Are those 9-yuan WeChat group courses that are all over the place worth buying?

I don’t know if you’ve felt this way recently.

The big V that I often follow has posted a new tweet. The title is still very attractive this time. I might be at a disadvantage if I don’t read it. I clicked my finger and scrolled to the bottom, and found that it was an advertisement.

Actually, it’s nothing. It’s good to make money based on your own ability.

A question

If you look closely, the foreshadowing of this kind of advertising is very real and terrifying when you think about it. It often touches people's hearts and hits their pain points, making readers feel like, "Oh, you know all this!"

It then proceeds step by step, raises the issues in users' minds, creates gaps, and then immediately provides solutions. It is neat and efficient. These ads are often named "14-day XXX training camp".

The courses are usually very cheap. At first I saw them being sold for 19 yuan, then 11 yuan, later 9 yuan, and finally 1 yuan. No matter how much it is, it is a price you can definitely afford and you won’t feel sad if you are cheated.

Oh, sorry, I shouldn't say I was cheated. It was a price that I wouldn't feel bad about losing.

The courses in these training camps usually have these characteristics: when you listen to/watch them for the first time, you feel enlightened, like a spring breeze, and feel guilty and self-blaming, but after the next day, you feel back to square one, indifferent, and calm. But this cannot be blamed on the course, after all, this is human nature.

Since the course is for conversion of all users, the subject matter must be popular and not too obscure, and it must be professional enough. It is generally difficult to understand by self-study, and the results must be seen quickly and not take too long to take effect. The most important thing is that it must be inspiring when you first come into contact with it.

Therefore, most courses will focus on these four areas: learning, financial management, fitness, and protection (buying insurance). Due to the lack of understanding of insurance in our national conditions, the general direction of the first three types of projects is recognized by the public. At least now few people would say things like fitness is bad, financial management is stupid, and learning is useless.

As people's living standards continue to improve, people are gradually feeling the need for security. As long as the general direction is correct, users will be very receptive. At least they will not reject the idea as soon as it is asked, thus ensuring stability.

Then, these four aspects are all very professional, and most people who study on their own will be "shut out". Some are shut out by rumors, and some are shut out by themselves. To sum it up in one sentence: I don’t need those that are too professional, and I can’t get started with those that are slightly amateur.

Finally, they have a step that works quickly: the psychological suggestion of instant satisfaction.

Because people think: buying a book means learning, opening a Shanghai and Shenzhen account means financial management, getting a gym membership means fitness, and buying insurance means risk diversification.

To summarize, when a person encounters something that is in the right general direction and he really wants to do it and learn it, but he feels that it is too difficult for him to do it by himself and he cannot get started, but the article provides a way to achieve it, what should he do?

Pay now.

What's more, financial management and insurance are closer to money, and can even be said to be directly linked to money. Driven by the mentality of making a small investment for a big gain, the desire to pay is even stronger.

Having said that, you may think that I am complaining about the scam of online paid education. In fact, it is not. I even encourage everyone to participate more and pay more. After all, there is a lot of essential knowledge that can be obtained by paying, and we don’t need to spend time grinding or struggling.

But the premise is: pay, pay for knowledge. As for the current situation, I personally feel that it is more like paying for anxiety, isn't it?

A practice

I paid to sneak in and take a few classes specifically to verify this thing, and I feel I have the right to speak about what I have seen and heard.

At that time, I paid for a financial management course, which cost 9 yuan, not expensive.

Then they will ask you to add the WeChat of one of their teaching assistants, who will usually say he is the "Dean of Studies," and then ask you to add the WeChat of the "class teacher." (Disguised drainage, really high)

After all, I had paid the fee, so I just added it. After adding the head teacher, she warmly and hospitably pulled me into a group. I was in Class 9 of the 52nd period, and there were already classmates in the group who were greeting each other in various ways, which really brought me back to the good old days of high school.

Then he started talking about the group rules, which roughly meant that he would give lectures every day, and in order to prevent your messages from being drowned out, you needed to remember the code words, and then use these code words to climb the stairs to find the lecture content.

Two thousand words of the class content and the performance of the water army are omitted.

There are handouts for each class, and most of the handouts are some financial management stories, such as the chapter about the puppy Qian Qian, clips from Rich Dad Poor Dad, and Buffett's famous quotes.
Our class teachers are actually some of the early students. They were preached to in the early days and then came to preach to the newcomers later. It’s quite interesting.

Investment advice will be given after each class, including regular investment in ETF indexes, new stock issuance, purchase of convertible bonds, etc. In fact, the teachers are quite nice. They answered all our questions and recommended brokerage firms for us to open accounts. The handling fees could be negotiated down to 12,000 yuan.

Finally, after finishing all the classes and about to graduate, they started to show their big trick: they recommended everyone to participate in their advanced courses. There are really a lot of benefits, such as personal stock recommendations, strategic investment, and finally a harvest price.

Then the course ended perfectly and the WeChat group is about to be disbanded. If you want to know the details of subsequent courses, you need to join another group. The whole process seems to add 2-3 strangers and join 2-3 WeChat groups.

A thought

At first glance, it seems quite cost-effective. There are so many projects for 9 yuan, there are full-time teachers, and there is no charge for asking questions.

But actually, I personally think, I personally think, it’s really my personal feeling, that this kind of teaching method can be very harmful. It makes you feel that this field or this subject is just like this, and it defines your personality.

After all, the essence of their teaching method is: use examples and stories to emphasize the correctness of doing something, and then use suggestions and experience to forcibly prove something that is likely to happen during this period of time.

And most of the time, their purpose is not pure. Their driving force is to achieve more effective conversions. They have the mentality of a product manager or an operations manager, not a teaching mindset.

What's more, they can only have this mentality. Otherwise, they are still students in the first two months, but after two months, they will be able to understand the whole process and guide students. Isn't this the rhythm of writing a poem in seven steps?

In fact, money is a small matter, and wasted time is also a small matter. The biggest disadvantage of doing this is that it misleads your original intention.

You don’t know how the underlying operations of these subjects are, nor do you understand the essence of this knowledge. You can only rely on some fragmentary suggestions and information to try to piece together a subject framework that has been argued for generations.

Just like financial management is assumed to be stock trading, and fitness only knows that the buttocks cannot go beyond the knees when squatting, this is very stupid.

You will no longer be able to quantify the results you want based on what you have mastered, nor will you be able to adjust yourself. You can only respond to situations as they arise and be indecisive. In this way, you will always remain at the novice stage.

Always getting started, never mastering.

A postscript

When I was working on games, I was communicating with a game product manager and he said something that made me feel deeply -
In order to increase user stickiness to the game, we game developers must make every game failure be attributed to the user, so that the user feels:
I didn't play well this time because of my operating skills, not the game. I will definitely not do that again next time.

Indeed, sometimes you really can’t tell whether it is your problem or a trap set by others.

Author: Jacob

Source: Jacob