The Cult of Digital Marketing Scams (The New MLM)

Sounds Like A Cult

Studio71

Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Education

3.9 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Are you overwhelmed by the amount of ‘side hustles’ being advertised to you on social media? Feel undue pressure to ‘build passive income,’ even if you aren’t entirely sure what that means, or how to do so? Maybe the siren song of ‘digital assets’ and ‘financial freedom’ gives you déjà vu— haven’t we heard these buzzwords before? But maybe you’re just getting your first taste of the #GirlBoss side of the internet, which is so very wide and full of opportunity, after all. And justttttt maybe, this digital marketing course is the key to your transcendent financial future!…..Yeah, no. This week on Sounds Like a Cult, Reese and Amanda take a scroll through the beige world of the cult of Digital Marketing and all of its malicious tactics, from emojis to emotional manipulation. Follow us as we ask: do these courses actually teach anything useful? WTF even is a digital asset? Are these just MLMs in trendy Gen-Z clothing? If you couldn’t tell, we aren’t exactly ~math experts~ over here, so joining us to help debunk some of the hashtaggable rhetoric of digital marketing are Maggie Patterson (@bsfreebusiness) and Michelle Mazur (@drmichellemazur), cohosts of Duped: The Dark Side of Online Business. Log into your Canva account and get ready to (L)earn! Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles. Thank you to our sponsors! Earn points on rent and around your neighborhood, wherever you call home, by going to https://joinbilt.com/CULT Go to https://ThriveMarket.com/SLAC to start saving. The sale ends 8/31—don’t miss it Go to https://Quince.com/slac for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns. Please consider donating to those affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Team SLAC are donating to the PCRF, a nonprofit organization providing vital medical care, food, and humanitarian aid to children and families in need. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The views expressed on this episode, as with all episodes of Sounds Like a Cult, are solely host opinions and quoted allegations.
0:06.5	The content here should not be taken as indisputable fact. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only.
0:12.7	And sometimes it's coaching, sometimes it's digital products, sometimes it's courses. There's so many flavors of the scam.
0:19.8	They gaslight you into believing that their system
0:22.3	is flawless. And if you don't succeed, then there's just something wrong with you. Digital products
0:27.1	convert between one to three percent. They are outright lying to you about the ease to sell you
0:35.4	this dream of financial freedom. Part of the American dream is being sold
0:40.4	that return on investment. This is Sounds Like a Cult, a show about the modern day cults we all follow.
0:48.5	I'm your host Amanda Montel, and I'm an author. And I'm your co-host, Reese Oliver. Sounds like a
0:53.7	Colts resident rhetoric scholar.
0:55.6	Every week on this show, we discuss a different fanatical fringe group or guru from the cultural
1:01.3	zeitgeist, from Tradwives to Trader Joe's, to try and answer the big question.
1:06.5	This group sounds like a cult, but is it really?
1:21.6	Music This group sounds like a cult, but is it really? And if so, which of our cult categories does it fall into? Live your life, a watch your back, or a get the fuck out.
1:25.6	After all, coldishness is in the eye of the beholder, and not every
1:29.8	culty-looking group these days is equally bad. The point of this show is to analyze how
1:35.5	culty behaviors show up in everyday life, including places you might not think to look. And,
1:40.7	you know, sometimes they're exactly where you thought they'd be all cozyed up on your
1:44.7	iDiscover feed how would you like to make your month's rent from your couch this weekend indeed
1:50.3	this episode is dedicated to the cult of the digital marketing girlies aka the new 2025 version
1:59.1	of the early 2000s MLM.
2:02.6	Girlies who are trying to get you not to leave the prison of your 9 to 5 job to become your
	...

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