Marco Kozlowski's high-pressure real estate seminars

[Burnaby49]

I know, this is off topic for Canadian Sovereigns and not really related to any Quatloos forums. But it has a photo of our occasional poster Ron Usher!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3325211

The story is about an American real estate huckster who uses questionable testimonials to drum up business for his free seminars. Get them in the door and they're yours!

Ron tried to warn the suckers but got thrown out;

"I've attended the seminars," says Ron Usher, a lawyer who has been tracking Kozlowski's advertisements.

"There are many red alerts for people," says Usher, who tried to warn Vancouver investors to stay away from a recent seminar before Kozlowski's staff asked him to leave.

But canny Canadian investors weren't going to listen to Ron's guff when millions awaited them inside! As Marco's shill said;

The well-dressed man at the front of the room, Lance Robinson, stops the tape and asks who is ready to "invest" in the next step of the course.

"We're gonna surround you with multi-millionaires at a three-day event," he says.

And Marco had a pretty solid defense of his use of the testimonials;

"The testimonial is not entirely inaccurate. Mr. Bhogal made money on his first transaction," wrote Kozlowski.

Not entirely inaccurate? That's like me saying I'm not entirely drunk after a night's pubbing. Technically true but it wouldn't help me if I was driving and stopped by the police.

[The Observer]

There are plenty of these bordering-on-fraudulent "get-rich-in-real-estate" schemes going around the US offering "free seminars" to attract the marks. There is one shark that periodically advertises on local radio in my neck of the woods, offering to show all attenders his "proven methods" for free and that he is looking for a few eager "investors" to partner up with him and his "team" in flipping homes and making some serious bucks. Since these seminars happen every 1-2 months, it would seem that there are vast real estate parcels in my area just waiting to be exploited by our shark's marks. But I keep asking myself this question: Why would you show a bunch of dumb yokels how to make big bucks for free? Especially when you could just keep all that money to yourself with your proven methods? What is in it for you to give away free money?

Since I can't answer that question with any type of positive rational response, I guess that is why I am doomed to be the poor slob I am and will never make the kind of money that these lucky seminar attenders are going to make. My cynicism and realism is the reason why I will be stuck with a mediocre six-figure income and whatever meager real estate investments that I have made on my own. I might as well get not entirely drunk with Burnaby as a way of drowning my sorrows over perpetually missing out on real estate "opportunities" like this.

[Hyrion]

But I keep asking myself this question: Why would you show a bunch of dumb yokels how to make big bucks for free? Especially when you could just keep all that money to yourself with your proven methods?

You're not the only one thinking along those lines. An associating question is:

• If you're so successful, why would you need me to invest in you?

My conclusion to that is:

• Offer up your "seminar" completely free with absolutely no sales pressure - then I'll come and hear what you have to say

But... the moment there's even the tiniest of pressure from a salesman, it's automatically "I dun buy from you". If they escalate, I escalate my response. So far there's only been 1 dummy to take it to the point of me telling him quite clearly to add me to his do-not-call list.

High pressure salesmen don't like me

[GlimDropper]

I've attended a couple of this type of seminars, not completely by choice but they are an educational experience. The first lesson you learn is that no matter how much (or little) you paid to attend the "real information" will always be taught at the next more expensive seminar. The next thing you learn is that ridiculously overpriced "mentoring" programs are the key to unlimited wealth. Name any of the greatest entrepreneurs of the last century and the one thing they had in common is a once a week $150/hr (prepaid for several months) conversation with some semi glorified telemarketer reading from a script that tells them (and you) that all the answers to the questions you are asking will be provided at the next more expensive seminar.

I don't know if this is a universal tactic but it happened at both seminars I attended: One first day key note was providing you with a script to use for calling your credit card company to raise your card limit. One seminar just gave you a printed sheet where the other made you write it out by hand but the idea was just to get your credit limit raised as high as the person on the phone would let you. This task was laid out as something between a homework assignment and a loyalty oath. If you really wanted to be a millionaire (why else would you be there) but if you really wanted to be a millionaire you need to prove that to your seminar leader by following those simple instructions and you needed to do by the time you showed up for the next days lecture.

Next day, the call for a show of hands of those who got their limits raised was a thing of beauty. All of the "wealth counselors" (assistant sales people) are in the back of the room while the seminar leader is doing his best to congratulate the "winners" and shame the "losers" enough that people wont notice what's going on. The people who either didn't try or were flat out denied an increase in their credit limits just became second class citizens but it gets worse from there. Each of the "winners" are asked in turn what their old limit was, what their balance is and to rapturous applause, what their new limit is. All of the wealth counselors are taking furious notes.

Without perhaps realizing it all of the "winners," the "future millionaires" just told a team of well organized con artists how much available credit they have on the card in their pocket, right where they are sitting now. By some near incalculable coincidence this turns out to be almost exactly how much the next more expensive seminar will cost them. The price is flexible as is the sales commission, I'm far more sure that there's a minimum price than I am that there's a maximum (leaving room of course for the all important "mentoring" program), after all who wants to leave some of "someone else's money" on the table when they already know they're blowing town tomorrow.

[Burnaby49]

Some more adverse publicity for our boy;

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3335818

http://www.theprovince.com/business/rea ... story.html