Ignore your critics

Guest post by: Seth Godin
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Caring - By Seth Godin

If you find 100 comments on a blog post or 100 reviews of a new book or 100 tweets about you...

and two of them are negative, while 98 are positive...

which ones are you going to read first?

If you're a human being and you're telling the truth, the answer is pretty obvious: you want to know which misguided losers had nasty things to say and you want to know what they said. In fact, if we're being totally truthful, it's likely you're going to take what the critics had to say to heart.

That's a shame. The critics are never going to be happy with you, that's why they're critics. You might bore them by doing what they say... but that won't turn them into fans, it will merely encourage them to go criticize someone else.

It doesn't matter what Groucho or Elvis or Britney or any other one-name performer does or did... the critics won't be placated. Changing your act to make them happy is a fool's game.

Here's a surprising thought, though. You should ignore your fans as well.

Your fans don't want you to change, your fans want you to maintain the essence of what you bring them but add a laundry list of features. You fans want lower prices and more contributions, bigger portions and more frequent deliveries.

So, who should you listen to?

Your sneezers.

You should listen to the people who tell the most people about you. Listen to the people who thrive on sharing your good works with others. If you delight these people, you grow.

The secret of the web (hint: it's a virtue)

Handling Critics

Lesson #4: Fight To Find Your Place In The Field

Lesson #2: Pursue Ambitious Goals

Lesson #2: Make Sure You Are Clear On Your Purpose

LEADER MUST DWELL IN TO HIMSELF TO TAP HIS POTENTIALITY

Lesson #5: Turn Up the Volume to Tune out the Critics

Leadership Tips to Manage Those Inner Critics

Learning to Be Proactive to Negativity Starts by Counting to 10 Before You Respond

Quieting the lizard brain

How A Game Of Rugby League Can Teach You To Make Your Online Business A Success.

Nurturing Creativity at Work

The real skinny on critics: How we do what we do and why

The Death of the Anonymous Citizen Journalist

Lesson #3: You Do Not Need to Be a Pro to See Your Business Grow

Emissions Trading (Cap and Trade)

Lesson #3: If Your Job Does Not Excite You, Find a New One

Lesson #3: Let Your Intellect Rely On Your Instincts

Lesson #2: Commitments Never Come Without a Cost

Wrestling With Success: McMahon’s Climb to the Top

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Caring - By Seth Godin

About the Author: Seth Godin

RSS for Seth's articles - Visit Seth's website
Seth Godin is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change. Godin is author of six books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change and work. Permission Marketing was an Amazon.com Top 100 bestseller for a year, a Fortune Best Business Book and it spent four months on the Business Week bestseller list. It also appeared on the New York Times business book bestseller list.
Click here to visit Seth's website.

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