3 Steps in Handling the Naysayers
December 4th, 2007 - Written by Gyutae ParkLearn more about Internet marketing strategy by subscribing to my RSS feed - free and updated daily!
As a blog or site gains popularity, there are always going to be haters and naysayers, either out of legitimate disagreement or out of envy. Whatever the reason, it is important to have a defensive strategy on how you will respond and approach the situation. Below is a step-by-step plan to take for inappropriate and offensive comments and feedback.
- Try to engage in intelligent discussion
People have the right to disagree with what you say and pro-actively voice their opinions. Accept this fact and don’t be so easily offended. Instead, think of logical counter arguments to defend your position and engage in healthy debate without resorting to immature name calling. If the negative person actually has something to say, this will provide you with valuable constructive criticism that you can use to improve your business. - Turn the cold shoulder
Many times people will disagree and spew out negative comments just to get your attention or to annoy you. Don’t let them win out in the battle. If you don’t think civilized conversation can come out of the situation, don’t say anything at all. - Just erase them
If people start spamming you with negativity or they go overboard with their comments (racial slurs, insults, threats), simply delete them. Put your foot down and show people that you will not tolerate such abuse.
There will always be haters who seem to make an extra effort to make your life more difficult. How you handle these situations will say a lot about your character and what you stand for. By following these 3 simple steps you can turn a bad situation into a good one and boost your reputation as a professional worthy of doing business.
How have you handled negative comments directed towards you? How would you now do things differently?
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15 Responses to “3 Steps in Handling the Naysayers”
That’s true Gyutae. The best alternative would be to ignore or even erase those negative comments that go overboard.
Most of the time, these people will start to criticize you especially if you are starting to get successful. But I say, forget about them and just continue with your current success.
I think the most important part is the “engage in intelligent discussion”. Most of the haters/spammers/trolls can’t reciprocate.
That’s funny, I just wrote something similar as a guest post on another blog.
Anyway, I try to let the negative nonconstructive comments slide because to dwell on those is a waste of time. The commenter comes off looking like a jerk, and if his remark is unjustified, it is very likely that someone will comment in your defense.
I feel embarassed - I’ve only had one ‘hater’ till now and he wasn’t much fun as he was a bit of a twit. Anyone want to direct abuse my way, feel free
There’s actually a plugin for WordPress that allows permanent banning of a commentator; John Cow recently banned one of the many trolls on the Internet from his blog.
I agree with your view. Obviously you want to cater to your readers, but if the sole purpose for some of them visiting is to harass you, then they really don’t deserve the time of day.
@ninja.s
That strategy is almost like turning the other cheek. The enemy is caught off guard and really doesn’t know how to react. Works like a charm.
@jblu
Where is the guest post you wrote? I’d like to take a look and see how you approached it. Great minds think alike.
@The University Kid
Hey now, it’s a blessing not to have haters. I read about that John Cow issue as well. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.
I have had my share of negative feedback. I have talked about it here in a lengthy post. I agree that intelligent discussion is very important when talking to these people.
@Gyutae
It’s over at bloggingnotes.net. It was about negative nonconstructive comments.
I guess this comment will be one of the negative feedbacks, but I’ll make it constructive as possible. Perhaps, you can see this comment as a compliment at the same time.
Actually, I like your site. It is very informative, and at the same time, it is something that I can follow as my framework to make money online like everyone else. The only problem is that the links are not noticeable enough.
It would be nice if, say like john chow’s web site, you can differentiate which are links and which are not. To me, it’s pretty plain. I’m just saying.
LOL… I used to get this all the time. Don’t delete them. Fight them like hell! There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Those nay sayers eventually tell the whole world about you. lol…
I say that as long as there are naysayers, you’re doing a good job!
Totally, if there are naysayers, that means your business is actually interesting enough to say somethin’.
Thanks for the constructive criticism. I’ve slightly lightened the color of the links on Winning the Web to make them more distinguishable. Hope that helps!
Bad comments will always come up on a blog - it is inevitable, cause not everyone will agree with you. However, “naysayers”, as you call them, are a good thing, methinks, because they may start some kind of a “flame”-type discussion, engaging more people in this and making your blog more “active”.
People always like to see other people go down. It’s not a hidden secret, it’s plain obvious. Misery loves company, that’s why so many people try to drag you down to their level.
Check out my comments against nay-sayers on our latest reviews at John Chow. It seems like the negative comments actually fueled more people to be interested in the new Quarter Wiki. I think it’s about building fire. Once you build enough fire with negative and positive comments, the fire can’t be put out. (Read Pyro Marketing Book for more on this)
http://www.johnchow.com/the-cheapest-paid-wiki-on-the-net/
What I did was try to answer back to nay-sayers in an neutral but honest tone. I think that’s the best way to deal with nay-sayers so readers trust you more than the nay-sayers.
I will do a write up about this soon on Zedomax.Biz so…