CO-HOST | Make Money by Spotting Red Flags in Online Offers

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Travis Makes Money

Host: Travis Chappell
Co-Host: Eric
Episode: CO-HOST | Make Money by Spotting Red Flags in Online Offers
Date: February 17, 2026

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Main Theme

This episode centers on empowering listeners to make more money by learning how to spot "red flags" in online offers, particularly those from influencers, marketers, and salespeople. Travis and co-host Eric dissect common sales tactics used in online marketing—helping listeners differentiate trustworthy offers from shady ones. The aim is to provide practical, no-BS advice you can use to avoid scams and make smarter money decisions in the digital world.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Scarcity and Urgency Tactics in Online Offers

Timestamps: 02:07-10:57

• Surface-Level Scarcity: When an offer stresses “spots are extremely limited, act now or miss out forever,” Travis and Eric label this as an immediate red flag unless it's genuinely true.
  • Travis: “Red flag. Because it’s rarely true. Most people are using some form of engineered scarcity.” ([02:26])
• Authentic Scarcity Wins Trust: If scarcity is legitimate (i.e., events or services with real capacity limits), it builds trust and anticipation for future offers.
  • Example: Story about Grant Cardone’s limited VIP event tickets, which sold out fast and showed real scarcity—making Travis more likely to jump next time. ([02:48])
  • Travis: “You have to have urgency and scarcity in your marketing, but you don’t… It doesn’t have to be fake.” ([03:27])
  • Emphasis on lifetime customer value: If you use fake urgency, you may burn future trust and hurt the long-term relationship. ([04:03])
  • Advice: Always follow through—if you say 20 spots, cap it at 20, even if it means turning people away. This builds future demand. ([04:03]-[06:00])
  • Explaining Scarcity: In digital offers (like courses) where scarcity doesn’t naturally exist, you must clearly explain why you’re limiting access.

2. Red-Flag Sales Language: Manipulative Closing Techniques

Timestamps: 10:57-15:47

• Guilt Tactics: Phrases like “If you’re serious about your future, you’ll find the money” or “You can’t afford NOT to do this” are called out as red flags.
  • Travis: “That’s a red flag. That’s just bad salesmanship to me…using that line signals to me you are desperate for the sale.” ([11:22])
• Manipulative Price Anchoring: “It’s normally $5,000, but today it’s only $497.”
  • Travis says, this is “red flag in general, but could be yellow if it’s actually true—if you really sold it for $5,000 before.” ([12:09])
  • Advice: Only use rare discounts if you can back up your original price with real sales history. Otherwise, dishonesty erodes trust and increases customer churn.

3. Disingenuous Altruism & False Motives

Timestamps: 15:47-18:17

• “I don’t do this for the money. I just love helping people.”
  • Travis calls this “silly”—nearly always a red flag unless you have overwhelming proof (e.g., already independently wealthy).
  • Travis: “If this is your literal only form of income, by definition, you’re doing it for the money.” ([15:58])
  • He argues most people should pay for value to take it seriously (“when you pay, you pay attention”).

4. Realism vs. False Guarantees

Timestamps: 18:17-22:38

• Disclaimers About No Guarantee:
  • “I don’t guarantee outcomes because there are variables I can’t control.” This = green flag; it’s honest, especially in coaching/information.
    • Travis: “That to me is honest because that's true…if you’re getting people guaranteeing the world to you with minimal effort…run the other way.” ([18:57])
• Wild Results Promises:
  • “All my clients get incredible results in their first 30 days.” Proceed with caution (yellow flag). It may be true but imposes a heavy burden of proof.
  • Coaching programs are often unfairly labeled scams when people don’t put in the necessary effort—buyer responsibility matters, too.

5. The Absolute “Only Way” Sales Pitch

Timestamps: 22:38-26:47

• Biggest Red Flag:
  • The phrase “This is the ONLY way” is an instant red flag.
  • Travis: “As long as you know that’s not true…but this could be a helpful thing. But…none of these things are the only way.” ([22:59])
  • Marketers often use polarizing language to get attention, but in reality, there are many routes to success.
  • Believing in “only one way” thinking can lead to disappointment and quitting if that way doesn't pan out.

6. Closing Advice and Mindset

Timestamps: 26:47-End

• Takeaway: Keep experimenting, stay skeptical of hype, and value honesty over hype.
• Final Quote:
  • Travis: “Money only solves your money problems. But it’s easy to solve the rest of your problems when you got money in the bank. So let’s start there.” ([26:55])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Scarcity Done Right:
  • “Every transaction you have with a customer or client is training them on how they’re going to interact with you again in the future.” – Travis ([04:03])
• Why Fake Scarcity Backfires:
  • “…You’re just putting it in your marketing to make people feel like they’re getting a good deal.” – Travis ([13:32])
• “Only Way” Trap:
  • “There’s an infinite number of possibilities that work in order to be able to get customers and clients.” – Travis ([23:35])
• Skeptic’s Mindset:
  • “If you buy into the fact that that’s the only way…as soon as that way doesn’t work, it makes them feel like they’re a failure…then they quit.” – Travis ([24:10])

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Useful Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:07] — Scarcity/urgency tactics: what’s authentic vs. what’s fake
• [10:57] — Guilt-based sales: “If you’re serious, you’ll find the money” and aggressive discounting
• [15:58] — “I’m not in it for the money” and the psychological impact of investing
• [18:57] — Guarantees, honesty, and user responsibility in coaching programs
• [22:59] — The greatest red flag: “This is the only way”
• [26:55] — Closing message and financial mindset

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Episode Tone & Style

• Conversational, witty, a bit irreverent: The hosts poke fun at tired sales tactics while providing grounded, experience-based advice.
• Practical and actionable: They consistently redirect from theory to “here’s what actually works.”
• Empowering, not shaming: The episode is about educating listeners to be savvy, not about blaming them for past mistakes.

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In Summary

This episode is a toolkit for anyone navigating the noisy online marketing space, giving listeners the language and mindset to spot manipulation and make smarter, more empowered money moves. The bottom line: Honesty trumps hype, and there’s no single path to wealth—keep an open, skeptical mind and always ask “why” before you buy.

Transcript

[Travis Chappell]

This episode is brought to you by indeed. Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate. Instead, use Indeed sponsored Jobs to find the right people with the right skills fast. It's a simple way to make sure your listing is the first candidate. C. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs have four times more applicants than non sponsored jobs. So go build your dream team today with Indeed. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. You're listening to the Travis Makes Money podcast presented by gohighlevel. Com. For a free 30 day trial of the best all in one digital marketing software tool on the planet, just go to gohighlevel.com travis. What is going on, everybody? Welcome back to the Travis Makes Money podcast, where it's our mission to help you all beautiful people out there listening right now. Help you make more money.

[Eric]

That was the worst intro you've ever done.

[Travis Chappell]

What are you talking about? I complimented.

[Eric]

Hey, beautiful people. You. Hey.

[Travis Chappell]

You weren't listening. You were tippy. Tapping on the computer over there. And then if you're listening but not watching live, you can now watch us live when we record all these episodes. So follow me on Instagram, Travis Chappell or Travis Makes Friends. And you will probably see some live recordings where you can ask some questions. So for the people that are joining us live, what's up? Welcome. And for people listening to the show in your car or at your house or at the gym, welcome as well. Eric, what's going on?

[Eric]

Hey, how you doing?

[Travis Chappell]

That was the worst intro you've ever done.

[Eric]

Hey.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, I don't know what that is.

[Eric]

All right, you ready? Yes. So I'm going to have you. You're going to wave a red flag. You don't have one, but let's just say that you do. Okay. And I want you to tell me these are common things you hear influencers and salespeople, entrepreneurs say either on social. When they're. When they're pitching something to you.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah.

[Eric]

And I want you to tell me if. If it gives you like a green flag, yellow flag, red flag to these statements. I do wish we had some flags.

[Travis Chappell]

Right hand is red, left hand is green.

[Eric]

Just maybe say green or red. Because it's an audio medium, primarily.

[Travis Chappell]

This one. Okay.

[Eric]

Considering people are listening to Charles thinks money. Okay. All right. So when you hear them say this. Yeah. In their content or whatever, on their. Let's say, in their content. Is this a red flag or green flag for you? When someone says, hey, spots are extremely limited. You have to act right now. Or you're going to miss out forever.

[Travis Chappell]

Red flag. Because it's rarely true. Most people are using some form of engineered scarcity. Here's the thing. You have to use it, especially if your spots are limited, but do it for real. Exactly. So if you're going to say that you need to make your spots actually.

[Eric]

Limited, I'll give you an example of this.

[Travis Chappell]

Okay.

[Eric]

You know who does a great job at this whole Grant Cardone.

[Travis Chappell]

Are you being legit?

[Eric]

You told me a story about this one time.

[Travis Chappell]

Okay.

[Eric]

Where I think it was Grant. Was it Grant? You told me this.

[Travis Chappell]

I don't know, but you told me.

[Eric]

You told me one time that Grant had said, like, we have a limited number of VIP tickets to this event available, and later you went to go purchase it and there was none available. Yeah. And you said what that told me is, next time that he has an event and he says it's limited, I'm going to buy a ticket and. Because I know he means it.

[Travis Chappell]

Absolutely.

[Eric]

Because there's other people that say that, and they start that day one of their marketing campaign, and then by the last day, there's still VIP tickets.

[Travis Chappell]

They're selling tickets at the door. Yeah, right.

[Eric]

You told me that about Grant one time, and I stuck with me.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah. I don't know. Regardless of if it was him or not, that is how you should treat it. It's like you. You have to have urgency and scarcity in your marketing, but you don't. It doesn't have to be fake, you know, and there's a plethora of online marketers who. It's just so clearly fake. And it's difficult to tell whether or it's actually fake. But the bottom line is most. The vast majority of those people, if you emailed them, what. Because. Because it could be for. It could be legit for like, oh, cart's closing. And then you go to that page and it's not going to be open, but, like, you could call them and they're gonna be like, oh, yeah, we got that. You know?

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis Chappell]

But that's the whole. That's the whole idea is, like, it might work the first time, it might even work the second time, but every interaction, every. Every transaction that you have with a customer or client is training them on how they're going to interact with you again in the future. And if you are not thinking about the lifetime value of your clients or your customers, then you are missing out on the entire reason to build a business. It's not about what you can make on the first interaction, it's about building up enough trust and over delivering with each transaction to the degree that when you drop something new, they're eager, happy and ready to pull out their credit card and make another transaction or make another decision with you. So yeah, if you're going to use those things in your marketing, which again, you should, that they're, they're deeply rooted psychological principles that work really well, but just make sure that it's, it's legit. Like, like you say you can only onboard three clients this week, then only onboard three clients that week. You say you're going to cap it at 20 people, then cap it at 20 people, even if you have to turn away eight people, because all that's going to do is increase the demand and make it feel actually scarce. So the next time you pull that card open, next time you do a launch, next time you open up to this new thing that you're trying out, those people are gonna be like, ooh, I remember last time I tried to get in and it was actually closed and I couldn't do it. And then you're building up that bank of demand over the next two, three, four, five, six weeks. And then they're much more eager and ready to make the decision when the time comes and there's actually spots left for them. So if you're going to use it, which you should do it for real and don't just make up stuff and say like, oh, yeah. That's why the information business to me is strange when people do that. That's one of the hard. It' difficult to have scarcity there because it's literally not scarce. Like it cost me zero dollars to give somebody else a login to this program and charge them the money for it. So that's why it's some somewhat difficult in, in some of those spaces. So you have to, you have to have like, if you're going to. It's, it's far more likely that somebody's going to take advantage of that if you tell them the reason why it's scarce. So if you tell them that it's scarce, but then you tell them why it's scarce, it. You're more likely to convert if you can explain to them why it's scarce or else people are going to be sitting there like, how is this scarce? Like it's a course, it's an online course. It's by definition like the reason to be in that business is because it's not scarce. It's because you can sell it to unlimited people without any additional fulfillment costs. So this episode of the show is brought to you by Factor. 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So head over to factor meals.com TMM50OFF and use code TMM50OFF to get 50% off and free breakfast for a year. Eat like a pro this month with Factor New subscribers only varies by plan. One free breakfast item per box for one year while subscription is active. This episode of the show is brought to you by Shopify. Starting something new isn't just hard, it's terrifying. So much work goes into this thing that you're not entirely sure it'll work out, and it can be hard to make that leap of faith. Trust me, I know this. When I started my podcast, I wasn't even sure what I was doing, to be honest with you. What if nobody listens? What if I make a fool of myself? What if I'm embarrassed? You know, what if nobody buys stuff that I put out there? Now I know that I was right in believing myself in launching this podcast and subsequent businesses that come along with it, despite all the fears and hesitations. It also helps when have a partner like Shopify on your side to help. 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It's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com TMM or go to shopify.com TMM that's shopify.com TMM if you're, if you're going to do that, then there's gotta be a reason to justify why. So like, there's a community aspect and we only, you know, for this first group of people, we only want 50 people in this because, you know, it's easier for us to keep tabs on them. It's easier, easier for us to make sure that we get results. Or like, so if you're going to have like urgency scarcity, you should, but you should also have like another thing where you're like, okay, let's jump back and, and here's why you aren't supposed to be doing that thing.

[Eric]

There's a good comment that just came through on the live stream that, oh.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, great opportunity for a wait list to bank hot leads too. Yeah, thank you, Rachel. That, that is a great point that, that's what I mean by building up a bank of demand. Like to, if you, if you don't satisfy the person's desire to solve this problem in their business, then the next time around they're going, they're, they're also probably going to be the person that pulls out their credit card first.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis Chappell]

You know what I mean? So, yeah, if you're going to do it, what you should, you should def. You should definitely do it, but you should be, it should be 100% real. And then you should also give them the reason why it's scarce so that they can logically justify in their mind, like, oh, that makes sense. Especially if it's something that is by definition not scarce. Like it's easy to think like, okay, digital marketing agency, they literally can't take on 250 clients at one time because they just don't have the capacity to do that.

[Eric]

So one on one coaching.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, one on one coaching. Something that's not super scalable. Yeah, that makes sense. But if you're selling something that's infinitely scalable like software or, or, you know, courses or memberships or something like that. Then you, you, it has to be real. And then you have to be able to give them a reason as to why it's real.

[Eric]

All right, let's do a couple more of these. Let me know. Red flag, green flag, yellow flag. When someone says a variation. So someone's pitching you into their, their course Mastermind Information product and they're saying it's going to help you and they say a variation of one of these two things. If you're serious about your future, you'll find the money or you can't afford not to do this. What does that signal for you?

[Travis Chappell]

That's a red flag. That's just bad salesmanship to me. You shouldn't have to say those things. That should be, that should be implied in the presentation leading up to that point. Like if you're using those as closing lines towards the end of the deal, that's not going to make somebody go like, you know what, you're right, I can't afford to not do this.

[Eric]

Especially when they're thinking, I can't really afford to do this.

[Travis Chappell]

Right, right, exactly. That is not to say that they don't have the money or can't find the money, but using that particular line to me just says, it signals to me that you are desperate for the sale, which to me is probably going to have the opposite effect of the one that you want.

[Eric]

Okay, how about this one? It's normally $5,000, but today it's only 497.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, I would say red flag in general, but again, it could be a green flag, maybe yellow flag because like, proceed with caution. Because, because it actually has to have been $5,000. Right. That's again, like what people, people shortcut that process. They see other people doing it and they go like, oh, we should do that. Normally it's $5,000 and it's like in reality, zero people have ever paid anything close to that. So if, if you're going to use that type of stuff and then it gets found out later on by the person who paid the 500 bucks that nobody's ever paid $5,000 for this before, then you're taking away the entire reason to do it, which is to make them feel like they got a really good deal. So if you are going to say like the, the, the best context to do that in is if you were, you were actually selling that thing for $5,000 for a long period of time and then it's like you're moving on to a new project in the business but you still want people take advantage of this particular thing that you had to offer at one point. That used to be the main thing and it's like, hey, we're giving this away at, you know, typically it's 5,000, today it's 500. You know, like that, that to me makes sense. Or if you are going to actually raise the prices back after this three day window or something, like I said, it should even have to be said. But for a bunch of people especially that are doing online marketing, it does need to be said, which is that just be honest about it. If, if that, if you're, if you're trying to portray that, then fine, make that a reality. Like actually sell that thing for $5,000 and then actually have this window of opportunity where people can jump in for 500 and then jump back up to 5,000. Just be a person of your word. Be impeccable with your word because it's going to come back to bite you in the ass. Like it might work the first time, but this is what we're talking about earlier about your training buyer behavior with people in terms of your lifetime value of the customers. Like it is better for you to be honest long term than it is for you to be dishonest or you're going to always have to burn and turn through leads. Which, seeing a lot of people in the coaching space and core space like losing money right now or getting their margins trashed right now is that they've, they've sort of like their, their, their ads aren't scaling beyond the customer base that they have. And then their customers are pissed off with them. They're not continuing to renew with them. So their lifetime value is starting to shrink and their acquisition cost is going up because they're, there's, they're, they're, they're farming in new markets and they can't keep up, they can't keep up with the lies. You know what I mean? It's just like every person that they interact with, it's like they got them to buy the thing and they're doing well for a time. So they think let's keep doing this. And then I said lifetime value gets decimated because people start to distrust you and see that like, oh well, I paid this much, that person paid this much and none of this is actually real. You're just putting in your marketing to make people feel like they're getting a good deal. It's like, well, you don't have to say that normally it's $5,000, but if you think it's $5,000 worth of value, it's like, okay, that's fine. Justify the $5,000 in value and then say, like, this is $5,000 in value that we're selling for $500.

[Eric]

Well, there's difference. There's a difference between the price anchoring or just discounting yourself, because I think that's the piece, too, is like, my mind immediately goes, what's wrong with it? Nobody would buy it at that price. So now it's this, you know, and I think that, too, like, there. There is just a difference in, like, just perception, where you go, like, this thing is always this much.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah.

[Eric]

But now all of a sudden, you feel generous. 4,500 bucks. Yeah. And I mean, your Lord and savior Hormosi kind of talked about this a little bit.

[Travis Chappell]

Ever change price to close a deal now? Testing price, Absolutely. You should test your prices, but that should be done ahead of time. Premeditated. Next time, we're going to try this out and see what happens. Not, oh, I got to close this guy. So I'm going to lower the price to do it. And so my favorite overcome for hey, can you guys do it for less? Is we could do it for more. As silly as that sounds, that has never not worked for me.

[Eric]

What a smart guy. He's going to go places. So anyway, okay, here's. Here's another one that I'm going to. I'm going to get in here. I don't do this for the money. I just love helping people.

[Travis Chappell]

It's just silly. Just people never. I just don't think people buy into it. Like, you have to. You have to have so much proof that that's true to get away with saying something like that. You know what I mean? Like, so you have somebody who exited a company for $300 million, and then now they're doing, you know, online community or courses or something like that. That person might have some credibility to say something like that, because that might be legitimately true. Now, that doesn't mean that they're not trying to make money. Right? Like, it's not. Like, it's not. That's why they're charging. They're not doing it for free. But I can at least buy into that a little bit more to be like, okay, well, yeah, I can see that you, like, you don't have to be doing this. And it does feel good to give back and impact people. And sometimes that does require financial investment, at least in my experience is like, you know, because people look at that, be like, well, why don't you just give it all away for free? It's like, you could, but you as a person are not going to take it as seriously until you pay money for it. Because there's a psychological effect of paying for something, you know, something about where your treasure is, that's where your heart's going to be or something like that. So you're, if you invest in something, you're much more likely to take it seriously. Or when you pay, you pay attention is how, how we, you know, said it in the past. But yeah, that, that's typically a red flag because it mostly comes from people who are, I think, I think a lot of times they've convinced themselves that that's the case. But it's like if this is your literal only form of income, by definition, you're doing it for the money because you have to do it because you have to make money like that. Like trying to convince everybody, like, oh, you know, I'm just doing this for your good. I don't even, I don't even care about the money. You know, it's like, well, then you would be making the least amount of money possible if it was really about impact. It's like you don't, it necessarily doesn't have to be a charity or something like that where you're giving things away. But it's like you, you wouldn't be worried about making sure that you have these super healthy margins or whatever like that. That to me just sounds like, like, it sounds like bs. It sounds like snake oil when I hear that. So immediate reaction would be a red flag to that. I can't think of like a good example minus that one I mentioned about like somebody who's already independent, well, independently wealthy, that's is legitimately trying just to give out good information to people.

[Eric]

Someone says, I don't guarantee outcomes because there are variables I can't control. True.

[Travis Chappell]

Like you're saying what? In what context?

[Eric]

Like if.

[Travis Chappell]

Hey, it's Sterling K. Brown from the.

[Eric]

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[Travis Chappell]

The next chapter begins as Xavier's search for his wife takes him above ground. And what he finds will change everything. It was never just about the bunker.

[Eric]

Tune in and discover the truth lies outside Paradise. The official podcast is now streaming and Stream. Paradise Season 2 on Feb. 23 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney. Plus, someone's offering, pitching you on something.

[Travis Chappell]

Oh, this is a new one.

[Eric]

Yeah, yeah, it was insane. Someone just said that in the comments of this.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, no, that's a green flag to me. That, that to me is honest because that's true. Especially if we're talking about information or coaching or something like that. That's especially true if you are, if you're getting people who are, who are guaranteeing the world to you with minimal effort, it run the other way, it's probably not going to work. But I appreciate when people are at least willing to be honest with me about that piece, to be like, hey, look, there's going to be a lot of work. All I know is I know how to do it. And I think that you have all the stuff that we need in order to be able to do it. But ultimately it's going to come down to how much work you're willing to put in on your end to be able to get this result. That to me is a green flag.

[Eric]

What if they say all my clients get incredible results in their first 30 days working with me?

[Travis Chappell]

That's just a big burden of proof. That's a. Proceed with caution because that might be true. You know what I mean? Like, like you look at somebody's business like the, like Alex or Moses, you brought him up with something like gym launch, you know, is they had incredible results. And the re. The whole reason gym launch even existed is because literally people, he tried to call his clients and cancel the gym turnaround that he was going to do with them because it was no longer financially feasible for them to continue flying out to an area and doing a full 30 day gym launch for them. So he calls through, they had like, like five or six, six or seven, I think maybe six, seven turnarounds that they were supposed to be doing coming up. And he was literally calling through all of them to be like, hey, we can't come out. And then when he called the first one, they were like, we need you to come out. And he was like, I can't. And they're like, well, can you at least just give us all of the stuff that you were going to do for us so that we can try? And he was like, okay, sure. And then he threw out a number, like four grand. And then they didn't balk at it. They're like done. And they bought it. So he calls the next person five grand, they bought it, next person six grand. And eventually it turns into like a 16k or 18k offer that they ended up scaling obviously and you know, did like 2 million profit their first 12 months launching that offer. But it's because they had those Types of incredible results with the people that they were working with that they were able to back into that offer and justify that quote, unquote guarantee. But the guarantees still, even in that, in that context, it's largely based on the work that the person's wanting to put in. Because if you're doing a coaching program, they can't do everything for you. And that's what I think people get wrong with coaching programs. That's. That's why people point the finger and call coaching program scams so fast, is because, like, I've been doing this for 45 days and I didn't see all the results. And it's like, okay, but did you do everything that you were supposed to do and more, you know, like. Like, it's not their job to make you successful. It's their job to help you get out of your own way in order to be successful. So just because you weren't able to see those results doesn't mean the whole thing's a scam. And just because is saying that we guarantee these results or all of our clients have gotten these results, like, that doesn't mean that it's a scam. It's just rare that it's not. Because there's so few people that actually deliver on what they say that they can do within that space. But the ones that do are the outliers like Ramos Co. Because, like, it's so rare to sell a company like that. It's. It's honest. It's crazy that he was able to sell that company for as much money as he did to a private equity firm. Like, they're not investing in coaching companies. They're investing in, like, products and locations and physical places and industries that are predictable and scalable. And so for him to have built that legitimate business, they. They. The only thing that makes sense to me is that they got really good results for a lot of people or the lifetime value would have been decimated and it wasn't. It was really, really high.

[Eric]

Yeah. Well, for the closing one, I'm curious to know from you what's the biggest red flag that, like, sends up every alarm in your mind when you hear someone say it.

[Travis Chappell]

If they're like, trying to sell you.

[Eric]

Something, what's what's the biggest. Like, when you hear, when you see an online guru in their content, what's the biggest red flag that you just go, like, that's an immediate nope from me.

[Travis Chappell]

The. When they say this is the only way because it's not like. And look, I understand again, Marketing is marketing. And your goal is if you have a certain method that you're trying to sell or certain, you know, service or product that you're trying to sell, you are trying to remove all obstacles from the cut from the prospect's mind as to why your solution wouldn't be the best solution to their problem. So I get it, and I've used it in the past and probably will continue to use it because it works. But my, my point is to say, again, it's a. Proceed with caution type of a thing. When, when somebody starts. When somebody starts saying this is the only way to do it, because just recognize, as long as you know that's not true. But this could be a helpful thing. You know what I mean? Like, go ahead, you know, move forward with it. That's my thing is, like, I've been around long enough to know that none of these things are the only way. That's why people are vilifying everything else in their. In their ad, right? It's like, the person that's doing challenges is going to vilify webinars. The person that's doing webinars is going to vilify live events. The person that's doing live events is going to vilify virtual events. The person that's doing virtual events is going to vilify podcasts. The person that's doing pod. Like, it's just as everybody's just saying, like, email is dead, webinars are dead, or what? Like, they use this type of polarizing language to get you to click and listen to what their, you know, spiel is. But all that really means is like, I'm really good at this, and this is what I've learned really well. So if you want to try this in your marketing, then try this in your marketing. You know what I mean? That's really what it is. It's just that that doesn't sell many people because it's not as polarizing as saying, like, none of this stuff works. This is the only way to get clients anymore. It's like, well, that's just. It's literally just objectively not true. There's an infinite number of possibilities that work in order to be able to get customers and clients. The problem is, is that when people buy into the idea that this is the only way, that when that way doesn't work, it makes them feel like they're a failure and that their business meant to be. And then they quit and they go back to their job because they're like, well, they bought fully into this guru telling them that the only way to scale this thing is through VSLs or through email building your email list, or through lead magnets or through fill in the blank with all the other, all the offers that are out there. And so there, when, when, when, when you buy into the fact that that's the only way, then it by definition makes you stop, stop trying any other ways. And ultimately that's the only version that's going to lead you to a path of success, is trying everything that you can until you find something that works for you. Which is, by the way, exactly what those people did, which is why they're vilifying all the other things. It's like, well, I tried webinars for six months and I tried challenges for three months and I tried this. But as soon as we, whatever, started this Facebook group and started sending people to Facebook group and going live once a week, that's when our business exploded. Therefore, webinars are dead and VSLs are bad and email is terrible. But building Facebook groups, that's the way to build a business now. You know what I mean? So, like, they're just telling you their own experience of trying 15 different things and they found one that worked. And then once they found the one that worked, they swore by that one thing and then trained on like, it's like, like this is the only path for everybody. And that's just objectively not true. It's just false. There's an infinite number of ways to, to, to figure it out. And if you buy into that lie, then as soon as that first way doesn' you're going to quit. And every other person who's been successful didn't quit after the first way didn't work out. They went and tried 15 other different ways until they found something that worked for them.

[Eric]

Right?

[Travis Chappell]

So keep trying stuff that works. That's why I say, like, I use it in my marketing. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm not saying that's a bad thing to say. I'm just saying it's a bullshit belief. You can't adopt that belief or else by definition you're just going to quit after the first way doesn't pan out. And, and it's very rare that the first thing that you try is going to work.

[Eric]

Work. Well, the only way people are going to learn to make more money is by listening to the show. So go ahead and close it out so they can get right into the next episode.

[Travis Chappell]

If you are tuning in, thank you so much. Watching live. What's up, everybody? Thank you for tuning in live. If you're listening to this later on, know that we are starting to go live for all these episodes when we do these batch recording sessions. So follow me at Travis Chappell or at Travis Makes Friends on Instagram and and be a part of the conversation. Throw some questions at us, throw some comments at us. We'd love to have you engage a little bit more over there, but that's it for today's episode. But remember, money only solves your money problems. But it's easy to solve the rest of your problems when you got money in the bank. So let's start there here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Catch next time. Peace.