The Cult of Digital Marketing Scams (The New MLM)
Sounds Like A Cult
08/12/25
•68m
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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!
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