Your first step is to proclaim yourself God. Or, if that is
too ambitious, try something like "Supreme Spiritual Master" or "Reincarnation
of a Past Prophet" or whatever. Just make it sound super great and
powerful. You might want to make up a previously unknown title
for yourself so you can get a copyright on it and sue anyone who talks
bad about you.
You are going to need some church literature - propaganda - that will give arguments to support your super powers. Most people just copy stuff from someone else. Paul Twitchell just went to the local library, checked out almost anything, and then copied a paragraph from each separate book word for word and made a new book claiming it was his own work. He explained lack of continuity by saying that you could not understand his great wisdom because you were not spiritually advanced enough. Since plagiarism is common, the people you copy from are not likely to complain because they most likely copied their stuff from someone else also.
Next, you need to start a small following which you will gradually grow into a worldwide cult. In practice, this process usually takes longer than a single lifetime. So, your best formula is to use your cult as a family business like the Singh family does. One member of the family plays the part of "god" and all of the other family members support him and benefit financially.
You are going to need to do a little leg work to attract and hold a
small core following. You will need to hold small meetings and keep
spouting trash until you find a few suckers that will follow you around
and believe you are some super master. It may take a while to get
started but things will exponentially pick up as time goes on.
You need to understand and master the basic con game practiced by
essentially all cults. Some key points to remember are:
1. I am a master and you are not. You can never equal my super powers. You are inferior, a sinner, loaded with karma, a worthless person, etc. NEVER ADMIT MISTAKES. It is a sign of weakness.
2. Have an explanation for everything - even if it is illogical. People in cults gradually lose the capacity to do critical thinking and will accept most anything as true.
3. If you need to change a policy, say that the "new policy" has "always existed" and there never was an "old policy". People will believe a lie if it is repeated often enough. It is a basic principle of brainwashing.
4. "Treat a whore like a lady and a lady like a whore".
Your followers are "ladies". They are honest but naive. You
are going to rape them and not only steal their money but also ruin any
chance they may have for legitimate Spiritual development. For some
reason, if you treat them like trash, they will be more likely to remain
as your followers. It works for Gurinder.
From Faqir Chand, a legitimate master [David Lane's book on Chand
is on the internet but the URL occasionally changes so just search for
Faqir Chand and the book "Truth Always Wins"], we know he reports that
his followers tell him, from time to time, that he "appears" to them and
helps them. However, Chand, an honest man, states he has no knowledge
of any of this and does not know why it happens. However, we do know
that these things happen. So, you, as a fake master, can look for
this phenomenon and take advantage of it to make people really believe
that you are some kind of god. These affected people will be loyal
to you for life and can be used as an unshakable core of your evil empire
because they have totally convinced themselves that you are for real.
In order to design a cult that will withstand the test of time,
you must have an effective secrecy and security plan in effect. Otherwise,
people who have figured out you are a fake will expose you. You will
lose your following and your cult will go out of existence.
The main secret you need to keep secret is money. You don't ever want your followers to find out all the stuff and assets you have or where they are hidden. The main purpose of setting up your cult was to get rich. But, you never talk about this. You talk about the quest for enlightenment. You never say anything about how "enlightened" your bank account has become.
To ensure control you need a standard "need to know" hierarchy. Your family knows you are a scam artist and they are in on the scam. Some trusted friends may be too. But, your followers must never know the truth or they will leave you in a heartbeat.
You need an information control system where all information passes thru you so you can control knowledge. Knowledge is power. The cult members must only be allowed the bare minimum of knowledge about your cult. Make it hard for them to learn the identity of other members so they do not start "comparing notes" which could allow them to uncover the real truth. All orders come from you. You appoint all in positions of authority. Everyone "serves" at your pleasure.
Eventually, you may need to set up some kind of damage control system.
For example, if someone catches you in a hot tub with naked girls doing
cocaine it could ruin your reputation as a "holy" person. You may
need hired thugs and assassins to make sure that anyone who learns the
truth about you never lives to talk. After all, there is a multi-million
dollar business at stake here. Who cares about a few lives.