Winston Churchill and I have something in common. We both believe,
” You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give.”

I was raised with the teaching, “Ask and ye shall receive”.

In my life, I’ve always found it easier to be a giver than one who receives… and very hard to ask for help,  but I’m learning. Sometimes to do something so big to really help others, it requires us to reach outside of our comfort zone and ask for assistance. That’s what this post is for me- asking for help from you.

As you know, we’re planning The Global Hug Tour.  This project is huge!

My husband and I will fly 31,000 miles around the world in a small private plane, stop in 50 international cities to gather inspiration, deliver 100,000 hugs and share $1,000,000 with important causes. More importantly, we want to share much needed love with the world and help shift the focus from doom and gloom to one of possibility.

Our project is big and the possibilities are endless. We intend to develop curriculum for schools to learn geography and global culture by following our tour, connect people from one country to another, tie in celebrity hugs for charity, and have classrooms adopt classrooms  across the world, just to name a few.

You can go to the Global Hug Tour site, sponsor a hug for $10 and send it to one of the 50 cities on our path. When we land, we’ll not only deliver the hug (along with 1999 other ones!), but we’ll also deliver their full donation, to the non-profitor NGO to make a tangible difference in the area.

For example…

-  One hug in Chicago will feed 3 homeless people.

-  Two hugs in Cambodia will educate a child for a year.

-  One hundred hugs in Chennai, India will pay the cost of heart surgery to save the life of a child.

In order for 100% of the hug donations to go directly to the cause, we’re looking for angels and corporate sponsors to help us cover the operational cost of the trip.

In order to pay the ongoing expenses of our GHT team, I’m reaching out to you, our community.  Where else can your dollars literally grow exponentially to have such a direct, and tangible impact? Your donation will allow us to not only send more than a million around the world, but will also bring hope and love where it is needed most.  We can’t do it without you.

We’ve already been blessed with the donation of a social media team in San Diego (Square Martini Media),  a world-class PR firm in Boulder (Metzger and Associates), and a team of virtual volunteers (AssistU).  Blogger & Podcaster Magazine has picked up my blog and will be syndicating it to 200,000 bloggers globally.  We have great things in place but, we still have ongoing expenses to get the ball rolling in a bigger way, and that’s where we need your help.

I know the gift it is to be able to give to others and share in a real way. I’m offering you the opportunity to do just that. I’m asking you to dig deep and help us to hug the world. I know the difference that each one of us can make- especially when we all come together for something bigger than all of us.

This morning, I sent this information to some friends who called me and encouraged me to post this on our blog- so here it is. We can all do something to help- even if we can’t write a big check, and it is all so greatly appreciated! We have our Top 10 Ways You Can Help listed below.

We didn’t know how we were going to create and deliver the World’s Longest Letter of Love and Support to our troops, but we delivered a letter more then 18 miles long on a 29-day tour in Iraq and the Persian Gulf. We didn’t know how we were going to create and provide inspiration for the world, but  I’ve spent the last year of my life interviewing Inspirational Luminaries for our site, InspireMeToday.com, and giving this inspiration away for free. We now have members in more than 100 countries!

We don’t yet know how we’re going to pull off the Global Hug Tour either, but we know that we will make it happen- with your help, just the same as we’ve done in the past.

Anything you can do to help us literally HUG THE WORLD is greatly appreciated. This project will take all of us coming together to make a difference. If you are able to and believe in our cause, will you please be one of the givers in life and help us cover the hardest part- the initial operating costs? Your generous contribution is any of these ways is greatly appreciated!

The Top Ten Ways You Can Help the Global Hug Tour:

1-  Write a check and send it today to Global Hug Tour (email [email protected] for details)  THANK YOU!!!!!

2-  Introduce us and recommend us to your executive level corporate contacts for potential sponsorship.

3-  Introduce us to your personal hotel company executives- (Starwood,  Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt or Radisson) for the donation of hotel accommodations worldwide.

4-  Donate your hotel points to help us cover the cost of hotel rooms worldwide.

5-  Donate your frequent flyer airline miles to cover media trips in the US and team members joining us worldwide throughout the tour.

6-  Introduce us to any of your personal media connections.

7-  Help us spread the word by sending an email to your email list talking about the Global Hug Tour, write a blog post, or post our GHT badge on your site/blog.  The more people we reach, the more people we can help!

8-  Make introductions for public speaking opportunities to help us spread our message to the masses.

9-  Introduce us to your celebrity connections (we’re selling celebrity hugs on eBay!) to raise dollars for our 50 global charities.

10-  Forward this to someone else (or 10 or 20 others!) who can help if you can’t.

Thank you for reading the whole letter! For those that have made it this far and are perhaps wondering, “What’s in this for me?”, here’s your answer. Thanks to the generosity or TradeToTravel.com, the top donor will receive a credit with TradeToTravel.com to be used at any one of more than 1500 villas worldwide- equal to TWICE the amount of your donation! Thank you http://TradeToTravel.com!

For example, if you’re the top donors and your check was for $25,000, you’ll receive a credit for a week at any one of TTT’s villas- up to $50,000 per week! (can be used anytime in the next year!) Some of these amazing places rent for more than $80,000 per week and host up to 24 guests! THANK YOU TradeToTravel.com!  (If you’re serious about making sure you’re this person, please email [email protected]!) This offer is good only until 5/15/09- so check out tradetotravel.com today!

Also, you will receive a mention (either corporate or personal) on our angel page, and our sincere, eternal gratitude for helping us make the world a better place.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this and reach out with your heart to help us. We greatly appreciate your support! Please act on this today!

Should you have any questions, wish to discuss this or brainstorm additional possibilities, I’d love to talk with you. Just email [email protected] at your earliest convenience.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your generosity. I’m reaching out and sending you a huge, warm, grateful hug.

With gratitude and hugs,

Gail

As we put together the Global Hug Tour, we realize just how important it is to have the right tools. From the right clothing to the right technology, tools can make your job impossible – or a breeze.

We recently discovered a cool new online tool from Symantec, called GoEverywhere. Our entire team has registered for an account because it’s so convenient to use.  GoEverywhere is considered a “webtop” – it’s like having your desktop on the web so you can access your files from any web-enabled device. And with the amount that we travel, this is very convenient!

It takes a little set up to get started but it’s so worth it.  I don’t have to remember all my passwords for my web software – programs like Amazon, Linkedin, Facebook.  I sign in once to my GoEverywhere account and I can quickly toggle between the different programs without signing in to each one separately.  Seem like a small thing?  It’s not!  I’ve been amazed at the time I’ve saved.

It’s early days yet – GoEverywhere is in beta – and I love that Symantec is reaching out to the community of users to get feedback.  I’ve always wanted to be able to tell corporations what to create for me to make my life easier – and now I can.

We’re continually on the lookout for tools that will simplify, streamline and support our efforts to make the Global Hug Tour an incredible success.  I’ll share more ideas as we find them and I appreciate you sending in your ideas too.  The whole idea of the Global Hug Tour is that we can inspire each other and really make a difference in the world.  I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

More than anything, thank you for your help. We greatly appreciate your support!

Hugs,

The Global Hug Tour Team

Great to see you!

I’m having a blast supporting The Global Hug Tour to raise money for charities and bring the world together through hugs. Sound weird? Nope – it’s MARKETING at its finest!

Look at it this way; we buy for emotional reasons and humanity is really craving some positive emotional connections right now.

The Global Hug Tour is the perfect blend of individual, charitable, and corporate contribution. Contribution and collaboration are the perfect foundation for great marketing!

Gail Lynne Goodwin, the founder of The Global Hug Tour, got the idea of having celebrities participate by donating a hug that people can bid on through eBay. She asked me which celebrity I’d like to bid on to give a hug. I immediately picked Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell There was a long pause in the conversation. “Not Brad Pitt or George Clooney?”

Nope, Seth and Malcolm are the celebs in my marketing world. I’d be honored to give both gents a hug in appreciation for all their insights, great stories, and generosity of spirit. It takes courage and a ton of hard work to publicize your thoughts about how the world works in a way that motivates and encourages those around you. These guys repeatedly give generously of themselves and I’d love an opportunity to thank them publicly for all their hard work.

In my opinion, there is no greater human acknowledgement than a reverent and respectful, heart-felt hug. We’re all connecting more through social media, yet there’s something profound about the human touch that technology cannot replace.

So, Seth and Malcolm, please volunteer to donate a hug in one of the Global Hug Tour locations. I’d love to win the bid for both of you… Something tells me there will be a ton of competition!

In the meantime, please consider yourselves hugged and very appreciated.

Best,

Elaine Starling

What’s a Twug Up? When Twitter follower Andrew Windham found out I was coming to Savannah, Georgia, for a week, he tweeted me (sent me a message through Twitter), to invite me to visit Atlanta.

He offered to pull together his social media network in Atlanta to talk about the Global Hug Tour. It didn’t take but a few minutes until Andrew named the ‘Tweet up about hugs’  a Twug Up.

As it turns out, getting to Atlanta was the difficult part. I flew United Airlines from Denver, departing around 1pm on Sunday, March 1st, and was supposed to arrive in Savannah that evening around 10pm. United had some difficulty with the flights and after repeated delays on the connection out of Chicago, they downsized the flight and bumped ½ of us from the plane, at 1am, leaving us in Chicago.

The next day and had a similar experience, until United just announced that the flight was canceled at 7pm that night. No explanation, no delay- just canceled, leaving us there for a 2nd day.  We acted fast, booked flights on another airline and flew into Atlanta directly arriving at midnight that night- only to find out that our bags had already arrived in Savannah. ☹ How could our bags get there when we couldn’t??

My husband and I drove from Atlanta to Savannah, arriving in Savannah at around 5am on the 3rd, got some sleep, got our bags, and then I turned around and drove the 4 hours back to Atlanta for the Twug up. I just couldn’t show up in jeans and a sweater that I’d worn for 2 days! More than once I caught myself thinking, “This Andrew guy had better be worth it!”. ☺

Sharing a hug with Andrew

And as expected, the Twug Up was a great success. Atlanta is a beautiful city, but the people welcomed me with open arms- literally!

I had the privilege of meeting many of Atlanta’s top social media movers and shakers and talking about how individuals can get involved with the Global Hug Tour:

1) Sponsor a hug! Your hug will make a tangible difference in someone’s life!

2) Ask others to do the same. Share this with friends and family and ask them to sponsor a hug too!

3) Spread the word! Blog about it, talk about it with church and/or civic groups. Help us spread the word.

Andrew is a great networker. He asked all of us to do something that evening that I think we can all benefit from right here, right now too. “When you’re talking with one another, instead of just saying who you are and what you do, please share your biggest hurdle in front of you that you’d like removed, or the biggest resource that you need right now to move forward.” Great advice Andrew!

If you’re like the rest of us, you’re already going there in your mind right now. (Please feel free to comment on this blog and share how we can help you!)

During the Twug Up, people talked, we all shared hugs and found solutions for one another. It was a productive evening and well worth the two days it took me to get there.

My personal thanks to Andrew Windham for making the Twup Up happen. Andrew, you are a master at networking. I’d like to clone you so that we can do Twug Ups across the entire country!

If anyone else is interested in hosting a Twug Up, please email our team at- [email protected] We look forward to meeting you and sharing hugs with your community too. Thank you again for your support of the Global Hug Tour. We can’t make this succeed without you!