Basic Marketing Tactics 101 (or how to manipulate customers’ thinking)
1. Create a rapport between customers and yourself by finding a common link so they will be inclined to be too polite to seriously confront or question outlandish claims.
2. Make exaggerated claims that cannot easily be disproved.
3. Convince customer she/he will be saving money by spending money. (This statement is 100% inaccurate since the only real way to save money is NOT to spend it!)
4. Use peer pressure to advantage.
5. Leverage guilt to an art form by helping the customer realize she MUST justify her/his spending on your products, therefore it MUST be and do exactly what it claims to be and do. (This is a subtle form of brain washing.)
6. Convince customer no other products could possibly do the job as well. (This is actually untrue!)
7. Finally, play the guilt hand even more so the customer feels she is actually doing what is right and good by buying your overpriced products and it would be wrong for her/him not to purchase them.
· Learn to expect exaggeration and to discern the truth and facts from false claims.
· Learn to say “NO!” You will be blessed.
· Tell yourself that the salesperson has the main motivation of separating you from your money.
· Ask yourself if you could do without spending money on this product right now and do you have something that is already working for you?
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Grace: It's not just for dinner
Misunderstood, mystical, even to some people, mythical, the word "grace" is hazy and hard to grasp intellectually. Even though it is the subject of prayers, songs, and poems, grace is not rightly appreciated or understood apart from the scriptures.
Often referred to as a prayer before meals or the something that only certain holy people can receive, grace is the subject of many, many scripture verses. It has been simplified to mean God's riches at Christ's Expense or defined as God's unmerited favor, yet it is so much more.
"By grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God and not of works, lest anyone should boast."(Ephesians 2:8-9) Looking at this well-known verse, we see that grace comes through faith. So, believing God favors you with eternal life through faith in His Son, Jesus, and that this very faith is a gift of God, this is the action of grace in the believer's life. This grace should impact our lives as nothing else can. Amazing, abundant and available are all adjectives that apply to God's grace. Grace should move us toward God and energize us to serve others. Grace is all-sufficient for every need we have and is ours in Christ, offered to us freely yet at a great price. "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ." (Ephesians 1:17)
We know grace and truth came through Jesus Christ when we read John 1:17. So to think grace is merely a perfunctory prayer recited before meals or is limited by some earned favor of human goodness is obviously erroneous.
To get a handle on grace we need to look at many Bible verses to see how it operates in the lives of believers and in the church. "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Acts 20:32) Here we see grace at work building up faith and confirming the promise of the New Covenant among those set apart, sanctified. And in another verse, "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"(Galatians 2:21) Here we see God, the giver of grace, who understands how we stumble under the weight of the law and our sinful nature, freely granting His righteousness to those who believe in His Son, Jesus, the crucified and risen One.
There is so much to learn about grace, but I leave that to you to honestly seek it out. It is sufficient to say that I won't, and I hope you won't, say grace is just for dinner anymore! Doma
Often referred to as a prayer before meals or the something that only certain holy people can receive, grace is the subject of many, many scripture verses. It has been simplified to mean God's riches at Christ's Expense or defined as God's unmerited favor, yet it is so much more.
"By grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God and not of works, lest anyone should boast."(Ephesians 2:8-9) Looking at this well-known verse, we see that grace comes through faith. So, believing God favors you with eternal life through faith in His Son, Jesus, and that this very faith is a gift of God, this is the action of grace in the believer's life. This grace should impact our lives as nothing else can. Amazing, abundant and available are all adjectives that apply to God's grace. Grace should move us toward God and energize us to serve others. Grace is all-sufficient for every need we have and is ours in Christ, offered to us freely yet at a great price. "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ." (Ephesians 1:17)
We know grace and truth came through Jesus Christ when we read John 1:17. So to think grace is merely a perfunctory prayer recited before meals or is limited by some earned favor of human goodness is obviously erroneous.
To get a handle on grace we need to look at many Bible verses to see how it operates in the lives of believers and in the church. "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Acts 20:32) Here we see grace at work building up faith and confirming the promise of the New Covenant among those set apart, sanctified. And in another verse, "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"(Galatians 2:21) Here we see God, the giver of grace, who understands how we stumble under the weight of the law and our sinful nature, freely granting His righteousness to those who believe in His Son, Jesus, the crucified and risen One.
There is so much to learn about grace, but I leave that to you to honestly seek it out. It is sufficient to say that I won't, and I hope you won't, say grace is just for dinner anymore! Doma
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Some Thoughts About the Race
The whole idea of running in a race as a metaphor for the Christian life is something I have been examining. Running is something I do only as an expedient, so the main part of the metaphor I like is the idea of being chosen to be on a running team to begin with.
Another aspect of running is the training. I recall a nephew who put weights on his ankles when he was training for track. He took them off when he was actually in the race. They would have slowed him down considerably. I remember Paul saying we need to "put aside every weight" so we can run. Those weights he referred to were habitual sins that trip us up and hinder us from doing well in the life race.
I also remember the crowd Paul talked about. That "great cloud of witnesses." I imagine those who have gone before us looking down, yelling heart felt shouts of encouragement, unheard by us, but nevertheless urging us to keep on, even when we are tired of running.
In Paul's letter to the Hebrews, he does not accentuate the idea of a competition in racing, but rather an individual's effort to persevere and "run with patience the race that is set before us."
The idea of a crown at the end is intriguing. King Jesus will be there to see us finish and we will cast our crowns before Him out of love. See you at the finish line! Doma
Another aspect of running is the training. I recall a nephew who put weights on his ankles when he was training for track. He took them off when he was actually in the race. They would have slowed him down considerably. I remember Paul saying we need to "put aside every weight" so we can run. Those weights he referred to were habitual sins that trip us up and hinder us from doing well in the life race.
I also remember the crowd Paul talked about. That "great cloud of witnesses." I imagine those who have gone before us looking down, yelling heart felt shouts of encouragement, unheard by us, but nevertheless urging us to keep on, even when we are tired of running.
In Paul's letter to the Hebrews, he does not accentuate the idea of a competition in racing, but rather an individual's effort to persevere and "run with patience the race that is set before us."
The idea of a crown at the end is intriguing. King Jesus will be there to see us finish and we will cast our crowns before Him out of love. See you at the finish line! Doma
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