The positive effect of haters…sometimes it might not seem like there is one. But there is! And I want to share it with you today.
First things first: What do I mean by “haters”?
When I use the term “haters,” I’m talking about people who criticize you in a really negative way. When you put yourself online, it’s pretty likely you will get some negative feedback. Some of this feedback is constructive and polite… and some of it is rude and insulting. Fearing criticism like this is what holds a lot of people back from starting an online business or putting their work online.
DON’T let that stop you! Criticism is just part of the gig – a sort of rite of passage, if you will. And there are a couple of ways you can mitigate haters’ negativity.
Listening to the Critics
The first part of my recommendation on how to handle negative criticism is just what you’d expect. “Focus on all the positive feedback you get instead. Don’t let it bring you down. Forget the haters!” Etc. etc.
All of that is valid advice, BUT I think we could also use a mindset flip.
Instead of seeing negative feedback as nothing but “hating” and throwing it all out, when I receive criticism I ask myself this one question:
“How can I learn from this?”
Imagine you get that negative comment or email criticizing your product. Someone purchased your product and is unhappy with it, they want a refund, etc. Even if that comment or email is laced with insults and negativity, is there anything in that message you can take and learn from?
This is not the easiest exercise, but over the years, I’ve figured out a system that works for me.
For starters, I have assistants who do my customer service. They usually catch critical (sometimes insulting) emails before I ever see them. Because my assistants are less emotionally attached to my business than I am, they are able to filter whatever is constructive out of that email and make a note of it for me. When we meet for our weekly meeting, we’ll go over that list together. (Bonus: they’re also able to professionally and promptly reply to emails that require a reply without me having to spend all day in my inbox).
That’s just 1 of the 7 tasks you should outsource to an assistant TODAY
For example, let’s say we’ve gotten feedback that a certain topic wasn’t well-explained in one of our ebooks. If that same feedback has come in 3 or 4 times, we’ve just gotten some super valuable feedback, even if half of the comments were rude and insulting! We can use this knowledge to improve our e-book in a second edition, or follow up with customers via an FAQ email.
An Improvement Mindset
Sure, ignore the insults. But pull out any little gems of constructive feedback you can find. Because here’s the thing: if a couple people have mentioned a problem, chances are there’s a couple dozen other dissatisfied customers who just didn’t want to complain. And if we’re going to be business owners, we need to listen to that feedback and keep a mindset that constantly asks how we can grow and improve.
So, how can you do this this year? Can you have your assistant boil the negative criticism down to a bullet point list to share with you?
I hope you found this post helpful. If you did, share it with a friend and leave me a comment letting me know: Are you going to apply this? Have you tried it before? And how can we learn and grow this year in our business?
