There was a recent Hub page written by Eric Graudins criticizing students of an online training course called Renegade University, which was founded by a man named Mike Klingler. The course is designed primarily for people interested in learning about attraction marketing to build a network marketing business, though most of the principles can be applied to many other types of businesses. Since Mike uses an e-book titled, "The Renegade Network Marketer", written by Ann Sieg, as his foundation text, it is no surprise that most of the students have an interest in network marketing.

The criticism was based on the fact that many Hub pages have appeared in recent months which were written by the students of Renegade University and, according to Eric, amount to little more than SPAM. Eric points out that many of the pages he read were very similar in content, and lacked any originality, and that the worst offenders began their page by writing about something of interest, only to shift gears halfway through the page to promote Renegade University, usually with several hyperlinks which led straight to affiliate pages. This is at the heart of the problem, because the option of simply not reading Renegade University 'propaganda' becomes more difficult when it isn't obvious at first glance that the page is about that.

The response has been pretty explosive, and the debate has been fairly polarized, for the most part. Most of the comments posted in response to Eric's Hub have either praised him for bringing this up, or lambasted him as being overly harsh and uninformed.

This page will examine many of the concerns raised both in Eric's page as well as other articles, and addresses those concerns in the most constructive way possible. Hopefully, a little light will be shed on Renegade University that will help you understand why people have such strong reactions to it, on both sides of the fence. In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I am what is known as a Renegade Professional, through Renegade University, which means I have enrolled as a "student" and pay the monthly fee to have access to all the training tutorials that have been produced and are made available in the Professional area of Mike's site.

I actually wasn't going to write anything in response to Eric's Hub page, but on my way home from running errands a couple days ago I was nearly hit by someone who ran a stop sign. We both hit our brakes and managed to avoid a collision. When I looked in to the other car, I saw a scared teenage driver with his father in the passenger seat. I was momentarily upset and could have reacted by yelling or making a rude gesture. Both the father and son looked at me with different forms of apology and fear. I gathered my composure, forced a smile, and then mouthed the words, "Slow down." I hoped the boy would heed my words in the future.

That experience inspired me to write this Hub page, because I feel that many of the same lessons apply to the controversy Eric has stirred up. In many ways, Renegade University students are a lot like teenage drivers. We are trying to learn to control a vehicle that we are not yet comfortable with, but that we know will provide tremendous benefit to us once we get the hang of it. We are going to make mistakes, because we are new at this, but we are trying to get it right. Of course, just like teenage drivers, some will act responsibly and try not to hurt anyone while they learn, while others will drive with reckless abandon, thinking they own the whole road. The more we make an effort to learn, the more we will differentiate ourselves from the self-centered drivers.

You could argue that Mike Klingler is a lot like a driving school instructor. He is trying to make the roads a bit safer for everyone by providing solid training to people who are willing to learn (I suppose I could have manipulated the story a little and said it was a teenager with a driving school instructor instead of his dad, but that would have been contrived, and I am trying to avoid that sort of thing). I'm sure there are moments where Mike has to hold his breath and smile when he witnesses some of his students forgetting some of the "rules of the road", but I can assure you that he does his best to help everyone learn when mistakes are made, so they can be avoided in the future by the rest of the students.

Finally, people like Eric represent other more experienced drivers on the road. When less experienced drivers make mistakes, the more experienced can choose to yell obscenities and belittle them, which will make them more nervous and confused, or they can gain their composure, force a smile, and offer a little constructive criticism. Hopefully, the drivers will appreciate it and try to be more careful in the future. Of course, if the drivers are clearly not interested in the help, and are blatantly breaking traffic laws, that's different. Many young drivers don't bother to take proper care of their vehicles, and will either knowingly or unknowingly emit toxic fumes, or in this case SPAM, wherever they go. This is where the law (Hub admin), imperfect as it is, should be called upon to deal with these individuals.

I certainly can't speak for everyone, but from the people I have spoken to and connected with who are also Renegade University students, there are some common reasons why we have chosen to use this program. I think it's important for the skeptics to understand our motivation, even if our approach is still unrefined and some mistakes are being made. Perhaps the critics will decide to be a little more lenient, and offer constructive advice in the future instead of flaming remarks.

Most of the Renegade University students seem to have past or current ties to network marketing. If you cringe at the thought of network marketing, because it stirs up images of being hounded by your neighbor or a family member to take a look at some great new opportunity, you may be surprised to learn that the traditional model of network marketing makes most of us cringe, too. You may have been annoyed by a network marketer here and there, but many of us subjected ourselves to abject humiliation for an extended period of time, sometimes years.

We did this because we recognized the wisdom behind leveraged, residual income. We were told by our uplines that the way to build that income was to engage in those practices that many people find so abhorrent; build our lists and approach everyone on them. When we ran out of names, we reached out to anyone within three feet of us to share our opportunities. Amazing as it may seem, this approach simply didn't work for the vast majority of us. And the reason is simple. Most of the people on our lists had NO interest in an opportunity. And many of those that did had no interest in doing what they saw us doing in order to succeed.

So, those of us who still believed in the model of leverage, but were unhappy with the unprofessional and ineffective recommendations we were getting from our uplines, sought out a better way to build a business. We found Ann Sieg, who shared her 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing, and her words resonated with us. She wrote about InterNetwork Marketing, and it made perfect sense. Rather than hunt people down to try to convince them to look at our opportunity, she suggested we position ourselves in front of people who are actually looking for a new opportunity. Those people that did not have an interest in what we offered would simply not seek out more information from us. This way, there is no convincing or cajoling. There is only finding a mutually beneficial solution to those who are seeking one.

Ann's e-book, The Renegade Network Marketer, offered us an incredible resource of information and tools that we could use to grow our businesses. Applying time-tested marketing principles to the network marketing model has turned the industry on its ear. Here was someone actually suggesting we learn real sales and marketing skills, rather than just throw a party with our friends and family and hope our businesses took off as a result. The response to what was being offered was overwhelmingly positive, with one caveat. Ann's advice dealt more in the abstract principles of attraction marketing, and many people have had a difficult time applying her lessons to the real world of network marketing. She is like a college professor who teaches in a large lecture hall twice a week, filling the students with awe at her remarkable lessons, but leaving them wondering what to do with that knowledge.

Mike Klingler is like the graduate student/teaching assistant we go to who breaks down the lessons and shows how to apply them to the real world. In Renegade University he uses step-by-step training tutorials that walk the viewer through every aspect of how to apply a lesson. He does this with real world examples, and always asks the viewer to not just follow along by watching the lesson, but by actually DOING the same steps he does while they watch. So, if a tutorial is about setting up a blog page, the viewer will have a page of their own set up by the end of the lesson. The University is growing larger every week, and new lessons are being added all the time. When you consider that this whole program started less than six months ago, the amount of content already being offered is simply amazing.

If Ann is the Professor and Mike is the T.A., then we are all the students and, as we learn, we also gain the ability to become tutors to new students who are going through some of the classes we have already taken. This kind of one-on-one attention helps to fill any gaps that Mike's training videos might have missed. Soon Mike will be implementing a Guides Program, which will highlight the most advanced tutors and give them more opportunities to help new students learn the lessons.

This process is no small undertaking, and there are sure to be some more lessons ahead for all of us. We certainly feel it is worth it, because we are trying to change an industry for the better that holds a lot of promise, but hasn't lived up to its full potential. We are willing to put up with some misconceptions and generalizations about what we are trying to accomplish, because we know in our hearts that this is the right thing to do.

I'd like to suggest that there is more than one way to correct a behavior. You can offer negative reinforcement by scolding and ridiculing so that the person will not want to perform the action again. You also often lower their self-esteem this way, and the person is less likely to extend themselves and take risks in the future. Repeated negative reinforcement to a large group of people stifles growth in the community while everyone learns to adhere to the status quo.

The other option is to use positive reinforcement and praise those that are doing things the right way. By drawing attention to them in a favorable way, others in the community will want to emulate them in order to achieve the same kind of recognition. Self-esteem is raised, and innovative ideas can flourish as natural growth is encouraged.

So, the next time you read a Hub Page by a Renegade University student, try to ask yourself if their intentions are honorable and if your comments will add to the greater good or detract from it. We will make a concerted effort to provide real value to the community of readers, so that we contribute to the Hub website in a positive way. If we can find a way to work together we can create a better environment for everyone.