It’s somewhat stereotypical to talk about haters if you’re an entrepreneur. After all, it comes with the territory. I still see people being held back by haters though, or the fear of having them at the very least.
I’m here to tell you that they are the least of your problems, and that you should embrace them.
You Should Strive to Unify, But You Can’t Unify Everyone
Creating a brand and running an online business or providing some kind of service or product for others is a long process that usually hinges on your ability to connect with people. What gets lost in all the master classes, sales pitches, webinars, and product launches, is that most good entrepreneurs are really trying to make a difference in other people’s lives and help them do better in life.
Negative people HATE that kind of stuff.
It’s important to note that for every group of people you manage to make customers, clients, or fans of, there’s going to be one or two people who simply will hate you for what you’re doing. Maybe they don’t like your confident attitude. Maybe they’re jealous of your car(s). Maybe they tried one of your pieces of advice and they failed. Maybe they are just miserable. Guaranteed, though, you’re going to attract these kinds of people. They are everywhere.
Recently I was perusing Facebook with the SO, and we happened upon the “like” page for Target, the well-known retail outlet. Whoo-boy. You think YouTube comment sections are bad? You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than the comment section of a post on a big company’s Facebook fan page. Just endless misery, as far as the eye can see. People who will actually log in to Facebook and seek out a page just to comment a thesis-long rant on a random post simply because a cashier wouldn’t accept their coupon or because an item at their local store was out of stock. Negativity so thick you could cut it with a knife and serve it with dinner.
Why do I bring this up? To illustrate the fact that there are simply droves of miserable idiots out there. Hate to be the guy to say it, but we’re not pulling punches here. I’ve seen lighthearted, fun posts about sharing coffee with your friends or taking advantage of a fall sale for sweaters commented on by disgruntled randos that think the world revolves around them and as soon as they walk out of their doors, red carpets should be unfurled beneath their feet as they go about their daily lives.
You’re not going to please these people. And if you do, it’s only a temporary victory, because they would turn on you in a heartbeat. I’ve seen comments in these Facebook pages that blatantly say things like, “I’ve been a dedicated customer for 10 years, but this one sales associate in this one store was moderately rude to me – I’ll never shop at your store again!” I mean, they literally get so irate that they feel compelled to go onto social media to rant at faceless social media management personnel, and on random posts to boot, not even in emails. I’d hate to see what their hate mail looks like.
The bottom line is, if you think you’re going to please everyone all of the time, you’ve got a lot to learn. If you’re doing anything productive in life, you’re going to make enemies. And this is coming from someone who considers himself a unifier and a pacifist. I would love if the reality was that everyone was level-headed, mature, and could be made to come together, but that’s just not the reality. If grown adults will take time out of their day to rant about messy shelves or invalid coupons on a random public Facebook post, you can be sure that once you get your name out there, you’re going to attract people who will say nonsensical things to you in emails and comment sections across the web. Don’t take anything to heart.
Digital Marketing is What You Make It
The realm of digital marketing and entrepreneurship can go either way. It is full of some of the best people you’ll ever meet. At the same time, there are definitely some bad seeds, people that will get disgruntled over their own failures and tear others down. Look in the comment section of any digital marketer’s YouTube videos and you’ll see plenty of examples. A guy will be making a webinar from the driver’s seat of a Lamborghini and some dude in the comment section will still have the gall to say something like, “you’re not making any money, these tips are lies!!”
It actually happens more than you think.
A lot of people don’t have the moxie to go forward with the work it takes to be an entrepreneur. Others simply hate seeing other people better off than them, in any capacity. It’s like the obtuse racists who get mad in supermarkets when they see a family buying a steak with food stamps (God forbid right!!) In their mind, this is some kind of egregious crime. They will say “well I can’t afford a steak.” But they could if they didn’t buy $50 – $100 of beer and cigarettes every month. They could if they budgeted a bit better. They could if they actually knew how to invest their money. They could if they didn’t rack up a $600 deficit on their credit card every month buying new shoes. They could if they lived within their means instead of trying to live a “high end” life on $50,000 a year.
Never mind the fact that the same family purchasing a steak with food stamps is likely returning home to squalor, they can’t afford to send their kids to college, they drive a beat up ’93 Honda Civic, and they have medical bill debt from here to Mars. But logic is not the strong suit for the hater. The hater just hates, because they seemingly don’t have anything better to do. They always feel slighted. That is the result of living in a negative, defensive mindset. It’s ALL about the mind, don’t let anyone tell you different. You can change the direction of an argument, flip the aura of a room, solve complex problems, and turn a blah day into something productive and amazing all simply by changing your mindset.
Weak-minded people can’t build themselves up, so they in turn must tear others down. Attacking others in any capacity is what they are known for, because that is how they attempt to gain an edge. You see this a lot in digital marketing, because while there are thousands of people out there crushing it and making bank, there’s definitely people out there struggling and falling flat on their faces. This breeds resentment in weak-minded people, so the only recourse is to try and discredit and attack reputable entrepreneurs. And no one is safe or sacred. I’ve seen people try and say Clickfunnels, for example, is a giant scam and Russell Brunson is a grifter scam artist. Of course, that’s absolute nonsense, but read the comments on some of the Clickfunnels YouTube videos, and you’ll be shocked to find that there are possibly dozens of people that believe this.
In that regard, digital marketing is what you make of it. Dive in with a positive mindset, no matter what kind of money you are pulling in or what level of success you are enjoying. It’s about the journey, not the destination, first of all. If all you’re trying to do is make money in order to get a fancy car or a mansion, you’re not going to get very far unless you are super lucky. Just keep an open mind, stay positive, and build yourself.
Align Yourself With Positive Energy
I don’t want to get all New Age on you, but as it concerns digital marketing and creating a brand, it’s important to have your head on straight. What does it mean to align yourself with positive energy? Don’t think I want you to climb a mountain and start fasting for 40 days and 40 nights or anything. But there’s definitely some wisdom in taking stock of the company you keep, the patterns of thought you adopt, and the kinds of energy you invite into your life.
If you’re trying to build your brand and you align yourself with divisive forces, what do you think is going to happen? You’re not going to get far attacking entrepreneurs that are already making it or adopting worldviews or politics that divide people or invoke negative mannerisms in people. I spend a couple days every month reflecting and working on myself. This is an important practice that most of the world’s leading money-makers, business owners, and entrepreneurs are adopting. They know the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction.
Sounds like hokum?
You’d be surprised. All I’ll say is, try it for yourself. Cultivate positivity and reap the subsequent rewards. As I said, mindset is everything, and subconsciously or not, we produce results that way. If you work from a standpoint of negativity or align yourself with negative view points or perspectives, you’re always going to be tearing down what you build in the background. This is the “self-defeating mentality” that psychologists and other experts talk about, and it’s a real threat to your success. If you think you’re going to succeed on the backs of others, or by attacking people, stealing from them, or selling them a dream, you’re not going to obtain the kind of success you want.
That’s why it’s always amazed me how many entrepreneurs can align themselves with negative political ideologies, for example. Your beliefs seep into your business, whether you want them to or not. They guide your actions and what you do with your money and time.
This is how we end up with greedy entrepreneurs that horde wealth or blame others when they don’t succeed. In that regard they are neither true entrepreneurs nor true leaders. Don’t fall into this category. Success can be a positive force that can transform your life and help others immensely, or it can be the start of a disgruntled lifestyle of disappointment, failures, lashing out at others, loss, and frustration. The only element determining which path you take is all in your mindset and how you perceive the world. This is important for all aspects of life, not just in the digital business world.
Approach Your Hustle With a Sagely Mindset
Positivity, strength, leadership. This is how you should approach all of your business pursuits, it doesn’t matter what they are. Will you still attract people with a negative mindset? Of course, they are legion. But the important thing is you will generally avoid falling into a negative mindset yourself if you look at things with this kind of a mindset. You should be building your business or brand around helping others anyway, that’s the true spirit of being an entrepreneur. Always ask yourself in your business pursuits, “How am I helping others?” and you will rarely go wrong.
This is another area that the “negativity crowd” doesn’t get. I think a lot of people get into the digital marketing scene simply to turn a quick buck. When it all goes south they blame everything but themselves, not realizing that in order to succeed, you have to provide consistent value to others. It’s easy to see the marketers who don’t subscribe to this mindset, because they come across as leeches and scammers. It doesn’t matter how far along you are in your path to becoming a full fledged millionaire entrepreneur, as long as your focus is on helping others with your brand, and you have solid value to offer, you’ll get where you need to be.
If you stay the course with a positive mindset, it doesn’t matter how many people try to tear you down. Real recognizes real. Your own supporters will come to your aid if anything, but that’s not even necessary, since all the rumors and negative nonsense in the world can’t tear down someone with a sagely mindset. You don’t have to be a old yoga guru meditating on a rock all day to be a sage, you just have to be an entrepreneur with his or her head and heart in the right place. You’ll find that when you have a positive mindset, all of the hate and nonsense that you encounter along the way will only serve as proof that you are going in the right direction. If ever you get a random YouTube account without a profile picture who comments a long spiel about how you “aren’t really making that much money,” know verily that you have won.
I hope this advice helps some of you along the path to accomplishing your goals, because knowing what you’re going to run up against is powerful. Some get into this thinking everything will be rosy and if they don’t make waves, no one will try and attack them or slander them, or even drop nasty comments to them on YouTube. Let me tell you, you’re going to get all of that and more. This is the Internet we’re talking about. Like I said, there’s people that will take time out of their day just to rant on Facebook about their mediocre shopping experiences. Imagine what these same people would say to you if they saw you talk about how you bought a brand new car or a house with money you made online? They’d just about have an aneurysm.
tl;dr Prepare for heaps of salt if you get into digital marketing.