Learning To Love Unconditionally In Wisconsin

My heart breaks for America. We seem to have lost the ability to hear the other side of an argument. We are so concerned with being right in our country that we have lost sight of the fact we might be wrong. Or that the other person might have a valid point.

Christians are some of the worst offenders. We are so determined to be ‘right’ in the name of Jesus, that we forget there is another human being on the receiving end of our position.

We protest abortion clinics but don’t love the woman who is hurting inside. We think out politician is right and the others are from the devil. That God must prevail because we are right and the other side are sinners. God will show them…

Give me a break.

Would a loving father really choose sides between two sons? Let’s say you are the father of Obama and Huckabee. Your sons are both running for President of the United States. Do you really think you as a father would choose sides? Sheesh, they are both your sons. Only a mean spirited, judgmental, wrathful father would choose sides.

A loving father would love them both and give them both wise counsel.

Paul writes that “He is bankrupt without love…. it never forces itself on others, Isn’t always ‘me first,… doesn’t revel when others grovel.”

Why then do we are Christians take inside pleasure when others who oppose our positions lose. Secretly we cheer when abortion takes another hit towards being illegal or same sex marriage gets shot down in California.

Christians should be leading the charge to love and not hurt. We shouldn’t be pushing a message of “I’m right and your are wrong.” We should be crossing the street to put an arm around the woman who just had an abortion. We should go knock on the door of a gay neighbor and invite em over for dinner. (And NOT invite them to church or draw out the four spiritual laws.)

We need to stop sharing that God is pouring out his wrath on America because we moved away from the Gold standard in 1930 and now have fiat money. How in the heck does that help push forward the teaching of Jesus?

People, if we don’t love unconditionally, who will?

This has been hammered home over the past two weeks for me watching the events in Wisconsin unfold. I come from a Union family. My family is highly politically active, specifically in the Democratic party. Born in the suburbs of Chicago, my father did legal work for the unions. My uncle was a Chicago Cop. My brother is a union plumber and my sister works as a professor in the University of Wisconsin system.

For the record, I don’t believe in unions. I think they served a purpose 75 years ago, but now they are causing America to slip. That is my opinion based on my reading, research, etc. Personally, I think what Gov. Walker is doing in Wisconsin is heroic. He is standing up to a bully, the unions. I watch the events daily in Wisconsin and secretly want Gov Walker to ‘give it to the unions and break em.’

However, on the flip side, my sister is in a tremendous amount of pain. She is going to experience a 30% reduction in her pay and compensation. What she has worked for her entire life, to be a college professor with tenure is being taken away.  My heart breaks for my sister. I understand why she is in so much pain and so vocal on the subject. Can you see my conundrum?

If I am a judgmental Christian, I would take an approach that my God is going to vindicate me! “If God is for us, who can be against us” mentality. Folks this is a win/lose/ruin a relationship approach.

My sister and I have had a few harsh words on this subject. Shoving article on each other to prove our individual points.  Joined upon by my other sister and one brother in defense of the unions. In the end, instead of fanning the flames, I’ve decided that love is stronger than proving I’m right.  That “caring for others, more than self” won’t win me any accolades on TV, it won’t make my readership increase nor will it get me invited to the latest Christian conference as a speaker.

My approach now? Well, I still want to prove my point, but not in a forceful way. Not by imposing my will upon my sister. I’ve decided that to love her unconditionally in her pain, that is very real and difficult to understand. For I am not in her shoes. She has a right in America to speak her position, post articles supporting her point, to protest and be upset.

I, as a follower of Jesus (no longer saying I’m a Christian) have free will to choose to love her unconditionally.  To not keep score, cheer when others grovel and never giving up.

Easiest Way To Make A Million Dollars? Sell A Solution To Financial Chaos.

When we moved from the 20th century to the 21st century, there was a big hub bub on Y2K and the ensuing financial chaos. If you are over 25 you probably remember that the world was going to end.

ATM machines wouldn’t work, bank balances would disappear, the stock market would crash, gasoline prices would sky rocket and the world would be sent into financial chaos.

The cause? Y2K. What is Y2K. It was a computer programming bug whereby at the turn of the century, the computers wouldn’t roll forward to the year 2000, but roll back to the year 1900. All because of a programming error of using two digits on a date, not four.

The end result would be widespread financial chaos.

This created a tremendous financial windfall for a number of people. Computer companies sold billions of dollars of programming fixes to banks and other businesses worldwide.

Online marketers sold information products on how to survive in a Y2K world. What kinds of non perishables you would need, where to buy gold and silver, how to protect your family and how to shoot a gun. To this day, I know people who bought and installed Y2K survival kits in the house.

Then there was the church. To some extremists this was the rapture. Jesus was gonna come back, God was going to pour out his wrath on America because of abortion, gay marriage, our moving off the gold standard and countless other sins of our country.

In the end, Y2K never really happened. The fixes were made, the ATM’s worked and life went on as normal.

For centuries man has used real possibilities (albeit slight) to make millions selling solutions. Fallout shelters, global cooling, global warming, nuclear war, terrorism, you name it, man has used it to sell and make millions.

What is today’s ‘financial chaos’? The collapse of the US Dollar.

For the record, I think there is a chance our US dollar could collapse. There is always a chance. Trillions in debt, economic instability, a rising China, all could come together to cause the dollar to collapse.

The debate here is not the actual chance the dollar will collapse, but the marketing lesson to be learned.

Man can manipulate another man, simply by using ‘fear’ and the ‘end of the world as we know it’. Marketing fear of loss is one of the most powerful ways to get a prospect to part ways with their money. I know, because I used it for years selling from the front of the room and online.

This tactic is not just used by front of the room pitch men and online marketers. It’s also used by the church… any religious institution or political parties. Christian, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Muslim, Jewish, New Age, Cults, Jim Jones.. you name it.

The pitch goes something like this; “If you don’t do “X”, you life will look like “Y” (poor, broke, family at risk, children being sold into slavery, etc.) but if you do “A” your life will look like “B” (peaceful, harmony, neighbors envious because you took preventative action)

This pitch has been used to get people to vote for political candidates, join unions, tithe, contribute to building campaigns, buy get rich quick products, plastic surgery, buy vitamins… the list goes on and on.

Does this mean that all of those things are horrible? Not at all. Each one of these products and services has a value and done in a spirit of LOVE and RESPECT can benefit those who really need these items.

You can sell, logically and in a spirit of LOVE, without FEAR and manipulation the benefits and wisdom of owning Gold and Silver.

You can use LOVE to sell the benefits of balancing state and federal budgets, plus the sacrifices that will have to be made by all citizens to keep America, America.

You can use RESPECT to sell the benefits of plastic surgery. I know a number of people who now have better confidence because of the wonders of modern plastic surgery. (And I’m not just talking breast implants guys.)

Can you make a million dollars easier by using FEAR? Hell yes.

Is it worth it in the long run… Hell no.

Even if it leads more people to Christ.

Have  a great day,

Matthew Gillogly

Love Is More Powerful Than Fear In Your Marketing

Have you ever seen fear based marketing?

This is easy to spot, because it uses things like; scarcity, fear of loss, missing out, fake deadlines and language that makes you think that if you don’t make this decision today, you are damned to burn in hell.

I won’t mention names of marketers who use this approach, but you’ve seen this method.

Then there is the direct opposite. This approach uses things such as; education, serving the customers needs, sharing information freely without expectation of sale.

Famous copywriters like: Gary Bencivenga, Ted Nicholas use this method. Marketers like Gary and Ted have been around for 30, to 50 years and have sold hundreds of millions of dollars in products and services.

I call it ‘love based marketing’.

Of the two groups, my marketing is more like that of Gary and Ted. There is a reason, which I will explain and it’s based on experience.

For years I was a hired gun, front of the room pitch man for a number of famous speakers. Traveling around the country, city after city, selling from the front of the room.

Usually you had 90 minutes, not a second more, to sell your stuff. You were graded based on your success rate of selling.

In those environments, I sold about $250 per person in the room.

However, when I did a half day or full day selling, I usually doubled or even tripled my dollars per head in the room. Because I was given more time to bond with the prospect. They could see I was real. Having their best interests in mind.

Furthermore, my return rate from full days was drastically lower than the 90 minute presentations.

At first, as a marketer, I fell into the trap of being a hype oriented type sales person. It didn’t matter if it was online or offline. My goal was to get you to buy and buy fast. I hammered my list with offer after offer, after offer. Using hype language. “Last Chance” offers.

In retrospect, this was a ‘scorched earth’ marketing process. In this method, you burn through your leads as quickly as possible. Throwing caution to the wind.

Then I started taking my time. I built a relationship with my list first. In many cases, you can’t buy anything from me until day 14 or 30. Just like Gary and Ted.

Guess what happened.

My sales steadily increased and my list has longer life.

I can sum up my process as simple as:

“Love is more powerful than fear in marketing.”

Love is the most powerful thing on earth. People long to be loved. They will move mountains to experience love.

When you, as a marketer, come at your clients with nothing but respect and love, when you truly care about them as business owners, you’ll see amazing changes in your business. Positive changes.

If you use FEAR in your selling, your customers won’t stick around for very long. They’ll see through the ruse. They realize the FEAR is being used to manipulate their response.

Granted, taking an approach of love, education and sharing, takes more time to experience sales results. In the end, it creates a better environment for you and your business. And your customers.

In end you get greater satisfaction and a more enjoyable business.

Have a great day,

Matthew Gillogly

PS> If you’d like to see how we’ve applied “LOVE” in our work with clients, check out our latest FREE Report on our main company site: WWW.CapstoneStrategicPartners.com Love is the main ingredient to our successful case studies and our latest white paper: How To Grow Your Revenues By 30% Or More Using The Customer Conversion System For Big Ticket E-Commerce.

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