Complaint Review: Robert Allen - Internet

For six years I was a trainer for the Robert Allen "Enlightened Wealth" program.  The program, based on Allen's "Multiple Streams of Income" and "One Minute Millionaire" books covered different "streams" or ways of creating residual income - real estate, stock market, the internet and an area called info-preneuring where people learned how to do the book, seminar or workshop kind of business.

I came to the program as an Executive Assistant to Mr. Allen. I didn't tell him I had extensive experience in Marketing and had owned several businesses in the past.  I wanted to learn the inside of this business and I figured the best way to do it is to be on the inside. 

After about a year, Allen saw my background, skills and education went way beyond an assistant and gradually I became a trainer - mostly doing weekly teleclasses.  My expertise was not in real estate and I was always upfront with people.  "Don't ask me questions about real estate," and I'd refer them to others who I personally knew had extensive experience in Real Estate.

When I became a trainer the program was $5,000.  That may sound like a lot but it included 37 different weekly classes on creating streams of income. You could take each class as many times as you wanted.  It also included 3-4 major seminars a year.  Oh, and after one year - they never kicked anyone out. 

I'd pitch Allen on a course I felt was needed to help the proteges - and in a month or two it'd be added.  I also noticed that people loved the info in the teleclasses but they'd say, "This is great - but how do I apply it to my business idea?"  Well, with 15-25 people on the calls I couldn't go into too much detail.  So, I'd say send me an email and let's schedule a time to talk and I can help you one on one.  The program at that time didn't promise any mentoring - but within a few months - I was mentoring about 20 people a week, in addition to 4-5 teleclasses, writing the newsletter, travelling to events and more. 

People paid a lot of money $5,000. - but if they took action on what they learned they got a lot of value. 

Here's where the organization got greedy: 

They started offering a $25,000 program where you were supposed to get much more up close and personal contact with Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen, his co-author on a couple books.  Some people loved it - but a lot of people felt it wasn't worth it.  They weren't getting what was promised.  I wasn't a part of that program.  But it awed me that people were willing to pay so much to get a little closer to them. 

They decided instead of me mentoring people they would charge an additional $3,000 for a mentoring "program."  For that price people got ten mentoring sessions.  They told me I'd get paid $30 per session.  I said, "no" because I knew I was worth much more than $30 an hour.  My pay was cut way back because I was no longer offering the mentoring sessions.  They wanted that $3,000, too. 

Also, Allen's business partner wanted the program to be all about real estate.  He didn't like the info-preneuring "stream" because people weren't becoming millionaires.  He's a very numbers oriented guy.  Despite that fact - the people in my teleclasses that took action on what they learned were happy that they were writing, getting books published.  They were starting to do workshops and make money.  They were creating a new freedom and income - but it wasn't millionaire status.  Eventually all the training I was doing was eliminated.  (It's fascinating because over time I've had people from this program seek me out on facebook and I'm working with a couple of them as clients now.) 

It was actually good timing because I had my own book coming out on marketing for women, "Testosterone-Free Marketing."  I knew it was time for me to fly on my own.  I probably could've gotten a management job if I was willing to move me and my husband to Utah - but I was ready to step out of the shadows and do my own thing.

It's been almost six years.  My book became a business bestseller, selling in 15 countries.  I do infrequent workshops, marketing mentoring with individual clients and I'm working on a publishing project I can't reveal yet.

So, for the time I was part of it, the program provided a lot of value.  Many people who took action on what they learned became millionaires in real estate.  Those were high-flyin' times for those people.  When real estate crashed many of them crashed with it.