and classes online. I mean, I haven't seen what advice she
| gives, but the whole intro about "Miss Excel" doesn't seem like
| she's "teaching you how to get rich", she's just showing the ins-
| and-outs of Excel, and some features that may be unfamiliar to
| some folks, in a fun and engaging way. Heck, those are the types
| of "1 person company" stories that I think should make it to the
| top of HN! As another example, one time I was between jobs and I
| got really into baking, so I paid for some online baking
| tutorials by https://www.kseniapenkina.com/ , who specializes in
| a type of glazed "mirror cake". The tutorials were worth every
| penny and I had a ton of fun making my pastries.
| boeingUH60 wrote:
| Yeah, that one was odd. Someone teaching people how to use
| Excel (a useful skill in the workplace) shouldn't be lumped
| with get-rich-quick grifters.
| User23 wrote:
| Reminds me of the investing classic _Where Are the Customer's
| Yachts?_
| for_i_in_range wrote:
| > find your target market, "start with why," and build your
| "click funnel." ("Click funnel" is a term that comes up often in
| online marketing speak; the basic idea is turning your existing
| connections into paying customers by sending them increasingly
| irresistible emails.)
|
| This part is an error.
|
| In actuality, "click funnel" refers to the SaaS product called
| ClickFunnels (www.clickfunnels.com), pioneered by marketer
| Russell Brunson.
|
| Thanks to Brunson (and his books, Expert Secrets and DotCom
| Secrets), he's helped create a movement of people who aim to
| build their own info businesses (courses, 1-on-1 coaching, etc.).
|
| A "funnel" is not "sending them increasingly irresistible
| emails." It actually refers to upselling customers. A person
| purchases a product (like a book) at $9.95, then on the next
| page, you upsell them and offer them a $97 course, then a $197
| course, then a $997 live course, etc.
| bdcravens wrote:
| Perhaps they are conflating terms, but a "funnel" (sans
| "click") exists outside of Brunson's product, and are a well
| established sales technique. They aren't really an upselling
| technique, but are what you would imagine the word describes:
| large numbers (less qualified) in the top, small numbers (most
| qualified) in the bottom.
| __derek__ wrote:
| Interesting. That up-sell flow appears to be how the Financial
| Samurai blog works. Ditto Ramit Sethi, whose website/book
| appears to be the allusion for the article's title despite not
| being covered in the article.
| boeingUH60 wrote:
| Random related story: At my 2nd year of college, one of my
| buddies got into the dropshipping fad after watching courses on
| YouTube. He drop-hipped cheap bracelets from AliExpress and
| actually made profits...guess how? He advertised that he was
| donating 10% of its revenue to people affected by terrorist
| activities in my country (Nigeria)...turns out people fell for
| the marketing, and he did not donate one dime.
|
| He left college shortly after and now sells online courses on
| dropshipping and building businesses, LMAO
| AlexandrB wrote:
| > He advertised that he was donating 10% of its revenue to
| people affected by terrorist activities in my country
| (Nigeria)...turns out people fell for the marketing, and he did
| not donate one dime.
|
| There's a fine line between "marketing" and lying, and this is
| plainly on the wrong side of it.
|
| In general though, I try to take any claims where "a portion of
| the proceeds" supposedly funds some charity with a huge grain
| of salt. It's difficult/impossible to tell how truthful the
| business is being about the amount donated.
| boeingUH60 wrote:
| > There's a fine line between "marketing" and lying, and this
| is plainly on the wrong side of it.
|
| Of course, I'm aware. I questioned him about it and he just
| shrugged it off like it was nothing...I'm no saint, but I
| found that pretty repulsive.
| BMc2020 wrote:
| "Where most small businesses have a hard time raising capital,
| GWB had it shot at him through a fire hose."
|
| (from memory) Molly Ivins on how GWB kept getting capital through
| many failed businesses.
| bdcravens wrote:
| Hardly a new phenomenon. Dave Ramsey is a perfect example.
| [deleted]
| spaceman_2020 wrote:
| I remember watching a real estate Youtuber break down his $1M+
| income. The video was titled something like "How I make $1M with
| real estate".
|
| In the video, he revealed that he actually made $95kish from real
| estate. Made 900k from YouTube and sponsored posts.
|
| Pretty much true for most "investment" channels
| spoonjim wrote:
| I feel like the opening anecdote is a swing and a miss. Miss
| Excel doesn't teach people how to get rich, she teaches people
| how to use Excel. I can't say whether it's good or bad content
| but it's not get-rich-quick hustle spam.
| MilStdJunkie wrote:
| "From these _goddamn Mickelson Twins_ "
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biYciU1uiUw
| boeingUH60 wrote:
| "Those who do, do. Those who can't, teach".
|
| You want to learn about business? Pick up the biographies of
| successful businesspeople. Even then, beware of survivorship
| bias.
|
| Note that these successful people will never write a book titled
| "how to be like me" but instead just write books narrating their
| stories and allow you to choose what to learn from it.
|
| To add, I think there's just something about people wanting the
| easy path that causes them to fall for these grifts.
| zwieback wrote:
| .. and those who can't teach teach teaching
| etothepii wrote:
| I always thought they taught PE.
| giantg2 wrote:
| I kind of doubt those biographies are very useful. I'm sure
| they're interesting. Even stuff written for the purpose of
| helping other become successful has been heavily edited, like
| _How to Win Friends and Influence People_.
| jvb1000 wrote:
| I hate this adage. I've taught, a lot. At universities, in high
| school, and to adults. The idea that people who can't do can
| teach is not remotely true. Most people can't teach
| effectively. If you can't do something you also probably can't
| teach.
| cal85 wrote:
| I think there's a strong grain of truth in it when it comes
| to "business skills" or subjects in that general area.
| ModernMech wrote:
| And those who can't teach, denigrate teachers.
|
| Literally the best thing you can do to increase your
| understanding of something is to teach it to someone.
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