Michael Russer - Mr. Internet
Seminar Review

My 3 Day Boot Camp

I will start by saying that I flew to Chicago, first class tickets and then stayed in the Hilton (Downtown) for six nights. And trust me, I know what you are thinking; how could that be bad? For the most part, I had an incredible time. I went to Buddy Guy's club, saw King Tut, Lake Michigan, the Art Institute of Chicago and ate some fantastic Chicago style pizza. But there was one downside and that was making the mistake of attending the Real Estate / Internet seminar by Michael Russer, also known as Mr. Internet. The seminar was an astounding $3000.00 to attend, not including an additional $2,000.00 for plane and hotel fees. But with that money, I thought it would be the Holy Grail and the final frontier for a Colorado Springs real estate career. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

The seminar began with him running from the back of the room, to the stage, like a frantic host of an infomercial. I am sure if the camera's weren't rolling (he will soon package & sell this seminar for several hundred dollars), he would have walked to the stage, but it instantly set my mind thinking, SCAM ARTIST. The most unauthentic part of his show would happen when he would cue the music and then shout "Let's Make a Deal!!", with the hope that everyone would say it along with him. They never did and if you ever read this Mr. Internet, I just want to tell you to "PLEASE STOP IT!!".

Initially, those were just minor details and I was really trying to stay positive for the simple reason that I was going to leave with a lot of knowledge.

Next, we were assigned teammates and were told that each team would be given points depending on how many good ideas they offered. So he would run around, literally, with microphone in hand and if your team came up with a good idea, he would shout into the mic, "Give 15 points to Team 10". The team that had the most points at the end would have the chance to eat dinner with Michael Russer, that's right Mr. Internet himself. The idea behind the dinner? You could ask Mr. Internet any final questions you might have. No surprise here, but I knew right away, I would not be one of those people. However, I was amazed at how Mr. Internet turned a group of adults into frenzied children, with some people even screaming and jumping up and down to get Michael's attention, just to have the chance to voice their "great idea". I know I am coming off a bit harsh, but in this case, Russer never told us many ideas; it was the people who shelled out 3 grand that gave the ideas. Here's the scenario:

Michael: "Ok folks, I want you to take five minutes and write down all the different things you could do, in order to get more referrals."

Then five minutes later, he would go around the room, to the people that raised their hands, or jumped up and down in their chairs and he would shove the microphone in their face:

Lady at table / team 7: "When we sell a house, we go around to all their new neighbors and film short interviews with them and then give our buyers a dvd copy, so they can get familiar with their new neighbors. "

Michael: "Oh, that's great, Give 40 points to Team 7"

Now the idea itself is not terrible (Note: I just saved you approximately $250.00), but this went on for three days. Everyone told their "great ideas", with Michael Russer offering minimal advice. I can't believe I paid three grand to have other people that paid three grand, pass around a bunch of lukewarm (not all of them) ideas. I was astounded. How does this guy get away with it? And then I realized, most of the people that attended were new to real estate and / or were completely confused with the "internet side of real estate". Russer has just found a way to completely capitalize on that ignorance.

If you are one of those people, then pay attention, here's your summary.
The first day was all about real estate and those topics were all common topics such as targeting the consumer, referrals, branding yourself, etc. The second day was about the internet, with very, veRY, VERY basic knowledge on how to optimize your website for the search engines. In addition, he had a staff of internet optimizers, designers and people who write copy. I am confident that these people were not paid staff, as they were working the crowd trying to "drum up" more business for themselves. But, in the end, he tells you that you need to hire someone to do all of these things. Someone to optimize your website (work the search engines), someone for design and someone else to write the copy (the text) for the site. So once again, I probably saved you another $2000.00. The third and final day was cut 4 hours short and the last hour was determining who won the dinner with Mr. Internet.

To top it all off, when I returned to my home; I received an email stating, that Michael & his team will take an in-depth look at my website and tell me how to "blow the competition out of the water" and for those of us who attended the seminar?...... we would only have to pay $695.00 and a quarterly payment of $395.00 for this service; that's $600.00 off the retail price!!! What a bargain!! I am jumping for joy!!!! Thank goodness he didn't include it in the $3,000.00 he already took from me!!!

In closing: Look around before you spend the money. If it's motivation you are looking for, there are much cheaper seminars and even cheaper: BOOKS. If you are completely confused about the internet, I will tell you just like Mr. Internet will tell you, hire someone qualified to handle those jobs. The information you are offered from Michael Russer is the same dribble that is printed on the internet and in so many other publications. If all else fails, attend Star Power, it's much cheaper and much, much, much more informative.
You've been warned!!

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