Thread by @CryptoShadowOff

The Most Complete Thread On Paid Groups You Will Ever Read

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Today I'm going to use my following to discuss paid groups.

- Are they scams?
- Why they're run?
- Details on their operations
- If they're worth it
- The good & bad

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A full 360 view. Let's begin.

#Crypto

Disclaimer

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Before I continue:

- You should be aware that I own a trading group myself
- Which can be found here: tier7trading.com

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- I will do my best to present all info with little conflict of interest
- Feel free to call me out if not

(2/39)

Now Before We Begin Talking About Groups:

If you are:

- New
- Have no method of discerning scams
- Have not exhausted free resources

You should NOT be paying for ANYTHING. Full stop.

- Not trading advice
- Not online business courses
- Nothing

(3/39)

This Is A Topic Close To My Heart

Not only because I've seen people be scammed

But this industry is notorious for

- Poor standards
- Cheap marketing tricks
- Scummy behaviour

All of which we will reveal later

(4/39)

Lastly

I want to be very specific on what I mean by 'scam' in this article

A Scam:

- Does not provide value
- Is 360 degrees from what is marketed
- Takes more from you than it gives
- Lies about it's product
- And detriments all involved

(5/39)

Now - The First Most Imp Point: WHY Are Paid Groups Run?

Paid Groups Are Run For 3 Reasons:

A: To supplement/boost the leaders trading income
B: Because the leaders are not profitable
C: To dump on paid followers

Since 2/3 of these are not legit: 70% are likely scams

(6/39)

That Means That Having A Process Of Discernment Is VITAL

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Lest you be left staring into the abyss of the nights vapor
Because you thought your influencer was your saviour
But instead he dumped on you
And now you have no paper
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However, let's rewind for a second.

(7/39)

Why Do People Run Paid Groups If They Are Already Successful?

APART from the scams:

- Income streams create security
- People with money want to make more
- Trading (however profitable) is not RELIABLE income

It's very rarely for 'morality'

It's a money game.

(8/39)

Lets Say For Example

- A trader earns 100K - 200K a year from trading.
- And he can make another 200K reliable income from opening a circle
- Which is basically his or her journal

1. He is leveraging what he already does.
2. For double the result.

This is smart.

(9/39)

Now. The Argument:

"If the trader was good they wouldn't sell anything"

- Makes no sense.
- Is not properly thought through.
- Does not quote all the profitable traders running solid courses or groups
- Such as prop firms

Therefore, let's bury this here.

Moving on.

(10/39)

The Next Question: Do You Need You Pay For A Group?

NO.

1. You don't.
2. You can learn everything online for free
3. Either with your own experience
4. Or through free vids and articles

Explore this avenue. See how far you can get.

You simply need resourcefulness.

(11/39)

Are There Benefits In Paying For a Group or Course?

Trading is like any Pro craft.

In my opinion, it's in the top 10 most difficult in the world.

- 90% failure rate
- Huge stress
- Long learning curve

It may therefore be something you don't want to go alone at.

(12/39)

It's Common In Specialized Fields To Seek Help

In-fact, it's the route people take in the 'classic' world

- People go to university to learn specialized crafts
- For 3-6 years (sometimes eight)

Hate for 'paid resources' doesn't change that mentorship is effective.

(13/39)

To think that the greatest traders in the world never:

- Paid for a mentorship
- Paid for resources
- And knowledge

And went at it completely alone is ASONINE:

They learned either through:

- Books
- Courses
- Personal experiences

All which have a cost.

(14/39)

The Reason Why It's Useful To Pay For Knowledge Is:

- When people pay for things, they pay more attention (sunk cost fallacy)
- Most people are surprisingly resourceful
- Doing it alone takes extra time and come with difficulty
- Mentors can see blind spots

15/39)

If You However Wish To Go At It Alone

With will, grit OR low level resources like books.

This is to be celebrated.

Leaning on your own spine is a GOOD habit.

Something you can lose if you become dependant on a course or service.

(16/39)

Becoming Dependant On Courses / Services / Groups

Can ACTUALLY become damaging.

- When someone who wants to abdicate responsibility for life
- Thinks that paying for a service will transform him
- And does little work

EVERYONE loses.

(17/39)

Time to pause.

Let's say you decide to 'pay' a service to:

- Teach you
- For signals
- For info

You have a CHOICE. Don't rush.
First you need a criteria

(18/39)

This Is Now Where The Danger Comes:

- Groups that market the best, are often the worst
- The lights of the trading industry shine so bright
- Newcomers become blind

The newcomers criteria for learning slowly congeals into...

'Wow! Gains! This guy looks sick!'

(19/39)

Warp Drive

1. The new guy jumps into hot water
2. Marketing hijacks his logical brain
3. He gets shafted by scammers & bad marketing
5. And is often left wounded for life

- His perspective was warped before (high expectations)
- His perspective is warped again (hate)

(20/39)

What Happens?

A- Group or service IS actually a scam
B - Group or service doesn't taper user expectations responsibly

In regards to B:

- User joins with false expectation
- Dreams of $ in a set period of time
- Blows up from over-risking

The perfect image is attached

(21/39)

Reputation

Sorry but - Getting a services reputation through the grapevine

Isn't going to help you here.

It may be useful for verification

- But some people get rich doing the WRONG thing
- Then praise the service they paid for

Unknowing they're done 1+1 = 4

(22/39)

That Returns Me To The ORIGINAL Point AGAIN:

1. If you are going to pay for something.
2. You NEED discernment.
3. Else - don't pay.

Otherwise 70% of the time, you WILL get scammed.

(23/39)

In Order To Avoid This The First Questions You Must Ask Are:

- How does this service have value for me?
- Are they scamming or legit?
- What exactly do I get?

To answer this requires a keen eye.

To develop a keen eye, you need to know certain things.

(24/39)

Things You Need To Know:

- How to spot dishonest results
- Verify profitability over a large period of time
- Assess if their profit curve is low/high risk
- Know what a proper journal looks like
- Ask to speak to 'success' cases
- Be alert for cheap marketing tricks

(25/39)

The Reasons For This Are Because:

- Being exposed to high risk method leads to blow up
- It's very easy to be profitable for a small time
- The Gods you follow may just see you as a cash cow

If you join the wrong space

Your method may be poisoned and never recover.

(26/39)

How To Spot Dishonest Results (1)

1. Traders give multiple targets
2. Only one or two hit
3. Asset dumps
4. Trade is logged as a full success without calculating loss

(27/39)

How To Spot Dishonest Results (2)

- Group or service labels all results as %
- Group logs everything in %
- Without have a metric for risk

This is because % can mean anything

- 10% of how much?
- And is the stop also 10% away? If so that's terrible RR.

(28/39)

How To Verify Profitability Over A Long Period Of Time:

- Ask them for at- least a 6 month trade log
- Ask for screenshots and scrutinize their setups
- Watch them online
- Ask for the rough size they trade

And hunt for any signs of malpractice (as above)

(29/39)

Assess If Their Profit Curve Is Low or High Risk

- Ask them for their average gain to loss ratio
- Ask them for their max parallel setup ratio
- What are their biggest losses?
- How do they manage losses?
- What is their standardized risk?
- Do they teach about risk?

(30/39)

Speaking To Success Cases

- Ask to speak to success cases that speak your language
- That are clearly real
- And that have been in this service for a significant period of time

Any reputable place should be able to refer a few that will happily do so.

(31/39)

How To Scamming Marketing Tricks (1)

Watch for those that:

- Directly promise gains
- Claim they did 10,000% with no context
- Licks ass of influencer for followers (in a contrived manner)
- Indirectly suggests you will get x $
- Tell you it's 'easy'

(32/39)

How To Spot Scamming Marketing Trick (2)

- Loves to flex (but doesn't reveal underlying context
- Frequently posts leverage % PNL shots (this means NOTHING)
- Shills low cap garbage on Twitter
- Seeks to unhinge your calm with copious emojis (we're all slightly guilty)

(33/39)

How To Spot Scamming Marketing Trick (3)

- Has a GIANT following but posts 5m timeframe setups on social
- Has a GIANT following but posts sub 10Mcap garbage
- Sells services where they just draw trendlines
- Are unhinged when they are typing

(34/39)

How To Spot Scamming Marketing Trick (4)

Look for those that

- Try to promote everything as a 'lack of discipline'
- Post hindsight images
- Post that their 'vague analysis 2 weeks ago' came true
- Post false testimonials

(35/39)

The Reason Scammers Market Like This:

Because trading is difficult:

- You are risk off for quite a while
- You have to do a lot of prep and waiting
- You can't just make 100% every-trade
- Growth takes time
- Being under-capitalized is poison

It's HARD to sell!

(36/39)

Standard A LEGIT Paid Serive Or Group Will Follow:

- Have a specific explained method
- Display a trade log with all the setups they've ever taken
- Show you evidence of trade management
- Only share trades on relatively liquid assets
- Demonstrate live calls

(37/39)

The Responsibility Of Service Providers:

This leads to my last point.

1. Since noobs don't have the knowledge to discern
2. Service providers have a responsibility.
3. To promote the right expectation.

If not, everyone loses.

Karmically and monetarily.

(38/39)

Conclusion:

I Have covered quite a lot in this thread.

If you have found it helpful, please

- R/T
- Like
- And share it with your friends.

Especially if they are new to the game.

I ask nothing else.

Thanks and enjoy your day.

(39/39)