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Originally Posted by Pagoda  I'm not defending the incentives behind The Secret or the incentives behind Oprah doing what she has done. That is there agenda, and there is no way to know what their real motives are. Are they in it for the money first, or for helping people? Who knows.
I do know that I just did an article where I rank the Best Free Sites for learning about the power of thought and the law of attraction. None of the people featured on The Secret (James Ray, Bob Proctor, Lisa Nichols...) had websites that made the list. Their websites were "More Selling than Telling". You can take from that what you want.
(Steve Pavlina's site however ranked among the Best of the Best.  ) |
Why begrudge people for making a living? While Steve's site is first rate, it's the exception rather than the rule. Many of the freebie sites, whatever the topic, are second rate at presenting material in an organized and concise manner compared with the courses sold by best commercial ones. Part of the reason is that the latter have more financial resources available for continuous improvement of their products.
Here's another even bigger reason why you shouldn't be so dead set against people charging for their knowledge: it's human nature not to fully appreciate the things that come free. I have learned this the hard way myself. Give someone something for free and they will respond with "Gee thanks, I'll try to find some time to read it." Then they never do or they read it but never put it into practice. Conversely, if someone pays $99 or more for a course, they will eagerly await its arrival, rip it open excitedly when the UPS man delivers it, and then study it and practice it because they have made an investment in it.
I agree that there is crap being sold in the marketplace but there is some good stuff too. (I never buy anything sight unseen and have just realized that I'm a great "manifester" of free samples.)