This article is still under development:

Lets Define Guru: If I was to define the word from my online experiances it would mean something like this. Someone professing to want to help you out by promising success in exchange for money! A guru always has something to sell.

The real definition goes like this:

Main Entry: gu·ru
Pronunciation: 'gur-(")ü, 'gü-(")rü also g&-'rü
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural gurus
Etymology: ultimately from Sanskrit guru, from guru, adjective, heavy, venerable -- more at GRIEVE
1 : a personal religious teacher and spiritual guide in Hinduism
2 a : a teacher and especially intellectual guide in matters of fundamental concern b : one who is an acknowledged leader or chief proponent c : a person with knowledge or expertise : EXPERT

This article was from this website: http://m-w.com/dictionary/guru

Notice the emphasis on teacher! A person of power due to their knowledge. Most online internet gurus pretend to be teachers and think you should give them money to learn their secrets to success. Their actual behavior would seem to belie this honored term. A teachers real goal is to impart knowledge and success on to their students. A real teacher doesn't claim to have secrets. A real teachers main goal is not to get rich off of selling stuff to their students but rather to actually impart the knowledge. In fact to be considered a guru you don't have to sell anything, or even be rich from online profits. All you really need to know is the truth. Trust me, knowing the truth wont make you rich. In fact it wont even make you one single dime. 

To me to sell the truth is unethical. Truth should be free for everyone. Truth in internet marketing is only the starting point for success. A certain amount of work and energy is also required. The work required is always minimized down to very easy(no definition of easy is usually given) "anyone can do it" "simple as pushing a button". I have never seen any of these types of hypes to be true. NEVER. If you dont believe this to be true then send it to me and I'll evaluate it. If your hype is true i'll confess publicly that I was wrong. My evaluations are honest and brutal. I cannot be bought and I don't have a price. Tools are just that! TOOLS. If a tool claims that it can do everything for you, then it is likely to be a liar.

This Articles main intent is to show the utlimate way to be an online internet marketing guru and can be applied to any sort of guru.

Keep in mind that the first qualifier for an honest ethical beyond doubt guru is that you don't depend on being a "guru" for a living.

The following is an email that I sent to Eric Holmlund, of Erics Tips.

Eric Holmlund
Eric's Tips

It is mostly a rant and I plan to sit down when I am not totally exhausted and clarify and modify and expand on it. It was a response to an email he sent titled, "Keep it Simple and Avoid the Hype". I thought this was interesting because most gurus are all about hype! They insult you with their hype and cram it down your throat to the tune of 20 pages sometimes.

I have to say that I consider Eric to be the closest thing to a guru that I know but the rest are not gurus rather the best are internet marketers that make money marketing, "how to make it on the internet". They make money by convincing you that they actually know what they are talking about. Most are so good with the slick talk that they are nothing more then snakeoil salesman. The truth is these guys are into bulk buy and sell of their latest e-book or software and the worst want you to join their programs with steep monthly fees and no real guarantees. The truth is if you got money for their programs you dont need them. If they told you and or actually showed you step by step then they couldnt sell you anything else. Your internet success is not in their favor. If you are successful then you dont need to buy their next e-book. That would of course mean less money for them! Do the math! If you believe that the big oil companies have your best interests at heart then you are on better ground then if you think most of these gurus have your best interests at heart. Trust me! They only have your pocketbook contents in mind.

Anybody that says it's easy to make money online is trying to get your money easily. If they say it is for free, well 99.9% of the time it's not. There  is always a catch and the very minimum catch is going to be your email address. With your email address they can try again and again with different advertising ploys to get you. Some of them will even tell you that when they try to sell you things like Autoresponders or programs that catch peoples email addresses or other programs that work toward list creations.

Anyway I digress and will probably move that rant to a different page.

Back to being a guru. and the email.

Eric,

    I found your email interesting in light of my new attitude towards guru's. The whole guru worshiping thing doesn't work for me because they work on a different level then I do. Some people are really good at reading a book to follow directions and some people learn by watching and doing.
I learn by watching and doing and I know how to teach the same way. I will get this internet business thing figured out and when I do I may choose to help a few people who dont seem to be getting where they want to be.
Guru's can be helpful at times but for the most part they are not there giving advice out of generosity of spirit. Gurus do it for two main reasons
1. Their financial Gain
2. Their financial Gain and a few do it for some bragging rights among their peers.
Of course many can't feel successful unless they can brag about their successes. Those that have successes anyway. However These people are of little actual use to some of us that have to feed our families off of what we make on the internet. These Gurus want more money with more hyped promises and all the time they are leaving out the core solution to ANY internet business. Face it, if the rest of us have internet success we don't need their next secret. Less money for them.
Frankly if I am honest, I can tell my client, "here let me help you double your business or actually create your business and you can slip me 5% off your net profits later.
If I am already succesful then I dont need to profit off of them for my success so it really doesnt matter if they ever bother to pay me.
If I had to depend on being a money sucking guru to make a living, the shame would fuel a suicidal depression.
The key is in the purpose and intent. I would rather teach someone to be successful online for free and then sell the tools that make it easier after they have success. Thats the only conscious free way I could ever be a guru.

disclaimer. This email is my property and may be used by me in part or in whole on future websites for any purpose I deem necessary.

Bryan Fullerton