@Paul Felix,
I sure hope you spend as much time working on yourself as you do complaining about someone else success.
First peace of advice would be to educate yourself about something before your try to talk bad about it. Like David mentioned you are not going to be able to search county records for an investors name as the majority of their portfolio is going to be under entity names. All of my properties and held in trusts that are owned by separate LLC's.
Second, the reason that an investor can't tell you what is working at the this very moment is because marketing pieces for real estate have a very short window of effectiveness. If he told you exactly what it is that he is using then everyone would start doing it and next week he won't be using it anymore. REI marketing is a tricky piece of the puzzle and is the part that every person must be creative and do them selves. Here is another thing just do the marketing, Everything thing works to a degree. Its up to you to convert the leads.
Third, I have attended Phil's VIP weekend. For a $1,000 you get a very fare share of education. Yes there is a big training course at the end but just like college, education isn't free. Have you ever broken down how much a college education cost you per hour in this country? It's not cheap either. Phil and Shenoah have a VERY faithful following and spend A LOT of time and A LOT of money on doing their own real estate and providing training to the next generation of investors. What is really frustrating about your post is that you seem that you are new to REI and you think that just because you spend $1,000 on a weekend course that you should be the next Donald Trump. I'm not going to lie that I am a little insulted that you think it is that easy. If it was then everyone would be doing it. It's sad to see that just because you have found someone else that has been successful in this industry that you think its OK to get on a social blog and talk down on a program just because you haven't had the "over night success".
Lastly, There are a lot of "GURU's" out there. Some good some bad. When it comes down to it (just like College) it's all about how you apply the knowledge that you have gained that make you successful. Are there ways to became successful in this industry without paying a "GURU" sure but what you don't see is the amount of opportunities to make money that you miss just because you don't have the knowledge.
I can personally attest to the success that Phil and Shenoah's Bid Dog program can bring. I signed up for their program over a year ago and in this last year I have made my money back and then some. I have also quit my corporate job and am well on my way to escaping the "rat Race" that the traditional go to college, get a job, and save money for retirement mentality. Everything that they say there program does and they do follow through with.
Best of luck with your endevour but you might not want to be to quick to talk down on people just becasue you don't think it is fari. It's not a good practice.
