Gurus vs. Experts - Is there a Difference?

[Joshua Dorkin]

I read a blog post this morning on the site, where someone called some of the people on BiggerPockets, gurus. While this term carries a positive connotation, I contend that in the world of real estate, it can be interpreted differently.

Here are my thoughts.

Real Estate Experts - are people, like many of our incredible members, who are "experts" in the world of real estate, but who freely give of their time and energy to help others. Many are mentors, authors, and teachers, but these people are not the master marketers/salesmen that are the "gurus". The Experts spend the bulk of their time/energy doing real estate deals for themselves, instead of trying to make money by selling some product.

Real Estate Gurus - These guys may or may not be experts in the world of real estate. What they are experts in is sales and marketing. Gurus are almost always associated with being self-promotional, and always have a product (or many products) to sell -- in most cases, these products include courses, seminars, webinars, books, CDs, websites, etc. The guru is concerned with selling product, as that is typically their primary income source.

BiggerPockets has many members that are both experts and gurus. What stands out to me is that the gurus come and go, but the experts are the ones who spend time giving back and helping others for free.

I'll take the experts over the gurus any day of the week.

Thoughts?

Here's my proposal: Lets try and call our wonderful contributing and helpful members what they are - experts - and we'll leave the guru label for those guys trying to sell us all something.