After hanging around these forums for about half a year now, I've noticed that the word "Guru" gets tossed around quite a bit, and (understandably) not in a good way. It's a label that tends to be used interchangeably with words like "scam", "ripoff", "liar", "no credibility", and a lot of other negative connotations.

I have to admit, when I hear the word "Guru" - the first thoughts that come to mind generally aren't positive either.

This got me to thinking, what exactly makes someone a "Guru"? At what point does someone deserve to be lumped into this category?

- When they make a particular claim?
- Is it an attitude, action or behavior?
- When they try to sell an informational product of any kind?
- When they claim to have a repeatable "system" of any kind?
- When they offer proof that they have been wildly successful?
- When they say that real estate investing is "easy"?
- Some other criteria?

I'm guessing there are a lot of different ideas out there. I'd be curious to hear what you all think, and why.