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Monday, May 21, 2012

Does a canary with a GIN hangover sing as sweetly?


Well, Dear Ones, since the last time I wrote about one of my Whirled's fave snargets Kevin Trudeau and his Global Information Network (GIN) nonsense, some major sh-t has been hitting the fan in KT's world. As True-dough's present home base of Chicago erupts in angry mass protests over the NATO summit, True-dough is fighting a fierce battle on his own front. I get the feeling that things didn't go so well at the Lost Wages Dream Weekend in April. 

Apparently they haven't been going well for a very long time. From where I sit it looks as if the rats are jumping from the sinking GIN ship; some of them are waking up to the possibility that the whole thing is a big con. Or, rather, they're waking up to the idea that KT might -- just might -- be a hustler who is only looking out for himself, and is using GIN funds to buy himself Bentleys and other accoutrements of a rich-and-infamous lifestyle. Some are even... gasp... questioning KT's tall tale about having been a long-time member of a seekrit Brotherhood, a ruse that he has used all along as one of his main marketing hooks to promote GIN. In other words, folks are coming out boldly and suggesting that KT may have lied to them.

Gee, ya think?

But lest you think that this is part of the Victims' Spring or Occupy Scam Street movement, hold on to your idealism and save it for the Minion Uprising over at Salty Droid's blog. Some of those who are now hollering the most loudly about KT's actions seem to be hell-bent on continuing the extraordinary hustle that is GIN, and/or on promoting their own hustles. Some were in the inner circle and promoted and championed KT for years, till they apparently got the shaft themselves. Business as usual, in other words.

Still, it's a beginning. Maybe.

KT's sales and marketing director Peter Wink ended ties with KT late last month, and KT's former b.f.f. "Dr. C." -- aka Leonard Coldwell, the former Bernd Klein, aka Bernd Witchner, of Germany (he had some problems over there, apparently), the guy who was Lenny the Life Coach for a spell, and now has the answer to cancer and many other vexing problems -- has also left the party. At one point Dr. C. had written that he still had a 10-year contract with GIN, but apparently GIN cancelled that last week. And now both Peter and Lenny have made noise about wanting to spill the beans regarding what really went on behind the scenes at GIN. I can't wait.

Actually, Lenny's already singing. He published a blog post yesterday -- May 20, 2012 -- outlining how GIN might be saved, sans KT. Here is the current link. I say "current link," because the original link has been 404'd. The new one, slightly revised, is dated today, May 21. Read it while you can. And notice the strange headdress that Dr. C. seems to be wearing in the pic of him and True-dough in happier days. Maybe it's some kind of anti-cancer or anti-electromagnetic thingy. KT apparently left his hanging on the wall behind him and Lenny.

If you follow the link above, and if you are also a reader of Salty Droid's blog posts -- and the hundreds and hundreds of comments from Salty's readers who have been screwed by marketing luminaries other than KT -- much of Dr. C.'s post will sound very, very familiar. One itty-bitty little snippet:
Is it true that KT paid from GIN funds the $10,000 dollar per night hotel room in Las Vegas, and the private plane flight to get there (est. $23,000 each way in my experience) was also paid from GIN founds, while, in the meantime, Kevin is telling the GIN speakers and others, that GIN is millions “in the red” and has to save money? Is it true that most of Kevin Trudeau’s personal, elaborate lifestyle has been financed from the member owned nonprofit organization GIN, funds?...

...Is it true that GIN does not have the money to pay all bills due for bonuses or other outstanding liability’s [sic], commitments or bills?
 
See what I mean? No surprises there. Perhaps we should reserve our surprise for the fact that presumably bright, educated men who were so close to KT couldn't see all of this coming.

KT was not mentioned on the recent Internet Marketing expose on The Verge, by the way, but I'm thinking that such a mention would have been appropriate. On second thought, as I've noted here before, he's bigger than those Syndicate members, and has been in the game far longer than most of them (and most of them prolly look up to him and aspire to be just like him). Long before there was an Internet, KT was pulling his scams and schemes via TV infomercials and direct mail. He's been to prison for fraud, for gosh sakes, not that that really set him back. I'd say that he is worthy of a whole separate article, at the very least.

What I find extraordinarily amusing is that Lenny C. and other recently disillusioned souls have suggested that folks who feel they've been screwed by GIN should ask the U.S. government for help -- the very government that some of them have reviled in other contexts. See, for example, this one (scroll down to FTC, FDA, etc. Disclaimer).

Salty has them beat there too. This link has been up on his site a couple of years.

Meanwhile, True-dough's beleaguered brother Bob Trudeau, who has written that he got out of GIN last October, seems to be getting the short end of the stick. I don't know his whole story yet, but jeez, that does not seem to be a happy family. Sociopaths often hurt those who love them the most.

And some sociopaths are apparently not above calling those in their inner circle "idiots" and worse when said inner-circle members get uppity. It would appear that some of KT's most loyal loyalists are now seeing his true colors. Of course some of us haters and outsiders -- including numerous intrepid mainstream journalists over the years -- have seen those true colors for a long time, but I suppose that when you're in the inner circle and benefiting hugely (or at least subsisting on the bright and shiny promise of future benefits), you can get a tad color-blind. Or maybe there's so much going on in that inner circle that you have to put on blinders to stay focused.

Currently there is also quite a bit of out-in-the-open scuttlebutt and venting on various principals' Facebook pages about the Great Hustledork Rebellion of 2012. This whole thing has some of the GIN members, KT followers, and Coldwell fans extremely upset. There's talk of some of the "platinum affiliates" of GIN filing a class-action lawsuit. And someone (whose affiliate status I don't know) wrote this on a Facebook discussion, regarding the "secrets" you learn in GIN: "The only secret you get when you get to level 5 is you find out you have just been scammed out of 17.5k!"


Most notably, more and more GIN members and KT fans seem to be waking up to the possibility that True-dough was just pulling that whole GIN council/seekrit-brotherhood thing out of his arse. Amazingly, though, for some of them that doesn't even matter.


One person wrote, in part:

I think many people have doubted whether there is a GIN Council, whether YWIYC [Your Wish Is Your Command] was recorded as presented, whether there really is a brotherhood or not. I decided long ago that these things didn't matter to me AT ALL. Even before I got in I imagined that KT made the whole thing up. And now GIN is big enough where if the truth comes out, it won't matter. We've won. GIN is bigger than KT and the GIN Council. GIN is a membership organization that does not depend any particular external leadership. GIN belongs to those who say, "I AM GIN!" who have committed to the dream of a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn how to make their dreams come true. With 200 individuals on the Inner Circle who have invested so much for GIN to exist - those individuals will ABSOLUTELY band together and say: "WE ARE GIN"...
...GIN may have been created with lies (or it's possible that it really all is genuine), but The bottom line is this: GIN is a membership that is bigger than ANY SPEAKER and ANY PERSON - because WE ARE GIN... Love to everyone: The GIN members, Dr. C, Kevin Trudeau, The GIN Council if they exist, the space aliens if they exist, ... but mostly, I love myself. I am SO awesome! JUST LIKE all the other AWESOME people in GIN and throughout the world. YOU ARE MAGNIFICENT!

Someone else wrote:
I feel like my parents are divorcing: Mom and Dad are saying that I was lied to and now my family is being split.

That last one almost made me sad. Almost.

Of course I'm not suggesting that everyone who is jumping from the sinking GINtanic is a hustler or has a self-serving agenda. I'm sure there are some good folks who are genuinely surprised and disillusioned and are wondering what to do next. 

Well, then, here's a hint: Plotting to carry on the long con is not the solution. If you want to do something constructive, begin by finding another way to make money besides trying to talk others out of theirs in exchange for vague promises of endless passive wealth and an opulent lifestyle. Being part of what Salty Droid has often called "the big, sick machine" is not the answer. Perhaps being part of a larger effort to educate others is an answer. It's easy to join the movement, but first you have to wash the slime off of your hands.

In other words...
Wake the hell up, minions.



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6 comments:

  1. I just saw a Facebook conversation initiated by KT's brother Bob Trudeau, and directed to Lenny Coldwell. Seems Bob just now found out that KT set things up in Nevis/St. Kitts so he could use GIN as a cash cow with no repercussions from disgruntled GIN members who weren't getting their fair share. Jeez, what a friggin' surprise, huh?

    Or maybe if some people had read some hater blogs, they wouldn't have been taken by surprise. (Such as here, among several other places on my Whirled. http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2011/08/calling-all-lazy-men-lets-build-pyramid.html )

    Here is Bob's unedited post:

    "ok here is the deal i just found out that kt is the founder listed on the paper work listed in nevis .so as founder he can take the dues and other money he charges and do what he sees fit take private jets trips buy watches jewlery bentleys and anything else. so gin and your dues is his cash cow. but all legal and he can charge what he likes as well for products, anything else i was told can be addresed to her majesty the queen of england who runs nevis. so now it is up to you each member to decide do you like gin do you want to fund gin knowing this . the power and the money is your till you give it away . as far as dr c and his contract dispute with kt and gin that is a private matter for lawyers all though i know we all love and support dr c and want him back a few complaints from ed foreman and the kramer family about dr c and his stage performace lingo should not change anything . i have not enjoyed playing devils advocate here well maybe a little. so think what you are doing before you move ahead in gin . personally i have grown tired of gin and all the jumping threw hoops and some but not all the money grubbing . money is just a reward for a job well done gin was never that to me i have a business for that but here it is worshipped. the law of attraction and the infomation seem to have been running a close second . as we can see by canning the speakers so it has become a mlm company with a twist . we all have choice to make of course those reaping checks will ccontnue to be paying members. some may want
    to beccome free members . either way personally i am tired of all the jumping threw hoops and the paying of high premiums on things but now i see why. gin culty attitude and ass kissing . as i said before its not about that its about the law of attraction and finding your bliss . do you need gin for that .guess there are some soul searching questions to ask in liew of all of this ha e a great day and it has my pleaser to serve you in this contrversy to try to get to the bottom of it sure more aftrmath will arise so hang in there . same bat time same bat channel . i guess i needmore popcorn here. takecare folks bob trudeau"

    ###

    Here is the link, though you may not be able to access it if you're not a friend or a friend of a friend of at least one of the participants. (I'm still trying to figure out how Facebook works myself.)
    https://www.facebook.com/DrColdwell/posts/3114960359226

    Amazingly, at least one respondent shared the opinion that hey, as a business owner, KT has the right to do whatever he wants with GIN money. That's pretty appalling, considering that GIN was supposedly set up to benefit all members.

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  2. And here is one more FB convo which I’ll share while I am waiting for the comments start pouring in. (Or trickling in, as the case may be; things have been rather slow on this forum of late. I totally take the responsibility for having neglected my Whirled.)

    This conversation about GIN compensation plans was initiated by a young man who, as it happens, got after me earlier this year on the GIN FB page for being a critic of GIN. I’ll just call him T. He posed a question on Bernd… I mean Lenny Coldwell’s… Facebook page:

    “I have a question guys. I have $890 in my bank. I have no job and no further income other than my $250 monthly income from empower network.

    “If I buy the sanctioned speaker package and combo development series, it will cost me $660 and an additional $60 a month.

    “If I get them before the end of this month, I qualify for not the 25 but the $50K go getter challenge.

    "Now I am aware of all other contingencies and am registered for 5 star. But my question is, should I do it? Should I go for it? To go will mean I have to invest another $1000 + by fall, and upgrade to level 5 by may of next year which will cost a total of $16,000. These are things I can do, as I see myself earning well over $17,000 in empower alone. . . just not for a few months.

    “Who here thinks the $50K go getter challenge is for real, and who thinks it is bogus? Who thinks we may not even have an economy with American Dollars - or GIN - in 2013? Thanks for the advice…”

    ###

    Some people told him he should get a job. They wondered how he could live on a mere $250 a month. T said he lives with his parents so it’s NBD. And he added (perhaps semi-facetiously), “I save money if I DON'T waste my time and gas job hunting, haha.”

    One apparent holdout in the GIN true-believer camp quoted something that KT himself supposedly said: "Go as far as you can see, and then you'll see further."

    Then she added, “IMO, you are trying to put the cart before the horse. The point of the challenge is to DO the work required for success. 10 days left in the month. How many meetings have you done so far? Have you logged your reports every day? How many intro's and YWIYC [Your Wish Is Your Command” – the 14-CD upsell for GIN] do you have in circulation TODAY? These are rhetorical questions to ask yourself. Hope that helps.”

    Another person responded, “Have you looked at the requirements for [the Go Getter program]? VERY strict and if you miss just one little detail you do not qualify. Do what feels right.”

    T replied, “well if I don't get started this month, I lose just 25k. I have done 7 meetings, but honestly I don't even know if GIN will be here in 12 months or if they will honor what they say. and truth be told, people do not listen to those CD's. You will need around $10,000 worth of YWIYC CD's just to find 15 people per month who actually listen. I think the 900 I have left at the moment is something I should sit on. In the margin of the moment, having $900 now is more valuable to me than having the potential to earn $25,000 in the future.”

    Later he added, “…and $10,000 more in success CD's. The plan doesn't work as well as they promise it will at the how to go platinum in 90 days seminars. You literally need 1000 success CD's in circulation and about 500 YWYIC's all passed out at any given meoment.” He noted that this might be a slight exaggeration but it was close.

    Another respondent wrote: “affiliate program is not for everyone, you are brilliant in running your daily blogs / EN networks. try get your dream come true from that. go viral!”

    Maybe T needs to read the Salty Droid blog about how easy it isn’t to make money from blogging.

    Continued on next comment (Blogger character limit again).

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  3. (Continued from previous comment) Finally, though, T concluded, “Yeah, I think it is not for me at the moment. Empower is so much easier, instant 100% commissions, I must earn 15k per month in that, then I will have the freedom I need to do other things that cost more money, like the GIN affiliate program.”

    What’s wrong with this picture?!?

    A little later on the same thread, someone else wrote: “after all the recent events in gin and all the promotions in the past that have done nothing but fail miserbly, why would you think this promotion would be any differant? Gin is not going to be able to pay out the summer promotion bonus they offerd in march of 2010 to those who stayed in for 2 years. Gin has been in the red since day one. You are right when you say gin will not be around in in 12 months. It will go under sooner than that though, trust me! Also you have to spend more than 25k to even qualify for the 25k promotion. Its all a scam bro, trust me!”

    And someone else added: “Save your money T!! If recent events of the past 8-10 months are anything to go by, I doubt highly that GIN will honor their side of this deal!! For the first time in 9 months, I did not pay my GIN dues, but instead, treated my son to a night out at the movies, bought him a book that he wanted and purchased interior car parts I have been wanting for months! I now have something to show for my money, and my happiness vibration has elevated higher this past weekend than it had ever done in the past 5 months, other than being on the cruise!”

    Sometimes, it seems, people really do wake up. That’s pretty encouraging right there.

    But I do find it a bit disturbing that many people who weren't necessarily in the GIN leadership seemed to be aware of disparities and broken promises in GIN for a couple of years, and yet they apparently continued to participate in and promote the scam.

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  4. "The only secret you get when you get to level 5 is you find out you have just been scammed out of 17.5k!"

    Sounds about like OT III for Scientologists.

    It's basically the Spanish Prisoner all over again, isn't it? Pay just a little bit more and fabulous rewards will be yours down the line! What's $1000 when you're going to be a MILLIONAIRE? Go ahead and start spending those fabulous riches before they've even arrived in your bank account--it's a signal to the Youniverse that you expect the money to come Any Minute Now.

    Do fans of 'prosperity' ever think about what they're saying when they say "I love money!" over and over again?

    "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." - Timothy, 6:10, King James Version

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  5. Good points all, Sheila. I don't know about True-dough's spiritual leanings (I somehow doubt he has any), but I do know that some of the New-Wage hucksters I've written about, including some who really, really admire KT, use their own brand of McSpirituality to justify their greed and narcissism. They try to convince their followers (and themselves) that God/Jesus/Buddha/Spirit/The Universe wants them to be prosperous and have all those fancy cars and so forth.

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  6. Hi Connie- thanks for another awesome post! You have a gift!!

    Ten year contract, schmen year contract.

    I never thought about all the money savings there is in NOT looking for a job. I'll have to remember that if I ever find myself supporting an adult child. "At least they're saving money by not wasting all that gas looking for a job!"

    ReplyDelete