When I joined the online business world with my own little business in 2016 I was blissfully unaware of what was happening in this space – when your online business group is more like a cult.

I thought all the people were saints and were so good at helping other people from the bottom of their heart.

And then as a Virtual Assistant I started working with some of those people I admired from afar.

And it was a rude awakening.

There was only talk about numbers. Talk about how to sell more to people. Talk about how we need to make sure that we don’t help people too much so that they have to spend another 5k with us to buy the next program etc.

And then I started hearing stories from people that were ripped off by some of the big names in the industry.

Stories from when fake friendships got cancelled after someone said something they shouldn’t have said.

Stories and allegations of sexual abuse by some big name.

And the weird thing is – all of these stories have kind of disappeared off the internet over the years. It’s as if it never happened. I’m assuming there is a strong legal team involved. If you want to hear the scoop of some of it… watch this video by Rachael Kay Albers for a taste which still seems to be one of the few things that hasn’t been taken down.

The Truth: Most online business groups are scarily close to qualifying as a cult

I didn’t fully realise this until a couple of years ago, because I had never really investigated what makes a cult a cult. I thought always of extremist groups etc. and not of those people that surround me every day. The people that I am effectively working for.

And then I listened to a couple of podcasts on cults (neither of which are currently producing solid content anymore, so I’m not going to link them) and that got me thinking.

And then I started seeing more and more patterns and I realised that many business groups in the online business space come scarily close to being nothing more than a cult.

They do not operate in your best interest, but only in the interest of lining their own pockets.

And they tell you that THEIR METHOD is the only right way to success.

And if you succeed, it’s all on them for giving you this information.

And if you don’t, it’s all your fault.

So today I want to share a little bit more about what makes a cult a cult – and then share how some online business groups rope you in, and what happens after that and why that is very much LIKE a cult. And what to do when your online business group is more like a cult

Cults can be mostly defined by the following:

• a charismatic, self-appointed leader without accountability, who becomes close to being worshipped by the members of the cult – this leader is the single most defining element of the group and its source of power and authority
• There is some form of indoctrination into the cult which involves group members doing things that are not in their own best interest, but in the best interest of the group or the leader of the group
• Economical, sexual and other exploitation of group members, the level of this varies and in our case this focuses mostly on economical exploitation (however there are some “leaders” in the online business space that have been accused of sexual abuse too)

A lot of groups in the online space do not meet ALL of these criteria but become scarily close.

So here are some warning signs I see online A LOT:

• Authoritarianism without accountability (whatever the group leader says is what’s right and if this doesn’t work for you, it’s your fault and you will get publicly shamed or cancelled)
• No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry or a different opinion
• Generating fear or hate towards other groups where other opinions are shared
• People that speak out and leave the group are painted as evil or bad and blamed for all of their failures
• Former members share similar stories with similar patterns of grievances
• Followers feel like they’re never good enough and will never know enough therefore requiring them to absorb more and more “content” (aka pay money to get access to this) from the leader of the group
• When followers have wins it’s all on account of the leaders work, when followers have losses or something doesn’t work it’s their own fault of course
• The group leader is the only way to obtain a “truth” of sorts

So, once you assess this critically you will find that most of the communities assembled around this charismatic leader meet these criteria.

You get a free thing.

Then you end of on a sales call because you’re hooked on the promise.

Then if you say “I can’t afford it” because you honestly can’t, you’re told to stick it on the credit card putting you in huge financial risks.

Then you complete the program, you do it and it doesn’t work. If you speak up you’re told that you haven’t worked hard enough or you obviously didn’t do it right. Or you don’t have an abundance mindset or you have money blocks. Or you need to heal some of your past traumas – and that’s when your online business group is more like a cult.

And of course there is a next course to help you solve this issue – which somehow it never does.

So you go deeper and deeper into the eco system in the hope that the next thing is going to finally solve your problems.

And if you strike it lucky and that specific out of the box system works for you, for your business, for your audience and what for what you’re selling then you’re hailed as a success story and get plastered all over the place as evidence that you did as you were told, therefore hooking in more people with the hope of salvation.

If you want to build your own cult I recommend reading “Expert Secrets” by Russell Brunson. It’s basically a book that teaches you how to build your online cult – aka your own following – and it works. It’s been working for thousands of years.

You become the charismatic leader, you tell some stories about rock bottom and how you made it. You find an opposite group that you can blame for people’s past failings, and then say that you’re so different. And then you build some funnels to sell more and more of your stuff. And then you make your customers for whom your system worked the heroes of all future stories.

So, before you start working with someone, do your due diligence.

Watch people from afar.

Understand what they’re doing and selling.

Take the messaging apart.

Watch out for the usual marketing communications.

Directly speak to former members of their programmes.

Ask about guarantees. Ask about refund policies.

And when someone tells you to stick it on a credit card because obviously success is guaranteed – run.

There is no magic bullet.

There is no overnight solution to all your problems.

No one is going to come and save you from your problems.

You are going to need to sell yourself.

What to do when your online business group is more like a cult?

There is no way to deal with this other than to leave.

The good thing is that online business groups mostly do not have as much of an impact on you, unless you’re in the very close inner circle with people (aka their super high-end mastermind) and even then you can probably just fade out slowly and unless you’ve been directly promoting them as an affiliate and publicly advocating for them, nothing much will happen.

So if you’re in the lower ranks you can mostly just disappear quietly.

And instead, start working with people that really want to help your business and not just have you be a number in their next n-figure launch.

And there is a bunch of honest people out there that really do want to help you.

But their business is built on working with you and your business directly. On providing you actionable support. On being accountable to you and your business and the results. It’s not an out-of-the box solution. It’s developing a strategy, testing it and refining it until it works for you.

It takes time and effort from them AND from you.

They even help you to implement some of the stuff they’re telling you to try. Or they refer you to someone else that can help you implement what you need to do IN YOUR BUDGET.

They don’t blame you when something goes wrong and take credit when everything goes right.

And the amazing thing? They will not charge you 10x of your last payment to get to the next level either, so you’ll get way more support for what you need without having to drop $$$ – and that may even suddenly get you results. If you’d like to look at working together in a non-culty way, you can find the options here.

Stay safe and keep your eyes peeled.