I once went to a Dan Kennedy seminar and heard a story that made me want to puke.  It was about Jeff Paul, the guy who maxed out his credit card to go to a Dan Kennedy seminar.  Of course, he made a TON of money after that.  This story illustrated what is possible if we “invest in our education”, i.e. buy more of Dan’s products.

But rather than me tell it…here it is from Jeff Paul himself:

Well, let me back up for just a minute. It cost an incredible $3,495.00 to go to this guy’s Seminar. Plus airplane tickets. And hotel. I had a little room left on my last good credit card, we borrowed some money from friends, and we went. At the hotel, we didn’t join the others in the restaurant. We ate peanut butter and crackers for dinner. At his Seminar, this remarkable guy sat down with us, told us we were 90% of the way there with our product and idea, he made a few suggestions, and sent us home. The month before, September, we had taken in only $1,090.00. Following his advice, our income exploded like a fireworks display. Here are the numbers, absolutely verifiable by my bank deposits: in October, we took in $13,400.00. In November: $26,200.00. December: $49,800. The next year, I took in over ONE MILLION DOLLARS, and I kept about HALF AS PURE PROFIT, after all my expenses. We run the business from a little 400-square foot office on top of the garage. I have no fixed overhead and no employees to worry about. No joke, some mornings I’ve made over $1,000.00 while still sitting around in my underwear, reading the paper, maybe talking on the phone with a customer – if I’m in the mood. I’m home for my kids. I bought a boat to go fishing on with my buddies. And it gets even better – wait until I tell you about “Auto-Pilot.” But, first:
I DON’T EXPECT YOU TO BELIEVE
A WORD OF WHAT I’M SAYING

I’m glad he added that last part there because I DON’T believe him.  I mean., it’s not like a sales letter would ever lie, would it?  And it’s not like a guy sued by the FTC would fib, right?  But even if I did believe it, maxing out your credit card to go to a seminar is ridiculous.  And it’s irresponsible for anyone to encourage such behavior.

Why?

Because no information product is worth going into credit card debt over.  That’s right.  I’ll say it again” NO INFORMATION PRODUCT IS WORTH GOING INTO CREDIT CARD DEBT!  Not a seminar, not a “course,” not coaching, not anything.

Let’s say you have a credit card with a $3,000 limit because your credit stinks.  If you buy a $3,000 info product today and make the minmum on your 18% interest rate card, you’ll pay it off in222  months and pay $3,923.08  in interest. You think that cheesed 500-page “course” is worth almost $7,000?

I know. I know.  At the seminars, they’ll tell you it’s like a college education.

“ A college education can cost you $100,000 (not really, but they do say that). If you invest that much in a college education, then our ‘Get Rich in Your Underwear Course is a drop in the bucket.  Besides, it’ll teach you real-world underwear-wearing get-rich-quick techniques.  Do they teach you how to get rich in your underwear in college?”

Of course, what they fail to tell you is that a college education gets you a DEGREE which you can leverage to get a good-paying job.  I’ve traveled around the world  all because of a college education that’s paid me back 10-fold.  And I majored in philosophy of all things!

But why would someone encourage you to pay for an info product by maxing out your credit card?  Why would they equate going into credit card debt with “commitment to success”?  It’s easy: TO MAKE THEM MONEY.

Yep, their job is to get rich while you go broke.

If you really want information that bad…go buy a book.  Just don’t max out your credit cards to do it.  You want the product that bad, save the money to buy it.

* Note: I recently read an article about Joe Vitale using this tactic for a coaching program.  I don’t know anything about Joe Vitale except that he was in The Secret, which is the worst ting to ever happen to personal development.  I say make up your own mind on him.  But let me end with this: maxing out your credit card to pay for an info product is not a sign of commitment, it’s a sign of stupidity.  Don’t do it.