It’s an unfortunate fact of life (and business). Out of the blue you get a nasty email from someone. Sometimes it’s about an article you’ve written. Sometimes it’s accompanied by a refund request. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it’s tied to anything at all.

Or maybe you discover someone writing malicious things about you on a blog or a forum. Or maybe some other negative things suddenly start getting tweeted or posted to Facebook about you, your products or your business.

As a business owner, the more active and successful you become, the more you open yourself up to criticism, negative feedback or just plain being attacked.

As someone who is both a writer AND a business owner, I know all about what happens when you’re dealing with unwelcome criticism. But if this is something new for you, or even if it’s not new but you’re feeling like you’ve just been sucker-punched by something out of the blue, I thought I’d share a few insights to help you shake off the bad karma.

1. Think about your response, long ….and hard. Respond only to the facts not emotions. Throw out a solution, be kind and firm. Businesses who respond responsibly and with solutions to negative posts win every time. Those that don’t bother to reply or do so in a derogatory way will sometimes jeopardize their business even more.

2. Keep active in that community or forum and make sure you continue to post and thank others for their posts. Post success stories, create your own good press.

3. Most people see thru negative posts anyway and when you have built a good reputation with enough friends or fans or followers, you will be amazed at how they automatically come through and protect your good interests….they really do!

My Best Regards,
Kathy Kane
Market Insights, LLC