Four Amazing Lessons from Kevin Trudeau

Sports supplements have quite a following, so it’s a breeding ground for quick buck artists and charlatans. And it’s fitting that we started this topic right after Kevin Trudeau received 10 years in federal prison for, according to Natural Products INSIDER, “violating a court order that barred him from making infomercials that misrepresented the contents of his book on weight loss cures.”

Put those two factors together, and it’s the perfect time to review what we can learn from Trudeau’s latest chapter in the courtroom. I came up with four lessons, but I’d love to hear what you think. Feel free to comment below.

1.) Don’t do infomercials. I’m sure you can reach a lot of people at 4 a.m. on a Thursday, but it’s a great way to cheapen a reputation. If you don’t believe me, then listen to sportscasters Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann, two guys who have remained relevant for decades.

“Never do an infomercial,” the duo wrote in their book, The Big Show. “Your career is over. You are done. Toast. Fried. We don’t care if you’re selling salad dressing that gives eternal life—you will never be taken seriously again.”

Wasn’t that dressing mentioned in Trudeau’s book?

2.) Don’t make promises you can’t possibly keep—or prove with cold, hard facts. One of three unpleasant conclusions arises if you do the opposite: the FDA or the FTC will come down on you with the force of a grand piano dropped from the top floor, the general public will eventually get wise and resent you forever, or both will occur.

3.) Don’t be cocky. Even if Trudeau’s remedies could cure cancer and make you bake the perfect blueberry pie, claiming that you’re some kind of miracle worker not only paints you as a snake oil salesman, it’s a divisive move.

Spend a week following the natural products industry, and you’ll see that it revolves around the concept of complementary, whether it’s natural products being used in conjunction with diet and exercise, the industry’s constant effort to promote understanding among politicians, or the mainstream press, and medical practitioners. You have to get along to go along.

4.) Don’t get into this industry for the money. People still do, unfortunately, but the companies that commit to science and being part of a person’s healthy lifestyle survive and thrive for years.  

And those who don’t may very well follow the path of Kevin Trudeau.