How Zig Ziglar became history’s most successful motivational speaker by offending the hell out of people

A while back, I got a question that comes in many sizes, shapes, and guises: “I write for marketers + have my SEO, consulting, and copywriting clients... ...and then I write a lot about spiritual growth stuff and Christianity. I even go the lengths of keeping my discuss + gravatar stuff generic so people can't track back to either one. I'm not feeling great about this. But I take some controversial stands and I worry about alienating people from one audience to the next. Thoughts?” Read & apply the following at your own risk. Especially with all the creepy cancel culture sob sisters shrieking in the wind. But I’ll just say this: I once heard the great Dan Kennedy talking about his friend, the late Zig Ziglar, and how Zig did a very “bad” thing (according to conventional wisdom) as a speaker. Something Zig did in every speech. In fact, as Dan put it, “you couldn’t get him not to do it.” What did Zig do? He gave his Biblical testimony. According to Dan Kennedy, he lost count of how many people told Zig when he started speaking that took him aside and said, “Zig you can’t be doing that. You’re going to offend a lot of people. You’re not going to get a lot of corporate gigs.” Well, guess what? For four decades Zig was the single most successful motivational speaker in history. Does this mean go out there and let it all hang out as a cheap tactic? No that’d be stoopid. People see right through that. The point is, Zig only cared about what the people who responded to him thought, and not what the easily-offended Facebook proles, internet trolls, or some wound-up heathen who gets acid reflux when wished a Merry Christmas at Walmart thought. If it worked for Zig maybe it’ll work for you. Or not. You have to blaze your own path and figure out your own way. And that is a life-long process in and of itself. If you want to do it using email, check out: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2022 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA