Even the experienced can get burned in the Guru stakes

[Terry Power]

Hi from downunder,

When it comes to seminars, keynotes and workshops i consider myself pretty experienced. As a professional speaker and consultant, I've been on the keynote circuit now for the best part of two decades, but i have a somewhat embarrassing story that i retell here in the hope that others are not caught.

Background: my son is in his mid 20's and comes to me and says 'dad i want to invest in property' . Great i say, but i don't know anything about it, but i've seen on my Linkedin feed a free seminar on property investing, lets go along.

On the way there, i'm briefing my son on the tricks and traps that unscrupulous providers use to hook you in, and feeling quite smug that, that wouldn't happen to me.

So i'm in the seminar, and the usual 'suspects' of entrapment begin... but as the evening unfolds, i watch my son, go from enthusiastic to 'damn i really want to do this dad'. Now, i LOVE my son and want him to succeed in life... well you can guess the rest! 

Fortunately, there is a happy ending. i came home and researched the reviews on this company ... they were scathing. I rang the company, no answer, i emailed the company, no answer. Bugger, i thought i'd done my cash ($1300 for a weekend workshop). But i persevered and DID manage to get a full refund. 

Lesson learned. My advice, stay clear of the buggers, because even if you suit up before you go, they are incredibly good at seeing the chink in your armor.

Oh, the company? 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Training'!