To start off with, I don’t believe in religion (for many reasons). That being said, I find that many religious people are really amazing, good-hearted people so I went to the first church service of my life today to observe what goes on there. Before I go on, I’m going to note a few things: 

1. To be honest, I really don’t care if I offend you. Not trying to be rude, but I find that most people get up in arms about things they’re not secure about. There’s many people who don’t believe in what I believe in as far as spirituality, spirit guides, etc… and it doesn’t faze me one way or the other. I know it’s my truth and that’s all that matters. 

2. I went into this as unbiased as I possibly could be. If anything, I was hoping to walk out with a deeper respect of religion. 

3. Any opinion that I give here is based on my experiences with THIS church – just the first one I found when I did a Google search. I can’t possibly make decisions on an entire religion based off of one experience… this is just what I found tonight. 

4. For what it’s worth, I’m technically Jewish. I was bat mitzvahed, can read and write Hebrew, and used to know Hebrew and Arabic fluently. Like I said, I don’t believe in religion and don’t consider myself Jewish… but I have gone to synagogue before, although I really don’t remember anything about it except for trying to sneak out of the room and go downstairs to play with the toys. That being said… 

Here’s What Happened:

 I went into church today thinking I’d just sneak in and listen to the sermon. When I got in there, a guy asked me to fill out a postcard about how I found the church, write down my address, etc. He also gave me a pen and a mug filled with candy. He got another lady to come over and talk to me. I told her that I was leaving for Europe soon and that I just wanted to experience the church. She told me I could find missionaries in any country from this particular church, just in case I had a stellar time tonight. 

When I went to sit down, she asked if I wanted to be alone or if she could sit with me. It didn’t matter to me… and I was kind of glad that she ended up sitting with me anyway, because I saw she was taking notes which in turn made me feel comfortable taking my own (I carry a pen and paper everywhere I go… I even take notes during tours. I’m a nerd.). The lady introduced me to her daughter (who was maybe late 30’s, early 40’s?). The daughter asked me if I was “searching for Jesus”, and I told her the truth – that I’m very spiritual on my own accord, but I do think many religious people are amazing and I wanted to observe. She told me that was a “cute” response. When the service started, one of the first things I noticed was that the pastor told everyone to walk around and shake hands with each other. 

I Had 2 Thoughts…

 …when I saw everyone going all over the place: 

1. My initial thought was that it was a good mind-control tactic (I’m just being honest). I know they do this kind of stuff at seminars as an icebreaker to warm up the room/get people comfortable (not saying it’s a mind control tactic there, but can absolutely be used as one). 

2. I noticed that the people shaking hands – all of them – had huge smiles on their faces and looked genuinely happy. I thought that was really awesome. Again, even if I don’t believe in religion, as long as there’s a good message, I’m a supporter. Then we got into the sermon. That’s when I heard some really fascinating things. To begin with, the service was all about “How To Break A Bad Habit”. The first thing the pastor mentioned was that “Some of the worst Christians do…”

I thought that was really interesting. I don’t know, I guess I assumed there wasn’t such a thing as “worst Christian” and that everyone was loved equally (I’m not trying to be sarcastic here, it truly did take me aback). 

(In retrospect, now that I think of some of the anti-religion campaigns, I don’t know why it surprised me so much… I mean, that’s what people complain about with gay issues, right? I’m not trying to be biased here, but the facts are the facts… hardcore religious people do think being gay is wrong.) 

The pastor then started talking about how once people accept Christ, then the Holy Spirit will come into them. He talked about how people won’t experience convulsions or anything like that… but as soon as they accept Christ, the spirit activates. (At this point, one guy kept saying “Right!” “Right!” “Right!” to everything. He was the only one though, and the pastor noted that the crowd was unusually quiet tonight.) He then started saying that people don’t need anything external in order to live by Christ – it lives inside themselves – but Jesus is there to help if you ask him for it. He said if you want him to control you, he’ll do that too. 

My Problem With That:

 Personally, I don’t think anyone needs to accept anything to have their spirit “activate”. I think it’s there all along. I’ve never accepted Jesus and really only prayed to God for most of my life for “insurance” purposes because I wasn’t sure of his existence. (I now believe , but that’s neither here nor there). I agree that once people make certain choices, it’ll be easier to stay connected to their spirit… but I don’t think you need to accept Jesus to have that happen. The pastor then started talking about… 

All Those “Crazy” Christians

 …and how some people have perversed Christianity. He says Church TV gets crazier and crazier by the minute, because people need to “fill the flesh”. The example he gave was of Jewish people. He said that the Jews needed to feel God on an emotional level and constantly be told of miracles so they could believe. Apparently when Jesus was feeding them, they kept following him. The minute Jesus stopped feeding them, they no longer believed because they didn’t have any substantial proof to go by. The pastor said that Christians need to feel based on logic, not emotion. They should just KNOW. (Later on though, in one of the times he contradicted himself, he said: “I bet some of you were torn about if you should come here or watch the Eagles game tonight” and paused, as if it was an awful thing. 

I guess my question there is… if people are supposed to just KNOW within themselves, and the spirit can activate for them once they accept Jesus… what’s the problem with catching a game? I guess this was another example of being a “bad Christian”… that you should pray regularly, even if something you’re a fan of is on TV. I know that comes across as sarcastic, but I don’t mean for it to.) The pastor started talking about Joel Osteen. He said, “This guy has the biggest church in the country. I started to watch him but couldn’t go for any longer than 5 minutes because I didn’t want my kids to hear.” He said it was just like Church TV, with a guy sitting on a ledge playing guitar, and how “un-churchlike” it all was. (That being said, maybe other churches would make me have a different opinion… I don’t know.) After that, he started talking about giving thanks. He said not to just give thanks for the good things, because 

“Even The Lost People Can Do That.”

 Good Christians, he said, should make sure to give thanks for everything, because God knows what he’s doing and why he’s teaching it to you. THIS was the kind of thing I was hoping to hear more of when I came to church. That’s something I wholeheartedly agree on. I heard an Esther and Jerry Hicks cd once, and Esther was saying that if you go to a hotel and there’s a hole in the carpet on the floor, you have two choices. You can fixate on the hole or you can be thankful that you have shelter for the night. It was a visual statement (I could picture a hole in a carpet) and it stuck with me. I really liked that message and live the majority of my life trying to think that way – finding the positives in everything. Unfortunately, that was the only time during church that the pastor said something I agreed with. After that, he mentioned…. 

“You Can Only Get Into Heaven Once You Accept Jesus Christ As Your Savior.”

 The service ended shortly after that. The lady I was sitting next to started talking to me more and started getting deep into religion. I was really grateful to listen to her because admittedly, I don’t know that much about it. We talked for about 5 good minutes, and then she said “I know it’s hard for you, being brought up Jewish, to accept Jesus as your savior, but…” I told her that I appreciated the positive messages that I thought he gave either way, and that whether or not I believed in Jesus, I had utmost appreciation for the teachings. Apparently that wasn’t a good answer, because she cut the conversation short and said she’d pray for me while I was in Europe because I’m a beautiful girl and it’s a dangerous world out there. So… 

My Experience Comes Down To This:

Like I said at the beginning, I was hoping to find more of a connection to church. I knew I didn’t believe in religion and didn’t expect to love it either way… but I wanted more insight into what goes on in the spare time of so many phenomenal people. I thought the church would teach the same messages I believe in, except in a different way. I didn’t walk out with that, but I do believe other churches might be different. I do, however, think that other churches are the same as far as “Good Christian/Bad Christian”, and I staunchly disagree with that. Personally, I have love for EVERYONE, regardless of their decisions. I believe everyone does the best they can with what they’ve been given. Does it mean I want to be friends with certain people? No way. Lie to me once and I usually won’t talk to you again. I have strict standards as far as who I become close with. It doesn’t mean I dislike someone, though… just that they’re not right to be in my space. 

I really do like how the church had so many happy people. Even if people criticize them as being “brainwashed”… hey, as long as you’re happy, who cares if you’re brainwashed. I guess I was also interested in religion because in “The Paradox Of Choice” (great book!), the author says the happiest people in the world are those who are religious, married, and/or have really good friends (think I blogged about this before) because they don’t have as many choices. A lot of their world is decided for them, so they don’t have as much to be overwhelmed by. I can see why people would be happy at church. So much is laid out for them… they have likeminded friends… etc… but I’m still not a fan. Overall, I walked out not only still not believing in religion, but maybe even having a slight dislike for it. I’ll continue to live each day, day by day, on my own terms. I’m glad for the experience though and plan on reading the Bible soon, just to learn more.

Random thoughts…

1. Wordpress keep deleting my line breaks every time I click Publish, so I have to manually add them in. It’s annoying. Why is this?

2. New blog theme… I’m a fan.

3. I made a new site with reports in efforts to build my list. Find it here and give me your feedback!

4. Grrrr, it’s hard to type from the heart when I keep reminding myself to remember the line breaks…

5. Brian and I are running a mastermind together. I’m REALLY excited about it… it’ll be with this group that I build a new $10K passive income stream. The whole angle is “90 Days To $10K”… read more here (and if you apply before September 23, it’s 20% off).

6. I got my tickets to Madrid today!!! SO FREAKING EXCITED FOR EUROPE THAT I’LL TEMPORARILY FORGET ABOUT THE ANNOYING LINE BREAKS! I sent this email to Brian earlier today:

(I think all the “dudes” make me sound insanely intelligent. )

7. My birthday’s in 5 days.

8. GRRR linebreaks, I’m going to go work out..

As I posted about, I have a friend who made $35K last year. Dude’s in a better financial situation than me, and I made 4x that!

Listening to him was ridiculously inspirational. He has thousands of dollars saved up, budgets for EVERYTHING (he puts away $100 every month for $1200 in Christmas gifts, budgets for a new car every 5 years, a new computer every 3, etc.), and has it figured out that thanks to his saving (he’s been doing it since 16), if he continues with what he’s putting in now, he’ll have in the double-digit millions when it comes time to retire.

(He’s going to be putting more in once he gets his degree, but that’s the minimum.)

My friend doesn’t scrimp at all… he wears a $500 watch, bought a new car, and does whatever he wants – just budgets accordingly.

I know, I know… I don’t believe in “retiring” either (my whole life is a retirement!), and of course I’m not okay with making $35K in a year.But the point is… to have all that stuff worked out… insane.

I know I’m not the only one who could use a little money management assistance, so I figured I’d make this post.

(Actually, I know a millionaire who still has tons of debt… he’s been paying the minimum on his cards and never got them paid off.)

A while ago I started a bunch of bank accounts a la T. Harv Eker. I put some money away in them, but didn’t follow it to the “tee” like I’m going to do now.T. Harv says to make 7 accounts. First you put away 25% if you’re a business owner for taxes, and then you do:

Necessities (50% of your income goes here)

Education (10%)

Long Term Spending (10%)

Short Term (10%)

Give Back (10%)

Financial Freedom Account (10%)

He says even if you have debt, create the accounts and use the “necessities” fund to pay the credit card bills. Obviously if your income won’t work out where you can save 50%, then do the best you can possibly do, but just get the process in motion.

Like I said, I started these accounts a while ago (just didn’t follow them to the tee) and I already have $3,000 saved up for my Financial Freedom Account that I completely forgot about.(I set up an account with ING Direct and then have them automatically deduct every month from my checking account.)

Another thing to remember is to call your credit card companies. I just discovered Citibank raised my APR on two of my cards by 20% (I had been just blindly paying the bills every month… awesome). I called them to ask about it and they immediately lowered it again.Bank Of America, same sort of thing… they were charging me late fees because I was paying too EARLY. I called and they put $160 back.I don’t know about you, but I’ve decided that I need to track most things or else I lose control. Forcing myself to look at this stuff is going to help me pay off my debt that much quicker (I don’t want to just pay it off whole right now because I’d rather travel – but I always make at least a little more than the minimum payments).

Anyway… hope that helps someone.

I’m glad I thought the comments to this post over before responding.

Honestly, my initial reaction was to immediately defend the whole “it’s not a job if I like it” thing.That being said… you guys are right.

Just to clarify, I didn’t necessarily mean I’d take 5 letters every month – there’s months I like to just take off.But no matter how you look at it, it wasn’t the most intelligent of choices, especially considering my usual outlook on pricing and the fact that I’m no longer charging under $97 for anything unless it’s for a trial or to test out a market.

I might’ve spoke out of fear, too… closing all IM letters is going to take away most of my customers, I’ll be traveling a ton and will need more money, etc… but again, that wasn’t that intelligent – I don’t need to do copy (even though I really do love it and want to continue)… I just need to manage my money better. I went out to dinner with a friend who makes $35K a year yesterday (he’s going to college) and he’s in a better financial situation than I am, even though I made 4x that last year! (I hired him as my wealth manager.)

I think I might do that special thing Harris suggested once in a while just to learn about some new niches, fund random adventures, etc… but it’ll be just that – a special.

A few comments on some of your comments…

Harris: First of all, I love you! Thanks for making my day – that was very, very sweet. You brought up a lot of great points, especially the fact that people I write for at $997 or $1997 are different types of people than the $5k people. I didn’t think about that.I also kind of dig the “raising my price for IM industries” thing. People that are willing to pay more are actually MAKING more and so I won’t be peddling crap.

And happy birthday to Hudson (freaking awesome name btw)!

Rob: Just to clarify, I didn’t mean billables – just 5 letters to maybe 5 different people – I do agree with you that people wouldn’t really have a need on a monthly basis.

The protege idea is something I’ve been playing with, too. I’m working with an incredibly talented copywriter now… although like I said, I do write because I enjoy it… but just a) to help this awesome writer and b) as an extra stream of revenue… not a bad idea.

Jason: Grrrr, you’re right. Your comment was the one I was going to defend myself the most from, haha, so I’m really glad I slept on it.

And by the way – I had a dream about you and Kami a few nights ago… I sold you guys your “dream house” in Portland (it was a house I used to own) and I was terrified you wouldn’t like it as much as the one you’re going for now (you just trusted me and bought it blindly), but you were both supernice and loved it.

Micheal: First of all… AWESOME ON OCTOBER 31ST!! I love to hear that. Seriously, good for you!

Thanks for the comment, too… the “you are worth every penny” hits home more than you know. I don’t have hard times charging for products that I have with pen names, or with partners (and they’re always quality)… but I do need to do a better job of asserting my value when I work alone.

Dan: As usual, you’re right. I really really love the special idea. And you’re right – nothing annoys me more than someone who doesn’t appreciate good copy.

Angela: Thank you for your comment! I really appreciate your taking the time to write that out. As far as my personal cause – you bring up some good points. I actually do, once in a while, surprise someone with a sales letter or do a critique just because I know someone will value it.

I guess I don’t do FREE as much any more because…Well, I’ll copy and paste something that I posted to the Warrior Forum when someone said something about how if people really wanted to help, they’d give things away for free:

“I can tell you with stone-cold confidence that free doesn’t work… ESPECIALLY if you want to help people.  I was going to give yayFOOD away for free for a long time… and everyone kept warning me against it. They all said that when people pay, even if it’s a small amount, they value it 10x more. I took it at their word, but REALLY discovered that with Internet Marketing. You wouldn’t believe how many stories I get… emails, PMs, etc… from people who say they really want my product but just can’t afford it. Some of the stories absolutely break my heart. I always used to give out free copies of products to people like that… I was estimating the other day that I’ve given out at LEAST $20,000 worth of product to at least 50 people.All I ask when I give stuff away is that people let me know how it worked out for them (not for a testimonial, I just want to make sure I was able to help).

To date, I haven’t received one story back. And I KNOW the stuff I put out is quality.Hell, one time I offered FULL SALES LETTERS – for free – to 2 people that I saw got screwed over in a Warrior thread. They paid $197 or something, and I offered them a $4000 letter… for free, just because I felt bad for them. The one that complained the most in the thread, talking about how much money he lost and how he really needs it… never even got back to me with my questionnaire. I actually decided yesterday that any time anyone asks me for anything again, I’m going to ask them to fill out an application, do certain things (get at least 3 backlinks to yayFOOD, etc.), etc… and then I’ll look into it. It might sound rude, but I believe it’s helping people more than anything else.

You bring up some fantastic points, though. Like I mentioned, I too love the special idea and I definitely think there’s something I can do to help more in that regard, I just need to figure out what it is.Thank you very much for the comment. =)

Taj: You’re absolutely right about people associating value with cost – and the people I want in my life aren’t people that are going to have a problem with the higher priced letters. A special, like many people were saying, will demonstrate the value – but an overall price drop was a dumb idea.

Good point on the subconscious value dropping, too. I have a ridiculous responsibility ethic (to a fault at times), but I think anything’s possible… ESPECIALLY if I started writing for people that didn’t appreciate it.You know, I have a good friend who writes $997 letters (she’s starting out) and she tells me of all the hoops people make her jump through when she writes for them… there’s no way in hell I’d deal with that.

Andrew: Awesome points. As soon as you posted I thought about my whole high priced thing and how I was contradicting myself… and the plumbing thing is a great point, too. =)You’re all right. Thank you all SO MUCH for your time responding to me.

I’m thinking about taking my copywriting price per letter DOWN from $5k per letter to five letters a month at $997 or $1997 per letter.

I have a few reasons for this:

1. It only takes me 4-5 hours to write a 13+ page letter (and I get damn good conversions if I do say so myself. ).

2. I’m cutting out all Internet Marketing letters. They don’t feel right to me. I’m completely set in this position, but I know it’ll dwindle my customer base.

3. I really don’t NEED to do copy… but I recently realized I love it. I love the psychology behind it, I love learning about new things, and I love getting into forums and really digging deep into people’s thoughts. Making the price more affordable allows me to write for more people.

(And I know I could make my own products, but I already have 30 or so spread out in different niches and if I’m going to seriously work on traffic gen, marketing, etc… I’d rather it be on yayFOOD.

And honestly, business development has gotten boring for me. It’s weird but I have no doubt I could easily run a multi-million dollar business if I cared enough… but I don’t.)

I guess I’m just not sure for a few reasons:

1. I wonder if the lower price makes me seem like a less stellar copywriter?

2. People in my masterminds have said that I’d be devaluing myself if I were to slash my prices when my conversion rates could/should justify even more?

I’d love to hear YOUR thoughts!

It’s been a while since I made a video post.

Not sure why my arms look obese, but here you have it:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNT-z_nZP6Q&]